Currently the Disneyland Park opens two hours early for hotel guests and annual pass holders, this extra special time within the Disneyland Park is called ‘Extra Magic Hours’. Extra magic hours offers guests a chance to get in the park early and to ride a select few rides, within Fantasyland and Discoveryland, before anyone else. In the case of Disneyland Park there is also the chance to meet and greet with certain characters; Donald, Minnie, Chip & Dale and often Goofy being dotted around Mainstreet in various locations. Currently Walt Disney Studios Park is not included in Extra Magic Hours.
I have used Extra Magic Hours on every visit to Disneyland Paris. This was in part because it is quite amazing to enter the park early. You can get a great photo of the castle with you in front of it and no one else around. Some days the park can be quite busy and extra magic hours were a great way of getting those extra special photos without a sea of people in the background. One thing I really liked about getting up early and going to the park was being able to ride a couple of the more busier rides before anyone else. Anybody that has queued for the two hours to get on Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast will understand how amazing it is to be able to walk straight onto the ride, off and then on again straight away with no or very little queue. Other, Discoveryland, rides that have been open in the past include Star Tours and Space Mountain, (although not usually at the same time) and Orbitron. The list in Fantasyland included Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Peter Pan’s Flight, Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups and Le Carrousel de Lancelot. Peter Pan’s Flight is easily one of the busiest rides in Fantasyland and, like Buzz Lightyears Laser Blast, being able to just walk onto the ride is a pretty cool feeling, making the early morning start worth while.
So what is changing this October? Its more than just the name. Extra Magic Hours is to become known as Extra Magic Times. The main difference is that instead of two hours of extra time you now only get one. The trade-off here is that you now have a choice between which park to visit as the Walt Disney Studios Park is now also included. So what attractions will now be open? We have a full list below to help you decide which park you want to visit first.
Starting 1st October 2017, between 8:30 – 9:30 everyday:
Attractions open in Disneyland Park:
Dumbo the Flying Elephant,
Le Carrousel de Lancelot,
Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups,
Peter Pan’s Flight,
Princess Pavillion.
Attractions open in the Walt Disney Studios Park:
Crush’s Coaster,
Ratatouille: L’Aventure Totalement Toquee de Remy,
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith.
Our verdict on this change is mixed. While it will be a loss to lose access to the rides within Discoveryland it would be quite cool to be able to experience the three rides available in the Studios Park without the long queues. The only other concern is how busy will the Extra Magic Time be? Those who currently use Extra Magic Hours know that while the first hour is generally quiet the second is fairly busy and the queues are forming quite long at the main attractions so what will the effect of only having one hour be? We shall have to wait and see.
DLP Genie 