I can’t count how many times I’ve seen it online in Disneyland Paris support groups. ‘It’s not a magical as it used to be’. ‘I expected it to be more magical’. ‘It’s not as magical as [insert other Disney property of choice here]’. So the question the potential visitors might be asking is, does Disneyland Paris hold that Disney magic? Will it live up to my expectations? Our answer is definitely yes – but it’s a qualified yes! So in this blog we’re going to be sharing our thoughts on why, and how to get the most magic out of your trip!

What is the Disney magic?

This is a fair question – what is the Disney magic that people talk about online when it comes to Disney’s theme parks?

Part of the problem any Disney property has when it comes to fan expectations is that different people might have a different definition of what that Disney magic is! It’s very subjective. What the Disney parks aim to do, Disneyland Paris included, is to immerse you in a world of storytelling. It’s a place of great entertainment and reliable customer service. It’s a place when you can delve into your favourite stories, or meet characters you have adored since early childhood. And above all, it feels like an escape from the everyday world and the negativity it brings. At a Disney park, happily ever after feels like a certainty, not a vague hope as we may have when tackling issues in the real world.

Another thing that the Disney parks have is a heavy dose of nostalgia, as people who visited the parks when children are now at the point of visiting again as grown ups, maybe bringing their own children along too. I was very lucky when I was younger to visit Walt Disney World in Florida several times with my family, and as such Disney parks do hold a lot of nostalgia and happy memories for me. I didn’t visit Disneyland Paris for the first time until I was in my twenties but even so I’ve been visiting for many years now and have a lot of fond memories of previous trips – it was the place where I got engaged, where we spent our first wedding anniversary. So of course, I hold nostalgia for the parks. And there’s a lot of magic in that!

The problem of high expectations…

With all that being said, any Disney park has a lot of live up to. Whether its repeat visitors looking back on previous visits through rose-tinted glasses, or first time visitors who get so hyped up about what they read online that expect a Disney park to be full of rainbows and pixie dust. And Disney adds to this with their marketing of course – and their high prices! By paying so much, people go into a Disney trip expecting it to be perfect.

With such high expectations, it’s going to be difficult to the parks to live up to them! And I think people get so blinded by the charm and whimsy that they forget that the parks are tourist destinations with thousands upon thousands of visitors every day wanting the perfect trip for their group – sometimes without thought to the others in the park. And when you have thousands of people together of course things aren’t going to be perfect. There’s going to be queues. There’s going to be rides that break down or are closed for refurbishment – these rides are working 365 days a year so things are bound to go blip occasionally. Think how often you need to restart you phone or laptop because it decides to have a funny five minutes. Disney deals with issues like that multiplied by a factor of thousands. And with these blips, of course some people are going to say the parks are lacking the magic they expected – because their expectations were so very high.

So where does that leave Disneyland Paris?

Disneyland Paris seems to get a double whammy of ‘lacking the Disney magic’ posts, partly because of people’s expectations, and partly because people go in automatically comparing the parks to those in the USA.

But here’s the thing – Disneyland Paris isn’t meant to be like the parks in the USA. It was always built to reflect European and French culture and it does just that. As such people go into it expecting that very USA style customer service you find in Anaheim and Orlando, and then feel disappointed when they instead receive what is generally very good French standard customer service. Still pleasant for the most part, and most of the cast members we’ve encountered have been lovely people who do their best to help you. But it just won’t be to the same speed and level as it is in the USA parks, because that’s a difference between French and American culture. And here’s a fun fact – the Disney look and attitude it mandates in the American parks isn’t legal to enforce in France! So the Disney cast members smiling and doing their best to help you are really trying to make your trip as magical as possible. Cast members also have a language barrier to overcome if someone is talking to them in a different language than French – yes they know some of other languages (English being the main case in point), but their answers might seem shorter and blunter than they might be in the USA parks simply because they’re having to answer in the amount of language they know!

Disneyland Paris does also have a bit of a disadvantage to its USA cousins too in that in terms of attraction experiences and maintenance it’s kind of playing catch up. For many years Disneyland Paris wasn’t run directly by Disney but a third party (a bit like Tokyo Disney). Unfortunately there was a period of time when maintenance was neglected, standards dropped and rides didn’t receive upgrades. And of course poor old Walt Disney Studios was opened on a shoestring budget and as a rush job simply to satisfy contract demands, so it never received the full love it should have done. A few years back though Disney took over the full running of the parks – and things have definitely improved since then! In our experience the customer service has improved, rides have had some much needed and wonderful upgrades, and the Walt Disney Studios and Disney Village are finally getting the work they need to bring them up to date. But of course there’s been some growing pains in the interim – rides going down for long periods while they get the updates they needed, and the raft of construction walls currently in the Studios and Village, with a lot of people saying online that they’re ‘ruining the magic’. But there’s still a lot of magic around them in our opinion, and similar comments were said about Epcot over in Walt Disney World during its multi-year improvement works, and Hollywood Studios before that with the building of Toy Story Land and Galaxy’s Edge! (And I expect to see similar comments next year when the Animal Kingdom and Magic Kingdom improvements get underway). It’s a temporary nuisance for sure, but it is temporary – and should lead to much better things overall.

Our course it should be said the Disney Company aren’t saints, they’re a business – and we don’t like all the changes they’ve made. We miss the old free Fastpass system, and it’s easy to see things like buying priority viewing for shows, parades and the fireworks as a cash grab. And yes, visiting is very expensive for sure! At the end of the day they’re trying to make money. And there’s a couple of things in Disneyland Paris that we’re not huge fans of, that would probably be better if Disney just put a bit more money or staffing into them. Cleanliness isn’t always at its best, especially in the bathrooms – and there should probably be more of them! It’s also frustrating that so many restaurants and attractions tend to close earlier on in the day (although part of this is prep for the evening fireworks), especially during the winter when park hours can be pretty limited anyway.

Sadly though the biggest reason that people say Disneyland Paris isn’t magical is something out of Disney’s control, and that’s the behaviour of other guests. Some of this is cultural – the habit of orderly queuing isn’t something that’s really a thing in France, and as such you’re much more likely to find people pushing and shoving. Smoking is also more accepted in French culture which is why there are still smoking areas within the parks, and I think why people think they can light up wherever they want (and Disney’s enforcement of this really isn’t good). And some of this is people just being downright selfish and impatient, probably because they’re so bent on having ‘their perfect trip’ that they don’t even stop to consider the folks around them doing the same thing! (It should be said that this is also mentioned for other Disney parks and non-Disney theme parks too – but it does seem to be particularly noticed at Disneyland Paris). This behaviour can sometimes lead to Disney having to make changes that folks don’t like, such as reducing ‘spontaneous’ character meet and greets in the parks. They still happen a bit, but most characters now meet at set times in set places because otherwise they’d just get mobbed by guests!

While we can’t do anything to control the behaviour of others, we can try to be kind and considerate to other guests ourselves, and of course to the hardworking cast members. It might be the key to someone else having a magical day!

But Disneyland Paris is still magical!

Yes, despite all that we think Disneyland Paris is still very magical – and that’s a hill we’ll die on! It’s not perfect. But then again no trip we’ve taken to Walt Disney World has probably been ‘perfect’ either – there’s always heat, crowds, aching joints and more to consider (and don’t get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE it!). But Disneyland Paris is beautiful, the rides are wonderfully immersive, the characters responsive and kind. There’s themed food to enjoy, and there’s touches of magic around every corner – if you remember to look for it!

Here’s some things that we think make Disneyland Paris magical – and in some cases more magical that either Disneyland or Walt Disney World in the USA! (There, we said it!) -so look out for them to add more magic to your next trip!

• The beauty of the main park – The Disneyland Parc at Disneyland Paris is jaw-droppingly beautiful. The Imagineers really worked hard to create something uniquely European as well as essentially Disney. The result is winding paths in Frontierland where you might come across a Native American encampment, counter service restaurants with whimsical touches that bring stories to life (there’s literally a tree in Colonel Haithi’s!), and even animatronic pigeons to bring life and movement to a land! Really this is a park to stop and savour, something I think that many hardcore Disney goers overlook as they rush from attraction to attraction. Having visited both Disney World and Disneyland in the USA, we think Disneyland Paris tops them both for beauty – the only park that might beat it is Tokyo Disney!
• The quality of the attractions – Disneyland Paris holds rides that are similar to Disney parks elsewhere, but often people agree its Disneyland Paris that holds the best versions! Phantom Manor has a more cohesive story than either of its American counterparts, Big Thunder Mountain is wilder and on its own island, Pirates of the Caribbean has a redone auction scene that makes way more sense, Space Mountain is a thrill-seekers dream and even Tower of Terror is held to be the creepiest version of all!
• Walk through diversions – Disneyland Paris has a lot of walk through attractions and touches, which mean that they can be enjoyed typically without any wait. There’s the walkthrough in Sleeping Beauty Castle (and the Dragon’s Lair underneath), a wild west Fort to explore, an isle of caves, bridges and more, a whimsical maze with Alice in Wonderland, and you can even tour the Nautilus! There’s plenty to do for people who don’t want to face another queue line.
• Mickey themed snacks! – While Disneyland Paris is still upping its snack game, it now has a proliferation of Mickey themed snacks that some of the other Disney parks can’t match! And of course everything tastes better Mickey shaped. (Mickey sandwich anyone?)
• Hotel theming – The Disneyland Paris hotels all have immersive themes based around classic Disney stories, there’s really something for everyone.
• Hotels in walking distance – At the end of the night it’s reassuring to know that your hotel is a short walk, or bus ride, away!
• Services for the differently-abled – With the recent changes to the Disability Access Service in the US parks, it has to be said that Disneyland Paris’ Priority Pass blows them out of the water when it comes to the support they offer the differently-abled. It’s actually better than the service in Florida even before the recent changes! It takes more into account different conditions and their impact, and offers touches like a choice of line to join if needed, as well as the special viewing areas for the parade and fireworks. We loved the service – and for those that qualify we highly recommend it.
• It’s complete immersion – This can be said for any Disney park, and for us it’s what makes them so magical. When at Disney you are fully immersed in the story. Whether that be scents, touches in the soundtracks, or small theming details, the stories Disney is telling are coming alive around you. While at Disney you can believe you’re touring a manor full of phantoms, that the Avengers are looking to recruit you, and that there are princesses around every corner.

The best way to feel the magic though…

… Is to allow yourself to feel it! Yes, Disneyland Paris isn’t perfect. There might be other rude people. The weather might be rubbish. A ride might go down. But for every negative there are hundreds of wonderful positives to discover – but you need to open yourself to them as opposed to dwelling on might be wrong.

Our advice – plan for the worst but hope for the best. And if you find you’re not feeling the magic, pause and think what would improve things for you at that point. A snack? A pause on a bench to people watch? A nap? A hug from Mickey Mouse? Then go do that! It’s your holiday, and while you shouldn’t be trying to make it perfect at the expense of the other guests around you, there’s no reason why you can’t make the best it can possibly be. Who knows? You might even live happily ever after…