It’s no secret that a trip to Disneyland Paris can be an expensive affair – so naturally when people visit they want to get the most out of their days! But large crowds and long lines can test the limits of everyone’s faith, trust and pixie dust. But don’t panic – there’s ways you can help maximise your time and minimise your waiting in line. Here we share our top tips to help you get the most out of your Disneyland Paris day.

Tip 1 – Plan for Magic Hour!

If you are staying in one of Disney’s own resorts, then you are entitled to Magic Hour! This is when resort guests can access some of the rides in both of the Disneyland Paris parks for one hour (typically 8.30am to 9.30am) before non-resort guests can. This means that for this hour there are lower crowds in the parks – and yes, shorter waits for the ride queues!

We get it, not everyone wants to get up early on vacation. (I don’t want to get up early ever to be fair). But the Magic Hour is the perfect time for ensuring you’re one of the first in line for some of the top rides in the park – in the Disneyland Park this can include Peter Pan’s Flight, Space Mountain or Buzz Lightyear. Over in the Studios rides open include WEB slingers, Crush’s Coaster and Ratatouille – all rides that can build up some hefty queues. We’ve walked on to Ratatuoille and WEB slingers in about 5 minutes in Magic Hour, and managed to knock out Peter Pan, Dumbo, Star Tours and Buzz before the day time crowds hit the park! And as for Crush’s Coaster, being one of the first few the gate during Magic Hour is probably the only way to avoid an hour wait or more for this popular ride.

If you are heading for Magic Hour we recommend looking up in advance what rides will be open (it can vary!) and setting up a plan of attack – what rides you want to go on and in what order. This saves you standing at a loss or arguing with your family about where you’re going while the more organised folks stream past you and steal your prime spot!

Of course Magic Hour has its downsides – if you’re not a Disney resort guest (or are but fancy a lie in!) then by the time you get to the park hundreds of guests will be there before you and some waits will have already built up. But Magic Hour can still help your planning – if you know what rides are included, then when the park fully opens you can head first to the rides that were not – meaning you’ll be among the first in line! Pinocchio or Snow White in Fantasyland can be really good options for this as they’re seldom included in Magic Hour but build up some hefty queues at times (and these queues are what we affectionally call ‘switchback hell’ when it’s just rows of people going back and forth next to each other!)

Tip 2 – Or stay late!

Yes the Disney parks tend to be quieter first thing in the morning. But you know when else they tend to be quieter? Last thing at night! The last hour of opening for both parks can be one of the best times to get in ride lines as folks have either headed back to their hotels after a long day of fun or are staking out spots for the nighttime show.

On our last trip the lines for the rides still open in the last hour of park opening at the Studios pretty much all dropped to a 5 minute wait (except the troublesome Crush’s Coaster). And the last hour in Disneyland Park can be a great time to tackle rides in Frontierland, Adventureland or Discoveryland while most folks are in and around Main Street!

There are some caveats to the last hour of the day strategy – one is that some attractions close earlier – this may particularly be the case for walk-through attractions, shows, and character meet and greets. So it’s not perfect for everything. It’s also worth noting that large chunks of Fantasyland close earlier than park closing too because they’re in a potential drop area for the fireworks from ‘Tales of Magic’. And if a ride has a technical issue late in the day that forces it to close, it’s unlikely to come back up! So things to consider. But it’s still a time saver.

If you’re on a very short trip you might want to both use Magic Hour and stay until the end of the day – but it can be a very long and tiring day! If you have little ones in tow and plan to do this we’d recommend taking a break in the middle of the day, either back at your resort or a longer sit down in a restaurant.

Tip 3 – Use the less well-known paths

We’ve all been there – you’re in a hurry to get somewhere and then you suddenly encounter along the way a whole mass of people walking slowly, stopping to take photos, or just stopping as a large group in the middle of the path because apparently the rest of us can teleport around them. (Serious side note, if your group needs to stop at some point in the parks for some reason, please pull over to the side to do it so you’re not blocking everyone’s way). Thankfully though, there are some less well known paths and shortcuts you can use in Disneyland Paris that can help save you some time!

(Another side note for our differently-abled friends who don’t like crowds, these can also be good places to go if things are feeling a bit too peopley in the parks).

One example of this are the arcades at the back of Main Street, one runs up each side behind the shops and restaurants linking Town Square (park entrance) end to the Hub (castle) end. If you’re facing the castle the one behind Main Street on the left is Liberty Arcade, and on the right is Discovery Arcade. Not only are these much quieter paths than Main Street itself, they also provide back door entry to the shops and restaurants, and are covered. Plus there’s seats and toilets, what’s not to love?! They do get busier at the end of the day when the crowds are on Main Street waiting for the nighttime spectacular, but they’ll still be quieter than Main Street itself.

Also look for the covered path between Frontierland and Adventureland – as you enter Frontierland from the Hub, once you’re through the Fort gates but before you enter the land properly there’s a path on the right. If you follow it, it leads all the way to Adventureland! Actually there’s a lot of little paths between Frontierland and Adventureland that are full of theming that can be pretty quiet – just keep a map handy in case you get lost.

Also in Adventureland, if you’re heading from Pirates of the Caribbean to Indiana Jones it’ll likely be quicker to take a short cut through Adventure Isle rather than walking round the edge – and quieter! (Although again it’s also easy to get a bit lost here).

And while they’re certainly not secret paths by all means, the path from Fantasyland to Discoveryland by Pizzeria Bella Notte, and the path behind Space Mountain in Discoveryland can often be quieter than other paths in these lands.

The Studios is sadly a bit more lacking in short cuts or quiet paths, particularly while the construction work is taking place – however directly behind the World Premiere Plaza building (formerly Studio 1) there is Hollywood Boulevard, soon to be part of Adventure Way. If you walk down what’s open and turn right just before the construction walls, you may find a quieter path to Toy Story Playland open. (This path being open has been very hit or miss though).

Tip 4 – Use Mobile Order in the Quick Service restaurants!

This tip is one that I’m surprised more people don’t use, because my word is it a time saver! Did you know that for many of the park’s quick service restaurants you can place your order with your Mobile via the Disneyland Paris app, and the head directly in to collect it from the counter without having to queue to place the order? If not, now’s the time to start using this nifty app feature!

Mobile ordering on the app is pretty easy – you simply press ‘Food’ in the bottom menu, scroll down to ‘Click and Collect’ and press ‘See all’. You’ll then see a list of restaurants that click and collect is available for. From here you can press ‘Order now’, and then from the menu select the items you wish to order. Then you confirm order, enter your payment details and presto! Your order is sent to the kitchen. You can then walk straight up to the collection point and pick up your food (but before you do make sure you click the button in your confirmation email to say you’ve arrived).

In our experience with mobile order we’ve never waited more than 5 or so minutes, apart from once at Last Chance Cafe when the queue to order and pick up food was the same so that was a bit of a dud! But it’s a great way to save having to queue to order and pay in the quick service restaurants, which can be epically slow.

There are a few caveats with this system. Some restaurants aren’t on Mobile Order – notable exceptions include Toad Hall, Colonel Haithi’s and Stark Factory. Also if you’re on one of the Meal Plans you do need to order at a till. And finally if you have any allergies or want to request any adjustments to the food you’ll need to order in person too as you can’t do that in the app. Despite the restrictions though we think it’s a good system!

Tip 5 – Meet Characters at your Disney resort (or at a meal)

There’s no doubt about it, waits to meet characters can be loooooooong at Disneyland Paris. So long that Disney is introducing a virtual queue via the app for some of them! While this should help reduce some queue times, getting slots on virtual queues can be competitive and there may still be a wait for the character once your virtual queue times arrive. But there is a way to meet characters with less of a queue – at your Disney resort.

Each of the hotels has their own set character meet and greets. At Disneyland and New York there are set Princess and Marvel superhero meet and greets respectively that only resort guests can book, which tend to have shorter waits. For the other resorts generally characters meet off the resort lobby and have a simple walk up and wait style queue. While not likely to be instantaneous, these queues still tend to be a lot shorter than lines in the parks!

As with Mobile Order above, there’s a few caveats to this time saver. Not all characters are going to be in the resorts – rather the characters will fit the resort theme – Donald and Pals in nautical-wear at Newport Bay, Chip and Dale at Sequoia Lodge, Woody and Jessie from Toy Story at Hotel Cheyenne, and generally one of the fab five characters in either racing or seasonal attire at Santa Fe (I guess they couldn’t have Lightning McQueen driving through the lobby!!). Also it’s been hit and miss whether guests not staying at that resort can use the meet and greets – it’s a straight no at the Disneyland and New York Hotels, and we’ve heard they’re starting to crack down at the others. But character meet and greets at your resort are there, they’re free and they’re worth taking advantage of!

Another way to save time meeting characters is to go for a character dining meal. Here while you eat a selection of characters come round the tables to meet with guests. They can be a great way to meet a number of characters in one hit. But I didn’t include them as the main point here because they’re hard to book (due to popularity) and they can be very expensive! You can find out more about character dining in our overview of table-service restaurants at Disneyland Paris blog post.

Tip 6 – Go for skip the line options if you a) qualify or b) need and can afford it!

Ride lines at Disney can get long, so unsurprisingly Disney offer ways to minimise your time in line.

The first offering is for differently-abled folks or people with medical conditions that can’t wait in regular standby lines. There are two options for this – the Priority Pass is for people with certain documentation with proof of disability. This option allows the person with the pass and three other people to access the disabled or Premier pass queues of lines as and when they need to. It can also help minimise time waiting in quick service restaurants. Disney’s criteria for who can get this pass is pretty strict so it’s not worth applying if you don’t meet the criteria – but if you do it can be a real help. Find out more at on Disneyland Paris’ website. If you have a recognised long-term chronic condition but don’t qualify for the Priority Pass then you may be eligible for the Easy Access Pass, which allows you to book return times for rides, when you can then return to for a shorter wait in line. Again if you want to see the eligibility criteria check out the Disneyland Paris website.

For many folks they of course will not qualify for the Priority or Easy- Access passes – but you can instead choose to skip the longer ride lines by paying for Premier Pass! With these passes you essentially get a special queue line to board some of the most popular rides, and your wait time will be a lot shorter. There’s a couple of options with Premier Pass – you can either buy one all encompassing pass for both parks that covers all the rides in the system. Or you can pay individually for each ride.

Premier Pass sounds great, but there is a cost involved – and for the all day pass it’s a hefty one! We’d only really recommend this all-day pass if you’re going at a very busy time of year and only have a day or so and you’re determined to maximise your time in the parks to its utmost. Instead we’d recommend seeing how the crowd levels are, and then if you feel you need a Premier Pass just buying it for the rides you need, that maybe you can’t get on either during Magic Hour or before park closing. In our experience you can normally buy a Premier Pass for an individual ride and use it relatively quickly (although that might be different at a super busy time). We do get though that Premier Pass is another cost on top of what can already by a very expensive trip – so it’s really up to you to see if you can afford it.

As a side note you can also buy priority access to shows. While these can help guarantee you a seat they’re not much of a time save because you still need to be at the theatres about 20-30 minutes before show time (and probably even earlier if you’ve gone for the parade or Tales of Magic viewing spots and want to secure the best place in the special viewing area). So while they can be a bit of a time benefit, and certainly reduce some of the stress with shows, we don’t think they’re massive time savers.

Tip 7 – Shop during the day!

Okay hear me out on this one. In both parks the shops near the exit (so Main Street in Disneyland Park, and the Entrance Courtyard (and soon World Premiere Plaza) in the Studios stay open a bit after park closing to allow people to grab their last minute souvenirs so they’re not carrying them around all day. And the Disney Village is open late for the same reason. And this sounds great in theory, right? No one wants to carry bags all day. But the only problem is that everyone else has same idea! So expect these shops at these times to be busy and queues to be loooong.

So to avoid this, try shopping during the day! We tend to reserve one sort of lunchtime period to hit up the Main Street shops, and maybe head to the Village shops before park close on another day simply because we known they’ll be a lot quieter, so more space to breathe, browse and spend. This can be a real time saver – because this middle of the day period tends to be the time the ride lines are longest too. So you’re not in a long ride line and won’t be fighting crowds at the end of the day. Double win!

Of course there is a problem, you’ll be left carrying what you buy! And I get it, it’s a pain. If you are at a Disney resort though and it’s not check-out day, if you spend over 50 euros you can get your items sent back to your resort gift shop. And there is also bag storage at the front of Disneyland Park if you want to use that for purchases. If you really get stuck there’s even luggage lockers in the train station! But a bit of hassle with bags might be worth it to avoid a whole lot of hassle and waiting at the end of the day.

Tip 8 – Walk to your resort. No, really!

All the on-site Disney resorts (so not Davy Crockett Ranch) offer shuttles to and from the parks, and on paper this might seem by far the quickest way to travel between your resort and the parks. But often this might not be the case!

At peak times (so around park opening and especially after park close) the resort shuttles can get overwhelmed with people, so it’s not unusual to have to wait for one, two of even three buses before you get on one. Also the bus stops for the parks are actually next to the train station so you still need to walk round this and then get through park security before you get in the parks in the morning, and yes crowds and lines build up. While you don’t have to deal with security in the evenings you will need to deal with a lot of cranky, tired and sadly bad mannered people. So it’s not unusual for it to take a surprising amount of time to get to and from the parks.

But all these hotels are within walking distance to the parks. Disneyland Hotel is of course right at the park gates (and doesn’t have a shuttle anyway). But New York is only on the other side of Disney Village, about a 5-10 minute walk, and Sequoia Lodge and Newport Bay are around 10-15 minutes. We’d be willing to bet you’d be able to beat a shuttle’s time for these, especially in the evening when security isn’t involved. And even from Cheyenne and Santa Fe with their 20-25 minute walks, you could probably beat the shuttle buses at peak times. And even if you don’t the walks are a LOT less stressful.

So our recommendation is to walk! Of course there’s downsides – if you’re differently-abled or have lots of little ones in tow a walk might be something you just can’t manage, and at the end of a long park day the last thing you want is yet more walking to get back to your resort. But for us with the time savings and stress savings it’s worth it.

So there’s our top 8 tips for saving times at Disneyland Paris! Please share your favourite time-saving tips in the comments, and subscribe to our blog so you don’t miss any of our future tips or tricks!