Guided Tours of Disneyland Paris

[Cyrano]

Disneyland Park Tour details

• Tours depart daily at 1p.m. and 2p.m.
• Tours start at City Hall (Information Centre).
• Tour length is two (2) hours.
• The tour is an outdoor walking programme and does not include any attraction or show.
• Price: €15 per person - free for children under 12 years old.
• Shareholder’s price: €12 per person

Walt Disney Studios Tour details

• Tours depart daily at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m.
• Tours start at Studio Services (Information Centre).
• Tour length is 1:30 hour.
• The tour is an outdoor walking programme and does not include any attraction or show.
• Price: €15 per person - free for children under 12 years old.
• Shareholder’s price: €12 per person

Theme parks admission is required to participate in the tour and is not included in the above prices.
Your package tickets or annual passport obviously therefore get you entry. If you don’t have a current ticket a minimum of a day ticket is required. You'll need a "hopper" ticket if you wish to do the tour in both parks.

Booking

In order to confirm your reservation, you can contact the VIP Relations service by the following:-

email dlp.relations.vip@disney.com
fax 00 33 1.64.74.26.62
tel 00 33 1.64.74.21.26

Details required are
• Family name or group name;
• Number of guests who will join the tour (including children and their age);
• Chosen language for the guided tour;
• Chosen hour for the guided tour.

 

[Cyrano]

Thanks to Dana for the reminder to this

Will link this to The Very Useful Info sticky

 

[BRobson]

On my list to do on my next visit - thanks for the info

 

[Cyrano]

On my list to do on my next visit - thanks for the info

Snap

 

[Danauk]

Thanks to Dana for the reminder to this

Will link this to The Very Useful Info sticky

Your welcome. I just wish there was this info on the official website! I'll write a trip report about the tours when I get back.

 

[torsie24]

Has anyone done this?? Any insight? I would love to learn more about the MK in particular!

 

[Cyrano]

Has anyone done this?? Any insight? I would love to learn more about the MK in particular!

Danauk has some details in her trip report

 

[Danauk]

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1788726
Here you go, post 4 contains the info about the Disneyland Park guided tour.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1789908
This one contains the report about the Studios tour.

 

[torsie24]

Thankyou! I read them and will definitely be doing the DL tour. Sounds amazing! Hope we get chrstophe and a 'VIP' tour like yours!!

Your TR was great by the way!!

 

[Pinkradleygirl]

Gonna book this for the August trip - it sounds like you had a fab time! Do you think the tour is ok for children - DD is 7 but loves everything Disney!! I don't want her to get bored or lose interest and then make it unenjoyable for the rest of us!

What is the pin you received like?

 

[Cyrano]

Gonna book this for the August trip - it sounds like you had a fab time! Do you think the tour is ok for children - DD is 7 but loves everything Disney!! I don't want her to get bored or lose interest and then make it unenjoyable for the rest of us!

Can't help as we pulled out of our planned tours. They have definitely become very popular as the boards out each day showed. Most languages except English were fully booked in advance. Unfortunately English was shifted to the afternoon slots. In the case of the Studios our planned tour at 11am was moved to 3pm. This wasn't the best time for us, especially with the afternoon heat

 

[Loïc Potter]

Hi, I up this thread with the new prices :

The DLP or the WDS tour cost now 15 euros per person, and if you are alone it will cost 20 euros.

 

[Ware Bears]

Thank you for the update.

and if you are alone it will cost 20 euros.

So how does this work? Is it that if it turns out that you are the only one on the tour you have to pay an extra €5 or else the tour will be cancelled?

 

[Florida2012]

I know this is quite an old thread, but was wondering if they still did these tours?

 

[Happy Tappy]

I know this is quite an old thread, but was wondering if they still did these tours?

They do. You can find more information here: http://www.dlrpmagic.com/planning/services/guided-tours/

 

[smallpig]

Had never heard of this before - on the list for next time! So much more to be done... we just HAVE to go again before the APs expire

 

[DLPdaft]

We took the guided tour of the main Disneyland Park on a Tuesday afternoon at 1pm (in the pouring rain ). I had booked it at City Hall when we arrived at the resort 2 days earlier. There were only my DD and I on the tour with our guide Ann-Sophie. Because my DD was free (aged under 12) and there were no other adults on the tour, I was charged the extra 5 euros for the solo tour (so the full price would have been 20 euros total, but with my shareholders discount this was 16 euros total).

We didn't take any photos on our tour, although Ann-Sophie was happy to take time for us to do so. I wanted to listen to her though, instead of taking photos. We've decided next time we go to DLP though, we're going to go photo everything we saw on the tour .

The tour took just under 2 hours, even though it was teeming rain and Ann-Sophie was trying to keep us in sheltered spots as much as possible. If the weather had been better I can imagine this could easily have taken a good half hour longer. We still learned so much and couldn't believe we'd been wandering round DLP for 5 years without knowing so much!

We started off at the entrance to the park, where Ann-Sophie talked to us about the pink colour of the Disneyland Hotel being picked so the hotel would still stand out under European grey skies (so today was a great example of this!). Then we walked under Main St station, and Ann-Sophie asked us to look for the names of the locomotives next time we were on the train around the park, as they are all named after people Walt greatly admired. Town Square is crammed, again, with references to people who fed Walt's inspiration ie the Wright brothers cycle shop, the Kodak shop etc. Also in Town Square, the names on the Dentist window are the names of the imagineers who designed that area of the park.
Inside the Kodak shop we were shown the glassed-in workshop with artifacts which belonged to George Eastman (he invented camera roll film and was the man behind the Kodak name). Ann-Sophie showed us the very visible electric cables running along the ceiling to the light fittings, as when electric light was first invented it was very expensive so those who could afford it, showed it off. She also pointed out the large main entrance to the shop - needed in the early days of cameras as the whole contraption, the box you stuck your head in, tripod, the lot, usually had to be taken in to the shop to have the film developed.

The we moved to the Emporium - a tribute to department stores and again, with lots of fascinating detail. The domed ceiling gallery inside is a tribute to both French shopping centres, which have these, and again inventors Walt admired (their images are silhouetted on the dome). We talked about the jar and box contraption which goes from the main cashier station in the store. This was the way goods were paid for in the early days of department stores - no-one except the boss or his trusted office staff were permitted to touch any money in the store, and originally cashiers didn't even need to know how to count to be employed in department stores.
At the furthest left corner of the Emporium, is Dapper Dan's barber shop. Ann-Sophie took us inside and explained that this was a real barber shop, transported in its entirety to its current location. The shaving foam mugs are personalised, used by the barber's most regular customers. There is a scary looking metal dome in there, kind of looks like a medieval torture gadget of some description, but its actually a steriliser .

We exited the Emporium onto Flower Street, home of the Disney imagineers in California. As a tribute to Walt's love for his wife, the entrance to Lily's boutique stands next to Walts restaurant here . We were taken inside Walts, where we found out some more about Walt's inspiration and a bit about the start of his success. There are 2 little birds in cages inside Walts, the smallest one, in the foyer, was the first "animatronic" Walt had seen, and he bought it, took it home and took it apart, to see how it worked. This was his inspiration for the animatronics used in all his parks around the world. Among the pictures inside Walts there is one on the staircase of Walt winning his Oscar for Snow White and the Seven Dwarves - a huge risk as it was the first ever full-length animation movie. As well as his one regular-sized Oscar, Walt was presented with 7 mini-size ones for this movie, one for each dwarf . Ann-Sophie took us round each area of Walts, showing us each decorated "land" inside the restaurant. We'd never seen the Adventureland rooms - how cool are they ?

Our last part of exploring Main St was across the street into the Market House deli, where we listened in the gossip on the party line on the phones inside the store , and talked about the switchboard which is behind one of the counters there. We walked through Discovery arcade up to the top of Main St, and then took the covered walkway from the top of Liberty arcade into Frontierland.

 

[DLPdaft]

In Frontierland, we popped into the Lucky Nugget saloon (it was closed to the public) and we found out the story behind this restaurant. I had no idea there was even a real "lucky nugget" and yet there it was, on a shelf behind the bar! This saloon was designed to be the more frivolous entertainment venue, as opposed to the Silver Spur next door, which is darker and was more suited for men's business dealings (over cigars and brandy etc ).
We talked briefly about the story behind the Phantom Manor, and then walked around Thunder Mesa, where Ann-Sophie pointed out the many authentic items of machinery and ironware, including the steam tractor opposite BTM, which was bought from the farmer for the princely sum of a nice engagement ring for his wife .
Before we left Frontierland, Ann-Sophie asked us if we had ever been inside the Cowboy Cookout. When we said we had, she said had we noticed that all the seats, benches etc inside were mismatched. This was because at a traditional community cookout, everyone would bring along whatever seats they had at home.

We then walked into Adventureland, and stopped outside Colonel Hathi's, where Ann-Sophie told us that Jungle Book was the last movie that Walt personally had worked on (he died before it was released). From there she pointed out a certain little Coke ice-box nearby (go find it and lift the lid ), and as we walked from Hakuna Matata to the medina, she told us that the music changes as we move from southern Africa to northern Africa, and then changes again as we move to the Caribbean (POTC, Skull Rock etc). In the Medina, she pointed out the crashed jeep and the story behind it with the curious giraffe, then we went inside the shop there and saw the giraffe herself ..
When we reached the entrance to POTC, Ann-Sophie explained that this ride originally had been designed (and was starting to be built) as a walkthrough attraction. However, the IASW boat ride which had been trialled by Disney at the 1964 New York worlds fair with phenomenal success made Walt change his mind, and make POTC the boat ride we know and love . Before making the final change to boat ride, Walt did the POTC walkthrough in a wheelchair, to see if the ride was just as good from a lower-down perspective.

 

[**Clare**]

Thanks for your post, sounds great, I'm hoping to do this tour this week. I read on another forum that people doing the tour were offered preferential viewing for the parade and had their names taken at City Hall and then checked off on a list at the parade area, were you offered this? Thanks.

 

[DLPdaft]

We left Adventureland and walked into Fantasyland, where Ann-Sophie pointed out the various different parts of Europe depicted in this area of the park (again, with changing music as you go from one area to another). ie Britain with Peter Pan's flight, Toad Hall and Alices Labyrinth, over to Germany/Austria for Snow White's ride and Pinocchio.
Although Pinocchio is Italian, his ride, shop and restaurant are in the German section of Fantasyland because in the movie his home village, his clothes etc are Bavarian rather than Italian (he wears lederhosen for example). Ann-Sophie pointed out the names on some of the roof tiles on both rides, which again, are the names of the imagineers of this area. We asked why Snow White's clogs were pinned to the wall near her ride, and Ann-Sophie charmingly replied "because she's a Princess now, she doesn't wear clogs" !

We stopped in front of the carousel and the Castle, where Ann-Sophie explained the difference between a carousel and a merry-go-round (I had no idea that a carousel only has horses and carriages and goes anti-clockwise, and a merry-go-round can have all sorts of vehicles and goes clockwise). We chatted about the various influences of the Castle, the tapestries inside were provided by one of the oldest tapestry-makers in France, the golden snails on one of the larger turrets are a tribute to French cuisine, and the castle itself is designed to be growing out of the earth, again in tribute to a particular real French castle, which is why it appears to be coming out of the hill to the left of the front of the castle, and why there are trees holding up the 2nd level inside the castle .

We then walked around past Auberge de Cendrillon to IASW, where Ann-Sophie told us that the IASW song here at DLP is sung in 19 different languages, including Arabic and Hebrew. I can pick out maybe 4 of the 19 languages I think . Ann-Sophie pointed out the architecture of the Italian section of Fantasyland, the ice-cream shop, Bella Notte (and the music of course) before we left Fantasyland and entered Discoveryland.

Discoveryland contains many references to Walt's passion for invention and imagination. He was one of Jules Verne's greatest admirers, and as well as the Nautilus attraction here, and the original Space Mountain ride, there is this quote of Verne's on a monument near Autopia -
"Tout ce qui est dans la limite du possible doit être et sear accompli
(All That's Within the Limits of the Possible Must and Will Be Accomplished)", which is something Walt passionately believed.

We stood under the huge flying machine at the entrance to Cafe Hyperion and Videopolis, and Ann-Sophie told us this is by far the largest prop at Disneyland Paris, and pointed out the animatronic pigeons on the machine (again, I had no idea they were there). There is a story behind this prop too, which ties in with why the inside of Cafe Hyperion is decked out as a travel agency .
Across at Orbitron, Ann-Sophie pointed out that each rocket on the ride has a different sign of the zodiac on it, another of Walt's great interests. Autopia was based on Walt's own idea for car travel of the future, where all vehicles would travel on tracks which would take you to all destinations, and so both adults and children could drive .
We were also shown the various references to "DM" all over Discoveryland (ie near Space Mountain) because this part of the park was originally going to be "Discovery Mountain" - a huge man-made mountain with all the rides, attractions, restaurants and shops contained inside the mountain itself. The mountain had actually started to be built at DLP, thats what those futuristic-looking slanted rocks are all around the front of the entrance to Discoveryland, they would have formed part of the "mountain".

And so, here the tour was over for us. We were each given a special pin for taking part on the tour -

and thanked Ann-Sophie very much.

All that I've written here is not even all that we learned on the tour, it was absolutely fascinating and I couldn't believe it had lasted 2 hours, we didn't look at our watches once and it seemed to go by in a flash. I would thoroughly recommend doing this if you are adults and/or have older children and you love the park . From what I've seen of other park tour reports, you'll get a different slant on things from each guide, so you may well find out loads more about Walt and the Disneyland Paris park . I mean, I've just done it, just written all this stuff down, and I'd do it again tomorrow!