Ahh the price as always and the limited Kids activities besides
Recommend to potential buyers:
yes
Full review
Walt Disney Studios is situated next door to Disneyland Paris. As with Disneyland, you enter through a security tent manned by a handful of security staff that "pretend" to search your bag as you pass through. You then take a minute's walk to the entrance of Walt Disney Studios (which I must say is a little unclear - I wasn't convinced it was the entrance until I got right up close) and put your ticket into the entrance stall to pass through the turnstiles. If you're in a wheelchair or pushing a stroller, you pass your ticket to one of the attendants situated in the booths between the turnstiles and they'll swipe your ticket then let you pass through the booth.
If you haven't bought a ticket in advance, you can do so from one of four ticket booths situated just off to the side of the entrance turnstiles. Expect to pay a Disneyland premium for your ticket if you buy them on the gate though - it's nearly always cheaper to buy them in advance online or from one of the hotels (do look around). If you purchase a "hopper ticket" it means you can move freely between the Studios and the Disneyland Park and this is something worth considering if you're visiting with children unless you're arriving part way through the day.
Immediately ahead of the entrance you'll come to a small courtyard where you can allegedly meet some characters in the morning all year round, we didn't see any during our off-peak February visit though! Perhaps they were all off sick the day we visited? If you check your programme though, you should find that certain characters are at certain points in the park for signing autographs even if they weren't feeling up to much the day we visited. Either side of the courtyard is a shop selling much the same stock as is available in every other shop and the photograph services store where you can purchase cameras, films or over-priced photographs that the staff have taken of your child with Mickey or Buzz (E12 for a miniature photo or E18 for a 4x6 - seriously).
At the other side of the small courtyard is "Studio One" where you go on to enter the park itself via this brightly lit hall containing a couple of small restaurants and shops. It's all quite pretty though I have to say it's a bit dark too. You can make a reservation for dinner at one of the table service restaurants at the booth here or you can just hurry on through to the park itself, remembering to grab an English park map and programme from one of the wall-mounted dispensers on your way.
★ Toon Studio ★
The first part of the park you come to on exiting "Studio One" as you follow the path round to the right is "Toon Studio". The first attraction you'll come to is "Animagique" and this is an attraction I highly recommend to people of all ages. You need to check the sign outside for show times as the shows last about 20 - 25 minutes each and there's usually an hour between each show. As "Animagique" is a show you watch in a theatre, a large number of people can enjoy this attraction at one time making queuing bearable. We only waited ten minutes to go in and it was well worth it. Initially, Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse come out onto the brightly stage in the blackened theatre and do a little sketch for the audience. The rest of the show involves Donald Duck releasing a few old favourites from the studio archives which equates to the audience being treated to a 20 minute music and lights spectacular featuring favourite characters from Disney films dancing away on stage. My 2.5yr old son and I both thoroughly enjoyed it. When Donald first came on stage, my son thought it was brilliant and shouted out "quack quack - it's a duck!" lol. Every five minutes he'd "quack" at Donald again (Donald waved at one point!) and when the show finally finished, my son sat there and burst into tears sobbing "where ducky gone?" He was only consoled by my promise that we'd go and get him his very own toy duck. This is where the gift shop in "Studio One" came in handy! As with the entire Disney complex, the range of merchandise was very limited but we managed to find him a small plush Donald Duck in the small shop without too much trouble and my son loves him.
Opposite "Animagique" is the "Art of Disney Animation Tour" which I decided against taking my young son into. The tour involves walking round a building with a few props in it initially before settling down in a cinema to view the progressive story of Disney animation from its black and white days to present on screen. You then move onto another room filled with props and pictures of Disney animation. Unlike "Animagique", this isn't so much an entertainment as an education. It may well prove interesting to children aged 6 or 7 upwards as well as appeal to adults but I don't feel it would be particularly interesting for very young children.
Next to the "Art of Disney Animation Tour" you'll find the "Cars Race Rally" which is of course a winner with little boys. We waited in line for about fifteen minutes to have a go and I'm sad to say it was actually very disappointing. The map leads you to believe you'll be going round a track in a car but when you get there you realise it's a actually a small waltzer ride. There were only about ten or twelve two seater cars on the ride and though many were lightning McQueen, we had to make do with a Sally which upset my son immensely as he likes "Red Car MaKeen". Sitting in our little Sally, the music began and after the ride had started I realised I was supposed to have pulled the safety bar down towards us and did so (no-one had checked before the ride started which I think is a bit dangerous). We were then whirled around for a couple of minutes in our car. It really was very disappointing.
Opposite "Cars Race Rally" is "Crush's Coaster" which is a thrill ride for older guests. As I was with my young son, I wasn't able to go on it but it looked like good fun from the outside. There were turtle cars whizzing through a hole in the side of the ride to bring the riders out into daylight before diving into skim the water and re-enter the inside of the ride. Big splashes and screams all round! The queue for this ride was immense despite our visit being at an unpopular time of year so expect quite a wait during school holidays.
The only other actual ride / attraction in "Toon Studio" is "Flying Carpets over Agrabah". An Aladdin based ride, this attraction involves sitting in a little carpet-styled carriage to ride round a few times. You can use the lever in your flying carpet to make yourselves go higher or lower if you want to. Not much fun for me of course, especially having waited twenty minutes to have a go, but my son enjoyed it. Definitely one for the under 5's.
The other handful of "attractions" in "Toon Studio" are just places where you can stop to get your picture taken with a character or a statue. There are one or two food and souvenir carts about the area and the "Toon Studio Catering Co" where you can stop for some lunch or tea.
★ Production Courtyard ★
Adjoining "Toon Studios" is "Production Courtyard" which is a really small area of an already fairly small park. Here you'll find the attraction "Cinemagique" which is pretty much the same as the "Art of Disney Animation Tour" but without the animation and with a caution that some younger guests may find the show frightening. At the end of March 2008, "Stitch! Live" will be opening in this area but at the moment it's still being built.
The "Twilight Zone Tower of Terror" opened earlier than expected and is a must-ride for those who like a good thrill ride. There's a 1m2 height requirement though I wouldn't take a child under 9 or 10 on this ride as it would be very uncomfortable for them. One lady and her daughter that I spoke to in Disneyland (whilst waiting for my son to get a cuddle with Pooh Bear) said that she'd taken her skinny 7yr old on it and found the poor girl couldn't stay in her seat and cried the whole way through. Having been on the identical tower in Florida, I remember very clearly flying out of my seat myself but being an adult I was only lifted up by a few centimetres before hitting my thighs against the over-head harness. A young child with a skinny bottom has a lot further to shoot up and will therefore find hitting the harness with their thighs as the ride drops suddenly from the 13th floor a lot more painful. It's not the scare factor of this ride that can be a problem but the fact it can genuinely hurt those who are really and truthfully not big enough to ride despite the low height requirement set by Disney. Great fun for adults this one - not for children.
Finally (yes we're at the end of this area already) there's the "Studio Tram Tour". Although the tour is nothing particularly special to write home about, we did enjoy it and I'd recommend it to others. Some of it is a little boring, just riding round in an open air bus (sorry "tram") looking at a variety of props which have been positioned along the way. But without spoiling the surprise, some of the special effects you'll get to witness towards the end of the tour (without warning) are really very entertaining to both young and old.
★ Backlot ★
"Backlot" is an area where older visitors can enjoy a few thrills. The "Rock n' Roller Coaster" is situated here and a must-do for adults in my book. The minimum height requirement for this ride is 1m20 though I personally wouldn't want anyone younger than 13 going on this ride. I've not been on the one in Paris but I've been on the one in Florida and they're almost identical. Basically you enter the ride by queuing surrounded by Aerosmith memorabilia (you can expect to wait a while for this ride or obtain a fastpass to return to queue jump an hour later) before finally getting into your seat with over-head harness. Then before you know it you'll be launched off onto the rollercoaster going from 0 - 60mph in 3 seconds! It's one crazy ride guaranteed to get most people's adrenalin pumping.
The "Action Stunt Show" is also situated in the "Backlot" and again is unsuitable for younger visitors though for this there is no age limit - it's down to parents' discretion. The show is action-packed with special effects and stuntmen performing the show every half hour or so throughout most of the day. The queue wasn't very long for this attraction during our visit and I'd imagine that's partly to do with the fact a good number of people can view the shows at one time.
"Armageddon: Special Effects" is actually a ride contrary to what its name might suggest and is the final ride in the "Backlot" area. Again, it's not suitable for youngsters as they'll probably find it too loud and frightening taking a ride through a series of unexpected special effects. There's quite a good finale to this ride that older guests will enjoy but I don't want to spoil things by telling you what that is!
The last attraction within the park in general worth noting is the small parade they put on daily. Times vary so check your free programme when you visit. The parade is a very small scale affair lasting just a few minutes so it's nice to watch if it's going on whilst you're visiting but not something you'd go out of your way to attend. The main parade of course takes park in the Disneyland Park next door and they're apparently going to scrap this parade very soon anyway.
★Everything Else★
And that's all folks. Families with older children may enjoy Walt Disney Studios but I'd personally recommend it for adults without children to really enjoy it as it focuses on thrill rides and interesting tours more than anything else. Very few rides are really suitable for under 10s with hardly anything being suitable for under 5's. It was only worth taking my son on two rides and seeing one show in the whole park and we left after just three hours. He enjoyed what he did do so for the sake of paying a few extra pounds to make your Disneyland Park ticket into a hopper ticket to enable you to spend a morning or an afternoon in the Studios I think it's worth it. I certainly wouldn't have paid out for an individual ticket for this place though (from £32 for one adult for one day).
As far as places to eat go, there are a couple of restaurants but none worth giving a special mention. Whereas you'll find a couple of nice restaurants in Disneyland and Disney Village, mostly what you have here are burger and fries cafes. Those needing to spend a penny should be aware that there are only a few toilets in this park though being such a small place, it's not like you have to go very far to reach any of them. There are a couple of sides where you can change your baby or toddler in the toilets but they're not terribly clean and there are no nappy bins or anything.
An enjoyable addition to the Disney experience for families with hopper tickets or a fun day out for adults. I personally wouldn't bother taking my child here again but I wouldn't say no to a trip on my own with a boyfriend at a later date to get the opportunity to enjoy the adult rides and shows.
