Help planning for DLP

LisaBi

DIS Veteran
Joined
Oct 23, 2004
Hello all. I have been to WDW many times. BFF AND I are planning a trip to France sometime in 2018. We plan to be France for 2 weeks, and part of that time will be at DLP. So my questions...

1) What is the best time to visit, balancing weather (prefer warmer but not Florida-in-August hot), crowds, and seasonal pricing?

2) How many days should we plan to be at DLP? At WDW I never feel like 7-8 days is enough, but I know DLP is a lot smaller. I believe we'll likely stay on-site for the days we are at DLP.

3) Would there be any reason to plan the DLP stop at the beginning or end of the trip? We haven't figured out yet where else, other than Paris, we want to go, but to anticipate seeing quite a bit of the country.

Thanks! I'm getting so excited about this trip!
 
Hi there LisaBi,
The only question I feel I've got any good experience to answer is your second one. With regards to your first question, I've only ever visited in December and May - if it helps on both of the occasions I went in May it was quite wet (but really nice and warm when the rain stopped and the sun came out), December was very cold.
As for your second question, I too have visited WDW quite a few times in the past and have only been to DLP 3 times, most recently May just gone. We went for 3 days plus a half day on arrival and a half day on departure. Honestly, I felt like that was the right amount of time, if anything on the long side. We'd done almost all of the attractions (some multiple times) in both parks, seen the fireworks a couple of times and weren't particularly rushing around to do all that. We've typically spent 14 or 21 days at WDW (coming from the UK) and normally take our time so approached this similarly.

I'd say you can see everything Disney Studios has to offer in a day (that may even be a little generous), and perhaps the main Disneyland park in a day and a half or 2 days without rushing.

DLP is all on the old ticket fastpass system so worth bearing that in mind - Crush's Coaster in Disney Studios was one of the most popular attractions so you'd need to get a fastpass first thing I'd imagine, while in the main Disneyland Park everyone seemed to rush straight over to Big Thunder so fastpasses went quickly for that too.

Hope this helps!

EDIT: Oops! I've just seen that actually Crush's Coaster doesn't have fastpasses at all (we rode it on the Star Wars evening so the queue was really short), so I guess you'll want to get straight over to ride that one morning.
 
If you're not bothered about season stuff (Christmas, Halloween....) I'd say weekdays in mid-September are a great time to go. Parks will be nice and quiet with most children in school, and weather is usually really lovely - sunny, dry, and not as hot as July or August. And it's low season so great prices! The first couple of weeks of October can also be good - still quiet, still reasonably good weather, plus the Halloween festivities.

Otherwise May and June can be good (though depending on which countries have school holidays you may find it busier), and spring weather can be unpredictable - we were there last week, we had 1 day with storms (including a bit of hail), and when they're risk of thunder all the outside rides are closed... followed by 2 sunny days.

Personally I find 3-4 days work best. The Studios can be done in 1 day, the main park takes a bit longer, but if you want to see everything 3 full days work best. An extra day gives you time to relax and enjoy the hotel pool (if you have one)
 
I can't give first hand advice, but I've been planning my upcoming trip and can share what I've learnt so far.

July is the hottest month in France I believe. I doubt it will ever get up to Florida in August temperatures, but that's really down to the humidity. July is also one of the busiest months due to school holidays.
I went with September. Should be warm enough that we wont need heavy jackets, but cool enough that we don't have to worry about getting tired from the heat. It's also a pretty quiet month as far as I'm aware, due to schools being back in.
Advice on timing: avoid school holidays and public holidays if you can - both French and UK holidays, as it will get very busy, and expensive. Weekends also get quite busy as it is an attraction a lot of local people attend. If you're able to time your visit for during the week, it will be a lot calmer.
We're going for 5 days, but I'm aware that is a long time. Most advice suggests 3-4 days to do both parks is plenty, depending on how busy it is/wait times and how much you actually want to do.

Perhaps a couple of days in Paris, followed by DLP then exploration further afield before returning to Paris would work? It would be good to go at the beginning of your trip when excitement and energy levels are high I think.
 


Disney Tourist Blog recently publish a "Is DLP right for you" post
http://www.disneytouristblog.com/should-you-visit-disneyland-paris/

It's good advice and also indirectly suggests how many days you should need. If you like to explore a park taking your time to savour all the details, then you need plenty of time. If you rush from attraction to attaction, you could just focus on what's different enough from WDW and do everything in 1 day and a half.
 
We are annual visitors of WDW and FL as well. This past March, my mother and I went to Paris and I talked her to going to DLP Paris. A few things I can share.

The parks were not crowded in my opinion. Not compared to WDW. The weather was fine, cooler than any time I’ve been to WDW. I’d say two days would be plenty. It is a much smaller scale than WDW. The castle is ‘cute.’

Make sure you know the schedules of shows. We found majority of shows were in French, but they do offer English shows a few times per day.

Don’t expect CM’s to be their usual WDW overly friendly helpful selves. I mean no disrespect at all, but it’s a different culture.

Sizes in Paris are smaller than US. If you purchase clothing, buy at least one size up.

Check to see what rides are functioning. I’d say a good portion of the rides were being rehabbed when we went.

Disney Village is your best bet for a meal. I do recommend Bistrot Chez Rémy. Reservations helpful of course.

DLP although smaller, does have a charm to it. There were some great surprises in regards to rides and attractions that we don’t see in the U.S.

Enjoy!:yay:
 
My two cents:

1) Having been to DLP only once (last month!) I can only comment on my experience, but early May was great. T-shirts most days and a light sweater on one or two days. Crowd's were great if you avoid the European holidays, and we found a great deal via the UK DLP website. If you haven't read this tip yet I highly suggest looking at all versions of the DLP website, as each country offers slightly different promos with VASTLY different prices. The North American site was triple the price of the UK site and it didn't matter that we booked from Canada.

2) We arrived on the 7th and departed the 11th and it was a decent amount of time. I can (and have) easily spent 14 days in Orlando just doing WDW and Universal. My family was very ready to leave DLP after 2 days. The max I would spend there is probably 4 full park days, the majority being spent in the main park as studios is SMALL. VERY. SMALL.

3) I just did DLP at the beginning of a DLP/Paris/Cork/Dublin/London trip and let me tell you... I was EXHAUSTED by the end. Disney was our longest time in one place and it started the trip off on a great note, but by the end of the trip I was so tired. I was also very resentful of having to pack and lug my suitcase around. I don't think that I got to enjoy the last few locations and days very much. I also feel like as a disnerd I would have liked to have Disney as the last big hurrah at the end. Additionally, my suitcase was overfull with Disney souvenirs for the entire trip, would have liked to left Disney to the end to budget space and money for souvenirs in a better way. That being said, maybe I would have been tired either way and if Disney was at the end I wouldn't have had as much energy to see the parks to the fullest?
 


We've been several times and I'd say 4 days is a good time to get everything done. September is a good time weather wise, not too hot and not freezing.
Usually I like to save Disney for the end of my trips, especially if you're planning a lot of stops.
 

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