A lot of people think of Disney as something that’s as American as Stars and Stripes, Bald Eagles and spray cheese in a can. And it was this impression that partly led to the protests against Disneyland Paris when it was first announced – there was a fear of the ‘Americanisation’ of French Culture. But Disney were determined to represent and respect French culture in their design and running of the Disneyland Paris parks. In this blog we’re sharing some of the ways that French culture may impact your Disneyland Paris trip.

Who knew Mickey Mouse speaks French?

It always cracks me up when I hear folks complain about the French language being used in Disneyland Paris. I mean, it is in France after all! If the Disney Parks in the USA only had attractions in Spanish I think people would complain pretty quickly. So of course there’s French in the Disneyland Paris parks!

In France, there has been a lot of fear over the watering down of the French language, particularly as TV shows and films from the USA and elsewhere introduced words not previously known. And as a result there was a lot of concern that the French language wouldn’t be well represented in Disneyland Paris. Naturally, Disney didn’t want this and agreed that at least 50% of the language representation in the resort would be in French.

Actually, many of the shows, signage and other details in the parks are bilingual. Cast members are expected to speak at least two European languages, one of which has to be French. Juggling the multilingual nature of the parks is something I think that Disney does pretty well in Disneyland Paris. You’ll notice that in many shows some characters will speak English, and some speak French to represent both languages. And in attractions where narration pays a key part of the attraction this typically swaps between French and English – Phantom Manor and WEB Slingers are both good examples of this. Another trick that Disney use to represent the multilingual nature of the resort is having dialogue in French but songs in English – in Pirates of the Caribbean the pirates speak French, but ‘Yo ho, yo ho a Pirate’s Life for Me’ is in English. It’s a Small World of course moves between multiple languages. Where attractions only have one language represented within it then that’s typically French – examples include Pinocchio’s Daring Journey and Star Tours: The Adventures Continue. The only attractions that don’t have a lot if not all French dialogue are the English showings of Stitch Live! (but there are French showings too), and Rhythm of the Pridelands: The Lion King. I actually don’t know why this show is pretty much entirely in English – I’m guessing it’s possible because the show is essentially all the musical numbers with very little speaking!

So yep, because of the importance of French language in French culture, you will encounter a lot of French in the park! And because you’re in France we do suggest you try to learn at least a few key words or phrases in French as it’s appreciated by the cast members – Bonjour (hello), Au Revoir (Goodbye) and Merci (thank you) are great ones to know! If you’re from a non-French speaking country it might also be worth warning little ones that they’ll see their familiar Disney friends speaking French in the parks – because of course they want to respect local folks, and thanks to Disney magic can speak in whatever language they like.

Is that beer on that quick service menu?!

It’s a well known fact that Walt Disney didn’t want alcohol sold in the original Disneyland, as he thought it attracted the wrong type of people and wanted to keep the family friendly nature of the park. When Magic Kingdom opened in Florida in 1971 it followed the no alcohol rule. Both these parks have since relaxed these rules and alcohol can be purchased in table service restaurants and lounges for consumption there only. But at Disneyland Paris, beer is found on many a quick service menu and the champagne on Main Street is an internet staple at this point. So why doesn’t Disneyland Paris follow the other Disney castle parks?

When planning Disneyland Paris, it was originally thought to keep alcohol out of the park in much the same way as its American counterparts. However, in France there is a culture of having a drink with a relaxed meal. As a result, alcohol made its way onto the Disneyland Paris menus. As well as cocktails and drinks in the table service spots, beer is on many a quick service menu, and the ubiquitous champagne can be purchased from a cart on Main Street. You can even get a Frozen Margarita at Casa de Coco! (Most reports are that it’s not great but still…)

Interestingly though, you don’t tend to see drunk people in the Disneyland Paris parks at all – presumably folks are consuming to their drinks responsibly! (Or are put off by the prices – it might be available but it ain’t cheap!) The only time I can remember ever seeing someone drunk in the resort was in Disney Village just after the French rugby team had won a game! (If you’ve ever encountered someone worse for the wear for alcohol in the resort do let us know if the comments). It’s not something we see complained about online a lot either which makes me think it’s not much of an issue – and folks do take to online to complain about this type of thing! (Just look at the complaints about the folks ‘drinking around the world’ at Epcot in Walt Disney World!).

So on your next Disneyland Paris trip if you enjoy an alcoholic drink say ‘cheers’ to French culture for allowing you to do so!

Prix fixe menus are everywhere

A few years ago there was a big fuss when the ‘prix fixe’ menu started appearing at restaurants at Walt Disney World. For folks that don’t know, a prix fixe menu is when you pay a set price for a set number of courses, which are selected from a small menu. In Walt Disney World the menus meant that folks weren’t ducking into some of the most popular restaurants to have 5 people share a starter just to say they’ve been in there. But in Disneyland Paris, prix fixe menus have been the norm since the resort opened!

Before someone points out they they’ve ordered a la carte food in Disneyland Paris, it should be noted that in many of the restaurants you can order a la carte menu items. But even at these restaurants there are prix fixe menus that can be ordered from, and some restaurants are prix fixe only. So what’s going on?

The prix fixe menu actually was originated in France in the 19th Century, although these menus were thought to evolve from options in earlier French inns. In the 19th Century, French hotels started offering prix fixe menus as a way to simplify ordering for tourists, and offering good value with the ability to order several courses for less than they might have cost separately. For the hotels of course it made ordering ingredients and predicting food use a lot easier, minimising waste and reducing cost. No wonder it caught on! And the prix fixe menu became a hallmark of fine dining, before it spread out to all types of restaurant. So it’s therefore not surprising that Disneyland Paris followed suit! Even on the quick service menus there’s normally set meals you can order in a similar prix fixe style (although this is very similar to a combo meal you can get from many fast food restaurants).

As such, don’t be surprised to encounter many a prix fixe menu at Disneyland Paris. If you’re heading to a table service restaurant I recommend you check out the menus in advance to discover if the one you’re dining at is prix fixe only, or offers both prix fixe and a la carte courses – that way you can budget accordingly. If you like the options on a prix fixe menu they can offer good value compared to paying out of pocket. And as a heads up, the prix fixe menus are typically what you’re expected to order from if you’re on one of the meal plans! (You can order off the a la carte menu but then you’ll have to pay the balance for the cost). Our big piece of advice if you’re heading to somewhere with a prix fixe only menu is to go hungry, and check to make sure you’ll eat from the limited options offered in advance. If you’d rather not tie yourself in for multiple courses stick to the restaurants with a la carte options, and we’d also suggest you don’t go for one of the meal plans, as you’re unlikely to get your money’s worth.

Where’s Tomorrowland?!

At many of the other Disney castle parks, Tomorrowland has been a bit of a staple – a land in theory looking ahead to the future. So other Castle park fans might be a bit confused when they head into Disneyland Park at Disneyland Paris, and find that instead of the retro futuristic stylings of Tomorrowland, a distinctly Steampunk Discoveryland is there instead. So what’s going on?

Tomorrowland had always been a source of trouble to Disney Imagineers. The problem is that tomorrow has an annoying habit of becoming today, and that today often looks nothing like the optimistic views of the future depicted in Tomorrowland in the parks. The Tomorrowland sections of Disney Parks are some of the most refreshed in an effort to try and keep them updated, and they now seem to be settling into a rather cheesy retro view of the future to try and stop the imagineers having to constantly try to catch up with the present. (And I say cheesy in a good way, I do like the retro vibes of Tomorrowland).

But this kind of retro view of the future is quite an American concept, and for Disneyland Paris they wanted to do something different – and they looked to French culture for the answers. Notably the works of Jules Verne, the celebrated French science fiction author. Verne’s 19th Century interpretations of what the future could be became the centrepiece of Discoveryland and this then inspired the look of attractions like Space Mountain (now Hyperspace Mountain), Orbitron, Cafe Hyperion, the Nautilus, and even the loading platform for Autopia. By looking to the past for inspiration, Imagineers took away the need to always play catch up with the future.

There are a couple of things that don’t fit so well in Discoveryland as a result – the Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast building looks less 19th Century and more 1960s views of space, and Star Tours at the back is a bit different too. But the retro steampunk vibes of the current Discoveryland have probably prevented a lot of frantic updates in this area of the park, allowing the Imagineers to plan more carefully for the land’s future instead.

Did I just walk through a cloud of smoke?

Sadly I think this is one instance where French culture hasn’t had the most positive impact on Disneyland Paris. In France, smoking has been part of the culture for many years. In the past, it was seen as a sign of sophistication, and even rebellion. And that means there’s still a lot of smokers in the Disneyland Paris parks.

Of course if someone chooses to smoke, that is entirely their choice. Disney have accepted the continued popularity of smoking in some French audiences by still having smoking areas in the parks, whereas in the US Disney Parks smoking is now only allowed outside the park gates. There are a lot of smoking areas which are marked on the park maps – so smokers should be able to find them easily, and non-smokers give these areas a wide berth if they prefer!

The bigger problem though is that a lot of people still choose to smoke outside the smoking areas, despite it not being allowed. And some cast members don’t seem to do too much to tackle it either – whether that’s because they don’t notice it or simply don’t feel its something that should be addressed I honestly couldn’t say. But it’s not unusual as a result to suddenly find yourself in a cloud of smoke while walking around Disneyland Paris, because someone ahead of you has decided to have a cheeky smoke outside of the smoking areas!

There is the possibility that this could change in the future – concerns over the health impacts of smoking in France has resulted in a ban on smoking in public spaces where children are likely to be present (like beaches and parks), and smoking rates are starting to drop among younger people. It’s possible that Disney might follow suit with a smoking ban in the parks in the future – we just don’t know at this point. But sadly, don’t be surprised if you find yourself encountering cigarette or vape smoke outside of the smoking area. And if you do choose to smoke please do use the designated areas – it’ll really help out the other guests.

Look out for nods for the France – USA historic relationship

While the UK has liked to boast about its ‘special relationship’ with the USA in recent decades, the links between France and the USA actually go back much further! So it’s no surprise that this historic relationship is celebrated in Disneyland Paris.

The link between France and the USA actually goes all the way back to America’s Revolutionary War against the UK, where France supported the USA’s bid for independence. (If you’ve ever seen Hamilton you can see this in the presence of Lafayette in the first part of the show!). They also sold the USA a large part of the country for the Louisiana Purchase in 1803. And this relationship was celebrated with the gifting of the Statue of Liberty from France to the USA, which was dedicated in 1886. Of course, with such strong links between the home of the Disney company and the location of Disneyland Paris, it had to be celebrated in the parks.

The most obvious place this takes place is the Statue of Liberty tableau, off of Liberty Arcade on Main Street USA. While certainly not the most exciting attraction in the park (it’s essentially a lot of mannequins with a backdrop and sound effects), this space celebrates the gifting of the Statue of Liberty to the USA. And actually throughout Liberty Arcade you can find nods to the historic links between France and the USA.

Also in other parts of Main Street USA you can find subtle nods to French culture celebrating this link – the designs of the Main Street Arcades overall, the steam punk-esque decorations in Boardwalk Candy Palace that fit well with the seaside vibes here while echoing the designs in Discoveryland, the stained glass designs worked on by French artisans. At Disneyland Paris, the links between the USA and France are alive and thriving!

Now that’s a fairytale castle!

The castle has become an icon of the Disney company over the years, so there’s no surprise that a castle became the centrepiece of Disneyland Paris. But French history and culture had quite the influence on its design!

Unlike the USA, France presented a challenge for the imagineers – because France already had a lot of historic castles! Because of this, the Imagineers wrestled with how to make their castle distinct so that people would want to visit it. They even considered not having a Castle at all! (Shock, horror!) Thankfully they settled on a castle in the end. The design of Sleeping Beauty Castle did have inspiration from French castles like Mont St Michel. But they also wanted the castle to stand out from the castle crowd – so the Imagineers really wanted the castle to look like something out of a storybook – not a history book.

One way they did this was through the colour – generally speaking castles in France aren’t bright pink! As well as adding to the storybook effect, the vibrant pink also helps the castle stand out even against drab and grey skies – not exactly a rarity in Paris. They also looked at the film of Sleeping Beauty for details that could add to the fairytale effect, like the square trees that surround its side. And they ensured that what was inside was enough to make people want to explore – from the stunning stained glass and tapestries of the Sleeping Beauty walkthrough, to the dragon lurking in the castle basement.

Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland Paris is still held as the most beautiful of the Disney castles, and it has some pretty stiff competition from the other castle parks around the world for that! But thanks to the influence of French history and culture, Sleeping Beauty Castle still stands as a symbol of the beauty of Disneyland Paris.

So there’s some ways French culture can impact your Disneyland Paris trip. Anything you weren’t expecting? Let us know! If you like our content please do consider subscribing to our blog below, you’ll receive a free copy of our Magically Different Guide to Disneyland Paris Attraction Accessibility (typically £3). We’d love to see you over at our YouTube channel too! And if you’d like to support our work, please consider leaving us a tip. Thank you!