Now that we know that Paris' World of Frozen and Disney Adventure World open officially on March 29, 2026, let's talk about what Disney fans can expect.
Disney Adventure World is the new name for Disneyland Paris' second gate, which has been known as Walt Disney Studios Park since its 2002 debut. With the expansion, Disney has added two new lands to the park, with a third new land on the way in a few years.
I was invited by Disney to tour the new lands today. (At my expense, BTW. This was not a hosted trip.) Here is what I saw, and you can expect, starting next March.
Standing at the far end of the park, World of Frozen will feature Paris' installation of Frozen Ever After, the indoor boat ride that debuted in Hong Kong Disneyland's World of Frozen in 2023. (Watch the POV.)
Next to the ride stands Arendelle Castle, which guests could not enter in Hong Kong. It was just decorative there. But in Paris, Disney has fixed that and made the castle the home of World of Frozen's meet and greet with Queens Anna and Elsa. This will be a reservation-based meet and greet, so get that official Disneyland Paris app ready on your phone before you visit, as that is where you will need to book your time to see the Queens.
If you don't make it into the castle, you still can see the Queens live in the new Celebration in Arendelle show on Arendelle Bay. This 10 to 15-minute show will parade characters from Frozen on boats, as Arendelle celebrates its "Snowflower Day," commemorating the day that Anna's act of love saved Arendelle from an eternity in ice. The show also will feature an original composition by "Frozen" songwriters Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez.
This show will be exclusive to Paris, which will not have the Playhouse in the Woods show from Hong Kong. Guests in Arendelle also will be invited to meet Disney's new, size-appropriate Olaf character, who will walk the land. You can read more about that innovative new robot - and watch of video of it in action - in Disney to introduce new Olaf character in Paris, Hong Kong.
Hungry? World of Frozen's restaurant will be the Nordic Crowns Tavern, which takes the place of the Golden Crocus Inn in Hong Kong, though the restaurant looks the same and is located in the same place within the land.
The food served at Nordic Crowns Tavern also will differ from Golden Crocus Inn. In Paris, the restaurant will serve bowls where you can choose your own base (mashed potatoes or quinoa), protein (meatballs, salmon, or veggie balls), and sauce (cranberry sauce or mustard sauce). All bowls will include vegetables, as well. Kids meals offer the same choice, but in smaller portions.
Disney will offer plenty of new Frozen-themed merch in the land. The most notable might be Rúna, the interactive troll toy that Disney will sell in the Fjord View Shop. We got a sneak peek at the toy in action.
In all, World of Frozen is a cozy theme park land, where the building and merch are designed to look hand-made from natural material. While the land lacks the size of the Hong Kong original, its position on Adventure Bay (see below) gives it different, stronger energy than the more isolated version in Hong Kong.
Guests will access World of Frozen via the new central park pathway, Adventure Way.
With green-painted fixtures in an Art nouveaux style, mixed with various Mediterranean and Victorian influences, Adventure Way immediately reminded me of the central plaza in a certain other theme park that opened this year. Is this Disney's Epic Adventure?
At the end of the promenade is the park's new lagoon, Adventure Bay. But before we get there, Adventure Way will offer a new entry to the park's Toy Story Land, and beyond that, a new family spinner ride, Raiponce Tangled Spin.
Yes, it's the teacups, but with lantern-adorned boats replacing the cups. And they will spin underneath an impressively decorated canopy that looks to have been painted by Rapunzel herself.
An "Up"-themed waveswinger will accompany this ride, on the other side of Adventure Way. But there was no evidence that anything has been installed yet at that site, nor has Disney announced a name or opening date for the ride.
Just beyond Raiponce Tangled Spin lies what might be the highlight of Adventure Way, Regal View Restaurant and Lounge. Let's take a guided tour through this table-service character meal restaurant in what Disney is calling its princesses' home away from home.
The lounge features design accents inspired by Disney artist Eyvind Earle, in a handsome room that offers what might be an even better view of Adventure Bay and the World or Frozen beyond it. (Disney did not want us to get too up-close with our published photos and videos of those views, due to construction remaining out in the open before the lands' public debut.)
Finally, Adventure Bay will be the home to Disney's newest nighttime spectacular, Disney Cascade of Light. This show will feature water screen projections, fountains, pyro and several hundred low-flying, custom-built show drones. You can read and watch all the available details about this new production in First look at Disney's new nighttime spectacular.
Next up will be Disney's first theme park land themed to The Lion King, featuring a Tiana's-style flume ride of Pride Rock. No opening date yet on that one. Each land that guests can access from Adventure Way will lead to single-IP-themed lands: Avengers Campus, Toy Story Land, World of Frozen, and eventually, The Lion King. (Should we call those access points "portals," then? Yeah, I went there.) Clues on lampposts around the Adventure Bay suggest one more potential IP land, which smart money might bet on being Avatar. But Disney has confirmed nothing about that.
Again, the rest of all this opens officially March 29, 2026. For tickets to the Disneyland Paris theme parks, please visit our partner's Disneyland Paris tickets page. Remember that whenever you buy tickets or book vacations through our partners, a small portion of that goes to support Theme Park Insider. So you can support independent media while getting a great deal at the same time.
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It's different than Tokyo's - I'd say a notch below it. But it's miles better than Orlando's.
These seems like Disney went to a lot of expense to "expand" a small, park with little to do by adding a version of a teacup ride, one Frozen ride that is not as good as Tokyo's, some restaurants, and some gift shops. All of the chronic issues with too few rides do not seem to be "fixed," even when the log flume comes online. This park really needed a significant influx of rides and experiences, and Disney once again added a meet and greet, a teacup spinner, a lesser version of an existing ride, some food and merch vendors and called it a day. (Yes, there will be a log flume that opens in the future.) The one unique thing that was added is a "nighttime spectacular" that does nothing to add daytime capacity to the park. Maybe I am wrong, but none of these additions really moves the needle significantly for this park, IMO.
Thanks Robert - Get a chocolate croissant and fresh baked bread from a local bakery and send it to me.
Thx...
I've never been to this park before, but of all the international Disney parks, this one is still probably at the bottom of my list of the ones I'd like to visit. My understanding is that the biggest issue with this park is its lack of space, and devoting a large swath to a giant lagoon doesn't seem like the best decision (though DHS is similarly small and devotes a massive amphitheater to Fantasmic!, which is only used 1-3 times a day). I kind of agree with MLB here, but what Disney is doing here is what has become the new standard in theme park design. Rides are becoming secondary to other features that can actually separate people from more of their money. Themed retail and food is king now, and until gusts stop spending hundreds of dollars per visit on this stuff, park operators are going to keep doubling and tripling down on merch and food.
Frankly, as long as Disney sticks with the menus and stock, I'm fine with this. I get more frustrated when parks have grand plans and debut fancy merch and cool food, but a year later they're serving burgers and chicken tenders and selling bland screen-printed t-shirts and keychains. Yes, there are far higher margins and sellthrough on those generic items, but when I go to a theme park, I want something unique and memorable from that visit and a meal that I can't get anywhere else. The quick serve restaurant here sounds like a modified version of Satul'i Canteen at DAK, which is probably one of the best counter service restaurants in all of WDW. However, I do wonder how the European crowd will take to this, because of all the parks we've visited in Europe, this menu would probably fall on the lower end of options we saw.
There’s a giant hotel behind DHS where they could possibly expand. They are also getting a new Monsters land. I think animation courtyard and the Indy show are the biggest waste of space at that park, not fantasmic.
@ Russell - I agree with you that the direction theme parks are trending is more toward lifestyle centers with "activities (rides)" sprinkled within. I guess the multi-billion dollar question will be... What happens when the Boomer and Gen Xers age out of going to Disney? These age cohorts no longer need to chase 15-20 rides per day, but many of their positive feelings about Disney (in particular, but not limited to Disney) were built on rides and experiences. A slower pace of a couple ride with dinners and shows as good substitutes works because you're living off their nostalgia. But, if fewer families are coming less often... will they be happy paying $200+ per person to see a show and pay exorbitant meal prices? The real issue becomes when you have multiple parks that become EPCOT-esque. Adults love EPCOT, but kids endure it to ride Frozen, Guardians, and maybe Ratatouille, and then get back to a park that has more to do for them. I understand that my kids are not representative, the last time we were at Disney (6 days when they were 7 and 9) they were complaining that they wanted to go to Universal because Disney is too kiddie. It sure doesn't seem like Disney has their hooks in kids the way they used to, and if that is the case, and there aren't years of memories of trips... how many times will people go to the parks to pay for dinner and shop. This isn't a today problem, but it is definitely an issue that will need to be addressed in the future.
This does look like a great addition to this park, and there's nothing necessarily wrong with it, however I agree with the comments above. A clone of a fairly mediocre boat ride with a miniland around it, and a nighttime show, are not enough to save this park considering Avengersland is not very good and Star Wars was flat out cancelled (a decision I actually agree with, but there needs to be a replacement project, not just the flat out cancellation of a major project).
I have been to this park enough times to know that 7 years from announcement to opening for this attraction/land, with the park basically being ass ever since it opened in the early 2000s, is not a win for the Walt Disney Company.
MLB: "What happens when the Boomer and Gen Xers age out of going to Disney?"
Me: Or the Comcast parks?
@TH - Perhaps a fair question, but I think that most people would argue that the Comcast parks rely less on nostalgia. (Something that they've been criticized for in the past... Comcast is far more likely to swap out IP for the newest flavor of the week. Comcast does seem to be far more nimble in their ability to pivot. Disney takes five years to build a rollercoaster, and Comcast builds theme parks in about that amount of time.)
As phase one of a larger expansion of the park, this is fine. However, Disney really needs to keep the momentum going and add something new to this resort every couple years if they want the strategy of minilands to pay off. I also think it would have been much better if they'd included the junior coaster from Hong Kong's version as a single ride isn't sufficient for the popularity of this IP.
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How does the Hong Kong version of the Frozen ride (that is getting cloned for Paris) compare to the spectacularly good one in Tokyo?