Two parks, one day plan

[DisneyMom2000000]

Hi all!
We'll be in Paris in March and would like to visit Disneyland for one day. We'd like to visit both parks and hit the highlights. We are a family of four, two girls ages 8 and 10. They enjoy Disney World but also like thrill rides. What are the must dos for us?! I realize we can't do it all in one day so I think we will buy a pass to skip some lines.

Also, we are planning to take the RER A from downtown Paris. Is this the best option for transportation?

 

[Woodview]

Try and make it a 2 day visit

Or
Pick One Park for your visit

...................
There is still a short daylight time in March

Weather could be cold & wet

Your children are still young & are in a Strange Country

with a strange language which could be overwhelming for them

to deal with

.........................

There is another Theme Park to seek out called Parc Astrix also in Paris

which you could visit on a 2nd day

 

[Karin1984]

Hi all!
We'll be in Paris in March and would like to visit Disneyland for one day. We'd like to visit both parks and hit the highlights. We are a family of four, two girls ages 8 and 10. They enjoy Disney World but also like thrill rides. What are the must dos for us?! I realize we can't do it all in one day so I think we will buy a pass to skip some lines.

Also, we are planning to take the RER A from downtown Paris. Is this the best option for transportation?

First question, when in March? There is one region that still has a school holiday till the 5th and March 29th is a national holiday. Of course week days are better than weekends.

Don't worry about language, everything in Paris is bi-lingual. Some show can be a bit of a challenge, but with 1 day and 2 parks, shows take up a lot of time.

I would definitely recommend the RER over a car service as traffic in and around the city of Paris can be brutal.

I think your must do's are:
- Big Thunder Mountain
- Space Mountain
- Indiana Jones
- Phantom Manor
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Star Tours
- Visit the castle & dragon (doesn't take long)

Studios:
- Crush Coaster
- Avengers Assemble
- Spider Webs
- Tower of Terror
- Ratatouille is a maybe, depending on whether or not you have done it in Epcot.

If you can stay for the drones & fireworks show.

Nice if you have time:
Disneyland park:
- Pays des Contes Fees
- Casey Jr.
- Alice' labyrinth
- Snow White and Pinocchio are really kiddie rides, do it if you have time/no line, but easy to skip.

Not sure if you have Autopia in WDW, but it's incredibly slow loading.
I would also skip Nautilus, it's not very exciting and the practical effect has been replaced by a screen recently.

Studios:
- RC Racer

- Route 66 (I would skip it unless your kids are into Cars, in my eyes it's incredibly boring ;-) )

Duplicates (or almost duplicates):
- Peter Pan
- Buzz Lightyear
- Small World
- Ratatouille
- Tea cups
- Philharmagic
- Orbitron / Dumbo / Flying Carpets.
- River boat

 

[DisneyMom2000000]

Thank you for all the information! This is really helpful!!

We will be there Friday, March 22nd. We could go Saturday instead but I assume Friday might be a little bit slower?

We will stick with the RER plan!! Thank you!!!

First question, when in March? There is one region that still has a school holiday till the 5th and March 29th is a national holiday. Of course week days are better than weekends.

Don't worry about language, everything in Paris is bi-lingual. Some show can be a bit of a challenge, but with 1 day and 2 parks, shows take up a lot of time.

I would definitely recommend the RER over a car service as traffic in and around the city of Paris can be brutal.

I think your must do's are:
- Big Thunder Mountain
- Space Mountain
- Indiana Jones
- Phantom Manor
- Pirates of the Caribbean
- Star Tours
- Visit the castle & dragon (doesn't take long)

Studios:
- Crush Coaster
- Avengers Assemble
- Spider Webs
- Tower of Terror
- Ratatouille is a maybe, depending on whether or not you have done it in Epcot.

If you can stay for the drones & fireworks show.

Nice if you have time:
Disneyland park:
- Pays des Contes Fees
- Casey Jr.
- Alice' labyrinth
- Snow White and Pinocchio are really kiddie rides, do it if you have time/no line, but easy to skip.

Not sure if you have Autopia in WDW, but it's incredibly slow loading.
I would also skip Nautilus, it's not very exciting and the practical effect has been replaced by a screen recently.

Studios:
- RC Racer

- Route 66 (I would skip it unless your kids are into Cars, in my eyes it's incredibly boring ;-) )

Duplicates (or almost duplicates):
- Peter Pan
- Buzz Lightyear
- Small World
- Ratatouille
- Tea cups
- Philharmagic
- Orbitron / Dumbo / Flying Carpets.
- River boat

 

[ghtx]

I will also be planning a two-parks/one-day trip, in February 2024. I think I will go ahead and buy the premium access ultimate so that we can do most of the rides without worrying about waiting too long. My guess is that with that pass, and with the fact that we don't need to hit the rides that are duplicates of the WDW versions unless we want to, that we can get through everything we'll want to see in both parks in a full day.

 

[steve_rob]

I don't even think you need the Premier Access Ultimate. It comes with a whole bunch of rides that you are unlikely to need to use it on. Better bet is to just buy Premier Access rides a la carte and only pay when you see that the queue is particularly big - you're likely to save a lot of money that way.

 

[zavandor]

I don't even think you need the Premier Access Ultimate. It comes with a whole bunch of rides that you are unlikely to need to use it on. Better bet is to just buy Premier Access rides a la carte and only pay when you see that the queue is particularly big - you're likely to save a lot of money that way.

I agree.
If you rope drop as a normal guest, just a few rides will have a long line because of resort guests early entry: Peter Pan, BTMRR, Crush and Coaster, maybe the TOT and WEB slingers. Everything else will be a walk on and for quite some time. Also, lines at the studios crumble in the late afternoon.
Only Crush and BTMRR will have long lines all day long, everything else can be done with minimal wait at one time or another. Just buy on demand when needed. It's not like ILL at WDW when you book and the return time is hours in the future. Usually return time is a few minutes away

 

[DutchJoyce]

There are some incredible shows at Disneyland Paris, that you don't want to miss. Actually I like the shows better than the rides There is a quick and easy subway from the centre of Paris to Disneyland Paris.

 

[ocdb8r1]

There are some incredible shows at Disneyland Paris, that you don't want to miss. Actually I like the shows better than the rides There is a quick and easy subway from the centre of Paris to Disneyland Paris.

I agree with Karin's post on rides and what you should prioritize, however, I think you should heed DutchJoyce's advice. I think Mickey and the Magician and Lion King: Rhythm of the Pride Lands absolutely can't be missed as they are examples of where the Paris parks truly shine. There are also rave reviews coming out on TOGETHER: A Pixar Musical.

Personally, whatever drone show(s) are on are also not to be missed. I have been thoroughly impressed with these and can't wait to see them in the US parks some day. A new "Main Street Electrical Parade" drone show is due to start in January and I can hardly wait.

 

[jimmymc]

I've done this before, taking the train out for one day, but not with kids. My must-do's in each park are:

Disneyland:

• Phantom Manor
• Big Thunder Mountain
• Hyperspace Mountain
• Castle and Dragon
• Parade and nighttime show
• If you have more time, Pirates of the Caribbean, Small World, and Storybook Canal Boats

Studios Park:

• Crush's Coaster
• Ratatouille
• Avengers Assemble Coaster
• Mickey and the Magician show
• Spend some time in Avengers Campus watching the shows and meeting characters
• Tower of Terror
• Webslingers - if you haven't done it in California
• If you have time, Cars Road Trip (the rethemed studio tram tour)

With an all-day skip the line pass, you can have an amazing day here and get most of this list done. The RER A is the best way to get to the park from the city, just check times beforehand since it only runs to DL Paris every 20 minutes or so.

 

[DutchJoyce]

I have seen the Together show a few times this summer and it's really worth your time. But if you only have one day to do both parks you probably don't have enough time for shows at all.
Most attractions at Disneyland Paris are the same or sort of the same as at WDW. Except for the shows, these are kind of unique and even award winning.

 

[Karin1984]

And I am the exception,

Yes, DLP is doing very well when it comes to shows (saw Lion King today, so good!) But... I do not like Together all that much. It is at the bottom of my list of shows. It is good, but not great, in my opinion.

But then again, I've never been that into Pixar.

 

[DutchJoyce]

Ofcourse it's important that you like the Pixar characters to like the show.
My son is a huge Pixar fan and was so excited to see some of his alltime favorites enter the stage. I don't tell more, I don't do spoilers.
I just remembered that there is a Frozen show at Studios as well. For me, it was not too good, (I am not a princess girl, except for Vanellope ) but most of the children there have the time of their lives.
I have been to Disneyland Paris a few times a year since the opening and 10+ times to WDW (unfortunately a long and expensive flight from the Netherlands, where I live) and only the shows at Paris renew on a regularly base.
But if you only come to Disneyland Paris once this is not an issue ofcourse.

 

[dmancuso]

Is two days enough to see everything in both parks?

 

[zavandor]

Easily, If you stay from early entry to closure, even with repeat rides of favorites.

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

Is two days enough to see everything in both parks?

I recently did 2 full days, with a half day on arrival and a half day on departure. Some of my party only had the 2 full days. We did everything they wanted to do and a lot more on those 2 full days, and that was not managing to get into the parks for early opening, or staying until close, even though we had access as we were hotel guests.

 

[CanuckGirl78]

Hi all!
We'll be in Paris in March and would like to visit Disneyland for one day. We'd like to visit both parks and hit the highlights. We are a family of four, two girls ages 8 and 10. They enjoy Disney World but also like thrill rides. What are the must dos for us?! I realize we can't do it all in one day so I think we will buy a pass to skip some lines.

Also, we are planning to take the RER A from downtown Paris. Is this the best option for transportation?

Check the closure schedule on the DLP site. We’re going in mid-March and BTM, Casey’s jr train, Le Pays de Contes de Fees, flying carpets, Philharmagic, Pirates galleon, and Crush’s coaster will all be closed on the day we finished.

The good thing of knowing this is we now know we should be able to see most of the open attractions and shows with rope drope, Premiere access for a few rides, and standby!

 

[Karin1984]

Check the closure schedule on the DLP site. We’re going in mid-March and BTM, Casey’s jr train, Le Pays de Contes de Fees, flying carpets, Philharmagic, Pirates galleon, and Crush’s coaster will all be closed on the day we finished.

The good thing of knowing this is we now know we should be able to see most of the open attractions and shows with rope drope, Premiere access for a few rides, and standby!

To add, Flying Carpets is a Dumbo type ride, and is probably closed indefinitely due to Studios overhaul and Pirates Galleon has been closed for years. No idea why they still have it on the schedule.

Casey Jr. and Pays des Contes Fees work on the same electricity system or something. They are usually closed at the same time for refurbishment.

BTM and Crush closed, that's a bummer!

 

[a*lil*bit*goofy]

This thread is so i formative!

My daughter (20) and I have 1 day - Sat May 4th- to do both parks. We will stay at nearby Radisson. We intend on doing park from Open to Close.

I see lots of suggestions on attractions. what would be the best type of pass/entrance for us to purchase?
Thank you!

 

[Karin1984]

A one-day-two-parks ticket
And for Premier Access, I always advice to pay per ride, and not take a package. As even on the most busy days not all rides need it and/or some are not for your group.