Attractions

Disneyland Paris

The resort was designed as a total vacation destination: In one enormous unit, the park includes five "lands" of entertainment, a dozen hotels, a campground, an entertainment center (Disney Village, with six restaurants of its own), a 27-hole golf course, and dozens of restaurants, shows, and shops. The Disney Village entertainment center is illuminated inside by a spectacular gridwork of lights suspended 18m (60 ft.) above the ground. The complex contains dance clubs, shops, restaurants (one of which offers a dinner spectacle based on the original Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show), bars for adults trying to escape their children, a French Government Tourist Office, a post office, and a marina.

Visitors stroll among flower beds, trees, reflecting ponds, fountains, and a large artificial lake flanked with hotels. An army of smiling employees and Disney characters -- many of whom are multilingual, including Buffalo Bill; Mickey and Minnie Mouse; and, of course, the French-born Caribbean pirate Jean Laffite -- are on hand to greet the thousands of enfants.

Main Street, U.S.A., abounds with horse-drawn carriages and barbershop quartets. Steam-powered railway cars embark from the Main Street Station for a trip through a Grand Canyon diorama to Frontierland, with its paddlewheel steamers reminiscent of Mark Twain's Mississippi River. Other attractions include a petting zoo -- the Critter Corral -- at the Cottonwood Creek Ranch, and the Lucky Nugget Saloon, inspired by the Gold Rush era. The steps and costumes of the saloon's cancan show originated in the cabarets of turn-of-the-20th-century Paris.

The park's steam trains chug past Adventureland -- with its swashbuckling pirates, Swiss Family Robinson treehouse, and reenacted Arabian Nights legends -- to Fantasyland. Here you'll find the Sleeping Beauty Castle (Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant), whose pinnacles and turrets are an idealized (and spectacular) interpretation of French châteaux. In its shadow are Europeanized versions of Blanche Neige et Les Sept Nains (Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs), Peter Pan, Dumbo, Alice (from Wonderland), the Mad Hatter's Teacups, and Sir Lancelot's Magic Carousel.

Visions of the future are in Discoveryland, where tributes to invention and imagination draw from the works of Leonardo da Vinci, Jules Verne, H. G. Wells, the modern masters of science fiction, and the Star Wars series.

You'll see characters from Aladdin, The Lion King, Pocahontas, and Toy Story. As Disney continues to churn out animated blockbusters, look for the newest stars to appear in the theme park.

For Those with Another Day: Walt Disney Studios

Next to Disneyland Paris, Walt Disney Studios (tel. 01-60-30-60-30) takes guests on a behind-the-scenes interactive discovery of film, animation, and television.

The main entrance to the studios, called the Front Lot, consists of "Sunset Boulevard," an elaborate sound stage complete with hundreds of film props. The Animation Courtyard allows visitors to learn the trade secrets of Disney animators, and the Production Courtyard lets guests take a look behind the scenes of film and TV production. At Catastrophe Canyon, guests are plunged into the heart of a film shoot. Finally, the Back Lot is home to special effects and stunt workshops. A live stunt show features cars, motorbikes, and jet skis.

This ode to Hollywood and the films it produced since the end of its "golden age" has a roller coaster, the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster, featuring the music of Aerosmith, that combines rock memorabilia with high-speed scary twists and turns (completely in the dark); and a reconstruction of one of the explosion scenes in the Hollywood action film Armaggeddon.

Admission is 42€ ($55) for adults, 34€ ($44) for children. Hours are daily from 9am to 6pm (opens at 10am during certain seasons of the year).