Where to go first for early entry hours?

[aprincessatlast]

Need help with itinerary. If staying on property and getting there before rope drop where do you head to first? We will have 2 mornings for this.

I know Curious Axel mentions Minnie and Mickey line is the shortest then. I would like to see them there in the original outfits and like to see some of the characters in the 25th edition since this is our first visit. At the same time wondering if that is waisted and should head to Space Mountain. (we are there end of June) or BTMRR?

Do you leave Disneyland and head to the studios around 9:30 to get ahead of the crowd there?

 

[A Small World]

Thunder Mountain isnt open during EMH.

Most people either choose to do the characters or the rides during EMH.
If you choose the rides you will probably get them all done - possibly start with the Fantasyland ones (Peter Pan and Dumbo have the biggest queues as the time goes on) then move to Discoveryland for Space and Buzz.

Around 9.15-9.30 you can head across to the studios to try and get in early for Crush or get in line at the rope to go into Adventure land by Peter Pan (The first ride through the rope is Pirates) or by the rope at the end of the arcade by Caseys as this will take you a slightly quicker way into Frontierland to get to Thunder mountain.

 

[Firsttimer15]

We were there 2 weeks ago and it was not during heavy crowds but we did not get to do a lot of rides during emh because they only have a couple of rides open and a lot of hotel guests. It is not as useful as in wdw

 

[BadPinkTink]

I would say pick one morning to do the character meets and one morning to do the rides. Its mainly the rides in Fantasyland and Discoveryland that are open. Try to get there as close to 8am as possible, as the park really starts to fill up from about 8.54am.

Also plan what you want to do at 10am when the park opens fully. One of the best things about EMH is that you are in the park when the lands open. On my last trip in February 2016, one morning at 9.45am I waited by the Adventureland Entrance at Peter Pan. I was in the first row of the first boat in Pirates The second morning I joined the queue at Autopia at 9.45am. I was in the first rotation of cars and by the time I exited the ride at about 10.15am the wait time was already up to 40 minutes.

Peter Pan is the most popular so go straight to that at 8am. Usually Teacups, the carousel and Pinocchio are open too. Then go over to Discoveryland, Buzz, Astro Orbitor and Space Mountain are usually open. Buzz is usually a walk in so you should be able to do that at least twice. EMH is also the best time to take photos of the Castle. Its about the only time you wont get random people in the background. When I was there last it was a sunny crisp spring morning and I got some really nice photos of the Castle and the Spring time Topiarys in the Hub. If you are into pin trading, EMH is the best time, as the lanyards at the start of the day have the best pins.

Like everything at Disneyland Paris, it is what you make it. If you go around EMH comparing it to what you have experienced in the American parks, then you will have a negative viewpoint.

 

[chudlyfudly]

I think I'll just be reiterating what others had said above, but I was surprised when I went last week (hadn't been to DLP in recent memory before that) at how little was open in EMH. Hyperspace Mountain opened on Sunday, although that was also our departure date, I was able to ride it on Friday but if it's open in the EMH then I'd recommend getting on to that. The queue was up to 90mins with fastpasses for 21:00 by about 11:30 on Sunday, so definitely worth getting on.

If you're keen to do big thunder I'd recommend waiting for the rope drop for Frontierland just before 10:00 - I don't know if the absence of any larger rides (with hyperspace mountain still being closed) impacted on it during the first few days of my stay but the queue shot up quite quickly as did the fastpass times.