How Many Days You Need At Disneyland Paris

Unlike Walt Disney World in Orlando, Disneyland Paris is only made up of two parks. This often leads friends and family members to ask us how many days they should book when visiting. 

While you can do Disneyland Paris in one or even two days, we’ve found the optimal visit time is three days. This gives you enough time to spend one day in each of the two Disney parks (Disneyland and Walt Disney Studios) along with a bonus day to go back and cover anything you missed.

Of course, there are some additional factors that will contribute to the amount of time you want to allocate to a trip to Disneyland Paris and having visited multiple times we can see how the exact number of days might vary based on these.

Visiting With Kids

If you’re visiting Disneyland Paris with children then you’ll definitely want to budget two, or more ideally three days to visit both of the Disneyland Paris parks. 

The best itinerary in this case is to spend your first day at the Disneyland Paris park, and your second day at Walt Disney Studios. 

This leaves you with a third day free to go back to either (or both of the parks if you have a three-day, two-park ticket) and cover what you’ve missed. 

I’ve found that children the perfect age for Disneyland Paris (between 3 and 10) often get tired easily – especially in summer. 

As such they might struggle to walk around the park, need naps or be unable to stay out in the heat. 

By splitting the two parks up over three days you’re able to still see everything, albeit with fewer time constraints and pressure. 

The Disneyland park, in particular, is often open from 9am until 11pm and in this case, we’ve often found it’s best to visit the park with kids in the morning, from 9am until 3pm.

We’ll then head back for a nap from 3pm until 6pm before heading out for dinner and catching the light show.

This makes the benefit of staying at one of the hotels within walking distance of the park ideal as we’re able to leave the park and be in the comfort of our hotel room within ten to twenty minutes. 

Staying On-Site

If you’re staying on-site in one of the Disneyland Paris hotels then you’ll be within walking distance of the parks. 

This makes getting to the gates for rope drop significantly quicker and less stressful than when staying elsewhere in the Chessy region. 

Of course, all this means that you’ll have more energy and time inside the parks during the day. 

However, that’s not the only reason you’ll be able to have more time in the parks since staying at a Disneyland Paris hotel also comes with the additional benefit of Extra Magic Hours.

Extra Magic Hours gives you access to a selected Disneyland Paris park either 30 minutes or 1 hour before the general public. 

When used to their full advantage you can easily cover one park per day and therefore only need two days to cover both parks instead of the recommended three. 

Purchasing A Premier Access Pass

A Premier Access pass allows you to skip the queue on selected rides and go straight to the front. 

These passes can be purchased individually (on a ride-by-ride basis) or for the entire day. However, they come at a cost. 

The exact price varies depending on the time of year, how busy the parks are and how popular the ride is. 

However, I paid €14 to skip the 60-minute wait time for Ratatouille: The Adventure and instead waited just 1 minute (yes, I timed it!).

While a Premier Access pass isn’t a necessity on all rides (Cars Road Trip for example only had a 5-minute standby wait time) it can help you save a significant amount of time on the more popular ones.

As such when purchasing this pass you can comfortably go on all the rides in either Disneyland or Walt Disney Studios in one day. 

Therefore only requiring two days for two parks instead of our recommended three. 

At a push, you might be able to cover both parks in one day with the Premier Access pass. However, it would be a full day (9am until 11pm) and could see you miss some of the more laid-back experiences such as dining at a restaurant or watching the parade. 

Only Visiting One Park

For various reasons, you might only want to visit one of the two parks when visiting Disneyland Paris.

In that case, the number of days you need to spend at the Disneyland Paris resort will depend on the park you plan to visit. 

Disneyland

If you’re looking to visit Disneyland then you’ll likely be able to cover the entire park in one day provided that you’re able to stay in the park from opening until closing (usually 9am until 11pm).

If you’re unable to stay in the park all day then you’ll likely still want to book two days so you’re able to go on all the rides and experience everything you want to experience from your trip. 

Walt Disney Studios

If you’re only planning on visiting Walt Disney Studios during your trip to Disneyland Paris then I’d suggest two days as a minimum for two reasons;

Firstly, since the Marvel Avengers Campus has newly opened wait times for rides in this area (and the park in general) are significantly higher.

Second, this park in particular often has shorter opening hours when compared to Disneyland (usually 9am until 8pm).

Which since the park has been extended isn’t always enough time to experience everything. 

However, if you are able to get a Priority Access pass when visiting Walt Disney Studios then you should still be able to do this park in one day.

Visited Disneyland Paris Before

If you’ve visited Disneyland Paris previously (in the last 5 years or so) then you’ll likely remember what you liked and didn’t like at the park. 

As such you’ll know what rides you absolutely must go on and which ones you’d rather skip and have some familiarity when it comes to navigating around the parks. 

In this case, we’ve found that you should therefore be able to spend one day at Disneyland. 

However, I’d still recommend spending two days at Walt Disney Studios since this park in particular has undergone major redevelopment in the past five years. 

With the opening of the Marvel Avengers Campus, the transformation of the Hollywood Tower Hotel & Crush’s Coaster.

Again if you’re able to purchase a Priority Access pass then you should be able to cut these two days down to one. 

Season / Time Of Year

Depending on the time of year or season in which you’re visiting Disneyland Paris the crowd levels will vary dramatically. 

Of course, higher crowds mean longer queues which means you’ll likely see standby wait times for some of the most popular rides exceed 100 minutes. 

Whereas lower crowds mean shorter queues, which means you’ll see standby wait times for some of the most popular rides be around 20 minutes. 

Spending upwards of two hours waiting and subsequently going on a ride can take a significant amount of time out of your day, and that’s just one ride! 

As such, if you’re visiting during peak season you’ll want to budget a minimum of three days for the two parks. 

However, in this case, I’d also suggest looking into a Priority Access pass on top to ensure you get to ride everything you want during your trip.

While you could stretch your trip to four days in this instance, the cost of the additional day is often the same (or close) to the cost of a Priority Access pass with the latter allowing you to keep your sanity when queueing for rides!