Walt Disney Studios Park

Walt Disney Studios Park

Walt Disney Studios Park entrance with Earffel Tower in background.
Location	Disneyland Paris, Marne-la-Vallée, France
Coordinates	48°52′2″N 2°46′45″E / 48.86722°N 2.77917°E / 48.86722; 2.77917
Status	Operating
Opened	16 March 2002; 22 years ago (2002-03-16)
Owner	Disney Experiences (The Walt Disney Company)
Operated by	Euro Disneyland Participations S.A.S.
Theme	Show business and Disney entertainment
Operating season	Year-round
Website	Official website

Walt Disney Studios Park (French: Parc Walt Disney Studios) is the second of two theme parks built at Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallée, France. The park opened on 16 March 2002, and it is owned and operated by The Walt Disney Company through its Experiences division. Upon opening, it was dedicated to show business, movie themes, production, and behind-the-scenes, but in the 2010s, in a similar manner to Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World in Florida, it began to distance itself from the original studio backlot theming and entered a new direction of attraction development inspired by iconic Disney stories. The park is represented by the Earffel Tower, a water tower with Mickey Mouse ears similar to the one formerly located at Disney's Hollywood Studios, which in turn was inspired by the water tower at the Walt Disney Studios lot in Burbank, California.^{[citation needed]}

As of 2024, the park is undergoing a €2 billion overhaul that will double the footprint of the park, adding a World of Frozen land. As part of the project, the park will be renamed Disney Adventure World.^[1] In 2023, the park hosted 5.7 million visitors, making it the 20th-most visited theme park in the world and the third-most visited in Europe.^[2]

Initial plans for a second theme park, named Disney-MGM Studios Europe or Disney-MGM Studios Paris, were scheduled to open in 1995, though these plans were canceled around mid-1992 due to the resort's financial issues at the time. After the resort began to make a profit, these plans were revived on a much smaller scale. The park was announced on 29 September 1999.^[3] Construction would officially begin a year later in 2000.^[4] Walt Disney Studios Park opened on 16 March 2002.^{[citation needed]}

In the 2019 documentary series The Imagineering Story, Bruce Vaughn, the Chief Creative Executive of Walt Disney Imagineering, described his reaction when he visited the park when it first opened:

The first time I went to Paris' second gate, it was after hours. No kidding, for the first ten minutes, I'm walking through, and I was like, 'When are we gonna be in the park?' And he turned to me, and he goes, 'You're in the park.' And I'm like, 'I'm on stage?' He goes, 'You're on stage.' Like, 'This looks backstage.' It's a bunch of gray warehouses. He goes, 'Yeah. It's supposed to be like a studio.' But again, it was this notion of, 'Ah, the people… the guests will buy it. This is what a studio really looks like. The guests, they just want, you know,' and it's like talking yourself in at the highest levels of, the guests… the guests would just buy this stuff.^[5][6]

In 2007, Walt Disney Studios Park began expanding. June 2007 saw an expansion to Animation Courtyard opened along with the new area wide name "Toon Studio". It is themed as a "toon backlot", representing the film studio workplace of animated characters, where they produce their animated films. The concept has been created exclusively for Walt Disney Studios Park and features two rides not seen in any other Disney theme park, along with small merchandising locations and many character meet-and-greets. This expansion phase added Crush's Coaster, an indoor spinning roller coaster, and Cars Quatre Roues Rallye themed after the 2006 film Cars, with the ride taking the form of an enhanced teacups ride. A similar ride is found in Mermaid Lagoon at Tokyo DisneySea. On 22 December 2007, Production Courtyard grew in size with the introduction of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, which soft opened with the new Hollywood Boulevard.

In March of 2008, a variant of Stitch Encounter was imported from Hong Kong Disneyland with the new name 'Stitch live!'. It was one of two shows introduced to replace the Disney Channel Studio Tour and Cyberspace mountain attractions.^{[citation needed]}

In 2009, new entertainment opened at Walt Disney Studios to run alongside Mickey's Magical Party, which began in April 2009. Playhouse Disney – Live on Stage! was the second of the two shows to replace the Disney Channel Studio Tour and was presented in French, English and Spanish. In addition to Playhouse Disney – Live on Stage! came the opening of Disney Stars 'n' Cars, a smaller version of Disney Stars and Motor Cars Parade imported from Disney's Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World, Florida. The parade was introduced to replace 'Disney's Cinema Parade' which had been operating since opening in 2002.

In August 2010, expansions continued with the opening of Toy Story Playland to coincide with the new Disney·Pixar film Toy Story 3, "shrinking" guests to the size of a toy. The three attractions are a Half Pipe coaster named RC Racer, a parachute jumpstyle ride named Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop, and a Music Express train named Slinky Dog Zigzag Spin, all themed intricately around the first two Toy Story films.^{[citation needed]}

The first push of expansions came to an end with the addition of 'Ratatouille: L'Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy', soft opening 21 June 2014 and fully opening on 10 July.

On 27 February 2018, Bob Iger announced a transformative multi-year expansion, opening in phases from 2021. The cost of this expansion is €2 billion. It will feature new areas based on Marvel and Frozen, all surrounding a new man-made lake.^[7]

This second round of expansion began with the closing of Armageddon – Les Effets Speciaux on 31 March 2019 followed by "Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Avec Aerosmith" (2 September 2019), Studio Tram Tour: Behind the Magic (6 January 2020) and The Moteurs... Action! (13 March 2020) in order for both the walkway to the lake expansion to be started (demolition of the tram tour station) and for Avengers Campus to replace the Backlot area of the park.

On 14 March 2020, Walt Disney Studios Park, alongside Disneyland Park, temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in France.^[8][9] Both parks reopened on 15 July 2020 with strict rules such as limited guest attendance, social distancing, and mandatory wearing of face masks.^[10][11] The park closed again on 29 October 2020 following a second nationwide lockdown,^[12] the resort's original intended reopening on 2 April 2021 was ultimately deferred to 17 June.^[13][14]

On 15 June 2021 the new changes and expansion to the park started to arrive with the soft opening of Cars: Road Trip. This attraction consists of the loop for 'Catastrophe Canyon' from the Studio Tram Tour redecorated with props and characters based on the world of the 2006 film Cars.

On 9 July 2022, Avengers Campus soft opened as the first phase of the aforementioned expansion. It opened with the Spider-Man W.E.B. Adventure and the rethemed "Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Avec Aerosmith", known as Avengers Assemble: Flight Force.^{[citation needed]}

On 12 April 2024, Disney announced that as of the opening of the now named 'World of Frozen', Walt Disney Studios Park would be rebranded as Disney Adventure World. The park will consist of the areas 'World Premiere Plaza' (Formerly Studio 1), World of Hollywood, 'World of Frozen', 'Adventure Bay' (The lake), and 'Adventure Way'. These will be joined by Front Lot, Worlds of Pixar, and Avengers Campus scheduled to debut in 2025.^[15]

On 24 May 2024, it was announced that was replaced by a new outdoor shows, Alice & The Queen of Hearts: Back to Wonderland, and the areas was renamed Theater of the Stars, which was became part of the last remaining Production Courtyard area until 29 September 2024 and right behind the location of Avengers Campus, since the final performance of The Moteurs... Action! and Backlot area would be permanently closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic on Paris for over four years ago.

At D23: The Ultimate Disney Fan Event 2024 on 11 August 2024, it was announced that "World of Frozen" was delayed to 2026, while a new Lion King Land will be built at Disney Adventure World.^[16]

On 30 September, 2024, it was announced that a new nighttime spectacular show, Doctor Strange: Mystery of the Mystics, which will be premiere in Avengers Campus on 23 November, 2024 until 29 March, 2025 at Walt Disney Studios Park.^[17][18]

On 26 October, 2024, it was announced that a new temporarily show, Minnie's Musical Moment, which would be premiere in Studio D on 1 November, 2024 until 30 March, 2025 at Walt Disney Studios Park,^[19] since it was announced that the final performance of Disney Junior Dream Factory would be permanently closed on 31 August 2024.^[20]

Walt Disney Studios Park is divided into five "studio lots." Originally these were to represent various aspects of film production present at a Hollywood film studio, though this connection has weakened over time with the addition of lands themed for prominent film franchises.

Front Lot serves as the park's main entrance and is home to most shops and services of the park, the Earffel Tower is located here. The entrance courtyard, La Place des Frères Lumière, is designed in Spanish Colonial Revival style, a style common in Hollywood in the 1930s. It is based on the design of the original Disney Bros. Studios on Hyperion Avenue. The central feature of the courtyard is a large Fantasia fountain. The name of the courtyard is a tribute to the French inventors of cinema.

The venue closed in April 2024 and will reopen after a refurbishment as World Premiere, with the counter-service restaurant Hollywood Gardens Restaurant.

Toon Studio features attractions and shopping based on Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios franchises, including a live show, Mickey and the Magician.^[21] When the park originally opened in 2002, the area was known as Animation Courtyard. In 2007, as part of the park's fifth anniversary, two new rides were added: Crush's Coaster and Cars Quatre Roues Rallye. In 2010, the area was expanded with the creation of the Toy Story Playland. In January 2012, construction began on a new Ratatouille-themed ride and restaurant.

In 2021, most of this area's attractions were separated into the newly named Worlds of Pixar area of the park.

Formerly a part of the Toon Studio section, the Worlds of Pixar area features rides, attractions, shopping, and restaurants based on Pixar's Finding Nemo, Cars and Ratatouille franchises.

Toy Story Playland is a sub-area of Toon Studio/Worlds of Pixar themed to the Toy Story franchise, which opened on 17 August 2010 to market and promote Toy Story 3. The area shrinks guests down to the size of the toy as they ride three over-sized attractions.

Production Courtyard's theme revolves around the production aspect of Hollywood movies and the Hollywood mythos, including movie legends. The land contains two distinct parts: Hollywood Boulevard, which features Hollywood-inspired street sets and the ride The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror – A New Dimension of Chills and Place des Stars themed around the production facilities of movie lots, containing Stitch Live!.

Marvel Avengers Campus, a land themed around the Marvel Cinematic Universe, soft opened on 9 July 2022, and opened to the public 20 July 2022. Anchored as a transformed Paris-based secret location for S.H.I.E.L.D., the area's attractions and dining include Avengers Assemble: Flight Force (an Iron Man re-theme of Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Avec Aerosmith)^[24] and Spider-Man W.E.B. Adventure (a clone of Web Slingers: A Spider-Man Adventure from the Anaheim version of the land). This area replaced the previous "Backlot" lot of the park.

The Backlot was an opening day lot themed after actual movie backlots with an industrial theme. This lot featured the attractions Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Avec Aerosmith, the Moteurs... Action!: Stunt Show Spectacular, and the special effects show Armageddon – Les Effets Speciaux. The cafeteria service restaurant Blockbuster Café, the buffet Restaurant des Stars, and a small diner Café des Cascadeurs were also part of the Backlot. This area was closed in 2019 to make way for Avengers Campus, except for Theater of the Stars.

On 27 February 2018, Bob Iger announced that The Walt Disney Company will invest €2 billion into the Disneyland Paris resort. The Walt Disney Studios Park will be expanded with two new areas based on Marvel and Frozen. In addition to the two new areas, the expansion includes a new lake, which will be the focal point for entertainment experiences and will also connect each of the new park areas.^[25]

The second phase of the expansion will be World of Frozen which was originally scheduled to be open in 2023 but has since been delayed to 2025, since the opening date was postponed indefinitely followed the closures of the park due to COVID-19 pandemic. Guests will be immersed in the kingdom of Arendelle (set after the events of Frozen and before Frozen II), where Queen Elsa has declared a Summer Snow Day for its citizens. A new and expanded version of Frozen Ever After will debut with the land as well as a restaurant and a shop.^[26]

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• Mickey and the Magician: 2016–2020, 2022–present
• Together: a Pixar Musical Adventure: 2023–present
• Stitch Live!: 2008–present
• Doctor Strange: Mystery of the Mystics 2024–present

• Avengers: Power The Night: 1 September – 5 November 2023; 1 December 2023 – 7 January 2024
• Stars 'n' Cars: 2009–2014
• Moteurs... Action! Stunt Show Spectacular: 2002–2020
• CinéMagique: 2002–2017
• Animagique: 2002–2016
• Disney Cinema Parade: 2002–2008
• Alice & The Queen of Hearts: Back to Wonderland: 2024
• Disney Junior Dream Factory: 2021–2024

• Disneyland Park (Paris)
• Disney's Hollywood Studios
• Incidents at Disneyland Paris

• Official website

48°52′2.28″N 2°46′44.43″E / 48.8673000°N 2.7790083°E / 48.8673000; 2.7790083