Looking into the Crystal Ball: What the Future Holds for Disneyland Paris | DisneyCentral.de – your Disney Fan Portal (2023)

Disneyland Paris has a bright future - at least if you can trust the crystal ball. We're looking at persistent rumors and confirmed plans for new attractions and lands at Disneyland Park, Walt Disney Studios Park, Disney Village and an eventual third theme park.

The future begins now: with the start of the30th Anniversary Celebration of Disneyland Paris in Marchlet's look with a great deal of confidence at what we can look forward to at our European Disney resort in the years to come. Some of these have already been announced by Disney itself and some are under construction. But one also hears of numerous projects that fall into the realm of speculation and rumors - some more and others less likely.

Let's try divination and take a look into the crystal ball...

A Lake, Frozen's Arendelle and Marvel Super Heroes for Walt Disney Studios

Let's jump a few years into the future: The world has fully awoken from the Corona Pandemic. There are shows, concerts, parades again. We walk through the Walt Disney Studios. In theAvengers Campusvisitors practice their superhero skillsWEB SLINGERS:A Spider-Man Adventure, try your way through the literally large and small specialties in thePym Test Kitchenand go on a fast-paced trip on the former with Iron ManRock’n’Rollercoaster, which has been given new life with a Marvel theme. (Matthew has some information for you about the Avengers Campus, which has already opened in Disney California Adventurecompiled here.)

Let's go a little further, pastTower of TerrorandToy Story Playland, towards the new lake glittering in the sun in the heart of the park. In the distance rises the snow-covered Nordberg and at its feet the small town and the castle ofArendelle – The World of Frozen.This mini-land takes you on a boat tour through the story of Anna, Elsa, Olaf, Sven and Kristoff. We also find shops, restaurants and meet & greets here.

When evening falls, a great new spectacle of light and music awaits us on the lake, which builds on years of Disney know-how on lagoon shows, not least on those from Tokyo DisneySea...

And are those actually construction cranes here at the lake? Yes! Because Disney continues to work diligently on new attractions and themed areas in the Walt Disney Studios. However, the view into the crystal ball is blurred here. Because we don't yet know what exactly is being built there: in 2018 Disney had announced that they wanted to bring a "Star Wars Land" to the studios. Of which is now after the corona lockdown and the first experiences withStar Wars: Galaxy’s Edgesurprisingly little to hear in US parks. In Paris, let's get our European version of Batuu with its attractions likeRise of the Resistance? Or a whole new Star Wars experience that could also be home to characters like the Mandalorian and Grogu? Or something completely different?

The online rumor mill – which, as is well known, should be treated with caution – keeps bubbling upZootopia(which is currently getting its own theme area in Shanghai Disneyland) andAvatar: World of Pandorahigh. The latter, however, is likely to depend heavily on the box office results of the sequels to “Avatar” starting next year. At the same time, however, the "Star Wars" IP is so enormously important for Disney that it sounds very likely that we will also be able to experience Star Wars in one form or another in new attractions in Paris. Even if that remains speculation for now.

Just like what this mysterious building means south of the forest, which we spy on some (public) development plans for the new lake at Walt Disney Studios: A whole new attraction? Or maybe a restaurant? That would of course offer top seats for the evening show. The lake shore also has plenty of room for other countries. Only aloneFrozenit won't (can) stay long.

And further speculating: What else is going to happen there?Avengers Campus? For example, what will become of the old stunt show arena, now that„Motors … Action!“not to return. A new show? Or will the space eventually be used for the same Avengers attraction announced for Disney California Adventure and Hong Kong Disneyland? In the context of Corona, it has also become very quiet for this ride and many doubt that we will ever be able to experience it in any park... Unfortunately, the crystal ball doesn't tell us anymore at the moment.

And what is happening at Disneyland Park?

Now let's walk over to Disneyland Park, under the newly renovated Disneyland Hotel.This 5-star hotel now delights guests with renewed splendor and a new princess theme. Later, we might treat ourselves to a drink in the bar here, or even dinner at one of the resort's top restaurants.

For now, let's stroll down Main Street. One might think that not much has happened there. Sure, since the massive renovation program in the late 2010s/early 2020s, our Disneyland has been sparkling and shining. But back there... is that... a new attraction?

Shortly before the first Corona lockdown, a lot of whispering could be heard. Could it be that Disneyland Park 25 years afterSpace Mountainand 15 years afterBuzz Lightyearcould finally get a real, new attraction? In the rumor mill (as always: beware, be careful!) some spoke of Adventureland – where, for example, a new oneIndiana Jones Adventureattraction would fit well.And also the "Jungle Cruise" movie with Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Emily Bluntcould be a good template for a new attraction.AJungle Cruisealso in Paris?

Others pointed to Fantasyland and then to the area oppositePizzeria Bella Notteand the way fromit’s a small worldover toStar Tours. Wouldn't bother using a toon rangeMickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railwaydo well? The attraction had just opened at Walt Disney World and was announced for Disneyland's Toontown. So why not Paris?

We do not know it. Disneyland Park undoubtedly deserves new rides, even Disney should be aware of that. How long we have to wait after the lockdown is unfortunately a completely different question...

But what we can certainly look forward to: New parades - after the new Christmas parade, which premiered last November. new shows And certainly a successor tooDisney Illuminations, which will then light up the night sky above the newly renovated Sleeping Beauty Castle. But the crystal ball can't show us anything precise yet.

Digital Disneyland Paris

Where we can make a prediction with more certainty: digital tools will greatly transform our visit to Disneyland Paris over the next few years. As a matter of course, we use the app to book standby passes or Premier Access tickets for the most popular attractions, reserve a table in restaurants and order in the self-service restaurantsMobile Ordereven our meals - which we then pick up quickly and easily at the counter. This has been possible in the USA for a long time, and Disneyland Paris has already taken the first steps here, which will certainly be expanded.

Of course, digitization does not stop with these useful tools: Disney has been experimenting with linking the virtual world and its themed countries for a long time. About thePlay DisneyApp you can already inStar Wars: Galaxy’s Edgediscover more - if perhaps not as much as will probably be possible in the future. Perhaps we will also experience a stronger individualisation of our visit as a result.

New shopping, eating, sleeping: Disney Village and the hotels

We now see Disney Village in the glass ball – but we hardly recognize it. New shops, new restaurants and generally new life has moved into this district between parks and hotels.

Disneyland Paris had already announced before Corona that they wanted to tackle Disney Village soon - but the plans were not yet 100% fixed. Then came the lockdown. So what does this mean for Disney Village's future? Well, hopefully something will change in the next few years, but when?

It was said that the wooden facade of Starbucks would give a glimpse of the future appearance of Disney Village. Starbucks has been there for a while now...A while ago, concept art for the Village surfaced from non-official sources: the steel pillars and the massive aluminum roof have disappeared. Instead, you can see shops and restaurants designed in an ecological architectural style, which are reminiscent of the Villages Nature. Meanwhile, the first so-called “Tiny Shops” have opened in the Disney Village. You can find these shops diagonally across from Café Mickey on the corner towards McDonald's. It is said that these are now test balloons, which shopping concepts in the village could work in the future.

With Disney Springs and DisneyTown, the Imagineers recently showed that they can also design attractive and entertaining shopping districts with lots of quality of life. That should then also be the case in the newly designed Disney Village.

But the crystal ball is still very imprecise as to what will await us there: Which shops and restaurants will we visit? Will the old oneBuffalo Bill’s Wild West ShowArena taken for a new show or demolished?

In the long term, so it is said, another street is planned - these plans go back decades and sound plausible: Where McDonald's is today, another boulevard with shops and restaurants is to be built in the long term, leading to the square south of Vapiano and the new bus station.

It may even happen in connection with a new hotel on Lake Disney... but the crystal ball can't say much about that at the moment. That Disney is certainly coming up with new attractions at Walt Disney StudiosandDisneyland expects visitor growth should be clear. And these additional visitors also need new hotel rooms. In recent years, Disneyland Paris has relied on the new hotels of external operators nearby. However, new Disney hotels could be built on Lake Disney and opposite the Hotel Santa Fe and Sequoia Lodge...

If Disney ever decides to build another convention center, it will probably come with its own hotel. Space for this is probably planned south of the studios and opposite the Newport Bay Club. We'll have to wait and see to what extent the post-corona market will demand conference centers and exhibition halls...

Always further into the future

Disneyland Paris prepares for the distant future. Already today. A noise barrier is currently being built towards the town of Magny-le-Hongre. And not directly at the Disney parks and hotels, but along a field... exactly the field that could one day be home to a third Disney theme park. Will we ever see this one?

Well, Disney would be contractually obligated to the French state to build one at some point. But after the resort's disastrous early years, contracts have been pushed back and forth, so it's no longer a given that we'll see a third theme park. Contracts are subject to change.

Definitely: Disney still has plenty of room in Paris to make new dreams come true.

And that's a very nice thought. In its 30, often very turbulent, years, Disneyland Paris has shown how it always struggles at the top. Certainly now, after the pandemic years. We will be able to continue to be enchanted, with old, lovingly cared for classics as well as with new adventures... and even if our crystal ball does not reveal what exactly awaits us, despite all attempts to convince us, one thing is clear: we can look forward to it.

A rough timeline:

Summer 2021 – Disneyland Paris reopens withCars Road TripandDisney’s Hotel New York: The Art of Marvel

Spring/Summer 2022 – 30th anniversary of Disneyland Paris and opening of theAvengers Campusim Walt Disney Studios Park

2022 or 2023 – Disneyland Hotel reopens

2023 or 2024 - New lake at Walt Disney Studios and themed areaArendelle – The World of Frozen

Mid to Late 2020s - Additional themed area at Walt Disney Studios Park (Star Wars?), Remodeling of Disney Village?, New attraction at Disneyland Park?