Extra Magic Time allows hotel guests up to 2 hours of access to either Disneyland Park or Walt Disney Studios Park before regular day guests arrive.
Walt Disney Studios Parks
The Walt Disney Studios Park gates and turnstiles open at 8am the whole parks attractions open at this time too. Guests usually run to Crush’s Coaster and then Hollywood’s Tower of Terror. If you plan your day and timings right, you will be able to ride Crush’s Coaster, Hollywood’s Tower of Terror and Ratatouille Remy’s Adventure in a hour of the park opening.
Toy Story Land and Place Du Remy are the most quiet areas of the Studios park when it first opens. No food locations or merchandise locations open until 930am. I recommend eating breakfast at your hotel around 6.45am/6.50am then making your way to the parks for 8am or getting to the parks at 8am and utilising the the Extra Magic Time and heading back to the hotel for breakfast around 9.30am/10am when the parks open. Neither of these morning tips are wrong, we have done both and both work well.
I took full advantage of the quiet park on one of our mornings.
Toy Story Land
Place Du Remy
The rest of Walt Studios Disney Park
Disneyland Park
Disneyland Park also opens at 8am, however, food locations, merchandise locations, Frontierland and Fantasyland will open at 830am. The lands are roped off and cast members walk guests to the attractions when they open. I have seen this method in Walt DisneyWorld too and it works well so stop crowds of people running. People will typically run to take photos in front of an empty Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, ride on Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast and Hyperspace Mountain. By this time Frontierland and Fantasyland will be open and guests will go to either Big Thunder Mountain, Peter Pan’s Flight or the Princess Pavilion. These attractions will have the longest waits through out the day so I recommend to knock these out early or get a fast pass when the kiosks open at 10am.
The park opens to regular day guests between 930am and 10am. The time shift from the hotel guests and regular day guests coming is quite apparent.
Again I spent a couple of my mornings taking advantage of the empty park taking pictures.
The Park
Thunder Mesa
Fantasyland
Discoveryland
Disneyland Paris is such a beautiful park, it has some extremely beautiful themed lands. That I think people discredit because it it ‘just Disneyland Paris’. I have said it before and I will say it again. Disneyland Park is beautiful, and I encourage all guests to stop and take their time walking round and taking in the beauty that imagineers have created.
What do you think of Extra Magic Time? Do you use this perk when staying on property? What is your early morning stratery? Let me know in the comments.
That Disney Girl 