MARNE-LA-VALLEE, France – We arrived here in Disneyland Paris on April 30 with lofty expectations.
After all, the resort is in the middle of its 30th anniversary celebration. We fully anticipated the Walt Disney Company’s only European park to pull out all the stops during this special occasion, giving guests a memorable, once-in-a-lifetime experience.
What was even more disturbing was a seeming lack of care when it came to general upkeep.
Don’t get me wrong. At first blush, Disneyland Paris – which consists of Disneyland Park, the Walt Disney Studios, and the Disney Village shopping and dining area, all within walking distance of one another – is beautifully landscaped and designed, with some interesting touches that make it a unique destination.
But Disney has always been about making magic. What we got was, at times, almost tragic.
We turned left after going through bag check toward the entrance to Disneyland Park, which is stunning, with flowers, bushes, water fountains, and a classic Mickey Mouse head pointing the way.
But once we passed through the turnstiles under the Disneyland Hotel – which is closed for renovation – and into Disneyland Park, DLP’s version of the Magic Kingdom, we were greeted by more barricades near Town Square. We also found wooden barricades around the “it’s a small world” attraction, as well as in another section of Fantasyland.
In Frontierland, at the Thunder Mesa Landing, the riverboat Molly Brown was closed and surrounded by – you guessed it! – barricades.
If we didn’t know any better, Disneyland Paris appears to be planning a remake of Les Miserables: “Beyond the barricade is there a world you long to see?” Well, yes, there is …
Perhaps the aftereffects of the Covid-19 pandemic – namely, budget constraints – played a role in DLP’s current state. Budget cuts might also explain why the park has done away with park guide maps.
And I get this isn’t unprecedented at a Disney park: During Walt Disney World’s 50th anniversary in 2021, the TRON attraction was still under construction in the Magic Kingdom. And EPCOT was awash in “for your future enjoyment” posters and extensive barricades.
I just expected more from a park I had traveled more than 3,600 miles to see.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF DISNEYLAND PARK
During our initial visit to Disneyland Paris in 2015, a number of attractions were closed for renovations: “it’s a small world”, Pirates of the Caribbean, and the Disneyland Park Railroad among them.
To be honest, the Disneyland Railroad was pretty boring … even the Grand Canyon diorama scenes weren’t nearly as impressive as the ones in Disneyland in California.
Main Street U.S.A. remains a gem, with its pastel-colored store-front facades and charming architecture. Behind the thoroughfare’s shops are two interesting walkways – called arcades – which stretch the length of Main Street. One arcade depicts the creation of the Statue of Liberty and the other honors man’s innovative discoveries.
There’s even a Casey’s Corner, featuring its famous hot dogs, located on Main Street.
Because it sits on a hill, the castle appears taller than it is. In the basement of the castle is a hidden surprise – a giant, toothy dragon greets guests who dare enter its lair.
Discoveryland [Disneyland Park’s version of Tomorrowland] is home to several popular Disney attractions, including Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast, Star Tours, Les Mysteres du Nautilus [a walkthrough of the fabled submarine, which is currently closed], Autopia, and the rollicking Star Wars: Hyperspace Mountain roller coaster, with several gut-wrenching corkscrews and inversions and a launch that’s outside the main show building.
Tucked in the back of Discoveryland is Mickey’s PhilharMagique, which now features sharper visual effects, a new colorful Coco overlay, and a floor that bobs up and down in sync with the film.
Fantasyland is jam-packed with Disney staples, among them Blanche-Neige et les Sept Nains [Snow White’s Scary Adventures], a Pinocchio dark ride, Peter Pan’s Flight, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, it’s a small world [which reopened on May 5 after more than a year of renovations], and the Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups.
For example, the Casey Jr. trains run on a tubular steel track, making for a faster, more stable ride. And the circular entrance to the canal boats gently turns in conjunction with the boats to make for a smooth entry and exit.
It was on these two attractions where we found several very un-Disney-like issues.
We witnessed two adult women with six young children who seemed to be working in unison. On the Casey Jr. queue, one child left the group and “wandered” forward past 10 or so people on the line. One of the adults, with the rest of the group trailing close behind, chased after the “errant” child.
When everyone was together and the child was “safe,” they just stayed in their new place in the queue … until there was another opening and they tried the tactic again.
On the Canal Boats queue a few minutes later, the same group tried to employ the strategy again, only to be met by a stern rebuff from one of the members of our group. [Two days later on the Star Wars: Hyperspace Mountain queue, three young teenage girls were brazenly weaving their way through the long line when another member of our group, a former teacher, used her “teacher’s voice” to turn them back … a maneuver that earned applause from the folks waiting in line around us.]
Adventureland is also home to two thrilling adventures: Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril takes you on a wild coaster ride in ramshackle trucks through the ruins of an archaeological site, while Pirates of the Caribbean retains much of its original charm, with enough unique touches to make it a decidedly different attraction.
After numerous twists, turns, and dips, you return to the station by hurtling under the Rivers of the Far West again.
Phantom Manor, DLP’s version of the Haunted Mansion, is also located in Frontierland. Because of its placement in this land – and because of Europe’s fascination with America’s Wild West heritage – many of Phantom Manor’s tableaus take on a cowboy theme, including the rootin’, tootin’ final sequence.
Over the years, we’ve seen many different presentations of The Lion King, be it the animated and live-action films; shows in Disney theme parks; Disney Cruise Line productions, and on Broadway.
The DLP show was creative, colorful, and crammed with talented singers, dancers, and aerial artists. It was easily the highlight of our last day at Disneyland Park … and arguably of the three-day visit as well.
NEXT TIME: We visit the revamped Walt Disney Studios Park in Disneyland Paris.
Chuck Schmidt is an award-winning journalist who has covered all things Disney since 1984 in both print and on-line. He has authored or co-authored seven books on Disney, including his An American in Disneyland Paris, for Theme Park Press. He also has written a regular blog for AllEars.Net, called Still Goofy About Disney, since 2015.
This review surprised me having been to Disneyland Paris in March and having the best time! While Disney World is obviously larger, I would rather go back to Disneyland Paris in a heartbeat. A 9.5/10 in my books that is only going to get better with time.
Chuck covered everything with an honest view on the good and the bad. Loved his report!
We are from Germany and went to DlP for years.. and IT kept getting worse. Last visit was in 2019 and we recently been very disappointed. We have always stayed at New Port Bay Club and loved it. But so much has changed. No more atmospheric Music in Lobby and Elevator, Room inventory was broken, Towel hooks came out of the Wall. Staff was inattentive. If we greet someone we were not greeting back. Staff in Shops / Restaurants seemed rather annoyed to us. Shows are mostley a strange mix of french and english. Difficult to follow the Story. The food is mostley boring… No comparsion to WDW or Dineyland California! Lots of dirt and lots of other visitors whith bad behavours( placeholders in lines ect). All in all the Disney Magic get lost over the years. Thats so sad because in fact it can be a beautyfull Park. We love the Castle whith the Dragon and the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show so much! But we definitely don’t want to go back the next years!
To be fair, the queue jumpers have always been an issue in DLP and it may be a cultural thing: the brazen French trying to get ahead while the silently “tut-tutting” Brits just glare but say nothing. As I’m neither, I take pride in using my voice to let these kids (because it is usually kids, at least at first) that I’m not going to take it. It works pretty well! As DLP is my closest park and I don’t get much of a chance to visit the US parks, I thoroughly enjoy my visits there. Sure, the weather isn’t great and there are bits that are not as perfect as those other parks, but it’s also got some uniquely European touches that I love. And the evening drone show is the best one of all parks, that I’ve ever seen!
Sadly, line jumpers are not unique to just Disneyland Paris. The more common American version of line jumping is to have one person stand in line and hold a place for their entire party.
I completely agree. I was in DLP last week and luckily had no line jumpers.
I was almost entirely underwhelmed by the Paris Parks. I could go on at length, but I think one story will sum things up. In WDW, Indy has a world-class stunt show. In California, he has a world-class adventure ride. In Paris, he’s reduced to a cheap, open-air roller coaster with painted flats for scenery. It was more like being at a regional US theme park than a Disney park.
Ah thats such a shame. Yes there is a lot of renovation at DLP but it will eventually lead to something more magical. It’s a shame you saw the glass, dirty snow and broken knob but the attitudes this side of the pond are not the same as the enthusiasm on Americans in general. Something I’m looking forward to revisiting some 24 years after my last trip. It would be lovely if DLP benefitted from the sunshine of Florida as things always look a lot better in the sunshine 🙂
Appears their maintenance of the park hasn’t improved since we were there many years ago. I complained about the cleanliness of Newport Bay, the grime on the staircase handrail was not due to the work being done to the outside of the building. Hopefully the europeans are keeping to the smoking sections, they certainly were not when we were there as evidenced by the cigarette ends laying around. Although DLP is the nearest park to us for Disney theme parks outside USA I’d rather spend my money going to Tokyo Disneyland or Hong Kong, cleaner and better maintained.
We were just there at the end of March. Very surprised about the smoking sections! Glad that they’ve been eliminated here.