Trying to figure out the difference between Disneyland Paris vs Walt Disney World? We are Walt Disney World Annual Passholders and have gone to all the parks countless times so Disneyland Paris compared to Florida is pretty easy to do. We know the parks like the back of our hands, can guide guests to attractions if asked, know the best/worst places to eat, and have worn out our magic bands. Walt Disney World is a magical place, but there are 5 things that Disneyland Paris just does better.
1. Public Transportation
See that white building? See those green gates? That is the distance between the Disneyland Paris metro stop and the park entrance. Parking at Disney World is horrific. If we are simply comparing Paris vs. Florida in terms of the Magic Kingdom park, Paris wins by a long shot because, no matter where you park in Florida, it takes a minimum of 30 minutes to reach the Magic Kingdom park entrance. You just can’t beat a metro that drops you off at the entrance. Check out more Disneyland Paris tips if you are looking to learn!
2. Cheaper Prices
For an adult, tickets cost $85 for 1 park and $102 for 2 parks. At Disneyland, it costs over $102 to visit just one park, and more if it is Magic Kingdom. Disneyland Paris has even cheaper options with their “Mini” day pass which involves certain days you can and can not come. We got a mini pass and were able to use it on a Friday, in the end of June, when we visited in 2015. Mini passes cost $70 for 2 parks and $53 for one park.
In addition, merchandise is cheaper too! We wanted to purchase a shirt and went in thinking it would be at least $35. Nope. An adult shirt could be purchased for $19, and a tank top for $15. Even hoodies and jackets rang up at a low $45 each! If you are visiting Disneyland Paris as a family, these prices make it even more affordable!
3. Smaller Park Size
See that round building? It is located in Tomorrowland. This picture was taken from the entrance to Adventureland. At WDW Magic Kingdom, in order to get from one land to the other [via the castle rotunda], one must exit the land, cross a bridge, fight crowds to cross the massive center rotunda area [which is consistently being made even larger], and cross another bridge until you finally arrive in a new land. There is something to be said about the ease of walking around the Disneyland Paris parks without hiking 8 miles a visit. Plus, it saves time!
4. Less People
We know, Walt Disney World is an international attraction and about 8 million times bigger than Disneyland Paris. Nonetheless, we have fought WDW crowds year round and actually getting to enjoy the parks without dealing with thousands of people is a nice treat. The slower pace of the park allows us to have a better and less stressful experience.
If you are Disneybounding, this means people will be more likely to notice your Disney-inspired get up as you aren’t competing with huge crowds. We highly recommend Disneybounding at Disneyland Paris!
We have visited Disneyland Paris twice: once during spring break season in April, and once in the end of June during the summer. Both times, the parks were dead, with waits no longer than 15-30 minutes. We have visited WDW during every “off-season” imaginable and the parks are still overcrowded and the waits are still insane. Maybe everyone needs to get the memo that Paris Disney is worth the visit!
5. Better Versions Of Classic Rides
Disneyland Paris’s take on Disney’s traditional rides one-ups WDW to no end. Take Space Mountain, for example. In WDW, the ride is classic, yet stuck in the 70’s. In Paris, the ride features 2 loops, a launch start, and the latest technology. Pirates of the Carribean features two drops, a much longer ride, and is a whole lot darker than its Floridian counterpart. The darker rides are more fun, especially if you will be at Disneyland Paris during Halloween!
Haunted Mansion’s creep factor is insane, the ride features real animal bones, and guests enjoy more ride details. Disneyland Paris pays attention to every detail while we feel Walt Disney World falls short and pays more attention to pumping out guests than the actual experience. If you think WDW is detailed, you are in for a treat at Paris [and the Asian Disneys, we have heard].
Walt Disney World always remains king, but how can we not enjoy more detail, non-existent crowds, cheaper prices, and an overall more relaxing park experience?!
Have you been to Disneyland Paris? How did you like it?
Eating Around The World In Paris
Love this! Makes me so excited to visit. Amazing post.
Thanks Rachel!!! Disney is the best! 🙂
Disney is okay every 4-5 years! Just too expensive for what you get and yes, the crowds are aweful! I do not like standing in those long lines. Just might have to tey Disney Paris.
We would go every year.
This is such great information! See, I had thought if I ever went to France, I would pass on Disneyland Paris because we have WDW here in Florida. But if it’s cheaper and easy to move through the crowds, then I’m in! I might be able to convince hubby to enjoy it if it’s a cheaper, less crowded version.
We hardly even considered them to be ‘crowds!’ We think it is a ‘must’ for Paris!
We study the marketing of Disney quite often in my Fashion Marketing and Management curriculum. Interesting remark about the park being ‘dead’ both times you visited. It seems that Parisians loved to visit WDW and WDL in the US, but loathed the idea of it in their backyard. (they called it a ‘cultural Chernobyl’) The numbers have been disappointing, ever since they opened. I think Paris benefited from lessons learned at the original parks, for sure. And, land is at a premium and not as readily available for the scale used in the US. From what I understand, they are heavily in debt on that venture, and have lost money on Disney Paris ever since it opened in 1992. These factors certainly contributed to your pleasant experience, but not so happy place for the Disney empire!
Our friend at DLP said that its all in the management and the last manager was horrible but now the head of DLP is a lady manager and apparently she’s doing very good. We like the dead crowds but I know it isn’t good for business.
The last CEO was fantastic as well. He steered DLP in the right direction. I think you must be thinking of the CEO before him lol
The lady has not even started yet!
Is the next article 100 reasons why WDW is better than DLRP? ? I’m European and visited both countless times. WDW is So much better, and crowds are getting worse in Paris two.
That is a good idea! WDW does have many benefits such as more parks, magic bands, photographers etc. 🙂
Nope i disagree orlando disney is far more magical and it wouldnt take you 30 mintutes to the gates iv stayed at many places and iv never been that far away.
Really? When going to Magic Kingdom, no matter if we park at the MK parking lot or one of the hotels and ride the monorail, it ALWAYS takes at least 30 minute 🙁 We are happy you have a better experience!
I have been to Orlando also and it never took 30 mins from where we parked the car to the park gates either, we went four separate days and one evening for a show!
Orlando is 10000000 times better than paris i hate paris went once when i 8. Orlando is the best place they have water parks and other theme parks that just make paris look well crap
Great post, just a few things I would like to mention as a DLP veteran, Just so people are aware, there is a little more walking than shown in the distance from train station to the parks, that entrance is the cast member entrance, the public have to walk around a bit further and go through security then splits to whichever park you choose, still not a long walk but not quite as short as that ? 😀 Also there is a massive carpark which is quite a walk away but they have travelators to make it quicker and less walking.
Also the prices of merch isnt quite that cheap anymore, the ones posted are more like child prices for clothes, the cheapest adult hoodie is 40euro, and doesn’t even have a hood lol. Though if you go in January or July they have the French annual sales and items can be reduced up to 90%, though in July or any French/ English school holidays the parks are more like florida in high season, absolutely rammed!
Make sure you do the character dining meal at Inventions too, its expensive but sooo worth it!
I have been to all Disneys except WDW and Paris is my favourite. The asian parks can get very busy and crowded. Not a fan of big crowds and with Paris being much less crowded and still a decent sized park with Disneyland and Walt Disney Studios, makes for an amazing trip. We’ve travelled from Australia in 2012 and 2015 and heading back this year too. Highly recommended!
We would love to go to the Asian Disney’s!! We are sure they are packed as well but it would be an epic experience! DLP is just so homey and relaxing!
How can you say I’ve been to all Disney’s but not Walt Disney World that’s the best and biggest of all of them and all the other articles rated that’s the one they always pick so if you haven’t been to that one though you haven’t been to all of them and it is the best and it is not that crowded because it’s so much bigger and there’s so much more stuff
Hello , This is a great post for all who wish to visit Disneyland Paris ,
i my self will be traveling in first week of june , so if you could help me with certain things please
1: is one day fine for Disney land Visit, ?
2: I really wish to see the Disney characters like mickey mouse donald duck pluto , and wish to meet them . is it possible if yes then how ?
which are the must see places to go at Disney land Paris ?
please advice if possible thank you
Hiya! One day is plenty of time! We went in June last year and it wasn’t that busy. You can see the characters at both parks! Ask a cast member [employee] when you arrive in the park and they will give you a little map of times where you can see different characters!
I have just returned from Paris. During one of the hottest weeks ever. The queues were horrible worsened by the heat. No shade on some which made the whole experience worse. Saying this I still loved it. Was far too hot to walk around so missed loads. I’ve been to anaheim 6 times and love it much better and it was cheaper. Paris is very exoensive even outside the parks. The workers at Paris are very hard working and nice. We stopped at the Santa fe and took about 15 mins to walk but shuttle brilliant. Room had no air conditioning which would’ve been fine except it was 36+ degrees so hard to sleep too hot. Had the meal plan with gorgeous buffet breakfast and had evening buffet absolutely lovely. Staff are very polite hard working and luckily speak excellent English. ..it was the other guests who are rude. No control over their kids. Dropping food on floor and leaving it. Pushing in to queues no respect. Did a Paris and seinne water cruise but again temp was too bad to enjoy it. I want to go back but not in June as too many kids and long lines. Will maybe try March or may next time but definitely recommend Disney land Paris x
My husband and I went to Paris for our honeymoon in June 2013. We went to both Disney parks on two different days.
I always dreamt of going to Disney as a newlywed and wearing the bridal Mickey and Minnie ears. However they did not have any adult ears anywhere. We asked if they at least had a button pin that said newlyweds or something– they didn’t. The people we asked looked at us like we had two heads.
I did find some little girl Minnie princess ears that had a veil. So I wore those. I remember the only character hat that would have fit my husband was a chef’s hat from “Ratatouille.” I proudly wore my ears both days we were there, but I did get a few strange looks from the locals. I realized that no adults were wearing any Disney stuff. Growing up going to WDW and WDL left me a bit disappointed in the aspect that the adults did not seem to embrace their inner child as much in DLP. My husband and I didn’t care though. We acted silly and had fun running up to characters and giving them a BIG hug!
A few things I really enjoyed:
*Everything mentioned in the article. (The Minnie ears cost around $12)
*Almost nonexistent lines to take pictures with characters.
*The Toy Story Land– including the Slinky ride (I’m a huge fan of dachshunds).
*The fact that the rides were translated in English, French, and Spanish. I thought it was pretty cool.
All in all we enjoyed our time at DLP and enjoy the lasting memories it created for us.
Just wanted to give a heads up to any honeymooners that may have trouble finding the bridal ears. If you want to wear them, order them online and bring them with you!
My profile pic is from our honeymoon at DLP with my Minnie ears!
Great info!!! We didn’t even notice the ears! At WDW they are everywhere you look but thinking back they were pretty sparse at DLP! Brides: listen to this advice!
I live in France, had a yearly pass at Disneyland some years ago. To someone who only visits the park once I expect they would think the park is great simply because it’s different than Disney World.
But here are a few points to mention!
Rude behavior: If you don’t speak French and speak it well you’ll at some meet someone in the park that can’t speak a bit of English and or cast members that claim to speak English that really can’t! The rudeness comes into to play over several issues such as service and other guests! DLP is well known for this problem!
Meet and greets: Next to impossible! Soon as a character arrives EVERYONE makes a circle rather than a line like you see in most of the English speaking world. It makes it very, very difficult to spend time with a character.
Hotel Prices: The price difference from Disney World to DLP is extreme! Sure it comes with a park ticket and possibly breakfast but do you really want to pay 500+ € a night for a very basic room with practically no theming or services?
Food is bad and VERY EXPERIENCE! Just take a look at food prices and decide for yourself.
It’s filthy and broken down: Okay it’s been a few years since my last visit but I’ve heard they’ve started to atcually fix things now! Take a look on google and you’ll see what I was talking about!
It’s one day park: You can basically see pretty much everything in one day (both parks). If the crowds are lower. This doesn’t apply however to ANY school break! That includes the summer and spring! It’s packed at these times of year!
For the best vacation experience, variety, and atcually having something to do for at least a week DLP doesn’t hold a candle to WDW! And that includes prices, service, and over all quality! I’d invite you to tour the park a few times and pay attention to the differences again and you’ll very likely see what I’m speaking about.
Thank you for your tips!! You are so right…it is totally a one day park! We think Disney food prices are just super high anywhere! Great comment 🙂
I’m an American who lives in Paris and I have the annual pass, and I’m going to have to contradict you here.
1.) They’ve been redoing the whole park for the upcoming 25th anniversary and I wouldn’t describe anything (even the parts that they haven’t updated yet) as filthy.
2.) Official Meet and Greets always have lines that are roped off like any other attraction. The park can’t really control how people respond when the come across a character who’s just passing through.
3.) Hotel prices are comparable to similarly-equipped hotels in the area. Paris is a much bigger tourist draw than Orlando. It’s the number one tourist destination in the world. Most people don’t come to Paris just to visit a theme park.
4.) The Paris restaurants are mostly quick service type places and the food is comparable to quick service type places anywhere. You might not have cared for the taste of the food you ate, but the quality is assuredly better because France has much stricter laws than the U.S. in regard to food quality. The higher end restaurants are excellent. The Ratatouille restaurant is a fun, uniquely DLP experience, but I especially recommend the Blue Lagoon restaurant. The prices are relatively reasonable, the atmosphere is hard to beat, (inside the Pirates’ ride, like at Disneyland CA) and the food is excellent. If you make a reservation on the later side, (like 8 or 9pm) you may well finish dinner after the park closes. But at DLP, they don’t hurry you out of the park and the stores are typically open until the last guest leaves. We leisurely strolled through the park taking pictures of the people-free attractions and the castle on our way out of the park.
5.) If a person visits another country that speaks another language and they expect the residents to speak THEIR language fluently, the residents aren’t the ones being rude, THEY are. You won’t meet a French person who expects Disney World employees to speak French.
Places are generally what you make of them. I’m guessing that your attitude had a lot to do with your experience. Also, the park has only been open since 1992. If you had your pass “some years ago,” chances are your experiences are no longer applicable, anyway. I’ve lived here since 2003, and the park has changed dramatically in that time period.
I disagree with you as an American and as a bartender for 41 years DHEC puts us through hell for our food quality and most restaurants so you obviously don’t know what you’re talkin about they have places there they have food on the street we don’t even allow that here and you haven’t lived here you said in what 16 years see how do you know their food qualities better have you been in all their kitchens do they display their grade on the window like they do here what the heck says they earned when they’re inspected several times a year and a surprise you also in being gone not 16 years from that here they have great food now it places lots of farm-to-table lots of fresh stuff I live by the beach fresh seafood we have all kinds of food here being such a huge country
Did you lose your punctuation and capitalization skills Kim Dye? You are an American, but it hurt to read your post because it was jumbled nonsense with a full run-on paragraph.
De verdad???? el que escribio este articulo no ha estado nunca jamás en WDW… y si ha estado tiene una muy mala perspectiva de ambos parques…
We have an annual paas for Disneyland Paris for a lot of years now. This year we went to WDW for the first time. We will be back in a couple of years and enjoyed WDW a lot but we love ‘our’ Disneyland Paris more. The only negative point I can give is that all the e-mail and newsletters we receive as annual pass holder are only in French. If Disneyland would be an local parc I can understand that. But Disneyland is an international orientated company. The only Disneyland parc in Europe. And because of this the Europeans consider is as ‘their’ parc. It’s a pity that the direction of DLP don’t think across the borders.
Thank you for commenting!! That is so interesting to hear that DLP doesn’t try to cater to all European countries and only speaks in French! Glad you enjoyed WDW! We love it there!
They do speak English, like on ToT they have the ‘English library’ on the right and the ‘French library’ on the left. But I agree with the fact with the other countries who dont speak french nor’ english.
Im going in May, also quick fact this is the biggest disney magic kingdom park, excluding Hong Kong.
We have been to both USA parks and have been to DLP every year for 10 years. I agree, while WDW is so much bigger, my daughter ‘hands down’ prefers the DLP Park so much more. Wait times are sooo much shorter and whilst busy, not as busy as WDW which despite its size, I find suffocating when too crowded. Having said that, I would rather be at any Disney Park than out in the real world!! ????♥️
We agree!! We love Disney sooooo much! And we do love DLP Paris better but WDW will always be home! Plus DLP didn’t have magic bands and fast passes…it was the old school type of fast pass!
We are from the UK and just came back from DLP and despite it being March it was busy. Probably not as busy as WDW, I’ve never been, but queue times were usually 60-85 minutes. We visited in the summer holidays last time and queue times were pretty much the same.
Ì often find other guests there quite rude too. There’s a lot of pushing in front of people in queues, for example. Or just being generally barged into.
We last visited in August 2016 and a lot of the attractions have been refurbed since then. All the rides we went on looked a bit spruced up since last time.
Ì also think I would like to learn some French before we go again. Most cast members speak very good french but I always feel very rude when I have to ask them to speak in English. The above commenter is right about the language thing. Our UK theme parks certainly don’t cater to any other languages despite the fact tourists from other places surely visit. Perhaps these places aren’t as international as Disney but you definitely don’t go into Alton Towers (my favourite UK theme park) and tell them you are french and they smoothly transition into French for you. It’s awkward and I will definitely make more effort for next time.
With regards to Merch prices, I’m not sure how they translate into dollars but the kids hoodies are around 40 euros. We bought a lot of the 25th anniversary merch because quite a lot of it’s half price now!
Ì love DLP. I cant compare to anywhere else though but if everywhere else is busier I don’t think I want to go! It was rammed when we were there
Hey there! Thanks a lot for the information! Me and my boyfriend will be visiting at the end of this month and are soo excited! I was wondering if you could help us out with something. Since we don’t have a lot of time and are running on a budget we would like to visit one of the parks in Paris. We’ve seen its Disneyland and Walt Disney studios. Which one would you recommend if you had to choose between them?
This is such a load of bull, disney land paris is dirty dated and all the stuff is broken paint peeling, gross
awww we really quite enjoyed DLP! It was a great place to explore!
I agree! My daughter lives between Tampa and Orlando more in Tampa but close to Orlando she goes all the time the one in Orlando is so much better than Paris she’s actually there right now and she said it’s not nearly as good dirty less stuff not as much to see whether or not as good just in general the one Orlando is way better they go like twice a month cuz they get the state resident passes so they love it and she has been to both so she can compare
I don’t know about WDW but if you say that Disney Paris is dirty and so… I really want to see WDW. Is that sterile than or so?
I’m at this moment in Disney Paris for 3 says and haven’t seen 1 paper in the ground for example.
As a regular visitor at many european amusement and Themeparks i can say that Disney Paris is probably the cleanest of all European parcs
Did you lose your punctuation and capitalization skills Kim Dye? You are an American, but it hurt to read your post because it was jumbled nonsense with a full run-on paragraph.