No matter how guests arrive at Disneyland Paris (be it by car, bus, train or on foot from the resort hotels), everyone has the same arrival experience, designed to slowly remove you from the ordinary world and immerse you in the fantasy environment of the park.
Passing beneath the "Welcome" arch, you enter Fantasia Gardens, a spectacular area filled with flowers, trees, streams, fountains and gazebos. The garden culminates with the traditional floral Mickey Mouse at the threshold of the magnificent Disneyland Hotel.
The first hotel to be built at the entrance of a Disney Park, the Disneyland Hotel takes its Victorian design inspiration from nearby Main Street, as well as the Hotel Del Coronado in San Diego. The pink hues were specifically selected by Imagineer John Hench to evoke feelings of warmth and comfort, even in the sometimes chilly and overcast Parisian weather (Personal note: We were actually blessed with sunny skies and temperatures in the 70s during our visit!).
The Disneyland Hotel is certainly grand and ornate, but it also sports a number of fun, Disney touches. A large Mickey Mouse clock graces the front of the building (note the Roman numeral "4" is written IIII as it was in the Victorian era), and perched atop the highest peak is a golden Tinker Bell, sprinkling her pixie dust on all who pass below.
Passages beneath the Disneyland Hotel lead to ticket booths and out to an entry plaza on the other side. The additional space here not only serves to further separate the guest from the outside world, but also helps distance the hotel from the park a bit, so as not to overwhelm the architecture of Main Street, U.S.A.
The view from the entrance plaza is of Main Street Station, depot for the Disneyland Railroad, and the portals into the park itself.
Above the portals (and on lampposts along Main Street) are graphic statements representing the current promotional campaign at Disneyland Resort Paris, the Magical Moments Festival. Highlights of the festival include the addition of new entertainment offerings in both parks, along with enhanced photo opportunities and character greetings.
Look past the Magical Moments Festival decor, and you'll notice a few other details on the Main Street Station. Beautiful stained glass windows in the station depict iconic scenes from the park: Captain Hook's galleon in Adventureland, Sleeping Beauty Castle in Fantasyland, Mark Twain passing Big Thunder Mountain in Frontierland and the Orbitron in Discoveryland.
Take a closer look, too, at the symbol worked into the iron railing. You can make out the letters "EDRR." It stands for Euro Disneyland Railroad, the original name of the attraction, and it's one of several places around the resort where the Euro Disneyland moniker can still be seen.
Just before we step into the park, though, let's pause at the edge of the portal to take note of a familiar plaque, much like those found in other Disneyland-style parks around the world:
In both French and English:
Here you leave today
and enter worlds of history,
discovery and ageless fantasy.
Shawn these are some awesome photos. The Paris Park is beautiful, and someday if the good Lord is willing, I hope to walk through those gates myself. There's an obvious French influence in the architecture, but it's still Disneyland. Thanks for a great article.
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