Possible First Trip Questions

Disney Analyst

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Hey everyone,

So we are looking at a London/Paris trip in September. Obviously if we go to Paris I’d like to take the train out and visit Disney!

What are the recommendations and thoughts? Can you do it one day with travel back and forth from Paris? Can you do two days with that travel? Should we be looking at staying near the park when we want to go?

What do I need to know? How do I plan this? Help me. Haha.
 

Swissmiss

Premium Member
It’s probably doable for a day trip but would be exhausting. Best is to avoid DLP on weekends - weekdays in September aren’t usually crowded so waits should be minimal. Although there is sometimes a direct EUROSTAR train from London Pancras station, I would advise taking the one to Paris and then getting the RER train to Marne La Vallée (you’d need to take the RER B for a stop or two and then change to the RER A). If the station at DLP has to get closed because some idiot leaves their bag unattended, then the closest RER station is a short cab ride away. On a EUROSTAR or TGV train, the next station could be quite far (40 mins). And yes, this has happened to me and people I know in the last year coming from a southeast direction and not being able to get off the train until CDG airport. The other thing to know is going back to London on the RER you need to factor in the time to go thru immigration and security at Gare du Nord in Paris, so you to factor this into your return trip.
 

Disney Analyst

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
It’s probably doable for a day trip but would be exhausting. Best is to avoid DLP on weekends - weekdays in September aren’t usually crowded so waits should be minimal. Although there is sometimes a direct EUROSTAR train from London Pancras station, I would advise taking the one to Paris and then getting the RER train to Marne La Vallée (you’d need to take the RER B for a stop or two and then change to the RER A). If the station at DLP has to get closed because some idiot leaves their bag unattended, then the closest RER station is a short cab ride away. On a EUROSTAR or TGV train, the next station could be quite far (40 mins). And yes, this has happened to me and people I know in the last year coming from a southeast direction and not being able to get off the train until CDG airport. The other thing to know is going back to London on the RER you need to factor in the time to go thru immigration and security at Gare du Nord in Paris, so you to factor this into your return trip.

Thank you! I mean our plan is to do Paris for at least 5 days, so I want to build in Disneyland within that.
 

aquitania

New Member
Is it your first time to the park? It's certainly doable as a day trip from most areas of Paris - it comes down to how much you want to see. I'd recommend more than one day for a first time visit to the park in order to see/ride everything, but if you're happy enough to just see the park and tick it off your list, one day should be fine. If so, I'd suggest just spending your day in the main park unless there's anything in particular at studios you want to see.

Its on the RER A line so as long as you're somewhere close enough to a metro station you'll be grand to get there and back within the day as the Paris transit system is pretty good with fairly straight forward connections. If you wanted to, you could chose to stay somewhere closer to the RER A line (or somewhere with easy connections to it) as it means an early morning train out to Marne La Vallee and a late one back after fireworks. I've always found that the excitement of Disney sees me through the long day when I've made a day trip from Paris, but take care not to plan too much the next day (i.e. don't walk around the park all day and plan to visit the louvre the next as you'll be exhausted!)
 

Disney Analyst

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Is it your first time to the park? It's certainly doable as a day trip from most areas of Paris - it comes down to how much you want to see. I'd recommend more than one day for a first time visit to the park in order to see/ride everything, but if you're happy enough to just see the park and tick it off your list, one day should be fine. If so, I'd suggest just spending your day in the main park unless there's anything in particular at studios you want to see.

Its on the RER A line so as long as you're somewhere close enough to a metro station you'll be grand to get there and back within the day as the Paris transit system is pretty good with fairly straight forward connections. If you wanted to, you could chose to stay somewhere closer to the RER A line (or somewhere with easy connections to it) as it means an early morning train out to Marne La Vallee and a late one back after fireworks. I've always found that the excitement of Disney sees me through the long day when I've made a day trip from Paris, but take care not to plan too much the next day (i.e. don't walk around the park all day and plan to visit the louvre the next as you'll be exhausted!)

Yes it would be first time, and obviously there are rides at Studios that id like to do... but I just don’t know if the park is even worth taking time away from Disneyland?

I don’t know if my partner would give me two days haha! My priority is to experience Disneyland; I’ve done all state side parks.
 

Swissmiss

Premium Member
Yes it would be first time, and obviously there are rides at Studios that id like to do... but I just don’t know if the park is even worth taking time away from Disneyland?

I don’t know if my partner would give me two days haha! My priority is to experience Disneyland; I’ve done all state side parks.

Depending on when you go in September, you may have very low crowds and be able to accomplish quite a bit in just one day. I have been going for the half marathon weekend in September since it began in 2016 and often lines on that Friday are minimal. One year I took a picture of Peter Pan shortly after park opening that had a 5 minute posted wait.
 

Disney Analyst

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Depending on when you go in September, you may have very low crowds and be able to accomplish quite a bit in just one day. I have been going for the half marathon weekend in September since it began in 2016 and often lines on that Friday are minimal. One year I took a picture of Peter Pan shortly after park opening that had a 5 minute posted wait.

Good to know! So a park hopper could be worth it.
 

JillC LI

Well-Known Member
We stayed on the outskirts of Paris and took the RER there for a day trip in July. We got there before park opening and accomplished everything we felt was important to do before leaving - not everything of course but the highlights.
 

es135

Well-Known Member
I'm going in May for a day and was wondering if purchasing the fast pass ticket is worth it. I think for $150 extra, we can exclusively use the fast pass lines for the day. Would I be okay just using the traditional fast pass?
 

Swissmiss

Premium Member
I'm going in May for a day and was wondering if purchasing the fast pass ticket is worth it. I think for $150 extra, we can exclusively use the fast pass lines for the day. Would I be okay just using the traditional fast pass?

“Worth it” is very subjective. There are 3 FP rides in the Studios, 2 of which I don’t ride and the third (Ratatouille) my DD and I can ride quicker using single rider. In the MK there are six, 2 of which I don’t ride and the other four I can usually get on either standby or getting a FP. And unless you are going one of the ten days that month that it is lower priced, the cost is a bit more than $180.
 

PorterRedkey

Well-Known Member
Hey everyone,

So we are looking at a London/Paris trip in September. Obviously if we go to Paris I’d like to take the train out and visit Disney!

What are the recommendations and thoughts? Can you do it one day with travel back and forth from Paris? Can you do two days with that travel? Should we be looking at staying near the park when we want to go?

What do I need to know? How do I plan this? Help me. Haha.
My wife and I did the same trip (London/Paris) last summer.

It is an hour to an hour and a half train ride, depending on where you are leaving from Paris. I would recommend at least 2 days since there are 2 parks, but it you just want to hit the highlights of Parc Disneyland. You could do that in a day, but it would be an crazy, long, busy day.

I would recommend staying near the park. It will be worth it.

PM me if you have any other questions. I am happy to share our experiences and what we learned from our trip.
 

PorterRedkey

Well-Known Member
On a EUROSTAR or TGV train, the next station could be quite far (40 mins). And yes, this has happened to me and people I know in the last year coming from a southeast direction and not being able to get off the train until CDG airport. The other thing to know is going back to London on the RER you need to factor in the time to go thru immigration and security at Gare du Nord in Paris, so you to factor this into your return trip.
Same thing happened to us after getting some bad advice from a local. We thought the train was never going to stop! 😕
 

Robbiem

Well-Known Member
DLP is easily doable as a day trip from Paris, it takes about 45 mins to an hour to get there from central Paris. If you can get your metro and park tickets before you go so no need to queue. The parks are close by and near the train station so no WDW style park hopping its easy to do both parks on the same day. If you’re familiar with Disney stateside DLP has some unique attractions like the walkthrough nautilus, a great big thunder and space mountain and the dragon under the castle. Some things like the fantasyland dark rides and buzz are basically the same as in the USA so skip these if you don’t have enough time.

Hope you have a great time.
 

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