Formerly known as Euro Disney Resort, Disneyland Paris is an entertainment park and resort located in Marne-la-Vallée town near Paris, France. After the Tokyo Disney Resort, it became the second Disney resort to open outside of the US. Spread across nearly 5000 acres, the park consists of several resort hotels, 2 theme parks, railway station, a golf course, a dining, entertainment, and shopping complex, and many other entertainment and recreational arenas.
The resort opened in April 1992. Around 15 million visit Disneyland Paris each year and till 2017 it has had over 300 million visitors. It is the most frequented theme part on the continent. The original theme park at Disneyland Paris was Disneyland Park. Another theme Park called Walt Disney Studios Park was launched in 2002.
History
After the success of Disney’s theme parks in Florida and California, the company decided to open one in Europe. The process began with a prolonged search for the ideal location, and after a few controversies, Marne-la-Vallée was selected as it was centrally located in Europe and was easily commutable from Paris.
The opening day at Disneyland Paris saw a lower than expected turnout due to varied external factors. The park did not make any profits for a few more years and was on the verge of shutdown. It finally turned a profit in mid 1995. Since then, it has become a bigger tourist attraction in Europe than even the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre.
In Feb 2018, The Walt Disney Company announced that it will pump in an investment of over $2 billion into Disneyland Paris. This new funding will be used for expansion of varied entertainment venues, creation of a new lake, and addition of new areas based on Star Wars, Frozen, and Marvel.
Disneyland Paris – Does weather influence the best time to visit?
The spring season from March through May is ideal for tourism, considering it invites a steady stream of people coming into the park. The temperature can be anywhere between 10 degrees C to 21.4 degrees C. In the later periods, it begins to become warmer.
The summer season of June through August, has higher temperature than spring. While Spring is the busiest season in terms of crowd, it is followed by the summer season.
The Fall Season from September through November brings in the onset of rain and snow. The winter season from December through February makes the weather quite chilly, and the tourist flow is quite less than any other season. Having said that, the Christmas Season makes the Disneyland look dream-like with decorations and exciting events lined for the season.
At the end of the day, any season is good to visit Disneyland Paris. If you wish to visit when people are less and waiting times are less, then opt for mid-week, especially during the winter months and even from mid- January through mid-May.
Disneyland (Paris) – Castles
Disneyland Paris is regarded as the best park for castles in the world because of the extensive detailing. Visitors can take narrow-gauge trains and go on a relaxing tour across the park with varied stations along the way. Some of the top attractions of the resort park are mentioned below.
- Frontierland: It is a Wild West American town from the 1800s. Visitors can go for the really popular Big Thunder Mountain Railroad which is a ride on a mine cart through caverns and hills. Other attractions include a relaxing riverboat ride; horror house ‘Phantom Manor’; Pocahontas Indian Village with varied activities for children including meet and greet with Goofy and pals and Woody and pals; and Rustler Roundup Shootin’ Gallery.
- Main Street USA: Tourists can walk through a 1990s Middle America with famous vehicles from that era as well as horse-drawn streetcars. Also, there is Discovery Arcade which is an arched passageway with scale models from late 18th /early 19th Golden Age of Innovation on display as well as Liberty Arcade that tells us about the Statue of Liberty and is replete with gas lanterns, and relaxing chairs and benches. There is also meet n’ greet activity with Daisy and pals.
- Fantasyland: This section is for different Disney fairytales and the key hallmark of all Disney parks.
- The Sleeping Beauty Castle is a magnificent castle that rises high into the sky. It has been one of the main attractions of Disneyland Paris since its launch. The La Galerie de la Belle au Bois Dormant within the castle features exquisite tapestries, an opulent illustrated book, spectacular glass windows, and stories about the Sleeping Beauty Aurora. Under the castle in a big dungeon is an animatronic dragon ‘La Taniere du Dragon’. Another gorgeous castle is Cinderella’s Castle.
- It’s A Small World offers a fabulous trip around the world. The Blanche Niege et les Sept Nains is a dark ride aboard a minecart and tells the story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Les Voyages de Pinocchio offers a ride on a wooden cart along with Pinocchio and his friends. Peter Pan’s Flight is a ride aboard a delightful galleon that takes the guests across the London sky, Wendy’s room, Neverland, Indians, pirates, the Lost Boys, and mermaids, etc. Casey Jr. Le Petit Train du Cirque is a ride aboard a miniature train that offers sights of different fairlytales like Rapunzel’s High Tower, etc.
- The mid area of the Castle Courtyard features a carousel ‘Le Carousel de Lancelot’ themed after knight Lancelot. Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups offers a joyous spin in a huge teapot, which spins around itself and around an axis in the center. The ride on ‘Dumbo: The Flying Elephant’ is a joyful experience for both kids and adults. The ‘Princess Pavilion’ is home to 3 different Disney Princess with the passing of hours. Disneyland Paris guests can wander through ‘Alice’s Curious Labyrinth’ and check out the different residents of Wonderland. Les Pays de Contes de Fees is a cruise in a small boat that features miniature displays of different Disney films like Tangled, Little Mermaid, etc. There is also a meet and greet with Mickey Mouse.
- Adventureland: This section consists of 3 themed arenas, namely, Indiana Jones, Aladdin, and Pirates of the Caribbean. ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril’ offers a haunted abandoned temple and a rollercoaster ride across jungles and ruins. ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ offers a ride across high seas on a small barge with different movie characters for company. Le Passage Enchante d’Aladdin features winding stone pathways with to scale scenes from Aladdin’s Arabia. Other attractions include a big tree house, Les Cabane des Robinson; a Pirate Galleon; Adventure Isle, a lush island with playgrounds and caves with adventure and pirates as theme; a Pirate’s Beach; and meet and greet activities with Peter Pan and Aladdin and pals.
- Discoveryland: It has a “Tomorrowland” theme and was really popular with guests when it first opened. Some of its attractions include Hyperspace Mountain ride, a cart ride across a miniature motorway at Autopia, Orbitron spaceship ride over the park, Les Mysteries du Nautilus featuring a dive into the sea to check out the world of the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, the Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast fun-game, 3D simulation tours of different worlds of Star Wars movie franchise at ‘Star Tours: The Adventures Continue’, Discoveryland Theater with short films that you can see, and a duel with Darth Vader at ‘Starports: A Star Wars Encounter’.
- Walt Disney Studios Park: This part of Disneyland Paris is due to undergo major expansion and renovation. It currently features the Production Courtyard offers grand shows, fantastic rides, and elaborate dining experiences; Disney Studio 1 offers a stroll through small-scale version of LA’s Hollywood Boulevard and movie watching in an air-condition environment; Behind the scenes tour with the ‘Studio Tram Tour’; Haunted house ‘Twilight Zone Tower of Terror’; Marvel Super Heroes United show featuring special effects and live Marvel characters like Captain America and Iron Man; Meet Star Lord and Gamora at ‘Guardians of the Galaxy Awesome Dance Off’ and shake a leg with them to music of the 70s and 80s; An amazing car show at ‘Rock n’ Rollercoaster’; Meet little alien stitch with ‘Stitch Encounter’; Dance and song show ‘Disney Jr. Live on Stage’; Toon Studio offers chance to join cast of great animated movies of Disney; Ride on a huge carpet at ‘Magic Carpets Over Agrabah’; Crush’s Coaster, a thrilling ride aboard a giant turtle shell in the Australian currents; Zoom in varied cars of ‘Cars’ movie at “Cars Quatre Roues Royalle”; and check out the worlds of Toy Story and Ratatouille at ‘Toy Story Playland’ and Ratatouille: The Adventure, respectively.
Disneyland Paris – Ticket Prices
Four kinds of tickets are sold for Disneyland Paris.
- Tickets are not needed for children under 3 years old.
- With the ‘1 Day 1 Park Ticket’ you can visit only one of the two parks, i.e., either Disneyland Park or Walt Disney Studios Park, for an entire day.
- There are 3 Park Hopper tickets which permits guests to check out both the parks on the same day. These tickets are available for purchase in 1, 2, or 3 day trips. The 3-day park hopper trip is regarded as the most economical as the price of the ticket per day is the lowest. There are also additional options of Super and Ultimate Fastpass. The tickets also come with Mini, Magic, and Super Magic validity options.
- As of October 2018, a 1 Day 1 Park Ticket with super magic validity costs around $83.00 for kids aged between 3 and 11 years, while it costs $91 for guests over 11 years old.
As per seasons, for more information on tickets, ticket pricing, discounts, and other ticketing aspects, tourists may visit the Disneyland Paris website https://www.disneylandparis.com/en-us/
Opening and Closing hours at Disneyland Paris
Both Disneyland Park and Walt Disneyland Studios Park are open from 9 AM to 10 PM. There are also ‘extra magic show’ time from 8 AM to 9 PM
Is one day enough for Disneyland in Paris?
You can visit both Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park in one day, but then it makes sense to prioritize what attractions and rides you would like to enjoy rather than hurry through them.
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