Our last blog took an in depth look at the main Disneyland Parc at Disneyland Paris. Following on from this, here’s an overview of the second park on site, Walt Disney Studios (or at least that’s what it’s called for now!)

History…

The second park at Disneyland Paris opened in 2002. Borrowing a theme from Disney’s Hollywood Studios (then known as Disney’s MGM Studios) over in Orlando, the park was focused around film, television and entertainment, offering a behind-the-scenes look at how this was made. Or at least that was the theory.

I mentioned in our last blog that the main Disneyland Parc had a bit of an interesting history, but that can be argued even more for the Walt Disney Studios… Essentially, when Disney agreed with the French government to open EuroDisney back in the day, part of the deal was that they would open up a second theme park by a certain date. The original plan was to open the second park just a few years after the first. However EuroDisney’s well-known financial issues in its early years meant that work was repeatedly delayed, so that in the end the second park was rushed to meet the original agreed deadline.

Adding to the Studios woes was that it was also completed around a time when budget cuts and time pressures meant that the Disney parks being worked on at the time were rushed, underfunded and therefore not what the Imagineers wanted. The other parks were Disney’s California Adventure, and Hong Kong Disneyland. Subsequent changes in the Disney company have now meant that the Imagineers are essentially having to go back to these parks and redo a lot of elements to bring them up to the standard that Disney, and their guests, expect. California Adventure has seen a lot of changes that has made it a great counterpart to Disneyland next door, and Hong Kong Disneyland is also undergoing changes including a recent Frozen land opening. So that leaves the Walt Disney Studios.

Because of it’s TV and film theming the original look of the Studios was essentially a lot of sound-stages, each housing attractions. Some of those attractions were amazing, but it has to be said it wasn’t the most visually attractive of the Disney Parks! (In fairness if you’ve seen pictures of the actual Walt Disney Studios in California the park had a lot of similarities, but most people didn’t know enough to appreciate the theming!) It was also extremely small, and only had a few rides – being mostly focused around shows. Besides its compact size, another issue the Studios had was similar to its Floridian cousin, in that increasingly common behind-the-scenes peeks at films on things like DVDs meant that the park’s offerings weren’t seen as all that unique after all. This has led the park veering away from a look behind the scenes of the movies, to being able to experience film and TV.

… And Future

So essentially, the Walt Disney Studios is a massive work in progress. It has expanded its ride offerings by adding Toy Story Land (rather smaller in scale than the one in Florida) and other Pixar based attractions such as Crush’s Coaster and the Cars themed rides. The Tower of Terror now sits in the centre of the park, adding some suitably spooky theming touches. Most recently, a large part of the park was rethemed into Avengers Campus, offering two rides as well as a number of super-hero encounters. Other original films and shows from when the park opened have given way to new offerings.

And the changes don’t stop there! As I write the entrance way into the park, Studio 1, is getting completely revamped. Work is also underway on adding a new lakeside area which will include gardens, a new Tangled themed ride, and an expansive Frozen land, due to open in 2026. And most recently announced was a Lion King themed land – opening date to be announced (although probably not until the late 2020s).

With so many changes the park is also getting a new identity! From when World of Frozen opens, the park will be renamed Disney Adventure World.

In the meantime though, be prepared for some serious construction going on in the park. If you’re a Florida visitor and saw the extensive walls up in Epcot, you’ll have an idea of the scale of construction going on here! It does make the park more of a challenge to navigate, but thankfully its compact size does help a bit.

Layout

Unlike the main park, the Studios doesn’t really have a clear layout, it’s currently sort of a U shape (with the bottom of the U being where you enter the park). It is divided into five lands, although not all of them are very clearly distinguished from the others. Once through the turnstiles you enter a courtyard which features guest services and a shop, and then Studio 1 which acts a bit like Main Street USA in the other park in that it sets the seen and funnels people to the park’s central point (or at least it will when Studio 1 reopens!). On the other side of Studio 1 if you have that building to your back, you can turn left for Production Courtyard and then on to Avengers Campus. You’d go right for Toon Studio and then Worlds of Pixar. Eventually the lakeside area with Frozen and the Lion King should be set back pretty much straight on from the main entrance.

If you need to move back and forth between lands in this park then really at the moment you’re back tracking from one side of the park to the other (there’s the odd little cut through). Thankfully the park’s compact size doesn’t make this too much of a pain. The downside at the moment though is that the amount of construction works means that usual paths may be closed or far smaller (and therefore more congested) than normal. If in doubt follow signs to your destination or grab a cast member for advice!

So taking each of the lands in turn…

Front Lot

Overview: For this section of the park all I can really give is an overview, as it doesn’t house any attractions! This is very much the entrance section of the park. In the first courtyard on your left is a large Studio Store (a kind of one stop shop for all things Disney studios), on the right you can facilities such as stroller and wheelchair rental, first aid and the baby care centre. Beyond the courtyard is Studio 1. Before its closure this acted as a sort of covered Main Street with shopping and dining. It was heavily themed to be outdoors at night in Hollywood and featured touches such as interactive light boxes. The restaurant here was a large but pretty basic quick service. Studio 1’s new theme will be that you’re attending a Hollywood movie premiere, with a completely new look and redesigned restaurant and shops – whether that means menu changes is something we’ll need to wait and see!

One last thing to say is that the Front lot courtyard was a great spot for meeting characters, but these are all subject to being moved due to the building works taking place. Check the app and times guide for the latest information!

Production Courtyard

Overview: On the other side of the Studio 1 building if you look left is the area known as Production Courtyard. The idea is that here you can see attractions still based around film and TV production. In practice this area is a bit of a hodge-podge of attractions without much of a theme to tie them together. Honestly I’d expect this area to go under a re-brand once the other building work in the park is complete!

Main attractions: There’s only one ride in this area but you really can’t miss it! The Tower of Terror looms over the surrounding area, with suitably early 1900s touches in its surrounding courtyard and theming. Tower of Terror is a drop tower ride where you fall faster than gravity 13 stories – so it’s not for the faint of heart! It’s known as the creepiest of all the iterations of this ride around the world. Also in this area is one of the major shows. Together: A Pixar Musical Adventure features characters from Toy Story travelling through other Pixar films to find pieces of sheet music. It’s a really popular show so get there early – at least 20 minutes before show time (more at busy times).

What else is there? A bit of an underrated gem in this area is Stich, Live! This interactive show allows audiences to talk to and interact with Stitch, who you are trying to track down after he stole a spaceship. Unlike most of the shows, this one has exclusively English or French showings so check the times guide to make sure you go to the right one! There was also a Disney Junior stage show in this area which has recently gone on hiatus, there seems to be some confusion as to whether it’ll reopen so watch this space… It’s a great interactive show for little ones if it is running.

Easily overlooked details: For fun theming the Tower of Terror is your best bet in this area, the building itself and the area around are all themed to the ride’s story. Look out for Twilight Zone easter eggs in the queue and shop too.

Dining: Production courtyard is thin on the ground with dining, but look out for kiosks in the area offering customisable ice cream. There’s also a cart sometimes selling fries near the Tower of Terror (which sounds dull but people rave about these fries!)

Shopping: The only shop in this area is Tower Hotel Gifts, at the exit of the Tower of Terror (although you can go in the shop without riding the ride!). Expect lots of Tower of Terror themed merch as well as other spooky themes, such as Nightmare Before Christmas.

Avengers Campus

Overview: Continuing past Production Courtyard is Avengers Campus, the current newest land and one of the best themed! The story behind Avengers Campus is that Tony Stark has set it up as an area to train and recruit the next generation of superheroes, including you of course. And to help with training various Avengers drop by! The Campus seems to occupy a vague point in the multiverse where past and future heroes can exist side by side regardless of their current status in Marvel’s Cinematic Universe. If you’re big into sticking to cinematic canon this might mess with your head a bit, but the result is that most people can find their favourite hero here.

Main attractions: There are two main attractions here. The first is WEB Slingers. In this interactive ride you get to sling webs alongside Spiderman to stop some pesky Spiderbots from taking over the campus. You can score points by moving your arms at targets on a screen. It’s pretty addictive, and a great arm workout! The other ride is Avengers Flight Force, a serious coaster where you take flight alongside Iron Man and Captain Marvel. This is actually a rethemed Rock ‘n’ Roller coaster, so expect a super speedy launch and several inversions.

What else is there? The other big draw here is the character interactions. There are some regularly scheduled meet and greets with Spiderman, Ant Man and other Avengers, but there are also characters popping up and interacting with guests. You never know who you might run across (although the Disneyland Paris app can give you an idea!).

Easily overlooked details: Look out for the Spider-bots! Although you’re helping Spiderman catch these on Web Slingers, it seems a few have escaped and are wandering around campus so keep an eye out for them. This area is also chock full of detail for Avengers fans.

Dining: The big dining draw here is Pym’s Test Kitchen. In this buffet restaurant (so the storyline goes) the food has been blasted with Pym Particles from the Ant-Man films, either making them tiny or huge! So expect miniature burgers as well as those the size of a dinner plate, giant pretzels and minute cakes and treats. As a buffet it’s got lots of options so fussy eaters should be happy, but make reservations because it’s popular! Quick service wise there’s Stark Factory, which offers cafeteria style pizza and pasta, and Super Diner which recently updated its menu to include shawarma dishes, a nod to their mention in the Avengers film. Super Diner is pretty small and tends to have limited seating! Also look at for food trucks offering a variety of snacks from Groot shaped biscuits to cheesecake on a stick.

Shopping: The only shop here is Mission Equipment at the exit of WEB Slingers. Expect lots of Avengers merchandise, including interactive Spider-bots and accessories to help you up your score on the ride. You’ll also find a few carts in the land selling a variety of Avengers items.

Toon Studio

Overview: If you turn right on entering the park you’ll find yourself in Toon Studio. Rather like Production Courtyard, this land is a jumble of different attractions left from the park’s earlier days. The loose theme is that they’re all tied to different Disney films.

Main attractions: The big attractions in this land are the shows. Mickey and the Magician is a show featuring characters, live singing, puppetry and more focusing on magic in Disney films. It’s a great show! Also here is Frozen: A Musical Invitation. This show features characters from Frozen, based after the film you’re going to the North Mountain with Anna and Kristoff to surprise Elsa. It’s a weird show because you move theatres halfway through. Most of the songs are in French also – fair enough because you’re in France, but might confuse non-French speaking littles expecting to belt out ‘Let it Go’! For both the shows arrive early because they’re popular and do fill up!

What else is there? As well as housing the Frozen show, the old Animation building also includes an Animation Academy where you can learn to draw a Disney character, and an Olaf meet and greet. Outside there’s also a Magic Carpet ride themed to Aladdin, where you pilot your own magic carpet up and down.

Easily overlooked details: A lot of this area is still under construction so the details are likely to change, but there’s a lot of cool nods to the history of Disney animation in the indoor waiting area for the Frozen show, including one of the few multi-plane cameras left.

Dining: It’s pretty slim pickings in this land. A trailer selling crepes, ice cream and drinks is about it!

Shopping: There’s the Animation Boutique in the Animation building selling collectibles and artworks. There’s normally some pop up stands with souvenirs too.

Worlds of Pixar

Overview: The rest of the park is a mixture of attractions themed to various Pixar films. Theming wise this lands varies depending what area you’re in and the film it’s themed to, so anything from under the sea, to the streets of Paris, to Andy’s backyard!

Main attractions: One of the biggest draws in this area (and the park as a whole) is Crush’s Coaster. This spinning roller-coaster has you sat on the back of a turtle-shell and travelling through the ocean with Crush looking for Nemo. Some people mistake this for a simple dark ride or kids coaster, but while there are no inversions the spinning and tight angles means that this can be quite the intense ride! Ratatouille: The Adventure is a trackless dark ride where you’re shrunk down to the size of a rat and visit Gusteau’s kitchen with Remy, before winding up in Remy’s own kitchen. It’s a really popular ride that led to the clone in Epcot in Florida. The ride did used to use 3D technology but since Spring 2024 has been 2D – no word on if and when it’ll turn back!

What else is there? The Toy Story area includes three small rides. In RC Racer you go back and forward on a steeply curved track – think like an old swing boat ride but you’re on a track with cuter theming! There’s also SlinkyDog Zig Zag Spin where you sit on Slinky’s back while he chases his tail, and the Parachute Drop where you join the Green Army Men is rising up in parachutes to drop slowly back to the ground. This land also has two Cars themed rides. The most visible of the two is Cars Quatre Rouse Rallye, which is a spinning type ride where you sit in miniature cars from the Cars franchise. This ride has the honour of being the one that has messed me up the most in this park so take note those who don’t like spinning or who are prone to motion sickness! The other Cars ride is somewhat tucked around the back. In Cars Road Trip you board trams to spot some of the touristy sights around Route 66, and experience an earthquake! For long time park goers its essentially the old Catastrophe Canyon bit of the Backlot Tour but with a cuter Cars overlay. Also in this land look out for character meet and greets with various Pixar pals.

Easily overlooked details: If you’re a Pixar fan you could spend hours in these areas just appreciating the details. Look out especially for the extra rat theming around Ratatouille, and and the little details that show you’ve been shrunk down to the size of a toy in the Toy Story area.

Dining: This land boasts one the park’s most popular restaurants. Bistrot Chez Remy is at the exit of the Ratatouille attraction. The theme is that you’re in Remy’s restaurant, which means you’re rat sized. So look out for seats shaped like corks, giant fairy lights for decoration and more. The menu is prix fixe French themed. Otherwise you’re limited to carts for food. Laugh ‘n’ Go is themed to Cars and features grilled cheese sandwiches with themed cupcakes. There’s also often a mini market offering different food choices near Ratatouille.

Shopping: The only shop in the land is Chez Marianne. It offers Ratatouille themed souvenirs, as well as homeware and snacks, and items themed around Paris.

There’s a lot of changes still to come at the Walt Disney Studios park. Be sure to subscribe to our blog and follow our socials and we’ll update you with the news as and when we known it!