Things to do in Frontierland - Attractions, Photopass and Meet and Greets with Characters

 

Things to do in Frontierland - Attractions, Photopass and Meet and Greets

When you enter the Disneyland Paris Park (not Walt Disney Studios) you are pleasantly greeted by Main Street U.S.A. Here you will find food, shops and even some meet and greets. Plus, it is a fantastic place to watch the parades! Main Street U.S.A. will be explored more in another post but for now the focus is on what you can see and do in Frontierland.

How to get to Frontierland

If you are like myself and tend to go left in a theme park you will find that Frontierland is the first land that you visit in the Disneyland Park. Walk to the end of Main Street U.S.A to the circular route for the parade (you will see the most magical and beautiful castle ahead of you!) and take a left. You will know that you have reached Frontierland as you will see the large sign, the even larger Big Thunder Mountain ride and more than likely smell the smoky fumes that make you want to explore more!

Attractions

•  Big Thunder Mountain (arguably my favourite ride!) – Must be 1.02m to ride – Photopass available to collect at the end – Wait times can be lengthy (30 – 60 minutes plus most times we have been!) – Thrill ride
•  Phantom Manor – Any height – Wait times generally between 10 – 30 minutes – Classed as a family adventure but I would either watch a POV or ride yourself first before deciding if your little ones will like it
• Thunder Mesa Riverboat Landing – Any height – Tends to run every 20 minutes – Nice activity for a family to do and you can see some hidden parts of Frontierland plus get some good pictures from different angles
• Frontierland Playground – Any height – This is a lovely playground area for the little ones (and slightly bigger ones!) and is accessible at the far end of Frontierland by going past Big Thunder Mountain and continuing to the end of that path
• Rustler Roundup Shootin’ Gallery – Any height – A good little attraction to immerse you in the Wild West and a good one to have a challenge with your friends and family! – This does incur an additional charge

Photopass

• I would recommend getting Photopass as part of your booking as it allows you to visit photopass photographers and get the photos from rides uploaded to your mobile device.
• There are Photopass points that are in different locations around the park and can move about.
• When we went there was a Photopass photographer stood near the entrance to Frontierland and we had a picture taken with Olaf in it (he appears on your photographs!).
• Find the Photopass photographers by using the ‘Magic Shots’ filter option on the app.
• Use Photopass to get your photos from the Big Thunder Mountain ride.

Meet and Greets

• There are a couple of meet and greet points in Frontierland and the characters change frequently/move throughout the day to different points.
• When we went at Christmas we were lucky enough to find Pluto and Jack Skellington at the meet and greet point outside Phantom Manor and Goofy at the meet and greet point just past the entrance to Big Thunder Mountain on the right.
• Use the app to see which characters it says will be in the park on the day that you visit. If you use the ‘Characters’ filter option on the map it will show you where there are currently characters at meet and greet locations.

Anything Else?

• There are a number of restaurants and shops to visit in Frontierland (explored in a later post).
• The Frontierland Theater is currently the home of ‘The Lion King: Rhythms of the Pride Lands’ show and is located via the path that you reach before the Frontierland Playground.
• The Frontierland Depot for the Disneyland Railroad is near the Frontierland Theater. When we went at Christmas this was only just up and running again but it is a lovely experience to travel between the different lands by train!

Top Tips:

• Have a really good explore of Frontierland to the very ends of the different paths as there are a number of hidden gems!
• Make use of the Disneyland Paris app or map.
• If you wish to ride Big Thunder Mountain, either go first thing in the morning for potentially shorter queuing time, keep checking wait times on the app or brave the wait and stand in line no matter the time (it is worth it in my opinion!).
• If you have a small child with a pushchair and wish to go on the Thunder Mesa Riverboat, you have to leave your pushchair outside the entrance to the boat.

-          Enjoy the immersive experience of being in the Wild West by exploring every nook and cranny!