Halloween season has kicked off at Disneyland Paris! We’ll be sharing everything you need to know about this year’s Halloween celebration here on a blog and on our YouTube channel soon. But what happens if you’re a fan of all things spooky, but can’t visit Disneyland Paris during October? Don’t worry, there’s still some spooky fun to be had all year long, and we’re sharing it all in this blog!

Phantom Manor

Of course we had to kick this blog off with the spookiest of them all… Phantom Manor.

Phantom Manor is in Frontierland, and tells the story of the ill-fated Melanie Ravenswood, her four fiancees and the Phantom who has some really bad intentions. The attraction combines ghosts, skeletons, eerie sound and effects – and some comical touches too! The aim is to be spooky without being too sinister, although the sudden plunge into darkness in the pre-show ‘stretch room’ can be too much for some nervous folks! As an omnimover, this is a pretty gentle ride all told. But the creepy special effect effects, the attention to detail and rich storytelling here is second to none. This ride is part of the Haunted Mansion family of attractions that appear in Disney parks around the world, and many hail Phantom Manor as the best of them all. And we’d agree!

If you’d like to plunge more in depth on the history of this ride then check out our previous blog all about it!

Big Thunder Mountain Railroad

In and of itself, the fun rollercoaster that is Big Thunder Mountain railroad may not seem that spooky – after all it’s a whizzy ride through abandoned mining scenery and western sights with a lot of twist, turns and bumps along the way!

But the whole premise of this ride is that the greed of the mine’s owner Henry Ravenswood (yup the guy who also owned Phantom Manor and the father of Melanie) upset the mystical Thunderbird who protected the landscape. In revenge it triggered a terrible earthquake, wrecking the mine and the neighbouring town, Thunder Mesa. But despite this, cursed trains still rattle around the remains of the old mine without drivers – and on Big Thunder Mountain, you’re riding in one!

Sights wise on Big Thunder the spookiest are the plunges into the tunnels (which are pitch black), and a whole lot of bats. You also narrowly escape a dynamite blast – presumably triggered by the ghosts of the past miners!

While it may not seem the spookiest Disneyland Paris ride on first glance, it’s tragic back story make this a great attraction for fans of the eerie. (Plus, let’s face it, it’s an awesome ride too!)

Pirates of the Caribbean

Another classic Disneyland Paris attraction, Pirates of the Caribbean mainly follows the action as a group of Pirates attack a town, looking for wealth and plunder. But of course, as they say, dead man tells no tales – and Pirates certainly has it’s spooky side!

The main section of this is the last part of the ride, where you journey through the cursed pirates – Captain Barbossa takes a swing at the passing boat, and you sail past skeletal remain of pirates still stuck in their final acts as they were struck down by the curse! To set the eerie scene even before you board the ride, in the queue you walk through an old fort, featuring, weapons, torture instruments – and a few skeletons along the way! It can be very dark in here, especially when coming in from the bright sunlight! The first scene on the ride is also a quiet and dark Bayou (once you’ve passed Captain Jack’s restaurant anyway) – and then up a hill as spooky voices talk, and projections of Davey Jones and Blackbeard remind you of the dangers ahead.

Unlike Big Thunder which is a pretty wild experience, Pirates is a gentle boat ride with a couple of small drops, and is suitable for all ages (unless they’re likely to get frightened of course!). The spooky elements of this ride add to its rich storytelling, and the amount of detail is great. It’s well worth a visit in our opinion! We also have a blog all about this ride, which you can read here.

Adventure Isle Caves

Adventure Isle is a large space to explore featuring landscaping, bridges, lookout points… and caves. And here’s where things can get spooky!

The caves of Adventure Isle are on the side nearest Pirates of the Caribbean, so it’s not surprising that some of that attraction’s theming has come over here. Among the dark caves and narrow passages are hints at Pirate treasure, and a few skeletal remains to hint at a possible curse! Recently a new scavenger hunt was added here too, looking for items connected with the Pirates ride. And you can climb up inside Skull rock!

While not a major attraction by any means Adventure Isle can be a lot of fun to explore, especially if you enjoy those spookier vibes and the pirates theming. In our opinion the scariest thing about the caves is how easy it is to get lost – keep an eye on little ones while in here!

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril

Anyone who has watched the Indiana Jones films know that that Indy is not scared of investigating a spooky temple or two, and that premise is continued in this attraction in Disneyland Paris.

While not as richly themed as either Phantom Manor or Pirates, the premise of this attraction is that you’ve headed to an abandoned temple to find out what happened to an earlier expendition that went missing, including a certain Indiana Jones. Your explorations take you onto an old train car – that quickly shoots off out of control without a driver!

Spooky sights wise this ride is really mostly about the temple theming and some archaeology nods, so nothing in the visuals is as spooky as Phantom Manor, Pirates or even Big Thunder. The main pull of this attraction rather is the very rough and wild rollercoaster ride, including an upside down loop! Honestly Indiana Jones is not a ride we choose to experience much because of its roughness, but coaster and Indiana Jones fans will probably love it.

The Dragon’s Lair

Over in Fantasyland, Sleeping Beauty’s Castle stands as the stunning icon of this land – and the entire Disneyland Paris resort. But in the dungeons underneath the castle lurks something rather more spooky – a dragon!

You can enter the Dragon’s Lair either from stairs at the back of the Merlin shop inside the castle, or from paths on the outside to the left of the castle if you’re looking at it from the castle hub. The Dragon itself is a huge and very impressive animatronic, that seems to be sleeping until it wakes up to roar at its visitors! The spooky dungeon setting is fantastic, and around the dragon are the skeletal remains of presumably former knights who tried to kill the beast.

The Dragon is a walk through space, so it’s easy to pop in and say hello, and enjoy the spooky underground vibes here. We think it should be a must see for anyone visiting Disneyland Paris – it’s unique to this park and utterly amazing!

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs

Based on Disney’s first Princess film (and indeed first animated film!), you might think that Snow White will be a gentle and sweet ride into the story. Think again!

In this ride you are in the role of Snow White – so you only see her at the beginning (in the Dwarf’s cottage) and at the end (for the happy ending of course!). The middle portion of the ride sees you visting the Evil Queen, who transforms into a hag in front of you. After travelling through her dungeons to see the skeletons of her previous rather unfortunate visitors and her brewing the poisoned apple, you then travel through a wood where sinister trees reach out towards you, and wooden crocdiles lunge towards the car…

Of course, it all ends happily. And those who have seen the film of Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs will probably not find it surprising that Disney have recreated it’s spookiest aspects very well here. But this ride is known to scare the heck out of a lot of children, and some adults! It’s actually held by many as the scariest ride in the resort.

Anyone for an apple? Didn’t think so.

Pinocchio’s Daring Journey

If you didn’t roll your eyes at Snow White being on this list, you probably are now. I mean, the Pinocchio ride? Really? But hear me out… I actually think this is one of the most sinister rides in the park!

Aside from the narrow escape from Stromboli towards the beginning of the ride, and Monstro the whale towards the end, a big chunk of the middle of the ride is dedicated to the Pleasure Island sequence from the original film. Which on the surface looks bright and colourful, but underneath… this section has a number of hints that all is not well on Pleasure Island, and the fate awaiting the boys who visit – including the eyes of figures that follow you, and numerous donkey references. And of course we then get to see the donkeys crying for their mother’s before getting carted off to the salt mines… eek. Like Snow White it’s a good recreation of that part of the film’s story, but once you get past the colour and trippiness we think this ride has some very spooky and sinister undertones for those looking for it!

The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror

The current Walt Disney Studios Park (soon to be Disney Adventure World) certainly has less spooky attractions than the main park, focusing instead on thrills and outdoor experiences, as well as shows. But maybe it doesn’t need many spooky attractions because it’s home to maybe the scariest of them all – the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror!

Anyone who has seen the Twilight Zone will know that the stories there investigate the unexplained and often downright creepy, and the Tower of Terror follows that lead. The premise of this ride is that you’re visiting an adandoned hotel that was struck by lightning on Halloween night many years ago, sending the inhabitants of a lift into the Twilight Zone. You’re now exploring the hotel via the service elevator – and along the way seen ghostly figures of the lift’s inhabitants, notably the little girl who makes several appearances to warn you not to continue your journey! And of course the journey involves plunging up and down an elevator shaft at high speed…

The spooky vibes with Tower of Terror start with the inside portion of the queue with the abandoned hotel lobby and library setting for the pre-show – between this and its imposing facade riders really get the hint what they’re in for! With the intense drop sequences this is true thrill ride, but with rich storytelling and theming alongside. And Disney Parks fans typically hold Paris’ version of the Tower of Terror as the creepiest. Fancy dropping in?

Honourable mentions

These aren’t attractions but I wanted to shout out the Captain’s Chest and Tower of Terror gift shops, situated at the exits of Pirates of the Caribbean and the Tower of Terror respectively. Both continue the ride themes with the spooky decor, and are some of the places to buy things like Nightmare Before Christmas merch year round.

The Frontier Trading Post isn’t really that spooky inside, but it tends to hold a lot of Phantom Manor and Big Thunder Merchandise, so it’s worth a visit for fans of those rides. And at Halloween a lot of that merchandise is here too. But hey, I guess we are in an actual ghost town, so that makes sense!

What do you think of our list – anything you’d add? If you’re not a fan of spooky sights and want warnings about this and other potential triggers in the parks check out our previous blog here. If you like our content please subscribe to our blog below, which will get you our blogs directly into your email, and a free copy of our guide to Disneyland Paris attraction accessibility! (Normally £3). And visit us over at our YouTube channel too! Finally, if you’d like to support us please do consider leaving us a tip – it’ll help us keep this blog and our vlog going. Thank you!