Doing just one day in the park

SL6827

DIS Veteran
Joined
Apr 23, 2017
We have decided to do just one day trip to the Disneyland Park since there is so many other things to see and do in France.(not staying on property) So if you were doing just one day there, what would your advice be on touring? Best fast passes yo get, best counter service restaurant?
 
For just one day, you need to get there about 45 minutes before park opening for general public. Most likely you should get there around 9am and go straight to The Studios Park. Go straight to Crushes Coaster and then go to single rider line in Ratatouille. Take a look in the shop in the Ratatouille area and then exit The Studios Park.

On your way out of The Studios take a look at the shops and get a quick service food. This should take you to 1pm

Go straight to the Main park and walk down Main Street. You wont have time to dawdle or browse the shops. Go direct to Discoveryland and either Fastpass Star Tours or Buzz Lightyear. While you wait for your Fastpass window you will have time to do ONE of the following, Space Mountain or Buzz or Star Tours, depending on which fastpass you decided on.

Once you have done 2 rides in Discoveryland, walk or run to Fantasyland. Exit Discoveryland and head towards the Wishing Well, Pizza Belle Notre, stage side of the Castle. Find the pathway under The Castle to the dragon. Exit the dragon and come up into Fantasyland. Depending on time, check out the upper walk through area of The Castle.

Pick 2 rides in Fantasyland, leaving Peter Pan as your second ride. Exit Peter Pan and walk smartly to Pirates of The Caribbean.
After Pirates get a quick service food in Au Chalet des Marrionettes and then head into Adventure Land.

In Adventureland you have Big Thunder Mountain, Indiana Jones and Phantom Manor.

By this stage it should be near to park closing, so go back out to Main Street and find a spot to watch the night time fireworks and animation show projected onto The Castle

Skip table service meals, skip parades, skip character meet and greets, skip wandering about the shops, skip shows and you should be able to fit in my touring plan
 
In addition to @BadPinkTink, I would recommand going to the park on Friday, which is the least busy day of the week.

One pretty good "one fits all" advice would be riding attractions only if the posted wait time is less than 20 minutes. There is no point ever waiting more than that, and if you are willing to spend the entire day (from rope drop to park closure), you will have one chance to ride everything without having to queue for too much.

If you have no choice but going to the parks a busy day, I would additionnally recommand that you have lunch between 3pm–5pm. At this time of the day, most (if not all) of the rides will not be doable anyway, which makes it sense to sit down and relax. A table service might even provide you with some enjoyment, as the theming is actually really nice in all restaurants in the parks.
 
I did this a couple of years ago - see highs and lows here https://www.disboards.com/threads/just-back-highs-lows-and-a-few-photos.3458736/
I was amazed at how much we fitted in, actually, but then I am very at home in the parks!
Recommendations would be to get the Disneyland Paris app and use it throughout your day to keep an eye on wait times rather than try to stick to a pre-formulated plans. Wait times and ride breakdowns mean you have to be flexible.
Totally agree with the recommendation to do Crush first, it's the only way to get on.
Eat around 4pm when restaurants are quiet, then make the most of shorter attraction queues when everyone else is eating dinner.
I'd prioritise Tower of Terror for a FP in the studios and Big Thunder for a FP in the main park.
We didn't go into any shops in our one day - this saved loads of time!! You could always browse shops in the Village after the parks close if you're after some shopping.
I'm not sure what time of year you're going but if it is a time when parks are open a bit later, you've got a better chance of riding some attractions with shorter queue times in the evening.
 


We are probably just going to go into the Disneyland Park, not venturing over to the Studios.
 
  • The train at the end of the night back to Paris - this was GRIM and I'll never do it again, to be totally honest. It's the first time I've ever stayed in Paris city centre on a day I've been in DLP and it was a shock to the system. The first train after park closing didn't come for about 40 minutes and unsurprisingly everyone was crammed on like sardines. It was sweaty, uncomfortable and of course everybody was knackered. We didn't get back to our hotel until after midnight with a 10pm park closing time.
This what I expected to hear. I have seen horror stories like this for the late Eurostar train so Im not surprised the RER trains back to central Paris after park closing are a nighmare.

@SL6827 see above, THIS is a good example of what it is like going back to central Paris on the train after park closing
 
This what I expected to hear. I have seen horror stories like this for the late Eurostar train so Im not surprised the RER trains back to central Paris after park closing are a nighmare.

@SL6827 see above, THIS is a good example of what it is like going back to central Paris on the train after park closing
We will go back around 4 or 5. So helpful.
 


I think that's a wise decision. ToT is our favorite of both parks, but it's not unique to Paris. With only one day, get as much of the main park atmosphere as you can.
I should have made that clear with my original post and I didn't. I apologize.
 
Thanks for finding my quote @BadPinkTink I was just about to try and find it myself!
@SL6827 I reckon it would be a lot better just a bit before closing time, or else having a meal in the village if the parks close at 7 and going back to Paris a little later. I couldn't believe how badly organised it was, to be honest, and that there weren't more trains. I don't think I'll ever do it again even though everything else about the day trip was pretty successful.
 
Are you a WDW espert?
In that case you may want to concentrate on what's different from the US parks and most of the unique attractions are in the Studios.
Ratatuille is coming to Epcot, but probably not for a couple of years so you may want to ride that, the single rider line is often quicker than using a fast pass. Mickey and the Magician is a very nice show, you should see it. Crush and Coaster is a nice spinning coaster, but it has often long lines and it's not worth to spend too much time for it. Unfortunately going there at rope drop may not work anymore because now there are Extra magic hours at the Studios as well, so by the time you'll be allowed in, it will already have a long line. Everything else at the studios is identical to the US or not worth it (DO NOT DO ARMAGEDDON, it's a complete waste of time).

At the main park most attractions are similar to the US, but they have their own twists. I'd say the Phantom Manor, Big Thunder Mountains, Pirates are all must do. BTM has long lines all day, so use a FP for it. Space mountains is a much more intense roller coaster, more similar to rock and roller coaster than the space mountains in the US. It may be a good or bad thing, depending on your taste for adrenaline.
Star tour is exactly the same, Buzz and Peter Pan are slightly better than the Magic Kingdom (but the latter has no interactive queue, use a FP for it if you can). Indiana Jones is a short roller coaster with one inversion: it can be a nice step up for someone who ever only did family coaster like BTM to a more adult one like Space mountains.
The night show is nice, stay until park closure to watch it, it's worth it. The afternoon parade is not my favorite.

Take you time and smell the roses, the strength of the park in Paris is in the many little details and general ambiance. It's a lovely park just to walk around.
Food is not great, the snacking scene is terrible. My favorite quick service is the cowboy cookout BBQ, at frontierland. Do not eat hamburger or hot dogs, they're terrible.
 
I have done 1 day twice (each time in May ... 2010 and 2015) ... being from the US, I have been to the US parks a ton of times. It is very doable in one day ... especially if you focus on the unique rides ... Phantom Manor being my favorite actually ... ratatouille was very cool as well, if anything for the ride system and as mentioned Space Mountain was like the Rockin Roller coaster ... very cool if you like that sort of thing. Tower of Terror was interesting just to hear Rod Serling speak French, but about the same as what was at DL.

I went both times with adults, so we skipped the fantasyland stuff for the most part and that helped for sure ... But even with them, doing both parks in one day is easy, the security line was actually the longest line we waited in, so I would try to get there early.
 
thank you all this has been very helpful my family of five is going for the first time late march. We know WDW like the back of our hand but this is all new to us!!
 

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