Getting to Walt Disney Studios Park & Disneyland (France)

Disney Village

Walt Disney Studios Park and Disneyland (France) are side by side and can be completed within a day, if you are focused on the more exciting rides and don’t get distracted with meeting the characters, parade shows, souvenirs and kiddy rides. The last time I was in France I did not get to visit, so I made it a point to visit this time round. Getting to the parks from the city center (Paris) takes about 2 hours by metro/RER and was relatively easy. If you want a more leisurely time at the parks, I guess two days should be enough.

It was kind of a last minute thing and thankfully LuttiSparrow managed to find an online offer which was about 12% less than the original pricing for the tickets per adult. We had wanted to stay overnight, but as it was kind of last minute most if the hotels were already booked. So if you want to spend more time and stay at the hotels it would be best to actually start booking online really early on to get your preferred hotel and dates.

Tickets should be bought online (if possible), because that would save you the time at the queue. If you decide to buy your tickets when you arrive, be prepared for lots of queuing: there is a queue for you to purchase the tickets, than there is a queue for visitors into the park - those without bags can enter faster, while those with bags have to get them checked at security, but both lines were equally long, and that was at 10 in the morning when the parks start opening!

Queue at Walt Disney Studios Park & Disneyland (France) Entrance

The queue to enter the parks was not very organized and we were not able to differentiate the lines for those with/without bags. It was a good thing we managed to reach there at 10am when the park was opened, the queue was just starting to form and it took about 15-20 minutes to enter the parks. Imagine if we hadn’t bought the tickets online, another good 20 minutes (or more) would have been lost.

We visited Walt Disney Studios Park in the morning, followed by Disneyland Paris later in the day. It was a day of walking, walking and more walking (we started our journey at 830 in the morning and reached back to Paris at about 1030 at night), but overall a fruitful day out. The metro/RER tickets back to Paris cost about 6€ per person and the train station is directly in front of the 2 parks and Village (very convenient).

Gare De Marne La Vallee Chessy Station right next to the parks

Concorde Station - Transfer stop back to Paris

Walt Disney Studios is open from 10 am in the morning until 7pm in the evening, while Disneyland is open from 10am in the morning till 11pm at night.

Tips (from GlobeTrotter):

Where to buy tickets and how much does it cost?

You can buy the tickets when you get there, but be prepared for the long queues.
You can also buy online the tickets online at Disneyland Paris website, where they might have offer discounts.
You also have the option to purchase tickets from websites such as Fnac or Carrefour.
If you love Disney so much and are in France for some time, you can also buy an annual pass which allows you access to Disneyland as often as you like in the year.
Or you could choose to stay overnight at the hotels, and tickets are normally included in the price. Make sure that you book in advance for this if you are interested in staying at the hotels as it is really popular.
You can also choose whether you want to visit both parks or just one.

When to go?

Disneyland is open daily. But if you want to avoid the crowd, or encounter less of them:

Go there on a weekday, not weekend.
Get there as early as possible (e.g. when it opens).
Avoid weekends (Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays), school holidays, and holiday periods.
For lunch, either bring your own or eat earlier or later to avoid the lunch crowds.

Other Tips and Tricks

Bring an umbrella just in case the weather changes and water bottle (there are drinking fountains to refill them).
You can take pictures but some attractions do not allow it.
You can take a bag, preferably those that can be secured with a zip, else you can leave them in a locker.
Wear appropriate footwear shoes, not flip flops.
There are site plans are on site for you to plan your journey.
Strollers can be rented in the park Disneyland.
If you come by RER, keep some money to buy your tickets SPECIALS RER. (About 4 € per person from Paris).
There is a baggage check for security at the entrance, so you might not want to bring a bag and get in faster.
Once you have your ticket, all attractions are mostly free, except a few small exceptions such as refreshments, stalls, restaurants, souvenirs, so expect spend some (or alot) of money!

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