A tour of Walt Disney Studios in Paris Pt.2

Now we get to check out the Pixar area and Tower of Terror at the Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris. Let’s get started. This is not a 2319!

One of the office buildings at Walt Disney Studios Park at Paris Disneyland.

This is another example of “what are we looking at?” The original park design was very low budget, and many of those buildings reflect that. I guess it is supposed to be themed like a movie studio, but so what? The newer areas like the Ratatouille area feel more like a theme park. This area does not at all.

The building with the Sorcerer’s Apprentice Hat outside the far building. Look at how the view of it is blocked by the boring landscaping.

This is an interesting design element. A wall of dominos. But it would have been better if they also had a bunch of the oversized dominos in the walkway so people would stop and have fun with them.

An easy and obvious photo op for guests. This is a good thing, but it would have been nice if there were more of them around.

RC Racers means Radio Controlled Racers and is based on the PIXAR Cars movie.

Most of the rides in the PIXAR area are rethemed off-the-shelf rides and so is this one.

Again, this is a rethemed off-the-shelf ride themed to the Green Army Men from the “Toy Story” movies.

The Slink Dog attraction is a twirl-a-whirl type of ride, again a rethemed off-the-shelf ride system.

The Hollywood Tower of Terror attraction is similar to the others, but like the one that used to be at Disney California Adventure, it is not as long a ride as the original in Florida. At least the area around it as you approach has some theming.

Because of the inclement weather for a chunk of the year, the queue line is mostly indoors, and the queue line does have good theming.

The hotel lobby of the Hollywood Hotel “Tower of Terror.”

This looks a bit more like it doesn’t it?

This is a lot like the other Tower of Terror. Rod Serling appears on the television screen and sets up the story.

One of the broken elevators in the Tower of Terror

This is not one that is used, but is themed well. This is actually what is seen after “doing the drop.”

Yes, I rode the French version of the Hollywood Hotel Tower of Terror, that is me with my hand up in the air and wearing the glasses on the right.

That concludes my tour of Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris.

Part one of my tour can be found at this link.

A tour of the Eiffel Tower in Paris can be found at this link.

Here’s a look at Main Street of the Disneyland Park in Paris.

While in Paris with the family in February of this year, we decided to spend a couple days over at the Disneyland Paris parks. Of course, I remember the place as EuroDisneyland from back when I worked on it in 1992 prior to its opening.

So here we go on the first part of my day at the Walt Disney Studios Park.

Mark the Monster, entering via a Monsters Inc. door.

Okay, that’s not really the way to enter this park, but I figured it was a good way to start this tour.

The Animation Theater at Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris.

The Animation Theater has a semi-live show presentation that can be seen inside. Because of our limited time, I did not get a chance to see it. My kids did and said it was good. But my purpose in showing this is that it demonstrates one of the significant problems with this park. Where do you look? The layout of the park, at least the original portions, seem to have nothing to direct your eye to the next area to visit. Frankly, Tony Baxter would have done a better job with the layout – even hamstrung as they were by a very limited budget back then.

We ventured to our right to see the area based upon the “Ratatouille” Disney/Pixar animated movie. This area was definitely more immersive and well themed. Though a bit strange to be walking a “typical” street in Paris, when the real thing is just a few miles (kilometers for those in Europe) away.

The entrance to the Ratatouille attraction.

This is the “big ticket” attraction in the park called “Ratatouille L’Aventure Totalement Toquee de Remy.” You get the chance to be the size of one of the rats in the movie as you go on this adventure. Very well done and feels a lot more like a Disney attraction than some of the others in the park.

This was a nice touch for a supposed access to a sewer line.

The preshow/queue line for the Ratatouille attraction.

The action takes place in Gusteau’s restaurant. But while in the line “outside” the restaurant, Gusteau occasionally comes to life and talks to us while we wait. Once inside, After queuing on the rooftops of Paris, guests board their “ratmobiles” and find themselves “shrunk” down to rat size on the roof of Gusteau’s restaurant, with Remy and spirit of Auguste Gusteau trying to decide what meal they shall serve the riders. After deciding on their famous ratatouille dish, Remy and the riders fall through a swinging roof glass-pane, winding up on the restaurant kitchen floor. This starts a chase sequence with Remy leading the riders and other rats away from the cooks, passing through the cold room and under the hot oven.

The ride ends at the Bistrot Chez Rémy restaurant, where guests are bid farewell by the rat colony and the spirit of Gusteau and invited to join in.

There were a number of outdoor food booths in the Ratatouille area, across from the entrance to the attraction.

Crush’s Coaster, based on the Disney/Pixar film “Finding Nemo,” is a roller coaster type of attraction that takes you on a trip in the ocean with Crush. The ride vehicles are spinning cars, that add an element to the attraction that is in the dark at times.

Well that ends part one of the tour. More to come.

Click here to go on to Part 2 of the tour of Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris.

Want to see all about food in Paris? Then click on this link.

Take a trip on the Seine in Paris here.

Here’s a look at Main Street at the Disneyland Park.