10 Disneyland Paris Tips Winter and Fall 2023: Changes to Annual Pass, Queues, Character Meets, New Disney Merchandise and More!  

Woohoo! I am back from my whirlwind solo trip to Paris last week – Mickey says hello, by the way – and now that I’ve (just about) caught up on sleep, I want to share with you all my NEW Disneyland Paris tips 2023. From updated queue strategies to changes in annual passes, new character meet-and-greet experiences, and a rise in snack prices, I uncovered a lot of new info that you are going to find helpful. And a lot of tips I wish I had known before I went!

In this blog post, I’ll share the lessons and tips I learned during my visit, helping you maximise the magic on your next trip to Disneyland Paris. 

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NEW Disneyland Paris Tips 2023 Autumn/Winter

I did a solo trip to the main Disney park for a very magical (and very hot!) 2 days last week (September 2023). Including a dash to Walt Disney Studios to see the new show, Together: A Pixar Musical Adventure. (More about that in a post coming soon, subscribe to my VIP Club to get notified when it comes out.)

These are tips/tricks I picked up as well as things that I noticed had recently changed for 2023. 

1. Don’t assume anything about a queue

In other words, learn from my epic queue fails 🤣

Together: A Pixar Musical Adventure

If you are going to the Pixar show (more on that in a minute) – the long line coming straight out of the venue is likely the Guaranteed Access queue, double-check before you join it. (Don’t wait 15 minutes in the sun and get to the front only for them to be closing the queue for regular people! 🤦‍♀️) 

➡️ Good to know: Entry to Disneyland Paris’ newest show is already included in your ticket. But you can pay to ‘upgrade’ to a Guaranteed Access ticket, meaning you can turn up only 15 minutes before and get priority entry. I didn’t have a Guaranteed Access ticket – I turned up 30 minutes before and still got a good seat. 

Annual Passholder Character Meet

Are you an Annual Passholder and heard there is a new meet and greet? 

Yes, that’s right, annual pass holders can absolutely meet an exclusive character in the old Annual Pass Building. The catch? You need to reserve your spot in advance. And they might not check that until you’ve waited ages in the sweltering heat and got to the front of the queue. Oops… 😖

✏️ PRO TIP If you have an annual pass and you want to reserve a place at the pop-up character experience, you can do that in the Annual Pass Portal. If any boxes are still blue (and they align with your visit!) you can go ahead and book it.

In the past, the character pop-up experience allowed you to randomly meet either Tinkerbell with her shrunken-down grotto background or Oswald and Ortensia with their sepia flower farm background. At the time of writing, it is Goofy’s son Max or Clarice Chipmunk.

Is a character’s line closed?

You’ve seen a long line of people for an amazing character, but the cast members have told you that the queue is closed. But don’t be like me and assume that it’s done for the day and you have to come back tomorrow. 🤦‍♀️

INSTEAD, ask the cast members when the next slot is to meet that character – it could be within the hour! Your favourite characters may just be taking more frequent breaks do to uncomfortable weather.

✏️ PRO TIP Hover around that character meeting area about 30 minutes before the next slot and try to be one of the first to join the queue when it re-opens. 

2. You’ll need more money for snacks

🍦Look out for new prices on ice cream treats

Everyone’s favourite bargain treat for €5 was the Mad Hatter / Won-door-land / Unbirthday ice creams. Ouch, they are now €7. With this summer heat, they also are literally melting before they even give them to you! You may or may not end up stickier than a 5-year-old at the end of a birthday party when you’re done. 

Speciality Magnums have gone up from €5 to €6. And unfortunately, you can’t change out any of the ingredients in case there’s something you don’t like. They are quite tasty though! 

So one of my new Disneyland Paris tips is to make sure you have a little more spending money than you think you’ll need!

3. Be aware of Annual Pass changes

Annual pass holders’ benefits have changed and the price to renew has drastically increased. 

I outlined all the benefits and changes in my full post on what the new Disneyland Paris Annual Pass is all about. Here are 3 highlights I noticed on my trip last week: 

• Be prepared to pay to stow your luggage 🧳 I paid €8 to leave my cabin bag.
• There is no priority viewing for shows or preferred parking, boo!
• Disney said there will be 4 Annual Pass parties 🥳 So far we’ve had one in September, December and March.

4. Uh oh, it’s getting hot in here…

🌡️ Temperatures are higher than expected for early Fall – and the warmer weather is glorious! But truth be told, it can be a bit miserable if you’re not prepared…

3 tips to stay cool this Fall at Disneyland Paris

• Take your trusty Florida standbys: cool towels, neck fans, misters. 
• A lot of queues are in the full sun, especially character meets and food carts. So take your shade with by using a UV umbrella (this one’s my favourite).
• Be sure to read my full post on what to wear to Disneyland Paris. It has tips for whatever Paris will throw at you: rain, sun and cold winters!

5. Pardon our pixie dust 🚧

There’s a lot of refurbishments going on in the main park. Manage your expectations by knowing what might be closed on your trip.

• The Peter Pan attraction is shut at the time of writing. Check the refurbishment schedule for closures during your next visit.
• If you’re planning on taking last-minute photos of the 30th Anniversary entrance, it’s sadly boarded up right now. The 30th Anniversary season ends on the 30th of September so you won’t notice this if you’re travelling from October.
• There are walls up in different parts of Fantasyland as they refurbish the walkways. The murals of Sleeping Beauty near the carousel actually don’t look too bad!

6. Say, what! Disneyland Paris freebies?

New badges are available!! Yes, that’s right. Similar to the American parks, Disneyland Paris has 3 new pins.

• 1st Visit, Celebration and Happy Birthday badges are free from City Hall in the main park and guest services in the Studios (while supplies last). 
• The badges are available in French and English
• Be aware the queue for City Hall is very long in the main park. So, if you’re celebrating and don’t like waiting, you might want to bring your own badge. 

7. Minnie has a new home

If you recall, Minnie and a friend (often Daisy Duck or the girl chipmunk Clarice) were meeting in the Studio Theater of Walt Disney Studios. However, they have now moved to the main park of Disneyland Paris.

• Minnie and her friend are now in the Hyperion Theatre. 
• Minnie is currently wearing the pink Paris outfit with the Eiffel Tower hat (so cute!).

8. Popcorn bucket fans rejoice 🍿

If you are a collector of popcorn buckets at Walt Disney World Florida or Disneyland Resort California, you are going to love this news. 

• Mickey and Minnie popcorn buckets are now available for €18. 

• Refills are not discounted (I think it’s €8 euros for a regular popcorn). This is due to French legislation around refills.

• The Disneyland Paris popcorn buckets are super cute and look very similar to the American buckets. 

• Interestingly I didn’t see even one person carrying them! So either they’re still very new or the appetite for buckets is not the same for Europeans as it is for Americans. In any case, at least at the moment, you don’t have to worry about availability. 

9. 📵 The new Pixar show: Together: A Pixar Musical Adventure 

A full review of Disneyland Paris’ newest show is coming soon, but for now, here are a few tips for first-timers. 

• The new show – Together: A Pixar Musical Adventure – is in Walt Disney Studios. It includes characters from Toy Story, Up, Monsters Inc, Finding Nemo and Coco.

• Strangely, the Pixar merchandise is not buy the theater. It is over in a cart by Mickey and the Magician 🤷‍♀️ There’s more Pixar merchandise but that’s in the main park in the shop next to Buzz Lightyear.

• You are reminded (frequently before the show) that there are strictly no mobile phones, no pictures, and no video-taking during the performance. I have to say it made for a more enjoyable show not to see all the camera screens.

10. New Merchandise! (🎄trigger alert…) 

• There’s Christmas merchandise! Ornaments, Loungeflys, puzzles, knitted hats, plushies and even socks are already available in September! 

• The Walt Disney Studios shop (near the entrance/exit of the Studios) had the biggest selection of Christmas items. And the shop by Buzz Lightyear had a lot of this too.

• Also new in the shops is a broad line of merchandise for 5 of Disneyland Paris’ most iconic attractions: Tower of Terror, It’s a Small World, Big Thunder Mountain, Phantom Manor and Pirates of the Caribbean. For each of these themes, they have pins and mouse ear headbands. Then there is a mixed selection of apparel, stationary, kitchen goods etc. also to match that theme (see pictured). 

So these are my 10 new tips for Disneyland Paris 2023 Autumn/Winter. I am going back again in early October, so I will do a follow-up post with any new tips I can gather for you. Be sure to subscribe to get the latest update (and grab your FREE gifts!). 

👋 Are you planning a trip to Disneyland Paris soon? Let me know in the comments if you’re going for Halloween season or Christmas season.

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• 17 clever Disneyland Paris tips for first-timers (what no one tells you until after they’ve been!)