Inside Scoop on Disneyland Paris


© Heather Stimmler-Hall
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Earlier this month I told you about Halloweenland at Disneyland Paris (and I hope you're all going to be there tomorrow night under the full moon!), and this week I'm going to tell you everything else I discovered on my reconnaissance mission.

First of all, it's not just like Disneyland in California. Not at all, really, except Mainstreet looks exactly alike. There's no Tiki Room. No Jungle Cruise, either. No 'Toon Town or Matterhorn. There's probably more things that the one in Paris doesn't have, but it's been three years since I've been to the one in Anaheim, so I can't be sure. So why, you wonder, would anyone want to go? Well, because there are other interesting things to discover. Let's look at it in order:

Fronteirland comes first, and you've got the Phantom Manor and Mark Twain Riverboat, the Wild West Shooting Gallery and so forth, and the Big Thunder Mountain rollercoaster. Next is Adventureland, with an Aladdin themed entrance. You'll find the Pirates of the Caribbean here in a stone castle instead of under New Orleans Square (there's still the great Blue Lagoon restaurant). I heard the one in California has been made politically correct. The French don't do politically correct, at least not yet. Adventure Island and the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House are there, as well as the Indiana Jones Temple of Doom, which goes upside down, unlike the one in California.

Fantasyland seems to have all of the favorites like the Tea Cups and It's A Small World. Sleeping Beauty's Castle has an underground dungeon and dragon, which I can't recall from the one in CA. Every time I see the Sleeping Beauty Castle, though, I recall a British comedian Eddie Izzard making jokes about its size. "You'll have to make it bigger. See, we've actually GOT THEM over here." There is no Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, but Peter Pan's Flight does well with the kids and there's a cool Alice in Wonderland Labyrinth to get lost in for awhile. Flying Dumbo and the Carrousel are also present and accounted for.

Finally, Discoveryland, which benefits the most from NOT looking like the original Tomorrowland in CA. It's got more of a Jules Verne/Renaissance future look rather than the Minneapolis Airport look of the old one. And Space Mountain kicks tail! Upside down and really scary, not just pitch black with stick-on glow stars. Autopia was under construction while I was there, but the submarine Nautilus is there, the Orbitron, and the Star Tours. The Railroad still circles the entire park, too.

Main Street
Adventureland
The Chateau
Discoveryland
Another view of the Chateau

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