I recently experienced Disneyland Paris for the first time and thought I would post a lose recap/thoughts of my day in the park, if anyone is interested! Some background, I grew up less than an hour from WDW and have been visiting the Florida parks most of my life. Now I'm an AP holder and have the opportunity to visit semi-regularly. This trip was the first time I got to visit a park that wasn't in Florida! Also, I was traveling with my husband who tolerates my Disney obsession but does not share it himself, which is why we only did 1 day in the park. There's a lot to see and do in Paris and I wanted to experience the city as much as possible while in France. 
We visited the park on a Sunday in February. I purchased two tickets the night before with the promotion that allowed adults to buy a ticket at the price of a child's ticket. Only caveat is you MUST have the tickets printed out! That caused a little bit of a scramble trying to find an internet cafe where we could print the tickets. After some deliberation, I decided to skip the Studios park. I could not justify the increased cost to see a park that I've read is not up to Disney standards. I would literally be paying to enter the park so I could ride Ratatouille and that wasn't enough to justify it for me.
We were in Paris for a full week, and Sunday was not my first pick of a day to go to the park but the way our week in Paris was unfolding, Sunday was the most logical day to attend. I think the crowds were higher then if we had gone in the middle of the week, but "high crowds" at Disneyland Paris is a dream compared to MK.
The park opened at 10 am (really, it was a dream for someone who enjoys sleeping in). We left our AirBnb at 8:40, hopped on the RER Red line and were were off the train walking into the park at 9:40. I had zero complaints about the train ride to Disneyland. (We took transit the entire week we were in Paris and never waited more then 5 minutes for a train. Paris has a great public transportation system.)
Hyperspace Mountain was a ton of fun! I had read it was "intense" and jerky but it honestly wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! We also enjoyed the Nautilus walk through attraction and you can't beat seeing the dragon underneath the castle. Overall, I loved the vibe of the Paris Tomorrowland. It was just missing a People Mover
I never used Fast Pass. Coming from WDW, I had a lot of anxiety about not being able to plan out my day but honestly, you don't need to. I had read it's easy to score a FP for the big attractions, but the FP distribution kiosks were closed all day which threw me for a loop. The only FP distribution I did see was for Buzz Lightyear, and distribution didn't start until 4 pm with a return time of 7 pm. The upside to limited FP, the lines actually moved. I was never just standing or sitting in a line, we were moving the entire time. The longest wait was for Big Thunder, which was posted at 44 minutes around 5:30 pm. I was moving my feet the entire time I was in line and it went extremely fast and was actually a 30 minute wait.
Fantasyland was breathtaking. Really. It was so beautiful and intricate, with water features and stunning details.
I absolutely loved the arcades on the opposite side of the Main Street shops and restaurants. So Persian and these offered a way to by pass Main Street during a parade or warm up a little, since it was in the high 40's.
I had read horror stories of food in this park. I did some research and per Tom Brinkers restaurant reviews, decided on Toad Hall in Fantasyland for a lunch of fish and chips. The line was incredibly slow and inefficient, but the food was good. I have no complaints.
We took a mid day break to explore the Disneyland Hotel. It was stunning, reminded me a less grandiose Grand Floridian. We had drinks at Fantasia Lounge which was another highlight of our day. The best part is that leaving the park and walking to the hotel took all of 3 minutes. Phantom Manor was down for refurbishment which was sad BUT I did get to ride Pirates of the Caribbean! THIS WAS INCREDIBLE. My absolute favorite ride of the day and I'm so so happy I got to do this even with a "high" wait, all of 40 minutes (lol). I've read others describe it as "everything Imagineering was excelling at in the 90's" and I couldn't agree more. Really fantastic from start to finish. It also had the updated red head scene. Don't miss it if you make it out to Disneyland Paris.
I wanted to stay for the nighttime entertainment, but we were pretty worn out since we go to the park at opening. It was really easy to accomplish all of the major rides though (without FP) have a lunch, take a mid day break, and I didn't feel like I missed anything. Very relaxing and a total departure of how I approach touring MK.
I hope this was helpful to anyone planning a trip to Disneyland Paris Not having any FP's distributed threw me off, but it did not negatively impact our experience. I had an incredible day exploring a new park and now I'm scheming when I can make a return trip.
We visited the park on a Sunday in February. I purchased two tickets the night before with the promotion that allowed adults to buy a ticket at the price of a child's ticket. Only caveat is you MUST have the tickets printed out! That caused a little bit of a scramble trying to find an internet cafe where we could print the tickets. After some deliberation, I decided to skip the Studios park. I could not justify the increased cost to see a park that I've read is not up to Disney standards. I would literally be paying to enter the park so I could ride Ratatouille and that wasn't enough to justify it for me.
We were in Paris for a full week, and Sunday was not my first pick of a day to go to the park but the way our week in Paris was unfolding, Sunday was the most logical day to attend. I think the crowds were higher then if we had gone in the middle of the week, but "high crowds" at Disneyland Paris is a dream compared to MK.
The park opened at 10 am (really, it was a dream for someone who enjoys sleeping in). We left our AirBnb at 8:40, hopped on the RER Red line and were were off the train walking into the park at 9:40. I had zero complaints about the train ride to Disneyland. (We took transit the entire week we were in Paris and never waited more then 5 minutes for a train. Paris has a great public transportation system.)
Hyperspace Mountain was a ton of fun! I had read it was "intense" and jerky but it honestly wasn't as bad as I thought it would be! We also enjoyed the Nautilus walk through attraction and you can't beat seeing the dragon underneath the castle. Overall, I loved the vibe of the Paris Tomorrowland. It was just missing a People Mover
I never used Fast Pass. Coming from WDW, I had a lot of anxiety about not being able to plan out my day but honestly, you don't need to. I had read it's easy to score a FP for the big attractions, but the FP distribution kiosks were closed all day which threw me for a loop. The only FP distribution I did see was for Buzz Lightyear, and distribution didn't start until 4 pm with a return time of 7 pm. The upside to limited FP, the lines actually moved. I was never just standing or sitting in a line, we were moving the entire time. The longest wait was for Big Thunder, which was posted at 44 minutes around 5:30 pm. I was moving my feet the entire time I was in line and it went extremely fast and was actually a 30 minute wait.
Fantasyland was breathtaking. Really. It was so beautiful and intricate, with water features and stunning details.
I absolutely loved the arcades on the opposite side of the Main Street shops and restaurants. So Persian and these offered a way to by pass Main Street during a parade or warm up a little, since it was in the high 40's.
I had read horror stories of food in this park. I did some research and per Tom Brinkers restaurant reviews, decided on Toad Hall in Fantasyland for a lunch of fish and chips. The line was incredibly slow and inefficient, but the food was good. I have no complaints.
We took a mid day break to explore the Disneyland Hotel. It was stunning, reminded me a less grandiose Grand Floridian. We had drinks at Fantasia Lounge which was another highlight of our day. The best part is that leaving the park and walking to the hotel took all of 3 minutes. Phantom Manor was down for refurbishment which was sad BUT I did get to ride Pirates of the Caribbean! THIS WAS INCREDIBLE. My absolute favorite ride of the day and I'm so so happy I got to do this even with a "high" wait, all of 40 minutes (lol). I've read others describe it as "everything Imagineering was excelling at in the 90's" and I couldn't agree more. Really fantastic from start to finish. It also had the updated red head scene. Don't miss it if you make it out to Disneyland Paris.
I wanted to stay for the nighttime entertainment, but we were pretty worn out since we go to the park at opening. It was really easy to accomplish all of the major rides though (without FP) have a lunch, take a mid day break, and I didn't feel like I missed anything. Very relaxing and a total departure of how I approach touring MK.
I hope this was helpful to anyone planning a trip to Disneyland Paris
Not having any FP's distributed threw me off, but it did not negatively impact our experience. I had an incredible day exploring a new park and now I'm scheming when I can make a return trip.
