One thing that tends to come with a trip to Disneyland Paris is crowds, and queuing! Attractions can generate long lines that need to be waited in to experience them. But if you’d like to minimise the time waiting in line then you do have an option – Premier Access, the ‘skip the line’ service for Disneyland Paris. But how does it work, and is it worth it? We share everything you need to know in this blog!

What is Premier Access?

At its core, Premier Access allows you to pay to be able to wait in shorter, expedited lines in many of the most popular attractions at Disneyland Paris. (But not instant access!)

For Premier Access you have two options. One is Premier Access One – this allows you to pay a fee to access the Premier Access line at one attraction of choice. When booking this you are given an hour long time slot to return to your ride and join the Premier Access line. This line will be a lot shorter than the typical, or standby, queue line – but note that it’s not instant access to the attraction. The price of the Premier Access One attractions varies by attraction and by day – the busier the day in the parks, and the more popular an attraction is, then the more you can expect to pay. The cheapest attraction tends to be It’s a Small World, and you can expect to pay the highest costs for Frozen Ever After, Crush’s Coaster and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. You can only buy Premier Access One bookings once you are inside one of the two Disneyland Paris parks, and via the Disneyland Paris app.

Your other option for Premier Access is Premier Access Ultimate. This is one purchase that for the day gives you access to all of the Premier Access queues in both parks. There are no time slots here, you can enjoy any of the rides in the order you wish – but note that the purchase only gives you access to the Premier Access line to each attraction once. Premier Access Ultimate can be added on to Disney packages, or you can buy it nearer to the time via the Disneyland Paris app or website. If you’re booking it as part of your Disneyland Paris package you need to buy it for all members of the group on your package. Premier Access Ultimate varies in cost depending on the day – the busier they expect the park to be, the more it’ll cost. Prices start for Premier Access Ultimate at 110 euros per person – so you can see it’s a pretty pricey product! Even in the quietest season a family of 4 will be spending approaching 500 euros – and of course park tickets need to be purchased separately.

What attractions are included?

Many of the most popular attractions in Disneyland Paris are included in Premier Access.

In Disneyland Park:

• Autopia – Discoveryland
• Big Thunder Mountain – Frontierland
• Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast – Discoveryland
• Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril – Adventureland
• It’s a Small World – Fantasyland
• Orbitron – Discoveryland (note that this is excluded from the Premier Access Ultimate – you can only buy the individual Premier Access One for this ride)
• Peter Pan’s Flight – Fantasyland
• Phantom Manor – Frontierland
• Pirates of the Caribbean – Adventureland
• Star Tours the Adventures Continue – Discoveryland
• Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain – Discoveryland

Disney Adventure World:

• Avengers Assemble Flight Force – Avengers Campus
• Cars Road Trip – Worlds of Pixar
• Crush’s Coaster – Worlds of Pixar
• Frozen Ever After – World of Frozen
• Raiponce Tangled Spin – Adventure Way
• Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure – Worlds of Pixar
• SpiderMan WEB Adventure – Avengers Campus
• Tower of Terror – World Premiere Plaza

What isn’t included?

From the list above you’ll see that many attractions are included in Premier Access – but quite a few aren’t either.

In the rides category, notable omissions are some of the smaller rides in Fantasyland that can still build up some hefty queues – the worst offender is probably Dumbo the Flying Elephant! But note that neither of the Snow White or Pinocchio dark rides offer the service, nor does the Teacups, Carousel, Casey Jr mini coaster and Storybook Canal Boats. Over in Disney Adventure World the most notable omissions are probably the 3 Toy Story Playland rides – and these can all build some hefty queues. The walkthrough attractions are also all omitted, but it’s unlikely you’ll need a skip the line service here.

Also note that Premier Access cannot be used for any of the character meet and greets or theatre shows – although you can buy access to the latter separately if you wished. It also can’t be used for the parades, calvacades or nighttime spectaculars – although again it’s possible to buy access to special viewing areas for the parade and nighttime shows at least. But these are a separate cost – that if you want to pay for will be an extra cost on top of your tickets and Premier Access purchase.

How does it compare to the lightning lane options for Walt Disney World?

Probably the most well-known of the ‘skip the line’ offerings from Disney Parks is the Lightning Lane system for Walt Disney World – so how does Disneyland Paris’ Premier Access compare?

The most commonly used of the Walt Disney World Lightning Lane options is probably Multipass – this is where you pay a fee and can pre-book 3 attractions in one of the Walt Disney World theme parks in advance to access their shorter lines, and then once you’ve used one up in the park on the day you can book another attraction and so forth, always holding up to 3 bookings at a time. It’s a bit confusing – but if you’re only interested in Disneyland Paris you can relax, because this type of system isn’t available in Disneyland Paris!

Walt Disney World also offers individual lightning lanes for the most popular rides in each of its four parks. Here you can book an hour long time slot for the attraction in the advance, then visit the attraction at that time for a shorter wait. Essentially this works in a very similar way to the Premier Access One offering at Disneyland Paris. The difference is that it’s available for all attractions that are a part of the Premier Access scheme in Disneyland Paris, and it can’t be booked in advance, only on the day.

The Walt Disney World parks also offer Lightning Lane Premier Pass – where in one of the theme parks you pay a (large) fee to then be able to access all the attractions with Lightning Lane queues at any time you want. If that sounds familiar it works almost identically to the Premier Pass Ultimate for Disneyland Paris. The main difference is that Paris’ version allows you to access the Premier Access lines in both parks – as long as you have a ticket that offers park hopping of course.

Is it worth getting Premier Access for Disneyland Paris?

Is Premier Access worth it for Disneyland Paris? That’s not the simplest question to answer because it’ll very much depend on the circumstances of your visit, and how you feel about queueing!

Premier Access Ultimate is probably the harder of the two options to justify because it is very expensive. However – if you only have one day in Disneyland Paris and are determined to hit as many of the big attractions in both parks as possible, then it’s probably worth the cost in this situation, especially if you’re visiting at a busier time of year. You may also want to consider it for a shorter stay (say 2 days) at extremely busy times of year – so Christmas week. Otherwise the only reason I’d recommend anyone buying Premier Access Ultimate is if you have a real aversion to queuing!

Premier Access One is a lot easier to justify – especially for the really popular rides like Big Thunder, Crush’s Coaster and Frozen Ever After. If you really want to do the ride but the queues are just too long for you to want to wait in the line, you can pay a one off fee to access that line that’ll be a lot less than forking out the Premier Access Ultimate fee. Be aware though that it could be easy to let the costs of the one-off rides build up, especially if you end up booking several in the same day for larger groups! Also you are tied to a one hour return slot for your booked ride, no flexibility here like with the Premier Access Ultimate. So make sure you don’t double book your slot with a dining reservation, and don’t jump in a long line for another attraction just before your slot begins!

When isn’t Premier Access worth it?

While Premier Access (in both its forms) can help cut down on queuing, it’s not perfect. There are some times when we think it’s really not worth it:

• If you’re a Disney hotel guest – If you’re staying at a Disney owned hotel, you have access to Magic Hour, when you can access the two park parks for one hour before general opening, often giving you much shorter waits for popular attractions. If you’ve got access to this then you’re much less likely to need to use Premier Access.
• If you’ve got a longer trip – If you’re staying for 4 or more days then we think it’s unlikely you’ll need to use Premier Access, as you should have enough time to experience the parks and the attractions even with longer waits. If there’s any attractions you’re desperate to experience with a shorter wait then you may be able to justify the Premier Access One – but the Ultimate is unlikely to be necessary for you.
• You’re visiting in a quieter season – No time at Disneyland Paris is quiet, but some times are less busy than others. If you’re visiting outside of any school or bank holidays mid-week then you might not need the Premier Pass, as the queue lines should be more manageable. This is especially the case from mid-January to early February, which tends to be the quietest time of year.
• If you’ve got a good line strategy – even with a shorter trip and as an offsite guest, if you’ve got a good strategy for experiencing the main attractions (getting their early, staying in the parks til late, experiencing attractions during parades, prioritising your must dos etc) then you’ll probably be able to get most of the major attractions done without Premier Access. (Again, maybe you could resort for Premier Access One for anything your strategy isn’t helping with!)
• If you don’t want to ride the rollercoasters and rougher rides – If you’re not a fan of rollercoasters, simulators etc or can’t ride them for medical reasons, then Premier Access Ultimate is going to have a lot less benefit for you then others. A lot of the rides included are those with ride warnings or height requirements. So honestly I’m not sure the cost of Premier Access Ultimate is going to be worth it for you. Premier Access One for some of the other busier rides though might be of help.
• If you’re eligible for the Priority Pass or Easy Access Card – The Priority Card and Easy Access cards for the differently-abled are ways to help people who can’t manage the queue lines to be able to access shorter waits. If you’re eligible for either of these then Premier Pass is unlikely to be of any benefit for you – with the Priority Pass you’ll be able to access expedited waits as needed (like Premier Access Ultimate) and with the Easy Access card you can book return times for attractions (like Premier Access One). However, and I can’t emphasise this enough – do not try to pretend you’re eligible for either the Priority Pass or Easy Access card in order to get expedited queue lines. Those passes are in place for people who need them, and you do need to show evidence that you qualify. The people using the passes would much rather not be in the position where they need them, so don’t make their lives harder by trying to get a pass when you don’t actually need one.

Hopefully that gives insights into Premier Access pass, and whether you should use it for your next trip! If this has been helpful please consider subscribing to our blog below – you’ll receive future blogs in your inbox and will receive a free copy of our Magically Different Guide to Disneyland Paris attraction accessibility (typically £3). We’d love to see you over on our YouTube channel too! And if you’d like to support our work please consider leaving us a tip, thank you!