I think, because DLP dining is not online there is not the same pressure to book in advance. It's so easy to go online to make reservations but people think twice about calling. They do it in WDW because so many ARE making online ADRs that everyone has to book in advance - phone or online.
We get 2 weeks holidays in October, here in Scotland, and this is when we do Disney - DLP or WDW. A quieter time than if we went in our Summer, Easter or Christmas holidays.
Now the boys are older we've been hopping over the pond to WDW but love DLP because everything is within walking distance and the EMH are fab. Park Disney opens 8am-10am for hotel guests. It is just Fantasyland and Tomorrowland but you can get so much done and, certainly in October, the rides are walk on - Space Mountain (which is a proper indoor coaster), Buzz Lightyear, Peter Pan's Flight and so on. Then you can move to the area you want to be in for rope drop. We usually go to Frontierland first to do Big Thunder which sees queues build quickly. No FP+ at DLP, just paper FP. We get paper FP, ride in standby, then straightaway in FP before moving on.
If you're staying at an onsite hotel, breakfast is included (well it is if you book through UK website, as are park tickets) and they ask you to take a timeslot card for each day when you check in. We ask for the 7am-7:30am slot and arrive about 7:15, fill up on the buffet breakfast then walk over to the park for opening. If you arrive outwith your slot you still get breakfast. On our last trip we forgot to put our phone clock forward the hour and so were downstairs at 8:15 thinking it was 7:15 and wondering why there was such a queue for tables.
At the moderate and deluxe hotels there can be a build up to get breakfast at popular times (8-9:30), leading to a wait for a table despite the timeslot cards, which is another reason we always try to get down early. Never a queue at 7:15.
There has never been the same crowds at EMH opening as at WDW. If I remember, there is a side entrance with a few turnstiles that open for the slow morning trickle of EMH guests. The Toy Story area in the Studios is fab and I love Phantom Manor - I like the backstory better than Haunted Mansion but both are brilliant. Phantom Manor is in Frontierland and the story fits in with this. Instead of riding through a graveyard at the end you ride through a ghostly version of a frontier town.
The other great plus about DLP is you're only a 45 minute train ride from Paris and who doesn't love Paris?
Enjoy and don't worry, DLP doesn't require quite as much advance planning and booking as WDW but still worth having a touring plan and doing the research. Be prepared as both the Scouts say and as Scar sings!!