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Disneyland Paris

Theme Park Guy Rating: 55555
Date Visited:
March 29, 2008

Review

1992-opened Disneyland Paris is the most beautiful and romantic ‘Magic Kingdom’ Disney has ever built.

Instead of copying the structures and buildings of California's Disneyland, Florida's Magic Kingdom and Tokyo Disneyland, the Disney Imagineers frolicked and created a refreshingly new and inspired design for Europe's only Disney park:

The Sleeping Beauty Castle is completely different; Adventureland boasts an island with a great skull rock structure in its center; Discoveryland (called Tomorrowland elsewhere) contains a much more futuristic looking 'Space Mountain' structure; Frontierland's 'Big Thunder Mountain' coaster is in the middle of a lake!

Best attractions are:
• 'Space Mountain' roller coaster, the best of its kind! Starting with a gun-shot acceleration into space, it features great laser effects, loops and corkscrews. This one is much wilder than the Space Mountains in other Disney parks!
• 'Big Thunder Mountain' is the best version of its kind, too. This wild-west-themed mountain roller coaster is surrounded by a lake with the loading station on the shore. You therefore cross the lake twice through a tunnel. It’s a great feeling to ride underwater to a mountain island, and the return trip is particularly fast, dark and thrilling. I’ve taken this ride about 15 times and I never got bored by the rattling, clattering return to the loading station.
• 'Pirates of the Caribbean' is the newest of its kind. Although it lacks the beloved Jack Sparrow animatronic, it's a well done, scenic, romantic flume ride with some funny little immersions into pirate life’s darkness, featuring a song you won’t forget.
• 'Honey, I Shrunk the Audience!' is a wonderful 3-D movie full of surprises and effects beyond the screen, featuring the stars of ‘Honey, I Shrunk the Kids!’

What else? Indiana Jones coaster, Star Tours flight simulator and Phantom Manor ghost train are average Disney rides and the rest is for the kids. Together with the adjacent Walt Disney Studios, this is the best theme park in Europe.


Main Street Main Street

The most romantic of all Disney castles The most romantic of all Disney castles

Big Thunder Mountain roller coaster Big Thunder Mountain roller coaster

On-ride view On-ride view

Disney's classic mine train ride Disney's classic mine train ride

Big Thunder Mountain, with Phantom Manor ghost train in the background Big Thunder Mountain, with Phantom Manor ghost train in the background

Phantom Manor ghost house Phantom Manor ghost house

Adventureland Adventureland

Swiss Family Treehouse Swiss Family Treehouse

Pirates of the Caribbean building Pirates of the Caribbean building

Indiana Jones roller coaster entrance Indiana Jones roller coaster entrance

Indiana Jones setting while you queue Indiana Jones setting while you queue

Queuing up to the ride loading station Queuing up to the ride loading station

Indiana Jones coaster Indiana Jones coaster

Coaster close-up Coaster close-up

Space Mountain at Disneyland Paris Space Mountain at Disneyland Paris

Space Mountain coaster Space Mountain coaster

The massive cannon... The massive cannon...

...has the coaster shooting out of it, into the dark section ...has the coaster shooting out of it, into the dark section

Space Mountain at night Space Mountain at night

Nautilus submarine Nautilus submarine

Nautilus is a walk-through attraction Nautilus is a walk-through attraction

Inside the submarine Inside the submarine

Giant squid attack Giant squid attack

Star Tours ride queue Star Tours ride queue

Star Tours flight simulator Star Tours flight simulator

Star Tours ride launch Star Tours ride launch

3-D glasses 3-D glasses

Fantasyland Fantasyland

You can see these eyes from space You can see these eyes from space