Will 1 Day Be Enough?

[azdisneymom]

We are a family of four, two boys 7 and 11, from the US. We go to Disney World almost once a year and stay for 10 days. I grew up with Disneyland annual passes. We have 5 full days in Paris on our very 1st European Vacation. I'm not sure if I want to devote 2 full days to Disney, but we are a Disney family. And... we may still do 10 days in Disney World this fall as well. (I booked free dining, but not too excited about hotel choice and maybe no Star Wars Land )

 

[CynBeth]

We are adults going for the first time as well and will only have a day and a half. We will be spending most of our time in London but will have 4 days in Paris plus the time I mentioned for DLP. We have never been to Europe before either. When is your trip?

 

[brianphill77]

I debated this as well for our trip this November. Live in the US, been to US parks several times, love Disney. Kids are 15 and 13, first trip to Europe for them (my wife and I have each been to Paris separately, though many years ago). We're staying in Paris for almost 5 days (arriving in the morning, plus 4 more full days). I waffled between two days at DL Paris at the end of the trip, and moving to one of the hotels out there, or just doing one day at DL and spending an extra day in the city. Ended up booking the 2 full days at DL. Just doing one day felt like it would be too chaotic and rushed, wasn't sure we'd really enjoy it. And I think by that part of the trip, the kids will be tiring of museums and seeing the sights, and ready for something different.

 

[Douglas Dubh]

We went to London, Paris, and Rome a few years ago. Five days in each. Our first day in Paris we did Sacre-Coure and on the second we visited Notre Dame and the Champs De Elysse. On day three we went to Versailles and then went up the Eiffel Tower. Days 4 and 5 were spent at the DLR. We spent a full day at DL parc and a morning at the Studios, with the rest of the day at DL parc. I wish I could have spent another half day at the Studios, and a half day seeing Disney Village and the hotels.

But then I could’ve used another day or two in Paris too. Still, I’d recommend two days at Disney.

 

[Karin1984]

We are a family of four, two boys 7 and 11, from the US. We go to Disney World almost once a year and stay for 10 days. I grew up with Disneyland annual passes. We have 5 full days in Paris on our very 1st European Vacation. I'm not sure if I want to devote 2 full days to Disney, but we are a Disney family. And... we may still do 10 days in Disney World this fall as well. (I booked free dining, but not too excited about hotel choice and maybe no Star Wars Land )

We are adults going for the first time as well and will only have a day and a half. We will be spending most of our time in London but will have 4 days in Paris plus the time I mentioned for DLP. We have never been to Europe before either. When is your trip?

I debated this as well for our trip this November. Live in the US, been to US parks several times, love Disney. Kids are 15 and 13, first trip to Europe for them (my wife and I have each been to Paris separately, though many years ago). We're staying in Paris for almost 5 days (arriving in the morning, plus 4 more full days). I waffled between two days at DL Paris at the end of the trip, and moving to one of the hotels out there, or just doing one day at DL and spending an extra day in the city. Ended up booking the 2 full days at DL. Just doing one day felt like it would be too chaotic and rushed, wasn't sure we'd really enjoy it. And I think by that part of the trip, the kids will be tiring of museums and seeing the sights, and ready for something different.

Hi all!

Difficult dilemma, but 1 day at Disney is still better than no day at Disney.

Yes, 2 days or maybe even 3 would be better. You can see more, take things slow etc.

But does that mean that 1 day will be a bad trip, or overwhelming, disappointing? I don't think so.
It is about mentality and the ability and willingness to make choice.
Whether you have short opening hours in winter, long in summer or staying onsite and can make use of EMH, you cannot do it all in one day and that is something you have to accept before, not during, your visit. Enjoy what you can do, try not to regret the things you cannot do.

Preparations:
- decide what is important to you and your family, what is a must do during a Disney visit and what is a nice to have. Not just rides, but also shows, parades, characters, breaks, sit down meals, etc.
- when you are used to other Disney parks, compare the identical rides, your favorites and make a must do list. Peter Pan is almost fully identical to US parks, but if it is your favorite ride and is normally your first ride tradition, don't feel bad to keep it on your list. There is no right way to Disney and you almost never know 100% sure if you will return.
- take a look at the map before! Very important when used to other parks. Rides are in different places where you expect them to be.
- when you travel with your family, involve them when you make your list and the preparations. When you are used to do everything, your children will expect this. Discuss it with them and ask what their favorites are and what they are willing to skip. They might surprise you.

 

[olafLover]

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[JessicaRabbit13]

You can have a nice day if you only have one day and do some preparation. But you will unlikely do even half of what is there. Pirates, Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain are different (I would say better) that Disney World so are worth doing even though the same name.

I personally would do at least 2 days at Disney, but it depends what else you have planned in Paris. I don’t like Paris so 1-2 days is sufficient for me, but everyone is different

 

[piccolopat]

I've been to Paris twice, spending about 12 days each trip. There is so much to see and do in Paris and in the surrounding areas. We spent 1 day at DLP during our first trip and felt it was more than enough but much has been added since then. With your very short trip, I would plan on 1 day at DLP but concentrate on the rides that are not in WDW or are substantially different than they are in the states. Of course, a lot depends on what interests you in Paris. We love the museums, parks and historic sites and still haven't seen everything on our list.

 

[Leilanie94]

We are also a family of Four from the US with Teen boys (16 and 14). We are going to London and Paris in October 2019. This is our very first European trip. We are planning a 1 Day trip to DLP. We are alright doing this. There are other things to do and see in the cities: shows, museums, parks and restaurants.

 

[MikeOhio]

I would personally never just do one day. As a Disney fan I think you will regret it. The park is so beautiful that one day isn’t enough to take it in.

 

[pdarrah]

We are also a family of Four from the US with Teen boys (16 and 14). We are going to London and Paris in October 2019. This is our very first European trip. We are planning a 1 Day trip to DLP. We are alright doing this. There are other things to do and see in the cities: shows, museums, parks and restaurants.

I'm with Leilanie94 on this. I asked this same question a while ago and eventually decided to do 1 full day (park open to close) at DLP during our trip to Paris. This will be the first time DH & I have ever been to Paris. My son visited Paris once before with my parent's when he was about 12, but he doesn't remember everything from that trip. We are big Disney fans, but the main goal of this trip is to see Paris. We only have 1 week (and with travel days, that is only 6 full days and 2 partial days (Tuesday-Tuesday) in Paris. There are so many other things to see that taking 1/3 of our days for DLP just wasn't in the cards for us.

If we absolutely love DLP (or Paris) maybe that will drive us to take another trip in the future!

We are still considering paying extra for the FastPasses in order to pack as much as possible into our 1 day. The hours that day are from 10am-11pm for DL and 10am-7pm for Studios. We also plan to skip attractions that are essential the same as Florida or California versions (Yes, we realize that the same name doesn't always mean the same ride - but I'm pretty sure we can skip some that I've read are basically the same.) We also aren't really Disney show people - there have been some exceptions (We enjoyed the Magical Map at DL California) but we rarely bother with things like the castle shows in Florida, Frozen in California, etc.

 

[o&smom]

Our first visit to DLP was only for a few hours, and we hit everything we wanted to. We had a layover in Paris after our Disney cruise, so we stored our luggage at the airport and caught a train to DLP. We thought that we just wanted to check it off of our bucket list, and we had a great day. I felt that DLP was the prettiest of the parks I have been to. We actually liked the park so much that we spent a full day there on our next trip to Paris and we will be spending another day there this summer when we are in Paris. We talked about spending two days there this summer, but with everything else we will be doing we decided to just do one day again. It actually felt like we did more on our first visit. We focused only on one park, and it was less crowded. The second visit was split between both parks, and even though it was a rainy day, there were lots more people to contend with and longer lines. Who knows what this next visit will hold! Enjoy your time and the experience of a new park.

 

[armerida]

As a lover of Paris and Disney, I actually have to disagree with some here and recommend skipping DLP completely if this is your first trip to Europe/Paris. It is such a magical city with so much to do, that five days is not enough, in my opinion, to even graze the surface of all it has to offer. We have visited DLP twice, both times during 2-week visits to Paris, but not during our first time there. Of course, to each their own.

That being said, if you are determined to visit DLP, I would make it a one-day trip. Last Paris trip (August 2017), my husband and I bought the 1 day/2 parks ticket, and it was definitely an adequate amount of time if you’re interested in visiting both parks, as long as you go in with a plan and don’t need to ride every attraction. Definitely buy your tickets ahead online, and check out which rides don't have FastPass so you can prioritize them early in the day.

We were able to hit all the rides we wanted with pretty minimal waits, starting in Disney Studios at Crush's coaster, then hitting Tower of Terror and Ratatouille (did single rider with no wait). After that we headed over to Parc Disney, grabbed our first paper FastPass for BTMRR, and then did a bunch of other headliners with little wait (Phantom Manor, Pirates, Space Mountain single rider, etc.). Picked up more FP throughout the day for Star Tours, Indiana Jones, and we felt ready to leave by 5:00.

It is super easy to get to from Paris - when we went in 2017, we left our apartment in the 18th arrondisement at 8:00am and headed to metro Blanche. Made our transfers to catch the RER A from Nation and then travelled from 8:40-9:26 to Parc Disney for a 10:00 opening. Direct and simple.

I hope you and your family love Paris, and if you make it to DLP, have a wonderful time and make sure to check out the dragon under Sleeping Beauty's castle!

 

[Mollaka]

If you are not coming back often to Paris and Europe in general AND you're a Disney fan, don't miss DLP, there are things which are totally unique to these parks. If it's not a summer holiday weekend though, 1 day is definitely enough.

 

[Mike_M]

My trip to DLP was just a single day and I was pleasantly surprised at how much I was able to experience that day. It was in the middle of October and the park was under a significant refresh in preparation for its 25 year anniversary so that may have had something to do with the small crowds and short lines.

That said, we did a single day park hopper and it was a blast. Got to hit all the major attractions except for BTMRR which was closed that day (gives me an excuse to go back one of these days )

Rode Pirates and Phantom Manor at least 3 times each (which for me was the biggest bucket list experiences) and got a couple rides on Space Mtn and Indy. Hit all the best rides in WDS and even had time to just wander a bit and soak in the atmosphere.

That said, we didn’t ride everything. Some things due to construction, some due to time.

In the end, 1 day was enough for that trip and I have no regrets, but if more had been open, we might have had to make a couple decisions on what was most important for us to experience or planned on two days.