Disneyland Paris 1 day 2 parks itinerary

Are you looking for the ULTIMATE Disneyland Paris 1 day 2 parks itinerary? Wondering if you can do the two Disneyland Paris parks in one day? Well the bad news is that one day is definitely not the ideal amount of time needed for Disneyland Paris, especially to do both parks, however with this itinerary we will make sure you make the most of your time and see and do the most things you can in the park in a single day. 

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Can you do 2 parks in 1 day at Disneyland Paris? 

Yes you can indeed do 2 parks in 1 day at Disneyland Paris. Obviously you won’t be able to do everything the parks have on offer but you can certainly cover a good amount. 

The only proviso is that you purchase the right Disneyland Paris ticket. In order to be granted access into both the Disneyland Park and the Walt Disney Studios Park you will need to purchase the 2 parks 1 day ticket. 

This ticket allows you to hop between the 2 parks at Disneyland Paris. Currently you can park hop an unlimited amount of times and unlike in Disneyland California and Walt Disney World there is not a time you have to wait to before you can park hop.

It is also worth noting that the pricing of this ticket varies depending on the time of year you are visiting. For instance you will find the price of the ticket in August and December to be much more than January or February for instance. 

And there are certainly better times to visit for crowds so if you want to achieve a lot in one day you should look at visiting in off-peak times. 

If you only want to visit 1 park be sure to check out our Disneyland Paris one day itinerary.

Remember you need dated tickets for guaranteed Disneyland Paris entry! If you don’t have tickets included in your accommodation or package, check out ticket prices here. 

What is the best park to start in at Disneyland Paris?

There is not one right park to start with at Disneyland Paris for everybody. I think the right park largely depends on the ages of the people you are traveling with and what their specific interests are. 

We normally always start our park hopping days in Disneyland Park over the Walt Disney Studios but this is because we are usually traveling with babies and toddlers. 

However if I were traveling to Disneyland Paris as an adult I may start in the Walt Disney Studios Park to do some of the thrill first. 

Overall I would say the following travelers should start in these parks 

• Traveling with babies to Disneyland Paris – Disneyland Park – there are more baby friendly rides here than in the studios park
• Traveling to Disneyland Paris with toddlers – again I would recommend starting in the Main Disneyland Park due to it having more toddler friendly rides.
• Disneyland Paris with kids – personally I would say this really depends on what the interests of the group are. If you have thrill seekers and Marvel fans then you are better starting at the Walt Disney Studios Park however if you have princess fans then the Disneyland Park would be a better call.
• Disneyland Paris with adults or teenagers – you could definitely start at either, however as the Walt Studios Park has the rides with the longest queues at Disneyland Paris it makes sense to start here and try and get some of the big rides ticked off quickly. 

However there really is no wrong answer to which park to start in for your 2 parks 1 day itinerary as you will get round to getting to both parks. 

Do I need Premier Access? 

In answer to “Do I need Premier Access at Disneyland Paris to do 2 parks in a day I would say it would never hurt.

Now the unlimited Premier access that includes several rides is very expensive coming it at around 100 Euros per person per day. Now if you are a family of four this will really add up and definitely isn’t the option for those traveling to Disneyland Paris on a budget.  I would say unless money is no object then it isn’t worth buying Premier Access for a day at Disneyland Paris. 

However at Disneyland Paris you can also buy single ride Premier Access – similar but not the same to the Lightening Lanes at Walt Disney World and Disneyland. Again this option does not come cheap at on average 16 Euros a ride (there is surge pricing on Premier Access so this can go up to around 20 Euros at peak times i.e. Disneyland Paris on Christmas Day). 

Some popular rides with Premier Access include Peter Pan’s Flight, Crush’s Coaster and W.E.B Slingers in the new Marvel Avengers Campus.

If the queues for these get very long and you are desperate to ride one of them then it might be worthwhile in adding this cost to your Disneyland Paris spending money especially if there is only two of you going for instance. 

So now you know possible starting point and whether you need premier access we will outline our tips for visiting both parks in a day before we turn our attention to our 2 parks 1 day itinerary  starting in each park, where to eat and other tips for making the most of your day. 

Disneyland Paris 2 parks 1 day tips

Stay on-site

For me it honest matter whether you are visiting Disneyland Paris for one day or 5 days, our number one top tip is to always stay on site. 

There are several reasons for this, but I think they are even more important when only staying for. day. That is because when staying on site you get Extra Magic hours. 

This basically gives you access to the parks an hour before guests who are staying off site. In reality this means you can tick off several of your top priority rides before most people have even been let inside the gates.

Now there are several strategies for how to use Extra magic hours which we will detail below for the purposes of a single day itinerary. 

You can meet Characters without the queues. In the itineraries below we haven’t prioritised character meet and greets as these can take up a lot of time and aren’t everyone’s priority. However if you are staying on-site there will be one character in the lobby either at breakfast or in the evening and the queues will be minimal.

It is a great way to add a meet and greet into your itinerary without wasting time in the park. 

Next read: if you plan to visit Paris with toddlers check out this post. 

Download the app

No matter how many days you are in the park you absolutely can not go in without downloading the Disneyland Paris app. This is essential for organising your day. It tells you the current queue times, the parade times and more. 

Bring snacks 

The parks can be an expensive place to eat and you don’t want to waste a lot of time queuing for snacks and drinks. We therefore recommend you adding reusable water bottles to refill around the parks as well as some snacks to your Disneyland Paris packing list to help save time. 

Next read: cheap eats at Disneyland Paris

Wear comfortable shoes 

And above all else be sure to wear comfortable shoes. We have a full what to wear to Disneyland Paris guide here, but always top of the list is shoes that Weill be comfy for doing lots of walking in. 

For more tips on visiting Disneyland Paris check out this post. 

Disneyland Paris 2 parks 1 day itinerary 

We have made some assumptions on this post which are 

• that you have Early Magic Hours – however even if you don’t we recommend you heading to the areas outlined below.
• that you are spending the entire day in the park
• that you are prioritising rides over characters meet and greets and dining. However if one of these things is important to you we recommend substituting out one of the things here that you are least interested in.
• that if you re starting the day in the Disneyland Park you aren’t prioritising the thrill rides. If thrill rides are more your thing then you should follow the itinerary that starts at the Walt Disney Studios Park. 

Disneyland Paris 2 parks 1 day itinerary starting at Disneyland Park

If you are starting your two park 1 day at the Disneyland Park we recommend heading to Fantasyland first, especially if you are traveling with small children. 

Now if you are there for rope drop I recommend heading straight to Peter Pan’s Flight. This ride gets one of the longest queues in both parks, and is usually the longest queue in the Disneyland Park. 

If the queue is less than 20 minutes it is a great idea to jump on this as soon as you get in the park. Our second ride of choice is then usually Dumbo The Flying Elephant as this usually has a queue of around 45 minutes later in the. 

I usually try and jump on a couple more rides in Fantasyland before heading to either Discoveryland for to ride one of thescarier Disneyland Paris rides – HyperSpace Mountain.  I will then try and do one of the other nearby rides usually either Buzz Lightyear’s Astroblast or the Oribtron. 

Some people enjoy Star Tours in this area too. However having done this ride at Hollywood Studios in Disney World and at Disneyland California we usually choose to skip this. The speaking is all done in French rather than English on this Disneyland Paris ride and therefore you do really lose some of the magic of the narrative. 

Alternatively you could go to Big Thunder Mountain next and then head over to Discoveryland or vice versa. 

Note: When you are walking between Adventureland and Big Thunder Mountain we recommend heading through the Disneyland Paris Castle, in particular the Dragon’s Lair. Fun fact is that the Disneyland Paris Castle is the only Disney castle in the world that has a dragon living under it. It is worth doing this walkthrough attraction as it doesn’t add much time in your itinerary and is a completely unique thing to do at Disneyland Paris. 

Once you have done these, we recommend stopping for a quick lunch. Disneyland Paris has three categories of restaurants

• Quick Service
• Table Service and
• Character Dining 

As you only have one day to do both parks we recommend choosing a quick service restaurant. We recommend either Casey’s Corner for Hotdogs or Colonel Hathi’s for pizza or pasta. We have found that these two quick service restaurants are consistently the quickest service. 

And don’t worry if you are a vegan at Disneyland Paris as all restaurants now have a vegan option as standard. 

Now you have had lunch we recommend park hopping over to the Walt Disney Studios Park. However if the Disneyland Parade is an important part of your day we recommend checking the time in the Disneyland Paris app and trying to see the early parade. 

If you are starting at the Disneyland Park, we recommend not prioritising the big thrill rides which at this park is:

• Crush’s Coaster
• RC Racer
• Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

Also both rides in the new Marvel Avengers Campus usually have long queues. Therefore if you want to ride these we recommend you try and do these early or buy premier access. 

However if these aren’t a must do for you we recommend trying to do as many of the smaller rides ash you can which include:

• The Flying Carpets of Agrabah
• Cars Rally
• Slinky Dog Dash
• Toy Story Parachute Drop
• Ratatouille 

Of these Ratatouille usually has the longest line but does also have single rider queues and premier access. We recommend trying to do as many as you can and prioritising these based on low ride times. 

Also it is worth noting that the ride at Walt Disney Studios that consistently has the lowest queue times is the Cars Road Tour ride. However I would say that unless you have a Cars Super fan with you (like we do) it really isn’t worth the walk to this far end of the park. 

It is impossible to give an exact order here as this will largely depend on the day you are at Disneyland Paris, Disneyland Paris ride closures and breakdowns. 

We recommend again, picking a quick service restaurant for dinner before heading to see either the Marvel Show or the Disneyland Park parade, fireworks and illuminations depending on which appeals most to you.

Sample itinerary for this day:

Obviously it is dependent on the time of year you are traveling and the crowds level as well as closures and maintenance as to how the crowd and wait times are. This is just indicative of the type of itinerary you could follow. However if anything has a long wait time or short wait time you should jump on rides as best uses your time. 

Extra Magic Hours:

• Peter Pan’s Flight
• Dumbo’s Flying Elephant
• Mad Hatters Tea Party

Park opening 

• Carousel
• Story book Canal
• It’s a Small World
• Walk through the Disneyland Paris Castle and see the Dragon
• Hyperspace Mountain for Grown UPs or Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blast for kids (expect a 40 minute wait at this time of day depending on the year)
• Orbitron 

Lunch – Casey’s Corner on Main Street. As you are on Main Street you could try and tie in with a parade depending on the time of the parade that day. 

PARK HOP 

• Flying Carpets over Agrabah
• Slinger Dog Dash
• Ratatouille (expect around 60 minute wait this time of day unless you get premier access)

Dinner – Stark Factory 

• W.E.B Slingers – expect an hours wait without premier access

Fireworks 

Disneyland Paris 2 parks one day itinerary starting at Walt Disney Studios

When I look at which park to start in for your one day 2 park itinerary, depends on who you are traveling with. We think the Walt Studios Park is better for those traveling as adults, or with older children or who would like to prioritise thrill rides.

This itinerary also assumes that you have extra magic hours. If you don’t we recommend picking your first ride based off ride times.

However if you have Extra Magic Hours then we recommend starting your day with Crush’s Coaster. This is one of the scariest Disneyland Paris rides and consistently has the highest queue out of both parks regularly exceeding 80 minutes in the first 30 minutes of operation.

We recommend jumping on this first if you rope drop the park. Otherwise I would select one of the following as your first rides:

• WEB Slingers
• Tower of Terror
• RC Racer 

However, if thrill rides aren’t your thing and you plan to start at the Studios then you should head straight to the Ratatouille ride. Of all the Walt Disney Studios toddler friendly rides, this ride gets the longest queue.

The morning should be spent either queuing for all the Thrill rides at Walt Disney Studios, maybe with one premier access ticket, or otherwise use the time to do all of the toddler friendly rides such as Ratatouille, Flying Carpets, Slinky Dog etc.

We then recommend getting another quick service lunch to maximise your time in the parks.

Then it is time to park hop. If you plan on doing the thrill rides then you should prioritise Hyperspace Mountain, Indiana Jones and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. However if you want to get a lot of rides in your Disneyland Paris itinerary you are best spending time in Fantasyland before heading onto Pirates of the Caribbean. Any time left over should be spent getting on as many rides as you can.

Note: be sure to check the parade times if this is something you want to add in your itinerary.

For dinner again we recommend you heading to another quick service restaurant. Our favorites are Casey’s Corner and Col Hathi’s Pizza Outpost as they tend to the most speedy however we also love Toad Hall at Disneyland Paris because of the food selection especially for vegan food. 

After dinner, carry on filling your itinerary with low rate times rides before seeing the illuminations or fireworks in the park of your choosing. 

Sample Itinerary: 

Extra Magic Hours:

• Crush’s Coaster
• Flying Carpets over Agrabah

Park opening: 

• Tower of Terror
• W.E.B Slingers – expect around a 60 minute wait if you do not have premier access
• Avengers Flight Force

Lunch – Stark Factory

Park hop

• Big Thunder Mountain – expect around 60 minute wait at this time without premier access
• Indiana Jones ride – expect around 40 minute wait at this time of day
• HyperSpace Mountain – expect around a 45 minute wait at this time of day 

Dinner – Casey’s Corner 

After Dinner – jump on rides with low wait times usually in the Fantasyland area of the park 

Fireworks / Illuminations at the park of your choice

And there you have it our 2 parks 1 day ultimate itineraries! Let us know if you do any of these or have any questions and we will do our best to answer!