…continued from Disneyland Paris.
Walt Disney Studios Park, Paris
Attractions & Areas to Highlight:
Front Lot – This is the entrance to the park, with the giant Fantasia themed statue in the front. It leads the guests right into Disney Studio 1, an indoor walkway to resemble a sound studio. Inside are restaurants and stores.
Backlot – This area is themed after actual movies, and showcases more high thrills and action movies. There are three attractions here, but we missed one – Moteurs…Action! Stunt Show. We have seen the Disney World version a few times (even though it is now closed) and didn’t have the time to watch it here.
Armageddon – Les Effets Speciaux – This is a walkthrough attraction based on the movie, Armageddon. The attraction demonstrates different set effects that take place in the movies. I don’t know if I find it funny, or awful, but many parents were warned that children might get scared (signs and verbal warnings everywhere). Sure enough, the loud and intense noise and actions scared lots of children and we had at least 20 screaming kids during the entire set. Steve and I didn’t really enjoy the attraction, but that could be because we felt the translation didn’t work right.
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Avec Aerosmith – Similar to the one at Disney World, this indoor Rock N Roll themed coaster is awesome – if it is working. We used two fast passes and both times the ride broke down. We got lucky on the third try. The ride is fantastic. Hollywood Studios.
Production Courtyard – The area’s theme is all about the production aspect of Hollywood movies and Hollywood movie legends. We did all attractions here except for Stitch Live! And Playhouse Disney Live on Stage.
Studio Tram Tour: Behind the Magic – Walt Disney World had an attraction similar but removed it a while ago. The premise is to take guests behind the scenes on movie sets and props. If you have ever been to Universal Studios in Burbank, it is the same idea – EXCEPT – no actual movies/shows are made here, so it really is all fake. The ride takes guests to explore sets that include fire and earthquake scenes and various cars used in films. I have never been a really big fan of this concept when it was at WDW, and thought it was stupid here as well.
The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – The ride is similar to the WDW version (since the California version recently changed to Marvel themed), except this ride is in French.
Toon Studios – This area is dedicated to the characters of Pixar and other animated characters. It has “mini areas” like a Cars theme, toon town theme, Paris/ Ratatouille theme and a Toy Story Play area. We hit most attractions in this area except for Art of Disney Animation (same as Disney California Adventure), Flying Carpets over Agrabah (same as at Tokyo Disney Sea, its essentially the same as Dumbo also) and the Toy Story play area: RC Racer, Slinky Dog ZigZag Spin and Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop (these were the same exact rides we rode in Hong Kong).
Cars Quatre Roues Rallye – This is a run spinning ride, similar to Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree at California. The ride had about a 20 minute wait, has slow loading times, and a small set of cars – however, the ride is lots of fun for all ages.
Crush’s Coaster – This is a spinning roller coaster (partially indoors). The theme is a mix sound studio/set of Finding Nemo – set to be the Sydney Harbor. Ultimately Crush invites us to join in witnessing scenes throughout the movie. We waited in the single rider line for about 25 minutes, as there is no fast pass for this line (which is unbelievable). I thought the ride would be like a slow dark ride, it really is a roller coaster with unpredictable spins. You are seated two and two, back to back in a car. The loading happens in a short period of time, so you feel a little rushed. It seems like a standard roller coaster until at one point, the entire car starts to spin around freely as you move down the track. Lots of fun and hope this ride comes to the US.
Ratatouille: L’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy – This was the new attraction for 2014 and this ride does NOT disappoint! This is a motion-based trackless dark ride. It is similar to the Pirates ride in Shanghai, without being on water. These new trackless rides really do impress – the mixture of screen projections and 3D animatronics are spectacular. I read this ride will be at EPCOT which is exciting!
Entertainment:
At Walt Disney Studios, we only had time for one show – which ended up being the Star Wars show. This show had both French and English times. It shows scenes from the movies as well as cameos from the stars themselves – C3PO, R2D2, Darth Vader and Storm Troopers, and Chewbacca. The show didn’t really peak our interests since it was more about the movie clips than a storyline.
Shopping:
Shopping here was similar to Disneyland Paris. They didn’t have anything unique to their park.
Food:
Like Disneyland Paris, we were a bit disappointed with the food. We ended up finding a traditional French Ham & Cheese baguette for lunch that we enjoyed, but nothing really special.
Overall
We did spend a few hours at Disney Village (the shopping district). It was smaller than we expected, but still offered a variety of shops and a movie complex. We think that Disneyland Paris might be worth a visit if you are a hardcore Disney fan and plan on being in Paris anyway. If your time is short in Paris (it’s at least an hour from the city by rail) your time would be better spent exploring all Paris has to offer. Save your money for a visit to Tokyo Disney. I don’t think Steve and I will be returning unless there was a major upgrade to the parks or a major new attraction.
What’s Next
