At a glance
Disneyland Park is the main park at Disneyland Paris, located in Marne-la-Vallée in the Seine-et-Marne area. Opened on April 12, 1992, it covers about 52 hectares and has 37 attractions, 33 restaurants, and 34 stores. The park was first called Euro Disneyland, then Disneyland Paris, before getting its current name in 2002, when the resort’s second park opened.
Imagineer Tony Baxter was put in charge of overseeing the design in the mid-1980s. The concept builds on the idea of a "storybook kingdom" taken from the original Disneyland in California, but adapted for European guests with richer theming, stories woven into the buildings, and a hub-and-spoke layout around a central castle.
The park is divided into 5 lands: Main Street U.S.A., Frontierland, Adventureland, Fantasyland, and Discoveryland. Main Street U.S.A. recreates an American shopping street from the early twentieth century, lined with two covered arcades (Liberty Arcade and Discovery Arcade) designed for the European weather.
In Frontierland, the made-up town of Thunder Mesa sets the scene for the Old West. Adventureland, centered on Adventure Isle, blends influences from the Middle East, Africa, and the Caribbean. Fantasyland is where Disney’s fairy tales cluster around Sleeping Beauty Castle. Discoveryland salutes European dreamers like Jules Verne and H. G. Wells, with Star Wars and Toy Story added to the mix later on.
Sleeping Beauty Castle is the centerpiece of the park. Its architecture draws on the book of the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry and the soaring lines of the Mont-Saint-Michel abbey. It houses the Sleeping Beauty Gallery upstairs and La Tanière du Dragon down below, with a 27-meter-long Audio-Animatronics dragon.
The headline rides include Big Thunder Mountain, Phantom Manor, Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril (the first roller coaster with a loop at a Disney park, opened in 1993), Peter Pan’s Flight, It’s a Small World, Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain (formerly Space Mountain: De la Terre à la Lune in 1995, then Mission 2 in 2005, and Hyperspace Mountain since 2017), Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, and Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast.
For shows, the park offers the daily parade Disney Stars on Parade (since March 26, 2017), the nighttime show Disney Tales of Magic in front of the castle, and The Lion King: Rhythms of the Pride Lands at the Frontierland Theater.
The park has gone through several major renovations, including a triennial plan launched in 2015 for its 25th anniversary. In 2023, it welcomed 10.4 million guests, making it the most visited park in Europe and the ninth worldwide.
Picture the park as a trip through Disney’s imagination, arranged in rings around Sleeping Beauty Castle. Main Street U.S.A. is your doorway into the story, and from there you move from land to land with the castle always in view, a dreamlike compass point in the middle of it all. The big idea: make every guest feel like a character in a Disney fairy tale.
The Disney park with Sleeping Beauty Castle and Disney’s classic rides. Pirates of the Caribbean, Phantom Manor, Big Thunder Mountain, it’s a small world, and Peter Pan’s Flight, all with a classic Disney feel. The perfect park for your first visit to Disneyland Paris.
What you’ll find there
The park by the numbers, pulled together from across the site for a super quick visual summary.
- 1 castle Sleeping Beauty
- Parade Disney Stars on Parade
- 5 lands Main Street U.S.A., Frontierland, Adventureland, Fantasyland, Discoveryland
- 37 attractions
- 33 restaurants
- 34 stores
History
Disney started thinking about a European park in the 1980s, once Tokyo Disneyland (opened in 1983) had proven a hit. The company looked at sites in Spain, the UK, and France before settling in 1985 on Marne-la-Vallée, east of Paris. What tipped the scales was its central spot in Europe, plus easy access by TGV (high-speed train) and highway.
The park, then called Euro Disney Resort, opened on April 12, 1992, under the supervision of Tony Baxter, lead designer at Walt Disney Imagineering, drawing on Orlando’s Magic Kingdom (1971) and Anaheim’s Disneyland (1955). What makes the Paris park stand out is its castle: Sleeping Beauty Castle, one of a kind, blends influences from Mont Saint-Michel, the Loire Valley castles, and the illustrations of the Très Riches Heures du Duc de Berry.
The name changed to Disneyland Paris in 1994. A year later, in 1995, the park became part of the Disneyland Paris resort, and since 2002 it has gone by the name Disneyland Park.
Where the inspiration comes from
For its general layout, with 5 lands circling a castle, the park borrows mostly from Orlando’s Magic Kingdom (1971), while the original concept comes from Anaheim’s Disneyland (1955). As the third Disney park ever built, Tokyo Disneyland (1983) showed that the formula could succeed beyond the US, which weighed in the choice to come to Europe.
- Highlight
- Sleeping Beauty Castle
- Theme
- The original vision of the American parks
- Size
- 52 hectares
- Opened
- 1992
Who it’s made for
Pros and cons
The highlights
- The most attractions of the two parks
- Home to Sleeping Beauty Castle
- Disney Stars on Parade, every day
- Very well suited to families with young kids
- Highly detailed theming
- Covered arcades built for the European weather
The downsides
- Big crowds (the most visited park in Europe)
- Long lines for the headline rides (Peter Pan’s Flight, Big Thunder Mountain)
- Only one indoor theater show (compared with several at Disney Adventure World)
- No new ride in many years
My verdict
Disneyland Park is, hands down, my favorite park at Disneyland Paris. It’s the one I discovered as a kid, and the one where I made some of my best family memories. Over the years, it’s also the park that has changed the least at its core, so every visit gives me back a piece of the magic I knew as a little girl. Whether I’m walking down Main Street, U.S.A., gazing at Sleeping Beauty Castle, or flipping through old family photos, the memories come rushing back right away.
It’s also always the park where I start my trips to Disneyland Paris. Even though it often gets crowded, I think it’s still the most iconic, the most immersive, and the one that best captures what Disney is all about.
If you could only do one park on your visit, I’d recommend Disneyland Park without a second thought. And for a two-day trip, I suggest starting with it on day one, so you can soak up all the Disney magic before heading off to explore Disney Adventure World.
Julie’s tip
Best time to go
If you’re spending several days at the resort, start with Disneyland Park on day 1: it’s the park to put first for its classic rides and old-school Disney feel. If you only have one day and it’s your first visit, focus on this park alone so you can really enjoy it. If you’re set on doing both parks in one day, spend the morning and early afternoon here, then switch over to Disney Adventure World in the late afternoon.
Map & getting there
Disneyland Park is less than 5 minutes on foot from Disney Adventure World, just past the Disneyland Hotel, the big pink hotel you can spot by the large Mickey clock on top.
Your questions about this park
01 Which park should you pick for a first visit with just one day?
For a first visit with just one day, I recommend Disneyland Park. With a 1-day 1-park ticket, it gives you the most: the castle, the parade, and the big rides for all ages, in the original world Walt Disney dreamed up.
02 What are the lands at Disneyland Park, and how many attractions does each one have?
Disneyland Park is divided into 5 themed lands. Main Street U.S.A. has 5 experiences, including rides in vintage vehicles and the covered arcades. Adventureland brings together 7 attractions, including Pirates of the Caribbean, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril, La Cabane des Robinson, and Le Passage Enchanté d’Aladdin. Discoveryland lines up 6 futuristic attractions such as Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain, Star Tours, and Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast. Fantasyland is the densest, with 13 attractions devoted to the world of fairy tales, including Sleeping Beauty Castle and La Tanière du Dragon. Frontierland offers 6 Wild West attractions, including Big Thunder Mountain and Phantom Manor.
03 What is a dated 1-park ticket?
A dated 1-park ticket gets you into just one park, either Disneyland Park or Disney Adventure World, on one specific date. When you only have a single day and want to soak up one world completely, it’s often the easiest pick. I suggest it to first-timers who want Disneyland Park above all, since that’s where you’ll find the castle and the iconic rides. Its price depends on the date and on when you buy, and the official Disneyland Paris website shows it during booking.
04 Which park works best with young kids?
Go with Disneyland Park. You’ll find more rides made with little ones in mind, particularly in Fantasyland, and the overall feel suits them perfectly.
05 Which iconic Disneyland Park restaurants shouldn’t you miss?
If you want a sit-down meal, my picks are Auberge de Cendrillon in Fantasyland for Princess character dining, Captain Jack’s in Adventureland for its pirate setting, and Silver Spur Steakhouse in Frontierland for western-style grilled meats. Walt’s American Restaurant on Main Street belongs on the list too. Plaza Gardens on Main Street is famous for its character buffet, but a long renovation has it closed for now, with work expected to run until 2027. On the counter service side, grabbing a hot dog at Casey’s Corner on Main Street is part of the Disney experience, and the same goes for Café Hyperion in Discoveryland. Reserve your tables several weeks out, because they fill up fast.
