Trip next week - thoughts on touring plan?

[dolewhipdreams]

Hello again everyone! We have officially reached the one week countdown for our flight to Paris!!

I've come up with a general touring plan for our time in the parks and I would love if anyone could comment to indicate if I've done something ridiculous. I know that a touring plan doesn't need to be as structured as at WDW so this is just a general idea of what we want to accomplish and when.

Day 1 - we'll arrive at DLP at about 3pm so we really only have the afternoon and evening.
-head to Parc Disneyland and focus on walkthroughs/shows for a couple of hours
-watch Stars on Parade
-head to Studios for shorter ride lines, especially Marvel
-probably won't stay until park close because of an early start the next day

Day 2 - mostly Parc Disneyland today
-EMH with focus on Big Thunder (if it's open)
-Plaza character breakfast 9:45am seating
-rides until the lines get too long
-Halloween Celebration
-late lunch/early dinner at Walt's 3:30pm
-rides again and It's Time to Shine
-end the evening with the night shows

Day 3 - mostly Studios today plus Halloween party
-EMH with focus on Crush's Coaster
-other rides until lines get too long
-Marvel campus for shows/characters/etc
-Mickey and the Magician
-Remy's lunch at 1pm
-either finish up rides at Studios or head to Parc for a couple of hours
-break at hotel to rest and get ready for party
-Halloween Party (I have no plan for this, just hoping to see the shows, maybe meet a character, and catch a ride or two with a short wait)

And that rounds out our time!

Anything stand out as questionable??

 

[DisneySwede]

I dont know if you want to spend your time doing to the character breakfast (depending on the makeup of your party and what your goals are. That plus a lunch/dinner at Walts will take out a lot of your day at Parc Disneyland. The time for breakfast you would get a lot of rides done. But otherwise, it seems like a fairly solid plan.

 

[dolewhipdreams]

I dont know if you want to spend your time doing to the character breakfast (depending on the makeup of your party and what your goals are. That plus a lunch/dinner at Walts will take out a lot of your day at Parc Disneyland. The time for breakfast you would get a lot of rides done. But otherwise, it seems like a fairly solid plan.

I love breakfast and characters so that's actually a highlight for me!

 

[DisneySwede]

I love breakfast and characters so that's actually a highlight for me!

As long as you know it's not the fab 5, enjoy!

 

[Karin1984]

Just be prepared for crowds. Autumn break in large parts of Europe and for the whole of France, and the Halloween partiy. There will be a lot of people.

Subscribe on Facebook to ED92 (French) and Pixiedust.be (Dutch/English), they can help you with roaming characters, special offers during Halloween and they will probably be the first to leak the plan for the Party.
If you see on the party list a rare character, go there immediately. During the party there will be a lot of AP holders who flock towards rare characters. Those lines can get crazy long and/or move very slow.

Also for Mickey and the Magician, be there on time, at least 30-45 minutes prior to showtime, but if you love characters, shows and/or want a good seat, go earlier.

For Stars on Parade, go for the spots in front of the Bella Notte restaurant, a little to the left of the entrance, so you are in the curve of the street. A curve is my preferred spot as you can see the parade coming towards you, and when it goes through the curve you can see the side. It's also get a clear view for taking pictures when the parade is coming right at you. Second, it's the start of the parade, so as soon as it's over, you can go on with your touring. Also have a plan where to go after the parade. When you are at the beginning of the route, you can benefit a little from low(er) crowds. I wouldn't do Big Thunder Mountain or Phantom Manor, by the time you get there the parade can be done and everyone is back to rides. Pirates is probably your best option, maybe Peter Pan. Space Mountain or Buzz can be done, but make sure you are on the right side (which is the left side ;-) )of the road to get to Space Mountain while the parade is still passing.

Casey Jr. can be terribly slow loading, and I've seen more often that this ride has incorrect waiting times.

Before you arrive and/or on your first day, familiarize yourself with the park. Our Pirates of the Caribbean is all the way at the end of the park, for example, and not the first on your left from the hub.

 

[dolewhipdreams]

Subscribe on Facebook to ED92 (French)

done!

For Stars on Parade, go for the spots in front of the Bella Notte restaurant, a little to the left of the entrance, so you are in the curve of the street. A curve is my preferred spot as you can see the parade coming towards you, and when it goes through the curve you can see the side. It's also get a clear view for taking pictures when the parade is coming right at you. Second, it's the start of the parade, so as soon as it's over, you can go on with your touring. Also have a plan where to go after the parade. When you are at the beginning of the route, you can benefit a little from low(er) crowds. I wouldn't do Big Thunder Mountain or Phantom Manor, by the time you get there the parade can be done and everyone is back to rides. Pirates is probably your best option, maybe Peter Pan. Space Mountain or Buzz can be done, but make sure you are on the right side (which is the left side ;-) )of the road to get to Space Mountain while the parade is still passing.

Excellent advice, thank you! How early would you say to get a spot?

Before you arrive and/or on your first day, familiarize yourself with the park. Our Pirates of the Caribbean is all the way at the end of the park, for example, and not the first on your left from the hub.

This is a return trip for me, but my first during Halloween time and my first time back since covid. The different layout definitely confused me the first time!

 

[OhioStateBuckeye]

I've come up with a general touring plan for our time in the parks and I would love if anyone could comment to indicate if I've done something ridiculous. I know that a touring plan doesn't need to be as structured as at WDW so this is just a general idea of what we want to accomplish and when.

Day 1 - we'll arrive at DLP at about 3pm so we really only have the afternoon and evening.
-head to Parc Disneyland and focus on walkthroughs/shows for a couple of hours
-watch Stars on Parade
-head to Studios for shorter ride lines, especially Marvel
-probably won't stay until park close because of an early start the next day

Day 2 - mostly Parc Disneyland today
-EMH with focus on Big Thunder (if it's open)
-Plaza character breakfast 9:45am seating
-rides until the lines get too long
-Halloween Celebration
-late lunch/early dinner at Walt's 3:30pm
-rides again and It's Time to Shine
-end the evening with the night shows

Day 3 - mostly Studios today plus Halloween party
-EMH with focus on Crush's Coaster
-other rides until lines get too long
-Marvel campus for shows/characters/etc
-Mickey and the Magician
-Remy's lunch at 1pm
-either finish up rides at Studios or head to Parc for a couple of hours
-break at hotel to rest and get ready for party
-Halloween Party (I have no plan for this, just hoping to see the shows, maybe meet a character, and catch a ride or two with a short wait)

And that rounds out our time!

Anything stand out as questionable??

The ridiculous part is that I'm not going for another month. But can't wait to hear about your trip!

Your days sound a lot like how we are organizing ours. We also have an arrival half day and it's our goal to see as many shows as we can that day, that way we'll know if we want to repeat any and have time.

Are you getting the paid pass for fast passes?

I've also been trying to read whatever I can about others park experiences and it sounds like it can sometimes take a long time to get seated at restaurants, so maybe keep that in mind.

 

[Karin1984]

Excellent advice, thank you! How early would you say to get a spot?

That's hard to say for me, as I usually tend to avoid busy times. Maybe start checking an hour before show time how the crowds start growing on Main Street and along the route to get a feel how busy it is and whether you should start looking for a spot or that you can get a coffee first.

Oh! Be prepared for rain. Late October can be rainy.

 

[dolewhipdreams]

Are you getting the paid pass for fast passes?

Our plan is to see how the first day and a half go and if we get to our last day and haven't been able to ride something then we might splurge on some passes. But right now we don't intend to purchase the full access option.

 

[DisneySwede]

Excellent advice, thank you! How early would you say to get a spot?

It's definitely the less popular area to watch the parade and even on busy days we never have to be there too early but it's also our favorite spot to watch from

 

[Ms Poppins]

Sounds like you’ve got a good plan. We’re here just now, it’s our last day today. It’s incredibly busy, parks at capacity.

I’d say your approach is spot on. Make the most of EMT, the crowds to get in the studios were so big yesterday I started to wonder if we were in the wrong queue! By accident we ended up in the middle of the crowd directly in front of the large gates at the Studios. There aren’t any entry gates here with individual gates, however cast members were there with hand held scanners. This made entry quicker as you didn’t wait for each individual gate to open and close. I’d say be at the gates just after 8 if you can.

Other tips, use single rider line if you can, especially for Ratatouille.

Use the arcades either side of Main St to get about, always quiet. Using Liberty arcade on the left of Main St, take a sharp left and you’ll be in Frontierland without the rush if the main hub.

The last hour before park closing, do some rides. We did BTM showing 30 minutes, was only 10. Make sure to use the left hand lane here when you enter the inside section. And do it late, in the dark. I’m sure it goes faster

Download the App. The map will give a good idea of wait times, mostly accurate.

If eating in any fast food outlets in the park, you can check the app to see if mobile ordering is available. We ordered our lunch for Hakuna Matata whilst in the queue for a ride. Very easy. You’ll get an email confirmation, click the link in this when you arrive at the restaurant and go to the mobile pick up section. So fast. The main queue were so busy.

I think just be prepared for the crowds. Pick what you really want to do and enjoy the surroundings, shop when it’s busy and go back to your hotel for a bit of down time.

Have a great trip

 

[Ms Poppins]

Oh, and in Walt’s, as nicely for a Main St view, it’s amazing