Many happy Disney returns
Whether you are a fan of Sleeping Beauty or Buzz Lightyear, Disneyland Paris has it all. CHARLOTTE CIVIL picks out some highlights as the theme park celebrates its 20th anniversary
JURASSIC LARK: Dinosaur line-up for the studio tour Soar above London to Neverland on Peter Pan’s Flight. Fans of the boy who never grew up will love this ride on a galleon. Fly over Big Ben towards the magical island where you’ll spot the pirate ship and Captain Hook tackling the infamous ticking crocodile. The white-knuckle Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is not for the faint-hearted. Sit in an open lift shaft in the dark and forbidding Hollywood Tower Hotel before plummeting 199ft in a sudden terrifying drop. Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show in the Disney Village is great fun. Tuck into a traditional Texan meal in the packed arena as you watch rope-swirling cowboys, Disney characters arriving in cattle trucks and encounters with Buffalo Bill and Annie Oakley. Tickets £52 per adult, £40.50 per child. Fans of Woody, Buzz Lightyear and Slinky Dog should head for Toy Story Playland in the Walt Disney Studios Park. Imagine you are one of Andy’s toys and join in the adventure in his giant back garden. Try the Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop, where recruits are hoisted 80ft into the air and sent tumbling back to earth, or enjoy the Hot Wheels-inspired RC Racer. The live stunt show Moteurs... Action! set in a Mediterranean fishing village film set is ideal for petrol heads. Watch cars being driven at speed on their sides and over flaming barrels and see Cars’ star Lightning McQueen outwitting the baddies. Get a taste of the Wild West in Frontierland with its bars, restaurants and Western-inspired artefacts. Ride around the tranquil lake on the vintage paddle steamer from where you catch glimpses of the clattering Big Thunder Mountain rollercoaster. Go behind the scenes on a Studio Tram Tour in the Walt Disney Studios Park. This ride weaves its way round the studio lots and past cars and planes used in films such as Pearl Harbor and towering dinosaurs with huge claws. The highlight of the tour is Catastrophe Canyon where you experience an explosion and floods that head towards you and rock the tram. Main Street, USA is a 19th-century American town recreation where stores line an ornate arcade and which, with its twinkling lights, is particularly atmospheric at night. Sip hot chocolate with marshmallows or browse for souvenirs. Shoppers can rest their legs in a turn-of-the-century streetcar pulled by percheron horses. A fitting finale to any Disneyland Paris visit is the new Disney Dreams show created to mark the park’s 20th anniversary. The evening show is set against the iconic backdrop of the Sleeping Beauty Castle in the Central Plaza. Lights and lasers turn the normally pink castle every colour of the rainbow while images of characters such as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs and the Hunchback of Notre Dame and spectacular water features are projected onto its façade.
GETTING THERE
Disneyland Paris (0844 800 8111/disneyland paris.com) offers a two-night package including Eurostar from £1,042 (family of four sharing), B&B. To celebrate the park’s 20th Anniversary, Disneyland Paris is offering guests up to 30 per cent off Disney hotels and park tickets when you book by July 23 for arrivals until November 7, children under seven go free.
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