For visits to Disneyland Paris, we are big proponents of multiple days in the parks if you can do that – especially for first time visits. With so much to do, tackling Disneyland Paris is one day is a big ask, and it inevitably means you’ll miss out on things! But, a one day trip to Disneyland Paris is better than no Disney at all! So what happens if you’ve only got one day in the place where dreams come true? In this blog we’ve got top tips for making the most of your day trip.

Accept that you won’t be able to do everything

Any trip to Disneyland Paris needs a big dose of realism, and one day trips more so than others. Some people used to be able to think that you could do everything in Disneyland Paris in one day – but that’s simply not the case.

Even if you just stick to the theme parks, Disneyland Paris has two theme parks offering dozens of rides and attractions, character meet and greets, walk through experiences, dining and shopping. Some rides and attractions (notably the shows) take a good 20 minutes or more just to watch, even leaving out the need to wait. Outside of the parks there’s the shopping and dining district Disney Village and six Disney hotels (seven if you include the off-site Davy Crockett Ranch) to be explored. Simply put, you’re just not going to be able to do everything – it’s just not possible in one day.

That doesn’t mean you can’t have a great day trip – you can. But accept the fact you’re going to need to compromise to get your must-dos done, and there’s some things you just won’t be able to manage. If you go into the trip accepting that, you’re less likely to run yourself ragged trying to do it all, and still coming up short!

One park or two?

Disneyland Paris has two theme parks. In an ideal world you’ll want at least a day (if not more) to explore each one, but if you’ve got a one day trip you’ll need to decide if you’re going to focus your energies on just one theme park, or try to hit up both.

Just choosing one has its advantages – you’ll be able to do a more thorough investigation of that park and experience a lot more of its attractions, shows and experiences. And there’ll be less walking because you’re focusing all your attention on one park instead of hopping between the two.

But – if you do one park then of course you’re missing out on half of the theme park action in Disneyland Paris by not entering the other park! So you may want to try to visit both in one day. The good news is that they are very near each other so walking between the two parks isn’t too onerous, but if you do both in one day then you’ll only be able to hit a few highlights without really being able to explore either park thoroughly.

When choosing one park or two, the first thing I’d consider is cost – park hopper tickets are a lot more expensive than one park, one day tickets so you may want to stick to one park for that reason! I’d also research the offerings in each park and see if there’s something that calls more to you in one or the other – if you’re family is really into Pixar, Marvel and Frozen then you may want to stick to Disney Adventure World. However if you want that classic Disney fairytale vibe or have Star Wars fans, you’ll probably want to stick to Disneyland Park. Or if you have people in your group that must do Fantasyland and Frozen, or who love both Star Wars and Marvel, then chances are you’ll be thinking about the park hopper ticket. Just know that there’ll inevitably be bits in both parks you’ll gloss over when hopping between the two.

Prioritise!

I’ve talked about the importance of prioritising on any Disneyland Paris trip here on the blog before, but if you’ve got only one day then prioritisation then is going to be key!

Inevitably there’ll be some experiences at Disneyland Paris that you’re going to miss on a one day trip, so you want to make sure what you miss isn’t something you’re going to be upset about later. Here you need to do some research and decide your priorities – do you want to focus on rides, shows, or characters? (Or specific examples from a mixture of those categories?) Any attractions or experiences you simply must do? Include them in your plan. And ask those you’re travelling with (unless you’re going solo of course) what their priorities are too and try to hit those up. Depending on the size of your group I’d say get everyone to pick 2-5 priorities each you’ll aim to hit up on your Disneyland Paris day. (The larger the group, the less priorities for each person otherwise you’ll soon end up with an unmanageable list!). If you get everyone’s priorities done then great, you can fit in some extra bits and bobs to your day.

If you can, do park open to park close

With just one day in Disneyland Paris you really need to maximise every second that you can in the parks, so if you can get to the theme parks from when they open and stay until they close.

Why? Simply put, more time means more chance to do things in the parks! (That’s probably stating the utter obvious). Also note that park hours can vary quite a bit by season, and the park days tends to be a lot longer in summer than they are in the winter months. Keep an eye on the Disneyland Paris app for the park hours, and make sure to check them the day before your trip too just in case Disney has shifted them at the last minute for some reason! (It can happen).

Also, if you happen to be staying in one of the Disney owned hotels, try to get to the park for Magic Hour – that one hour in the park before it officially opens to other guests. This is a great chance to get on some of the most popular rides with far lower crowds.

I did say ‘if you can’ do park open to park close – I realise for some folks if they little ones in tow or who are managing health conditions that might be a bit of an ask. Disney park days are long and take a lot of walking! If doing a whole day in the park is going to risk someone being ill or seriously grumpy then of course adapt as you need. And remember to pace yourself during the park day too – this can be done without missing out on park action by doing things like experiencing some of the longer rides or shows.

Ditch the table service… probably

When most people are planning a one day trip to Disneyland Paris, then their priorities are typically the attractions – the rides and the shows. If that’s the case for you, then I’d recommend not booking any table service restaurants and sticking to the quick services instead.

Simply but, table service dining takes up more time. If you’re being waited on with staff it’s not uncommon for the meals to be an hour or longer, but even buffets can take up a big chunk of your day too! With quick service meals you can be in and out more quickly – especially if you stick to eating at off peak mealtimes (so there’s less queues and more chance of seating!), and / or use mobile order to speed up your ordering process. This is where you place your food order via the Disneyland Paris app, and then go to the restaurant to pick it up. At busier times this can be a lot faster than queuing to order.

There can be exceptions to this advice to skip table service. One is if a top priority for you is that you want to meet characters – then you might want to consider booking a character meal. These are great opportunities to meet a lot of characters in one go, and can save a lot of time or stress trying to meet characters in the parks. This is notably so for the princesses – Auberge de Cendrillon in Disneyland Park and Regal View Restaurant in Disney Adventure World will eat up a chunk of your day, but it’ll be a chance to meet a lot of princesses in one hit without trying to meet them in the parks!

Another exception is if your top priority in the parks is food rather than attractions and shows! If you’re a massive foodie then you might want to book a table service meal to satisfy that. My final exception is if you have a particularly long park day (say in the summer when it can be well over 12 hours) and need to pace yourself with a longer break in the middle of the day, say to help manage medical conditions or to prevent overstimulation. Then a table service restaurant might be a good break without you having to leave the park instead.

Consider paying more for quicker access to top experiences (if you can afford it)

I always hate to give this sort of advice, because I know Disneyland Paris is extremely expensive to visit so advising you to spend even more money feels incredibly mean! But if you really want to maximise your one day in Disneyland Paris, plussing up your day with paid extras might help it go a lot more smoothly.

If the rides and attractions are your main goal in Disneyland Paris then consider paying for Premier Access. I did a blog all about this last week which you can read here, but essentially this is a paid for service when you pay a fee to access much shorter lines for very popular attractions in both parks. If you’re determined to hit as many big rides in both parks as possible, then the Premier Access Ultimate will allow you to access the shorter waits to all the rides included in both parks at a time to suit you during the day. This is a very expensive option though! You can also buy Premier Access One to allow you book a time slot to visit an individual attraction with a much shorter wait – this can work out cheaper if you’re not planning to visit all the attractions included in the Premier Access Ultimate, or you’re only sticking to one of the two Disneyland Paris parks (the Ultimate option includes all the included rides in both parks).

To decide if Premier Access Ultimate or One might be the better option for you, I’d go back to your priorities. If it includes the heavy hitter rides in both parks then the Ultimate might be worth booking in advance, so you arrive in the park knowing you can visit those rides whenever you wish during the day. If you’re only interested in a few of them then I’d wait until you’re in the parks, see the wait times and then book the individual Premier Access slots as and when you need them. Just note though that Premier Access slots can sell out, so don’t leave it too late to book – especially if you’re going at a weekend or one of the busier times of year!

Other paid options include priority access to the theatre shows – you still need to get to the theatres around 20 minutes in advance to it doesn’t exclude all waits but it’ll be less than being in the standby line and you’ll be one of the first seated in the theatre. If the theatre shows are a top priority for you and you’re visiting at a busy time then this might be worth it – or otherwise you could just aim to get to the theatres 30-45 minutes in advance instead and accept that time as part of your park day. You can also book for special viewing areas for the parade and nighttime spectaculars – these do give you less crowded areas to stand in with good views, but people still arrive at these paid for spots up to an hour in advance so if you’re doing it to save time you might not get the benefit you want!

Be ready to roll with the punches…

Stuff happens at Disneyland Paris. In the week I’m typing this, outdoor rides have been forced to close during large chunks of the day because of extreme heat! Which really sucks for people there, but is necessary for the safety of guests and cast members. Extreme weather aside though, rides temporarily close all the time, or character meet and greets adapted, and so forth…

If you have a multiple day trip to Disneyland Paris these temporary closures are easier to work around – you can always come back on another day right? But if you’ve got a one day trip then this can really throw a spanner in the works of your plan. The good news is that it’s rare for a ride malfunction to last all day – chances are if you check back later at an attraction it’ll be open then, so you might just need to adapt your day to allow you to double back there if needed.

Character meet and greets being changed or shows cancelled is harder to work around – sometimes certain characters just aren’t available or shows can’t safely run, and unfortunately if that happens there’s not much you can do about it. For shows you can always try again later in the day, and for characters I’d ask at guest services or the cast members at the meet and greet spot if they know if the character will be available later that day or in another spot – but just be aware the answer might be no.

I think with a day trip you just to need embrace the face that something may well go wrong, and you miss out on a priority as a result. Does that suck? Absolutely! But fortunately Disneyland Paris has a lot more to do, so chances are you can find something else just as wonderful to experience. I’d also be wary of promising anyone in your group you’ll 100% do something just in case you need to pivot away for some reason. If a spanner is thrown into the works of your perfect Disneyland Paris plan, maybe see this is an opportunity to experience something you wouldn’t have been able to see otherwise. Who knows, you may discover a new favourite!

Side note – please don’t go yelling at the cast members and demanding a refund just because something wasn’t opened as planned. In 99.9% recurring times it won’t be the fault of the cast member you’re talking too, and remember that the cast members don’t want attractions closing, shows being cancelled or character meet and greets changing any more than you do! It’s also worth noting that Disney have in their terms and conditions that attractions and experiences are subject to availability, and something being closed in no basis for a refund. Maybe if the entirety of the park had to shut for some major reason – but for one (or even a few) attractions don’t expect it. You can try asking at guest services nicely to see if they have any way to help you, but be polite and don’t expect anything – it’s very unlikely you’ll get your money back.

One day trips to Disneyland Paris are likely to be crazy, frenetic and tiring – but with some planning and prioritisation, and some adaptability as needed, you can still have a magical Disney day! If you have any tips for one day visits then please do share them in the comments, and while down there why not subscribe to our blog? You’ll get future blogs sent directly to your email, and a free copy of our Magically Different Guide to Disneyland Paris attraction accessibility (typically £3). For more tips and tricks come and find our YouTube channel too – and if you’d like to support our work please consider shopping our Amazon storefront or leaving us a tip. Thank you!