The Lion King show was INCREDIBLE. It’s Broadway quality. I wish I had watched it sooner in the trip so I could have done it twice. Do not miss it.
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There’s definitely a lot to do! I’ll think in summary what feels necessary days wise, but of course it makes a huge difference what the crowd levels are - and the size of the group. One full day and two 3/4 days on either side has felt right to me, but I’m solo and the crowds have been super manageable.
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I love Donald’s outfit at the stage show 
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This is a good tip. I’m going to look up Eurostar departure times to avoid that rush since my time is flexible.
I feel like DLR needs 4-5 days to do it all (I went four and had a solid list to add day five for $10/pp but ended up not addicting it bc teen boys and DH were over it).
I can see DLP taking at least as much!
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I was going to ask why they all look like Elton John but then realized maybe they are trying to capture 1992…?
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Yeah, I think we got stuck behind a lot of people who just arrived and were dropping bags since it was too early to access rooms. Good luck!
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Hey, there’s nothing retro about Sir Elton! He’s still being awesome in the UK charts at least 
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One last souvenir stop and I think it’s officially time to say au revoir to Disneyland Paris. I really feel like I’ve seen everything I want to see and had such a great time. Still lots of vacation to go since I’m heading back to Paris until Sunday.
I’ll put together all my overall thoughts on the train ride back or tonight at the hotel! Thanks for following along!
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Thanks for sharing your trip and your fabulous photos.
Safe travels and have fun in Paris!
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Your beignet looked a bit ropey but otherwise your pics have been fantastic! Enjoy Paris.
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Hahah agreed, it was not the most impressive snack.
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We were there 3 nights which came with 4 days of tickets, so we did 2 full days with half days on either side. It actually felt like just a little too much for us. I was glad for our Plaza lunch on the last day to take up some time.
That being said, a ton was still closed when we were there and my kiddies were too short for some of the bigger rides. So I would think 2-3 days would be enough. I think 4 full days would be a lot. Especially since the hotels aren’t quite as “resort-y” as at WDW.
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We need more things like this at WDW!!
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My random collection of takeaways in no particular order!
- DLP doesn’t have fuelrods but they do offer battery rental. €4 for 2 hours, €10 for the day
- There is free wifi across the parks. A lifesaver for someone on limited international data. I found it to be quick for posting on instagram, touringplans, and running the DL app without any problem.
- The parks are very pretty. The landscaping in particular is really captivating - especially outside the Disneyland Hotel and within Parc Disneyland. The flowers are all just gorgeous. The castle is also my favorite. The Mary Blair trees and the beautiful architecture…plus the dragon! Easy win for me.
- Smoking - this is not exclusive to DLP and is an annoyance across Europe, but it’s a weird combo of smoking and Disney. You don’t expect to be walking down Main Street and through a big cloud of cigarette smoke. There are specific smoking sections, but there were multiple times I had people around me light up outside of them. In a packed crowded waiting for Illuminations was the most egregious.
- Merch - this was probably the saddest thing for me. I came ready to spend money! The merch is basically the same in every single shop…and it’s not my favorite. The difficulty in finding simple tshirts that just said DLP was mind blowing to me. I did finally end up with a tshirt and a sweatshirt, along with a couple of magnets and souvenir figurine. I was also disappointed by the lack of ornaments. There was a dedicated Christmas store but it had 5 total different ornaments and none of them were DLP specific. Similarly there were only about 6 different pairs of ears available and only one was DLP specific.
- Food - All I heard in my research is how bad the food is, and how crazy that is considering it’s France. I only had one restaurant meal at Chez Remy and that was definitely disappointing. Worst steak I’ve had on Disney property by a long shot. And most of the food around the parks is pretty uninspired quick service. I didn’t end up eating basically any of it. I had Earl of Sandwich one day and a Croque Monsieur and they were both fine. Tough to go wrong with ham, cheese and bread in my eyes. The crab cakes and drink at the Skyline Bar were excellent and I would definitely go there again, despite the inattentive service (that’s kind of the norm in Paris that I’ve experienced). The snacks I had were all pretty tasty, but there’s none of the insane deliciousness like at the US parks. Nothing particularly creative.
- Language - This really wasn’t an issue at all. Most rides were either in both French and English or rotated between rides or the language wasn’t necessary to understand the story. The Cast Members all spoke English and it was very impressive to hear many of them give directions in French, Spanish and English. It was odd to not hear much English around me while waiting in line, etc.
- HNY - this hotel is great. Brand new and you can tell. Nice design touches in the artwork especially. The convenience to the park can’t be understated. I’m spoiled when I go back to WDW hotels. The price was good with a discount for early booking last year.
- Park outfits - most guests are not in Disney attire. This is such a weird shift, but understandable if it’s more day guests and less vacationers. I’d say 10% of people had any kind of Disney shirt and <5% were in ears. Plenty of people in it, and it wouldn’t be weird to show up in Disney gear in any way, but it was something I noticed, as someone who plans each Disney outfit, tshirt and ears for a trip.
- The entertainment is stellar. Both shows I went to were incredible and the castle/stage show was SO much fun. Seriously, everyone is dancing along with it. Entertainment should be a priority on a trip and it’s not usually something I take a ton of time to do at WDW.
- The paid seating and paid premier access were fine. I did like not having to buy a whole package and being able to just get a couple rides (although I believe that’s coming this summer). The prices for it all are crazy though. It helps standby move quickly because I don’t think it’s being used a ton.
- Park ranking - I’ve now been to 8 of the 12 parks. Hopefully I can get out to the Asia parks soon! I’m not totally sure where DLP fits in the ranking yet, but WDS is definitely last. It’s only a half day park at best at the moment - despite Crush being awesome.
- You don’t need a full planning itinerary/touring plan. You really don’t. I was searching high and low for recommendations before my trip with not much luck, and now I can see why. Have a plan in mind for Rope Drop, but other than that, it was so easy to just bounce around based on my mood and wait times. Plus things often closed at random times, so being too attached to a schedule would have been frustrating. It did help me to have a list of what rides I wanted to do broken down by new/different, same as US, and rerides.
- Time needed - one full day and two 3/4 days on either side were perfect for me. I don’t know what I would have done with more time. I rode everything I wanted and multiple times and saw shows, plus just generally took it easy. I think you could definitely do a solid two days and be happy. One day if it wasn’t super busy and you were willing to pay for premier access and just focus on the highlights. I would get park hopper because you don’t want a whole day at WDS. Once Avengers Campus opens you probably could. Grain of salt is that it wasn’t crazy busy when I was there and I was traveling as a solo adult with lots of time in the WDW parks especially.
I hope this is helpful and please let me know if anyone has any questions, although I’m far from an expert!
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Agreed! 4 days feels like too many.
Thank you!!!
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I feel like I only went for one day/both parks in 2013 and it was enough. There is more stuff now of course.
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This has happened to me at DLR when I’ve scanned in and out of one park too quickly and then tried to enter the other park. Weird.
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