Disneyland Paris has dozens of attractions – and it can be daunting to know which you should prioritise during your trip! But different groups will have different priorities. In this blog we’re recommending the top three rides that people might wish to focus on in each park, split up into groups. We’re basing our priorites list not only on the ride’s appeal but also it’s popularity – so you know where might get long queues during your trip and can plan your time!

For thrill seekers

We’re kicking off with the thrill rides – partly because most groups seem to have at least one thrill-seeker in their midst, but also because the thrill rides often seem to be the ones with the longest waits! Our recommended priorities are:

In Disneyland Park:

Hyper-Space Mountain: This coaster is a real thrill-seekers delight, featuring a thrilling blast-off and numerous inversions in the dark. It currently has a Star Wars overlay. The building itself also dominates all of Discoveryland, so it’s hard to miss! Hyperspace Mountain can build up some serious queues so it’s a good one to prioritise during early entry if you’re a Disney Hotel guest (and if the ride’s open), first thing in the morning, or last thing at night.

Big Thunder Mountain: While it has no inversions, this classic Disney-coaster still features plenty of twists, turns, and hills to delight coaster fans! The premise of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad is that you’e boarding a haunted runway mine-train, rattling round an abandoned gold mine in the old Wild West. At the time of writing (March 2025) Big Thunder is closed due to an extensive refurb and is due to reopen this summer. When it is open though, expect long queues to build up quickly, so again it’s a good one to hit early in the morning or late in the evening.

Star Tours – The Adventures Continue: Here you board a simulated shuttle ride through the Star Wars universe, where the hapless C3P0 inadvertently finds himself at the controls and thrown in the midst of battles with the Empire, or First Order, or more. Star Tours is a lot of fun, but it can also get rough with a lot of jerking and moving of the ride vehicle, and the 3D affects can play havoc with motion sickness. Having said that though it’s still popular and builds up queues in the middle of the day!

Other recommendations: I debated whether to put Star Tours or Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril in the third spot here. Indiana Jones is another coaster with a single inversion, but it’s also a rough and pretty thrilling ride! However due to Indy’s position at the back of the park and the fact it looks pretty intimidating, in general it seems to see lower waits than Star Tours. Later in the day the queue times for this one really seem to drop off.

In the Studios park:

Crush’s Coaster: Jump on the back of a turtle shell and cruise the ocean with Crush from Finding Nemo. Part dark ride, part spinning coaster in the dark, this ride has a surprising number of thrills – and some epic lines! Waits for Crush get high early and stay high all day. Our recommendation is to try and get there as early as you can. There’s also a single rider available which might cut waits. A warning on Crush – it looks more innocuous than it is, the combo of the dark and spinning can freak out some folks!

Tower of Terror: You really can’t miss the Tower of Terror – 13 imposing stories sat in the middle of the park, this is a drop tower ride where you fall faster than gravity in an elevator after exploring the creepy sights of the Twilight Zone at an abandoned hotel. Tower of Terror in Disneyland Paris is widely regarded as the creepiest incarnation of this now classic Disney ride. Queues tend to build up more slowly than Crush and can tail off at the end of the day, but it can still see some hefty lines!

Avengers Flight Force: Join Iron Man and Captain Marvel to save the day in this indoor coaster with multiple inversions and a massive high speed launch at the beginning. The ride’s pretty short but it packs a lot of action in that time, and this is a serious coaster for serious coaster fans – best not to use is at a kiddo’s first coaster even if they are a Marvel fan! Because of the height limit and thrill factor though queues tend to build up a lot more slower than at Crush, and tail off massively at the end of the day. We saw it at a walk-on during the last hour of park operation every day on our last visit.

Other recommendations: RC Racer is a funny ride, sat in Toy Story Playland you essentially sit in a big RC Racer car and drive back and forth on a very steeply curved track, sending riders almost vertical at the height of the ride. While probably not as much of a must do, this ride can rack up big waits at times simply due to it’s very slow loading nature!

For Disney storytelling at its best

No one can create a ride that immerses you in a world and tells a story quite like Disney. The true classic Disney attractions that most people have heard of sit in this category – and Disneyland Paris has some of the best! The other thing to note with these rides is that they are very family friendly, so everyone can ride them.

In Disneyland Park:

Phantom Manor: In Phantom Manor you discover the story of the bride Melanie Ravenswood, her ill-fated fiances, and the Phantom that stalked her, all while you sit in a carriage and cruise around a very haunted house. Phantom Manor is Paris’ take on the Disney classic Haunted Mansion – but here there is a more definitive storyline that ties into Frontierland as a whole, and a whole host of spooky effects waiting to be explored. While it may spook some little ones, this ride showcases what Disney does best – immersive storytelling with rich detail and fun surprises. We did a detailed blog on Phantom Manor if you’d like to know more – click here to have a read. Phantom Manor can rack up long waits in the middle of the day, so best to hit it in the morning or evening.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The classic ride, that inspired the hit film series, that then inspired the ride; in Pirates of the Caribbean you sit on a boat and sail through a pirate raid on a town full of special effects, and encounter a pirates curse at the end. This ride is so full of rich detail you could ride it many times and still not see everything! Pirates is very efficient at loading so generally speaking doesn’t get too long of a wait except during the peak part of the day (around 11am-3pm), or on very busy days.

It’s a Small World: Another boat ride, but here you’re cruising through scenes of the world populated by child dolls and colourful animals all singing the title song in their various languages. It’s a Small World is bright, colourful and full of whimsy. And yes, while the song may get stuck in your head for the rest of the day, it’s a dive into Disney magic, and kids tend to love it! Like Pirates, It’s a Small World tends to have it’s peak waits around the middle of the day and be quieter in the mornings and late afternoon / evening.

Other recommendations: Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain and Star Tours also have wonderful immersive queues and stories and are Disney classics, albeit with an extra chunk of thrill! The Fantasyland Dark rides are another good candidate here – we’ll talk about some of them more in a bit. And in Buzz Lightyear you get to join the fight against the evil Emperor Zurg!

In the Studios park:

WEB Slingers: Rides don’t have to be classics to have great story-telling! The newest ride on the block in the Walt Disney Studios park (for now), in this ride you board a vehicle and help Spiderman stop the Spider-Bots before they destroy Avengers Campus. And you do this by moving your arms to sling webs! It’s a lot of fun and the queue does a great job setting up the story. Plus you get scores which gives this a lot of re-ridability! Unfortunately though it does see some epic queues – we’d recommend hitting this early, or waiting until the last hour of the park day for lower waits. There’s also a Single Rider queue here to help cut down on waits if you’re on your own or don’t mind splitting up your party.

Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure: In this ride you’re shrunk down to the size of a rat and visit Gusteau’s restaurant in the company of Remy of from Ratatouille. This ride has another lovely queue to set the scene, and the set pieces and film on the ride itself really immerses you into the story. This ride has been popular since it opened, and gets some serious waits. We’d recommend hitting it in the morning or last thing in the evening.

Other recommendations: Tower of Terror is a Disney classic for a reason, but a rather more thrilling one so it’s only for those repared to drop in! While not rides per se, the shows in the Studios park also do a really love job with storytelling – especially Mickey and the Magician and Together: A Pixar Musical Adventure.

For the young (and young at heart)

Of course many people might be taking little ones with them to Disneyland Paris, in which case taking them on Space Mountain is going to be a big no-no! (Although you can use rider-swap to make sure grown-ups can still ride if they’d like). But there are also some adults who want to steer clear of the thrills and enjoy some of Disney’s more tranquil attractions. If so, this list is for you!

At Disneyland Park:

Peter Pan’s Flight: A Disney classic for a reason, in this ride you board a miniature pirate ship and then fly over scenes from the classic film Peter Pan. While pretty simple in concept, the execution and the feeling of flying is undeniably magical. But this magical rides packs some unmagical waits – queues get long quickly and stay long! We’d recommend heading to Peter Pan first thing to minimise time in line, especially if you’re a Disney hotel guest and have access to Magic Hour. Otherwise it may be a good candidate for a Premier Pass, where you pay for a shorter wait – budget depending! You can get individual passes just for Peter Pan if you don’t want to get the larger pass.

Dumbo the Flying Elephant: While really just a Disney-fied carnival ride, there’s something about sitting in the back of Dumbo to fly around in a circle that just hits different. We defy even the most cynical to come off this ride not smiling – depending on how long the wait for it is of course! Because of the nature of how Dumbo loads and unloads, queues for this ride can build up quickly. It’s another great choice for Early Entry, or you could try visiting while the parade is on for shorter lines.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs / Pinocchio’s Daring Journey: I couldn’t pick between these two rides as they are just next door to one another, have very similar queue times and crowd patterns, and have similar premises – you sit in a little car and experience scenes from the films, Snow White and Pinocchio respectively. Both are classic Disney attractions and perfect for fans of the films. Both also have a few scenes that could traumatise sensitive kids (or adults) – beware the witch in Snow White, and the Pleasure Island aftermath in Pinocchio! Queues wise they tend to build up late morning for these rides, and while they don’t see waits like Peter Pan they’re still pretty popular and a good candidate to try and hit up early in the morning.

Other recommendations: Both Casey Junior and the Storybook Canal Boats at the back of the park are great rides, offering different views of miniaturised scenes from classic Disney films. We must also give another shout out to Buzz Lightyear over in Discoveryland for its interactive gameplay and general good times. Also in this category I guess are Orbitron (think Dumbo but rockets, not elephants, and weirdly scarier), and Autopia (little cars on a fixed track). Both can build up hefty lines and both can be very popular with little ones – we’re not fans of either though we confess! And of course there’s the Carousel in Fantasyland, a classic and stunning attraction.

At the Walt Disney Studios Park:

Flying Carpets of Aladdin: Yup, it’s Dumbo again – but this time with carpets! While it may seem weird us listing this here, it’s because not many of the rides at the Studios really cater to very little ones, particularly ones that don’t want an element of thrill in their ride too! (We’re come back to that in a minute). Everyone seems to enjoy the Carpets though, and they’re less scary than Orbitron for sure! This ride can have long waits in the middle of the day but tends to be quieter until later morning, and from late afternoon on.

Cars Road Trip: Currently in a weird location tucked at the back of the park (largely due to the ongoing construction), in Cars Road Trip you board a tram in the company of two characters from the Cars films to see some of the sights on Route 66. This is mainly just models apart from Catastrophe Canyon – where you can experience an earthquake, rainstorm and flash flood! I didn’t list this first simply because the Catastrophe Canyon section can be a bit intense for some folks so I don’t know if it’s for everyone, and apart from that the ride is a bit, well, meh. It’s a slow loading ride but its tucked away position means that crowds don’t tend to build up too much really. It might be better to avoid the middle of the day to avoid the longest queues.

Cars – Four Wheels Rally: There’s a lot of bits for Cars fans in this park! In this ride you sit in a little car and get spun wildly around on a giant turntable. It’s a bit like the teacups in the other park but wilder and you can’t control the spin! Some folks love this ride. It made me feel very rough though so your mileage may vary! Compared to some of the other attractions this ride tends not to get the longest waits unless in the middle of the day.

Other recommendations: You would have thought Toy Story Playland would be in the top of the list wouldn’t you? But two out of the three rides have height requirements! I mentioned RC Racer before, and the Parachute Drop is essentially a much gentler and more family friendly drop ride than its imposing neighbour, the Tower of Terror. That leaves Slinky Dog Zig-Zag Spin, where you sit on Slinky as he chases his tail round in a circle with lots of little hills and bumps along the way. I low-key rather love this ride, but it doesn’t tend to get long waits! I would say though that both Ratatouille and WEB Slingers are great choices for little ones and the young at heart!

For those who just want a really chill time

If you’re someone who’d like to spend some time just chilling, then these are the rides for you!

In Disneyland Park

Disneyland Railroad: Hop on-board a classic steam train and take a leisurely ride around the edge of the park. On the way you’ll get glimpses some of the classic rides, views across the lands, and there’s a Grand Canyon Diorama between Main Street USA and Frontierland. In theory the train has 4 stops – Main Street USA, Frontierland, Fantasyland and Discoveryland. However for some time now only the Main Street and Frontierland stations have been operating. All in all the ride takes about 15-20 minutes to complete the full circuit. While it can be a way to skip some walking, if you’re trying to get elsewhere in the park in a hurry it’s almost always quicker to walk – but if you just want to sit and watch the world go by, it’s great!

Thunder Mesa Riverboat: Board a classic paddleboat steamer and take a slow cruise around the Rivers of America, i.e. the body of water around Big Thunder Mountain in Frontierland. There’s a few animatronics along the way, gorgeous scenery and great views of Big Thunder and Phantom Manor. All in all the trip takes around 20 minutes or so. You can normally get on the next riverboat along so it doesn’t need a long wait. At the moment the ride is closed for refurbishment, but it should be back in the summer.

Main Street Vehicles: Board a bus, paddy wagon or trolley and travel up and down the length of Main Street USA. They offer a scenic and foot-saving way to travel the street. The vehicles will stop when parades or calvacades are on, so early morning is the best time to experience them.

Other recommendations: Although not rides, the walk-through attractions can be very lovely, and a much needed break from the crowds. We’d particularly recommend the Sleeping Beauty Castle walkthrough and the Mysteries of the Nautilus, but they’re all great. Also Mickey’s Philharmagic is a great 3D film featuring songs from Disney attractions, and it’s rare not to get into the next show. The best show in the park is the Rhythm of the Pridelands, but as you need to line up well in advance of showtime it’s not really a relaxing experience getting into the show, but the show itself is great.

In the Studios park

Umm, are you in the right park? Sadly the Studios doesn’t tend to have the chill scenic rides like the Disneyland Park. However, what this park does have a lot of lovely shows – we’d particularly recommend Mickey and the Magician, Together: A Musical Adventure, and Stitch Live. The Frozen show is also nice but it’s a bit weird because you move theatres half-way through. In the case of this show, Mickey and the Magician and Together you do need to get in line early. In the spring and summer the Alice on Wonderland show is also on. The shows offer a more chill experience at what otherwise can be a bit of a stressful park!

Hopefully that’ll help those planning Disneyland Paris trips to plan out your trips, and prioritise some of the magical rides that the parks have to offer!