Disney comes to Europe, with the French version of the Magic Kingdom.
Disney comes to Europe, with the French version of the Magic Kingdom.
Opened | 12 April 1992 |
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Season | Year round |
Owner | The Walt Disney Company |
Attendance | 10,400,000 (TEA 2023) |
Website | www.disneylandparis.com |
Nearby | Walt Disney Studios Park, Disneyland Paris (0 miles) Parc Astérix (20 miles) Jardin d'Acclimatation (23 miles) Parc Saint Paul (52 miles) Nigloland (94 miles) |
Disneyland Paris brings Disney's popular rides and characters to Europe, with Disneyland Park being the French version of the Magic Kingdom theme park.
Disneyland Park contains many of the usual lands and attractions found at Magic Kingdom parks across the world, with Sleeping Beauty Castle at the centre. From here four main lands fan outwards and contain major rides including It's a Small World, (Hyper)Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, Pirates of the Caribbean and Phantom Manor.
Although based strongly on Disneyland in California and Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom in Florida, several changes have been made to ensure Disneyland Paris is more amenable to its European home. Notable among these are the undercover walkways which run parallel to Main Street USA, ensuring visitors have some protection from the changable and often rainy weather in Northern France; and the fact that it was the first "Magic Kingdom" park in the world to break Disney's no-alcohol policy and serve wine, beer and champagne in its restaurants.
Originally known as Euro Disney, the park opened in 1992 but failed to meet Disney's expectations of a roaring success on the European continent. It even came close to bankruptcy and potential closure in the mid-nineties, but navigated through a successful turnaround during the early 2000s to become one of the top tourist destinations in Europe. A second theme park was added at the Resort in 2002 with the opening of Walt Disney Studios Park next door.
Although nowhere near as expansive as Walt Disney World, Disneyland Paris' Disneyland Park is a larger and more modern version of the original Disneyland. While retaining the Disney magic that guests would expect, over the years the park has been tuned into something now loved by many of its European target market and a decent competitor to its American theme park cousins.
Mine train rollercoaster which speeds around the mountain above Thunder Mesa
Expansive indoor boat ride through a town under attack by pirate invaders - this is Disney dark rides at their best
Indoor rollercoaster which takes riders on a journey into outer space
Impressive Disney-take on a haunted house dark ride