Top 6 Things to do at Walt Disney Studios Park
Walt Disney Studios Park is often at the bottom of the list for “Favourite Disney Park in the World” but in reality, a lot of people actually prefer it over the main park!
No Castle? No problem - Walt Disney Studios Park is all about fun! It’s located right next to Disney Village and Disneyland Park. It’s an entirely different gate, so you’ll need a ticket that lets you into both parks - these are often called 2-park or “hopper" tickets. If you are staying at a Disney Hotel, you’re sorted. But if you have a 1-park ticket and you enter WDS, you can’t then go into Disneyland Park (the one with the Castle).
Avengers Campus Paris
Definitely the biggest addition to Walt Disney Studios Park since it’s opening in 2002 is Avengers Campus Paris. This immersive land is located on your left after you walk through Studio 1 (the welcome building). Take a moment to listen to the legendary Avengers Theme music. In the entrance portal to Avengers Campus you’ll find the instantly iconic sign to take a photo with. Right behind it is a meet and greet location which usually has Ant-Man, The Wasp or Groot. Keep walking past the huge Pym Disc and you’ll see Pym Kitchen on your left. This is a buffet restaurant covered by the Disney meal plan with experimental flavours, sizes and colours of food! Across from Pym Kitchen you’ll find Spider-Man W.E.B. Adventure (called WEB Slingers in the States and one of my favourite rides at Disneyland Paris). You’ll exit the ride into the Mission Equipment merchandise store and out into Stark Plaza. Here you’ll see the Quinjet, Stark Factory quick service restaurant and the Flight Force rollercoaster (this is a re-theme of the old Aerosmith Rockin’ Rollercoaster with an amazing Iron Man Animatronic in the queue. Flight Force will be undergoing enhancements in early 2023 after a luke warm reception.
Training Centre is where you’ll go for your appointment to meet an Avengers. To do this, log into the Disneyland Paris app while in the park at 10am and 2pm, click on the training centre either in the map or list screen and follow the instructions. Make sure you have linked your tickets to the app before your trip! Down beyond Training Centre is a hot dog truck and the Super Diner toasted sandwich restaurant - you might find some Avengers out roaming around this street. Watch out for the live shows, you’ll be summoned by F.R.I.D.A.Y. when something is about to happen!
Tower of Terror
Standing almost 200ft tall you cannot miss the best Tower of Terror version at any Disneyland Park, in the world! Step into the lobby and you are thrown into a spooky dilapidated and seemingly abandoned hotel. All the cast members are “on board” with the theme and you can have some fun asking where can you “check-in”! After a chilling Twilight Zone pre-show, you’ll board your “elevator”, and wonder why you are sitting down with a lap belt securing you in your seat! I won’t spoil the ride, but you are suddenly and violently lifted up and pulled down (faster than gravity - your lanyard will float) several times, while a scary story unfolds at each “floor” you stop on. Truly terrifying ride and best done on an empty stomach!
Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure
Deep into Walt Disney Studios park (take a right when you see the huge Buzz Lightyear Statue) you’ll find Place de Remy, home of the brilliant Ratatouille ride - so good they have copy and pasted the ride into Epcot in Florida! The queue itself is fun once you enter the building, with the “Ghost of Gusteau” chatting to you from the Parisian rooftops. The ride is a 4D ride, with the extra Dimension being your senses (smell, heat and you even get a tiny poof of water). You’ll step into a trackless vehicle in the shape of a little rat, usually 2 in the front and 2 in the back. Pop on your 3D glasses and experience an action packed race through the kitchen, fridge and dining room of the movie’s restaurant. Speaking of restaurant - you’ll get a sneak peak of Bisro Chez Remy as you exit the ride and you can book a table there via the Disneyland Paris app. Don’t forget to change your app “language” to French or UK. For some reason the Irish setting doesn’t show certain restaurants.
Shows
The main trump card that Walt Disney Studios has over Disneyland Park, is more traditional theatre shows.
The first show I would recommend seeing is Disney Junior Dream Factory in Studio D. Although the characters and songs are from Fancy Nancy, Vamperina and The Lion Guard, you’ll get 20 mins of fun with Mickey and Minnie heavily involved too. Who doesn’t love “smoke bubbles” that descend from the ceiling! You can easily slip into the show right before the start time. Anything is possible!
Next up is Frozen: A Musical Invitation at Animation Celebration. The show itself is a little basic, but young fans of Frozen will be enthralled by getting up close with Anna, Kristoff and a life size Sven before moving into the 2nd “room” of the experience - Elsa’s Ice Palace, featuring Olaf messing around in the background. Guests get to learn the Ice Queen’s signature moves to her biggest belter - Let It Go! Allow 45-60 mins queue time before the show. The same building has the Olaf meet and greet as well as the drawing academy.
Finally we have Mickey and the Magician in Animagique Theatre. Mickey plays the Magician’s assistant, and when the Master turns his back, Mickey inadvertently sets off a series of magical happenings with some of your favourite Disney stars. Expect to see some faces from Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, The Lion King, Aladdin and Frozen. It’s a great place to see some Princesses and Elsa in the one place! Let the magic shine!
Crush’s Coaster
Unique to Disneyland Paris, Crush’s Coaster has the infamous title of having the longest average queue time of all the attractions! After an immersive queue experience based on Finding Nemo, you step into a turtle’s shell with overhead harnesses. The layout of the vehicle involves 2 guests facing forward and 2 facing backwards (apparently backwards is better!). The coaster then spins you through an underwater adventure using the east Australian current. Make no mistake, this is not a mild roller coaster or something for the faint of heart. Many people get off the ride needing to sit down and take on some sugar! To avoid the queues, try riding at the very start of the day, at the very end of the day, by using single rider or premium access!
Toy Story Playland
Toy Story Playland has some really fun attractions with something for everything. After you meet Buzz, Woody or Jessie in Toontown, pass under (or around) the Buzz Statue to enter the mini-land. Start with Slinky Dog - a really simple circle undulating ride that normally has a very short wait time. It’s a bench ride so the family can all ride together! Next up is the Toy Soldier Parachute drop. Again this normally has a very manageable queue time. It’s a simple up/down elevation ride where you are secured with a lap belt. Your feet dangle high above the ground and you can see for miles around, with super views of the expansion ongoing to Walt Disney Studios Park! On the ground, you’ll find little boxes to store valuables, please don’t let your phone slip out of your hand when 100ft up in the air! RC Racer completes the trio of rides at Toy Story Playland. This is actually the fastest ride at Disneyland Paris - with max speed approaching 100kmph! You simple go forwards and backwards, building up speed as you go. There is a height restriction of 1.2m so most kids under 5 won’t be permitted to ride.
What else is there?
Notable mentions for the Stitch Live! show, the little spinny rally cars and Cars Road Trip (best described as “a nice sit down”) which looks great just as a the sun sets! Flying carpets over Agrabah is a Dumbo-style ride that passes some time! Mickey Waffles are available from the food trucks in production courtyard.
What’s all the construction work about?
Walt Disney Studios Park expansion is a major project happening right behind the Tower of Terror. We are getting a lake (and presumably a lake nighttime show) and we are getting Arendelle! Yes, we are finally getting the Frozen Ever After ride which will hopefully mean the return of a meet and greet with our favourite frosty sisters. Talk of a Star Wars land has gone very quiet, to a galaxy far far away. We now have fan-rumours of an Avatar land, a Lion King land, a Cars land or a Zootopia land. Imagination is the only limit!