If you’re planning a visit to Disneyland Paris, you’ll get an experience to remember. You’ll already be dreaming of walking along Main Street USA and seeing Sleeping Beauty’s Castle appear before you. You’ll be excited about saying, ‘Hi’ to Mickey Mouse and riding Thunder Mountain. And you can’t wait to meet your favourite Disney Princess or Prince.
But there’s so much more to know about Disneyland Paris than you could imagine. To make your experience even more magical, we’ve got some fantastic facts for you to find as you begin your adventure of a lifetime.
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Fantastic Fact 1:
You may feel like you’re stepping back in time as you enter Disneyland Paris. That’s because you are! As you pass through the entrance gates, you’ll arrive in Main Street, U.S.A. which is a reproduction of an actual street from Walt Disney’s childhood home at the turn of the 20th century. Walk along Main Street, you’ll see the awe-inspiring Sleeping Beauty’s castle tower ahead. It looks magically distant, but here’s a secret: it isn’t as far as you think! The houses and shops get wider and wider the closer they get to the castle. This plays a trick with your eyes to make Sleeping Beauty’s castle look ‘far, far away’.
Fantastic Fact 2:
Main Street, U.S.A. is the longest avenue at the park. On the shop windows you’ll see who lives inside. You might think these ‘tenants’ are made up people but they’re not. Lots of the names were real people who helped design Disneyland. Isn’t that a lovely way to be remembered?
Fantastic Fact 3:
If you like to snoop you can listen in to the ‘tenants’ of Main Street’s conversations. Find the telephones in New Century Notions shop and the Market House Deli restaurant, pick one up and you can hear the people who ‘live’ in Main Street have a chat. But remember to be as quiet as you can or they’ll catch you listening!
Fantastic Fact 4:
For more secret sounds head to Harrington’s Fine China & Porcelains. It’s not only a very beautiful shop but it has a very special secret feature. The shop has a spectacular dome which is more than just wonderful to look at. If you and a friend stand at either end of the dome you can whisper something and your friend will hear you just as if you are standing next to each other. Try it out and see. Just make sure you say something nice!
Fantastic Fact 5:
There are six Disneyland resorts around the world. But did you know that each one is slightly different? While some elements that you know and love from Disneyland Paris are the same, every castle in each park is different. So Le Château De La Belle Au Bois Dormant is unique.
Fantastic Fact 6:
Le Château De La Belle Au Bois Dormant (or Sleeping Beauty’s Castle) is often voted the most beautiful of all Disneyland resort castles. But despite its magical look, it’s actually based on the real-life French castle, Mont Saint Michel. Reminding you that Disneyland Paris captures a little bit of the country you are in.
Fantastic Fact 7:
Sleeping Beauty’s castle is special for another reason too. Want to know the reason why it always looks good in photos? It’s because it was craftily build on north-south axis so you’ll never get a backlit snap of the castle. This way when you’re taking a photo with the fairy tale castle in the background, you’ll always see your families smiling faces. Unless the camera is out of focus of course!
Fantastic Fact 8:
Keep your eye’s peeled for real-life works of art. In Sleeping Beauty’s castle there’s a beautiful stained glass window which was made by a British expert who also worked at Notre Dame Cathedral in Paris. The expert, Paul Chapman, was in his 80s when he designed the window which proves that Disneyland Paris isn’t just for the young,
Fantastic Fact 9:
Le Château De La Belle Au Bois Dormant has another unique feature. But this one is not so pretty! Make sure you snap and share a photo of the animatronic dragon that lies beneath the Sleeping Beauty’s castle – it’s the only Disneyland castle with a dragon!
Fantastic Fact 10:
Something else that lurks beneath Disneyland Paris are a maze of tunnels. To call them tunnels makes them sound a bit more spooky than they are. They are not for any sinister purpose but for something really practical. It’s the way things and people can move around the site without being seen. Visitors to the resort wouldn’t want to dodge lorries collecting rubbish or see Mickey running across the park with split shorts.
Fantastic Fact 11:
Where’s Mickey? Another fun thing for you when you are exploring Disneyland Paris is to find as many of the Hidden Mickey Mouse symbols or images that are located all over the park as you can. No one has managed to find out exactly how many there are but maybe you will be the one to count them all!
Fantastic Fact 12:
Everyone loves the Disneyland Paris rides – from the thrill of the Temple of Peril to the more relaxed ‘it’s a small world’ cruise. But some of the rides will have your pulse racing more than others. One of those is Hyper Space Mountain which is the fastest ride of all the Disneyland resorts and the only one that’ll take you upside-down as it corkscrews along the track. Now that’s a real hair raising adventure!
Fantastic Fact 13:
If you can’t get enough of the rides, we’ve got another fantastic fact for you: there are Big Thunder Mountain rides in four of the world’s Disneyland park, but the one at Disneyland Paris is the fastest, tallest and biggest!
Fantastic Fact 14:
Do you like things small and perfectly formed? So did Walt Disney. He had a love of all things miniature. To honour his love of tiny things, the ‘it’s a small world’ experience is much more detailed than all the other Disney Parks in the world.
Fantastic Fact 15:
You need to see the ‘Parade of Dolls’ or Changing of the Guard’ that takes place every quarter of a hour on the clocktower in ‘it’s a small world’. It’s not only super cute but you can check your watch to see if you have the right time too.
Fantastic Fact 16:
‘Mirror, mirror on the wall…’ If you don’t might things a little more creepy, there’s a magic mirror in the Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs shop. In it you can see the Evil Queen being her spooky self but get there at the right time and you’ll be surprised to see Snow White appear in front of the Evil Queen.
Fantastic Fact 17:
You may not know that the Statue of Liberty in New York was a gift to the American people from France. To honour that connection between the two countries, Disneyland Paris has its own (much smaller) version. Her location is a secret but take a snap and post it on social media to prove you found her!
Fantastic Fact 18:
There’s more to Disneyland Paris than what you can see. Listen carefully and you will hear different sounds in different parts of the park. Keep your ears open for miner’s pick axes, piano lessons or chattering neighbours.
Fantastic Fact 19:
Les Mystères du Nautilus is something you won’t find in any other Disney Park. Take Captain Nemo’s tour and watch as the dangers of the deep come to the surface. You’ll be sure to enjoy the Nautilus experience that’s exclusive to Disneyland Paris!
Fantastic Fact 20:
There are normal mazes and then there’s Alice’s Curious Labyrinth. This epic hedge maze is another Disneyland Paris favourite. Challenge your family to see who can find their way through the Labyrinth, Tulgey Wood and the Queen of Hearts’ Maze first. The winner gets a pat on the back. The loser probably gets lost!
These 20 fantastic facts will give you fun things to check and see as you explore the park.20 Fantastic Facts about Disneyland Paris
