Disneyland Paris is the most visited touristic attraction in Europe with 14,8 million visitors in 2015 between the two parks.

The resort, opened in 1992, is located in Marne-la-Vallée, a town located 32 km from the centre of Paris. Disneylands consists of two theme parks, Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park, several resort hotels, a shopping, dining, and entertainment complex named Disney Village and a golf course. A railway station, Marne-la-Vallée – Chessy, is located between the theme parks and Disney Village.

A visit to Disneyland Paris is almost like a visit to another city. This is why it may be wise to plan ahead what you are going to do in the park. Set priorities: what rides and shows do you or your fellow travellers want to experience, and also what you can forgo. Disneyland Paris is huge. Visits require a lot of walking and queuing, so also plan ahead resting time, and if you are travelling with small kids, make sure there is enough time for sleeping. The best option is to go early to bed and wake up very early. This way you will be avoiding lot of queuing time, even during the breakfast if you are staying in a Disney hotel. Get to the parks as quickly as possible, even before they open, so you can enjoy the most popular attractions before the park is crowded.

One of the recurrent things that come into our mind when we think about Disney Parks are long queues. Sometimes you can get the idea that there are lines for everything. But there are several ways to try to beat these queues.

Be early in the parks

This is the golden rule. Check the schedule on the website and be at the gates around 30 minutes before the official opening time. Nowadays security controls are quite exhaustive, just like in airports, and being early will help you avoid the first lines. Parks open before the “official” hour and some parts like Main Street USA in Disneyland Park can be visited early. There you can go to the stores, meet some characters, and more importantly you will have avoided lines and will already be inside when the park opens completely.

Extra magic hours

If you are in one of the Disney hotels, use the “Extra magic hours”. From the hotels you have access to one of the parks, usually Disneyland, two hours before the opening. Only a select few areas are open earlier, in most of the cases Fantasyland and Discoveryland, but it is a great service

Use your FASTPASS

The fastpass is a service that cuts down the queuing time at some of the most popular attractions. It is included in all the tickets.  You can use it in these attractions:

• Disneyland Park: Big Thunder Mountain (Frontierland), Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril (Adventureland), Peter Pan’s Flight (Fantasyland), Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast (Discoveryland), Space Mountain: Mission 2 (Discoveryland) and Star Tours (Discoveryland).
• Walt Disney Studios Park: Flying Carpets Over Agrabah (Toon Studio), Ratatouille: L’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy (Toon Studio), The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (Production Courtyard) and the Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith (Backlot).

How to use it

• Check the times: at the FASTPASS attractions, you’ll see the regular and the FASTPASS entrance time. If the current available timeslot suits you, insert one Disney Park admission ticket for each rider into the FASTPASS® machine next to the attraction.
• You will get a FASTPASS-ticket with your return time, and experience all the fun of the park elsewhere while you wait.
• Return to the attraction at the time indicated on your FASTPASS ticket and board within a matter of minutes via the special FASTPASS entrance. Tip: You can only hold one FASTPASS at a time for each park. Another FASTPASS will be available after the time printed on your first ticket. So plan your journey and start collecting  your first Fastpass as early in the day as possible meaning your next ticket will be available sooner. In the most demanded attractions, like Peter Pan’s Flight in Disneyland and Ratatouille in Walt Disney Studios, Fastpass tickets disappear very quickly, usually before noon. If the wait for an attraction is 25 minutes or less in the regular queue, it probably isn’t worth using the FASTPASS for it.

What to do during the extra magic hours or early in the morning

• In Fantasyland, ride Dumbo, since this attraction is way more enjoyable if the waiting time is 5 minutes instead of 50.
• Check Peter Pan’s flight, and if the waiting line is already long, use your Fastpass.
• In Discoveryland, use the Fastpass in Space Mountain: Mission 2 or in Buzzlightyear if necessary and visit the other attractions during the Fastpass waiting time.
• If you want your kids to be enrolled in the Jedi Academy you should check the registration time. You should probably start queueing early.
• When Frontierland is open, head directly to Big Thunder Mountain and then to Indiana Jones in Adventureland, picking up your Fastpass if necessary

This might appear like bouncing around the park willy nilly during these first hours, but it is a great way to enjoy the most popular attractions. After that, the park will probably be full, and it might be a good idea to discover the rest of the park and visit attractions and shows with shorter queues.

• During the day, Crush’s Coaster and Ratatouille in the Walt Disney Studios Park can have 2-hour queues, therefore it may be a good idea to get up early in the morning and go straight to Crush’s Coasters line and use the Fastpass for Ratatouille. The Fastpasses for Ratatouille usually run out before noon, so it is wise to hurry up.
• After this enjoy the attractions in Toy Story Playland (Toon Studio): the Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop and the RC Racer.

Single rider

Another option to avoid some huge lines is to use the single rider entry. In this case you won’t be able to enjoy the ride with your group, but at least you will be waiting just a fourth of the regular queuing time.

Baby switch

Some attractions offer the “baby switch” service that can be useful for families visiting Disneyland. When an attraction doesn’t allow children under a certain height to ride, the Baby Switch allows adults to still enjoy the attraction. The group enters normally, but in the loading area one adult stays with the children, while those allowed continue to the ride. When the ride is finished one of the adults returns to look after the kid while the previous watcher gets to enjoy the attraction.

The resort has six Disney owned hotels: the Disneyland Hotel, Hotel New York, the Newport Bay Club, the Sequoia Lodge, Hotel Cheyenne and the Hotel Santa Fe. These hotels are the most convenient accommodation options, but they are rather expensive. Disney however offers a wide range of package deals over the year (50% discount, kids free, free meals, 1 extra night…), which makes their hotels a real competitive option. If you are planning a trip here it is wise to check for promotions on their official website, where they often offer some form discount that may save you money. Staying in the Disney hotels offer a certain number privileges:

• Extra Magic Hours: early entry to the parks, two hours before the park becomes crowded.
• Encounters with Disney characters in the hotel
• Ease to make restaurant reservations.
• Ease of access. You will be in the entrance of Disneyland if you choose the Disneyland Paris Hotel (very expensive) or just 20-minutes walking if you stay in the farthest and cheapest hotels (Cheyenne and Santa Fe). The area has internal bus lines that allow you to reach the parks within 5 minutes.

Other options near Disneyland Paris

Val d’ Europe is very close to Disneyland, just one stop on the RER train  (tickets cost around 2€). The area has plenty of restaurants and shops as well as the Val d’Europe Shopping Centre. The area also offers cheaper hotels, with prices starting around 60 euros per room.

• Ibis Budget Marne La Vallee Val d’Europe Ex Etap Hotel, Montevrain, France
• Hotel l’Elysee Val d’Europe, Serris, France
• Adagio Marne la Vallee Val d’Europe, Serris, France

In the neighbouring area of Marne-la-Vallée there are several Disney Selected and Associated hotels. These hotels have shuttle bus service that take you to the entrance of Disneyland. These hotels are cheaper, but also quite isolated, and the shuttle bus is the only transportation. If you are travelling with car, they are a great option.

• Kyriad Disneyland Resort Paris, Magny-le-Hongre, France
• Radisson Blu Hotel at Disneyland Paris, Magny-le-Hongre, France
• Explorers Hotel, Magny-le-Hongre, France
• Magic Circus Hotel Magny-le-Hongre, Magny-le-Hongre, France
• Dream Castle Hotel at Disneyland Paris, Magny-le-Hongre, France

In Paris

If Disneyland isn’t your main reason for being in Paris or France, and you were only planning a one day visit to the parks, staying the night in Paris is also a good option. The train service works perfectly and in less than one hour you will be at the gates of the parks.

Meet ‘n’ Greet

The walking versions of the famous Disney characters are for many one of the most beloved attractions that you can find in Disney Land. For many kids and some adults, they are not just some person in a costume, they really are Mickey, Donald Duck or any of the Disney princesses. Even if you can find a character as you turn a corner, it is much more common to have to wait a queue to meet them. To check who, where and when you can meet the characters check the weekly Disney programmes that you can collect in the Disney Park entrances, the information desks or on the information boards. It is also possible to get them online. 

During encounters characters sign autographs, pose for pictures and in the case of non-masked characters (princesses, Jack Sparrow, Peter Pan, Aladdin…) they will chat with you for a while. It these cases the queues tend to move more slowly than with the non-speaking characters. Probably the longest queues are in the Princess Pavilion, a royal meet and greet with one of the Disney princesses, and in the Meet Mickey Mouse attraction, both in Fantasyland. If you are interested in them, check the schedules and arrive early to avoid queues up to one hour.

Parades

These eye-popping and spectacular celebrations should absolutely not to be missed during your visit to Disney Paris. The parades feature many Disney characters, dancers and colourful floats. A parade is held every day in the Disneyland Park. Check the programme to see the times. You should look for a place 20-30 minutes before its start in order to see it. If you are not interested in the parade or you have already seen it, many attractions tend to have shorter lines just before and during the parades, so it is a good moment to ride in some of the most demanded attractions.

Jedi Training Academy

This is not really a meeting with characters, but an interactive show with some of the characters from the Star wars films especially with Darth Vader. Kids will be instructed in fight choreography that they will later represent in a theater. Check the programme to make a reservation. The Jedi Training Academy has limited capacity: only sixteen guests between the ages of 7 and 12 years of age will be selected for each of the six shows every day. Because of the limited capacity, report to Videopolis in Discoveryland 30-60 minutes before the opening time in order to register your own Padawans. If all the places are occupied, a crew member will inform you so you don’t have to queue in vain. Once you get in, a show will be assigned to the kids. The young Jedis-to-be will then be instructed to arrive 45 minutes prior to the assigned show, so that they can receive further special instructions and training.