Transformative Multi-Year Expansion Announced for WDS Paris

[brb1006]

If they’d just build an Aristocats attraction I’d be happier. Anything.

I know it's "Pixar Place" but an AristoCats ride or thing would make for a nice extension of Remy's Paris

I wonder if they could do an elevated version of Mr Toad's Wild Ride based around The Aristocats?

One thing that stands out from the film that could support a ride are the sequences with Edgar tearing around the countryside. I'm sure you could build from that to have a fun all-age dark ride zipping around and ending with everyone safe and sound back in Paris.

Especially if they somehow put a rocking or swinging effect in the car to mimic the "walk like a goose" waddle!

An Aristocats dark ride that's a spiritual successor to Mr Toad's Wild Ride actually sounds like a fun idea. Tokyo Disneyland would love the heck out of it! It would been just as popular as Pooh's Hunny Hunt complete with two separate tracks like the WDW version.

 

[SweetDuffy101]

You know what would be an Iconic area for Paris, A dedicated area themed to Mary Poppins.
one classic dark ride and a carousel the one that got canned for EPCOT.

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

The blank backside of ToT looming over everything is kind of funny and sad given the effort to dress up the park.

It’s not fully blank - Photo by me:

"Disney Princesses Cavalcade" along "Adventure Way" in "Disney Adventure World."

To be fair - it’s the only bi-lingual resort so simple names can be excused a little bit in this case.

I guess I could see stretching it to a D (the original is clearly a C

I always thought Maelstrom was a D. But it’s tricky to rate attractions I know.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Cascade of Lights. Not the best angle and a windy evening but one of the first videos.



Quite impressive - especially from a technical point of view. Between this and the Six Nations I’m ready for bed.

Visually stunning, but... the music is all in a high register with pop divas straining to hit even higher notes. The orchestra is also reliant on pop and new-age-ish arrangements.

Which wouldn't be a problem if mixed in with other styles, but it becomes literally one-note for the whole show.

 

[UNCgolf]

It’s not fully blank - Photo by me:
View attachment 911978

To be fair - it’s the only bi-lingual resort so simple names can be excused a little bit in this case.

I always thought Maelstrom was a D. But it’s tricky to rate attractions I know.

I meant the original version of FEA is a C, although I'd call Maelstrom a C as well.

 

[cjkeating]

What was the reason the swing ride started construction so late? Were they debating what specific flat ride to build?

The swing ride wasn’t in the original plans. Reportedly it was Iger who asked for a second flat when he rejoined the company and visited the site.

 

[Gusey]

I do think that the 4 year gap between Avengers and Frozen instead of the planned 2 has hindered this opening a bit as it feels like Avengers was it's own project and not just phase 1. Similarly if the openings of Together, World Premiere and Premiere Plaza all happened along with Adventure Bay, it would've made a larger impact as they're all phase 2 of.the. expansion but opened at separate times

 

[eddie104]

I will say the areas they redid look absolutely gorgeous and well done. The new Frozen Land is definitely the winner and standout in this new expansion.

However for how long it took to construct and thinking about the original plans it’s not that ambitious as previously planned.

It’s another COVID casualty project like the Epcot redo that started off grand and then pivoted to something more manageable for the budget allocated to them.

Overall it’s a win if not for the much improved aesthetics and future proofing so to speak as stated earlier in the thread.

 

[mrflo]

The swing ride wasn’t in the original plans. Reportedly it was Iger who asked for a second flat when he rejoined the company and visited the site.

Thanks for the info. That was likely during Bob’s first site visit back in March 2023 - the one with the photo of him on top of ToT.

But honestly, the idea that the CEO of a multi-billion-dollar company personally requested the addition of what is essentially a standard carnival ride - and it still couldn’t be delivered within a three-year timeline, despite available land and ongoing construction - is pretty baffling. A flat ride isn’t exactly a complex, multi-phase E-ticket.

If manufacturer delays were the issue, there were still straightforward alternatives. They could have relocated Flying Carpets and re-themed it more to Princess Jasmine. Incorporating architectural elements inspired by the Royal Pavilion in Brighton would have created a coherent transition from the adjacent English Garden.

At this scale, it’s less about feasibility and more about priorities - or about what TWDC deems just sufficient to market WDS as a “brand-new” park.

 

[Aramar]

However for how long it took to construct and thinking about the original plans it’s not that ambitious as previously planned.

What do you mean by original plans? Star Wars? That was also supposed to be the third phase, like the Lion King is now. It was never planned to open both Frozen and the third land at the same time.

 

[eddie104]

What do you mean by original plans? Star Wars? That was also supposed to be the third phase, like the Lion King is now. It was never planned to open both Frozen and the third land at the same time.

Yes this expansion needed another huge E ticket attraction besides FEA.

It should have been included from the start and never phased. Disney was caught flat footed after GE didn’t perform like they wanted in the states.

Of course we now have the Lion King attraction opening in a couple of years.

 

[marni1971]

The talk about the rides led me to doodling. I pulled the original plans, ground floor only. Yellow Epcot, blue the new versions.

Same but definitely different.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

It’s not fully blank - Photo by me:
View attachment 911978

To be fair - it’s the only bi-lingual resort so simple names can be excused a little bit in this case.

ToT from behind looks like some depressing HLM in Bobigny...
The cheapness of 1.0 of this park will haunt it for decades.

Which is the theme park hotel?


Hong Kong is trilingual even. Cantonese, English, Mandarin. Very noticeable at their Jungle Cruise, which has three lines, one for a cruise in each language.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

When they built ToT they didn't think most guests would be looking at the back

At DCA, that side faced outside of the park completely

The problem with not thinking long term. Or that this park would never double in size behind it

 

[BrianLo]

The swing ride was only announced last August. Based on everything, I would much more side on it only having come to be post D23 2024.

 

[mrflo]

They're trying to add some stuffs like the 2nd flat ride in the Promenade since January, Iger seems far more bullish about the Parisian destination than his predecessor. The Lion King area might then be a bit more ambitious than originally planned back in 2019

The message above from April 2023 by one of the insiders appeared after the Iger visit. So it perfectly lines up with what cjkeating was saying and confirming the timeframe. It was then officially announced in April 2025 during a DLP event not D23.

And here is a similar confirmation by Ally:

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Must say, it's kind of strange watching all of this starting to open to the public due to the mixture of feelings it provokes.

For one thing, nothing seems all that surprising as it feels like they have been building this forever and everything kind of looks and feels exactly like we all knew it would. Even the new show kind of looks like what you could have imagined it would be.

It also very much feels like the infrastructure for a park that hasn't yet been built. There's a big lake, with lovely music, shelters, railings, and other details alongside long stretches of construction walls or vegetation where actual lands and attractions will one day be. That leaves it seeming a little desolate, though maybe that will change somewhat when the crowds are let in and perhaps they will try and cover over that with live entertainment.

World of Frozen looks lovely, but also very familiar despite being new due to the Hong Kong version opening a few years ago. It also seems like it should be one of several lands rather than the anchor for the entire expansion, adding to the sense of an incomplete park.

Much of this is probably irrelevant for the general public and it is all certainly a huge improvement for the park (still can't bring myself to call it Disney Adventure World...). It's hard not to feel, though, that after all these years and all that money we're still waiting for them to actually deliver on whatever it is that will make this park stand on its own alongside Parc Disneyland.

 

[marni1971]

. That leaves it seeming a little desolate, though maybe that will change somewhat when the crowds are let in and perhaps they will try and cover over that with live entertainment.

Well said. Although I’m quoting this bit since I’m looking forward to seeing it desolate! Ironically there’s more yet-to-grow plantings and yet-to-grow trees here than the whole original park has when I saw that a few months after opening too.

 

[WaltWiz1901]

Also, in passing, FEA V2 is internally considered an E. For better or for worse. Not that I’d agree with that.

Smells less like than an indicator of the scope of the ride (which is really the most reliable way to use the ticket labels now) and more like a marketing ploy, e.g. the D-ticket "with the budget of an E-ticket that's defended as a C-ticket" Ariel's Undersea Adventure/Journey of the Little Mermaid being marketed as an E prior to opening. Especially after giving your layout comparison a look, I don't think the revised HKDL/DAW version has enough to bump it past a D
this actually reminds me - where does/did the company stand on attractions where it seems like the ticket levels are blurred scope-wise, i.e. TDL's Ride & Go Seek, SDL's Peter Pan, the originally conceived un-value engineered version of 7DMT, etc.? the final version of the latter is for certain a D, but it leaves me wondering if the initial layout was enough to push it into E territory

 

[TrainsOfDisney]

The cheapness of 1.0 of this park will haunt it for decades.

Looks a lot better than the views of Tron from Storybook Circus. At least there is light theming there.