We recently spent a day at Disneyland Paris with Hopper tickets for both parks. We chose the Easter holidays for slightly better prices on tickets and accommodation. Check the daily prices online so you can pick the cheapest day for your family. I paid £95 per ticket for four of us (dated hopper tickets) for a total of £380 — booking outside school holidays can cut that cost significantly.
Buy dated tickets in advance to avoid disappointment; last-minute visits can sell out. Use the attractiontickets.com calendar to spot cheaper dates. Before you go, study the official DLP website and download the app. The site lists rides and shows; the app gives real-time queue estimates. I went through every ride and circled the ones we wanted, then ordered them by priority so we could hit the thrill rides first.
Bring a paper map or screenshot and map out a route to avoid zig-zagging across the parks. We started at Walt Disney Studios and queued for Avengers Assemble right at gate opening — we were about tenth in line and boarded after roughly ten minutes. By following our plan, we finished our must-do rides in the Studios by mid-afternoon and then moved to the main park, completing most of our list by 5pm.
The app’s wait times are rough guides — sometimes it showed 5 minutes when there was no queue and other times it underestimated. Our longest waits were around 40 minutes for Big Thunder Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean. If you want Crush’s Coaster, do it first thing or during magic hours; queues are typically at least 90 minutes, and we missed it because we didn’t prioritise it. It’s very popular because it’s a big thrill with a lower height requirement for smaller kids.
Watching ride videos on YouTube (the DLP Welcome channel is good) helped us get excited and know what to expect. We watched Avengers Assemble before our visit, and I’ve kept watching Tower of Terror since — it really is another level.
You can bring a rucksack with food and drinks and take it on most rides; staff usually ask you to place it between your legs. The RC Racer is an exception and needs a locker because the ride uses a single car that stops and starts at the same point.
Use the website to check restaurant menus and dietary options so you can plan food costs. We chose Colonel Hathi’s Outpost Restaurant for dinner because the Italian menu suited us and the meal deal was good. We ate around 7pm with no queue; our meal cost about €60 for three adult menus and a child’s meal. For lunch we brought rolls and snacks in our rucksack and had drinks handy all day. We also had breakfast in Disney Village since we arrived early.
If you want good spots for shows or parades, arrive at least 30 minutes early — Main Street USA fills up fast. For the 5:30pm parade I found a spot near the pavilion where the route turned; staff kept people off a small crossing area until the parade started, which prevented crowding and gave a clear view. The Electrical Parade started at 10:50pm and the fireworks show at 11pm; watching from near the pavilion let us leave quickly afterward and avoid a late-night crush. Note: the World of Disney store by the entrance is open from 9am to 1am, so you can shop after the fireworks.
We didn’t stay in a Disney hotel. We stayed off-site at Eurocamp La Croix du Vieux Pont and Villages Nature, both of which offer shuttle or bus routes to the park. Villages Nature is on bus 47 (€2.50 per person each way) with buses every 30 minutes; we left at 7:20am and returned at 12:40am. Whatever you book, check the transport times ahead so you know the earliest and latest options.
There’s so much to see and do that one day won’t cover everything. Decide what matters most to your family and prioritise those rides and shows — everything else is a bonus.
