Disney Adventure World is finally here, and with it comes two new lands (Adventure Way & The World of Frozen). This large expansion was first announced in 2018 to much fanfare and was trailed to include an Avengers Campus (which opened in 2022), the World of Frozen and a Star Wars themed land (which has now been replaced by a Lion King area). The expansion would see the Walt Disney Studios Park double in size upon opening and provide a blueprint for future expansion. Fast forward to 2026 and the park formerly known as “The Studios” is rebranded as Disney Adventure World and that doubling in size is now a reality.
The wait might have been very long, but when you step into Adventure Way for the first time, it becomes very difficult to argue that it wasn’t worth it.
I was invited to preview the land as part of a special preview for online creators, and over the course of the next several articles, I will be reviewing this expansion. First up, Adventure Way!
A park transformed
Since the opening in March 2002, one of the biggest criticisms of the Walt Disney Studios Park has been the lack of greenery. A famous anecdote is from when Michael Eisner took the Disney board members around the park and one turned to Michael and said “this is great, but where’s the theme park?”. Disney have always been great at putting the park into the theme park and making them pleasant spaces – but this was forgotten with the Walt Disney Studios Park.
Not anymore, this expansion is one of the greenest that I can think of, at least in recent years. It takes the second gate in Paris (soon to be renamed to Disney Adventure World) from concrete jungle to a beautiful piece of gardening and potentially one of the most green Disney parks globally. It’s no understatement to say that what has been done here with the plants is exceptional.
We also have here secondary walkways and secluded gardens right across the land creating places to sit back and rest. Again, this is something that we’ve not really had before in this park. During the Spring and Summer this is going to be an absolute delight to sit back and relax within.
There is also a new entrance to Toy Story Playland located just off Adventure Way, this entrance follows the garden-style layout of the entire land and sinks down below Adventure Way and snakes around to cleverly create that transition into the world of the toys and away from Adventure Way.
A true highlight of Adventure Way is the background music, this whimsical, waltz-like music feels romantic, dreamy and fairytale like. During my hours in the land I saw numerous guests dancing along with the music as if they were Cinderella at the ball. This is a future classic, it feels very Disney in the best way – it’s not like a spotify playlist like World Premiere now is, but captures a feeling better than anything else in the park. I couldn’t help but grin because of it, and take a seat to simply sit and enjoy it.
It is at night where the land comes truly alive, the lighting package feels very much like that of Main Street USA, it gives off a warm glow with the popcorn lighting. I can’t think of a higher compliment, Main Street USA with its music and lighting becomes somewhere you truly want to spend time, and it is the same now for Adventure Way.
The Attractions: A charming start
Adventure Way opens with only one attraction, Raiponce Tangled Spin. This charming attraction has a high re-rideability factor and features multiple songs from the hit film within it. As you board your gondola, take a look up and enjoy the whimsical artwork by Rapunzel and the floating lanterns. This is an attraction that comes alive even more at night when the lighting truly pops.
In addition to that, a small area has been created just next to the attraction featuring cherry blossoms and a gondola in the water, something you’re almost sure to be seeing across Instagram and social media in the months and years ahead.
Opposite this is the site of the future UP attraction that will be a spinning chair style attraction, the absence of this makes this area of the land feel unfinished which is a real shame as I think the pair of them will make a really nice pairing. It feels unforgivable really that this attraction is not ready given the ease of installation. However, the concept art does look pretty good and so when it does finally arrive, I think it’ll look nice.
Dining & Bars: A Disneyland Paris first
Alongside this new land comes new dining locations, most notably a new table service location named the Regal View Restaurant & Lounge. This is a character dining location themed to the Disney princesses with menus taking inspirations from their woodland adventures – as well as characters appearing in specially created versions of their outfits.
The location also features the very first bar location in a Disneyland Paris theme park. This location, again themed to the Disney Princesses, features a full-service bar with beers, wines, and cocktails. It was pleasantly surprising to learn that these cocktails are not served pre-mixed (unlike many locations in the American parks) but are crafted fresh by the bartenders in the locations. The bar itself looks onto Adventure Bay with one of the most gorgeously panoramic views you’ll see from a Disney Park location. Seating might be the issue here, this is going to be extremely popular and I can envisage large queues to get in.
There are additionally two quick service locations with a small amount (and I mean small) of outdoor seating – Cafe Panoramique and Cafe Luminosity. These art deco style buildings are on either side of Adventure Bay and serve a range of bread bowls and hot dogs.
There are also three smaller stands, Chez Marie, Chez Toulouse, and Chez Berlioz – which take their names from the Aristocats, which serve salad dishes, filled rolls and choux pastries. These have no seating, and the lack of seating in any of these outdoor locations will assume that you are comfortable walking and eating.
Entertainment: A park that comes to life
The Gazebo Gardens begin as you enter the land and feature a musical moment that will cycle with the seasons. Upon opening, and for the duration of Spring, this will be a Rapunzel & Flynn musical moment which is simple, but extremely cute. During the Summer, we can expect this to become a Mary Poppins moment, and in Autumn we’ll be welcoming Miguel. This is a fun little idea to cycle these moments through the seasons and should allow for quite a bit of repeatability.
There is a large amount of streetmosphere in the land with marching bands (reminiscent of the Disneyland Band in Anaheim), a mime, a traditional music box artist and more. It’s truly great to see the land come alive in this way and is something I hope we see more of across the Disney Parks.
Mickey Mouse also meets guests on the banks of Adventure Bay in a brand new outfit – inspired by the lush green gardens of the land. This photo location is gorgeously framed against the Adventure Way area. Roaming characters are also a feature of the land and seem to be mostly inspired by the English garden vibe of the Gazebo area – I saw Mad Hatter and March Hare, Peter Pan and Wendy as well as Mary Poppins and Bert.
The growing pains
Despite all that’s good about the land – and make no mistake, this is a very good expansion to Disney Adventure World – there are some issues that need to be addressed.
Firstly, this area does not yet feel complete. The UP attraction is sadly missing and the Lion King area is very visible. It feels a very long walk to the World of Frozen land with very little to see or do. Whilst the reason for this is very solid, and indeed good, it does leave a bit of an impression.
Secondly, sightlines are generally pretty poor. Some of this will improve over time as trees grow to hide some of the show buildings, but you can see very clearly into the Lion King construction area, right down into seeing construction vehicles drive around. Also when looking over towards Avengers Campus the large show building for Avengers: Flight Force really stands out. This one will be more difficult to fix.
There will now be a disconnect between the old and new. This expansion is very good, very modern and feels like a brand new Disney Park. It features some of the most beautiful landscaping in the entire resort. The older area of the park does not live up to this, and some pretty significant work will need to be done across the World Premiere Plaza in order to bring it up to the same level – recent developments and refurbishments to the Studio Theater and Animagique Theater facades will not be enough to satisfy this need.
The ugly duckling becomes a swan
This is a coming of age moment for the second park in Disneyland Paris and many of the issues outlined above are going to be growing pains as opposed to permanent issues. For anybody who has been visiting Disneyland Paris regularly, particularly since the opening of the Walt Disney Studios Park in 2002, this is a big moment; the ugly duckling is finally becoming a swan. Where the Studios was a park barely worthy of the Disney name, this expansion now feels like the park is, indeed, worthy of the Disney Park title.
The imagineering team have delivered something truly special, and creates a blueprint for future growth around the lake. The ambition has now been set, the future is in motion. It’s exciting to see where this is going to go.
You can watch Walkthroughs of Adventure Way right now on our YouTube, or below:
