On March 29, 2026, Disneyland Paris inaugurated its largest expansion since Walt Disney Studios in 2002. To mark this renewal, the park’s name and visual identity were changed to reflect a new theme. Goodbye to the movie studios and hello to “Disney Adventure World”.
Guests can now wander through new worlds whose ambition for the park is as great as their size.
The article will cover WDI’s creative process : from the Blue Sky phase, through the years of construction of the extension, to the inauguration. It’s illustrated with photos taken over several years to support the phases of work.
Part 1 – Blue Sky
Meeting the needs of Disneyland Paris
The Blue Sky phase is when Imagineers start with a blank page, limited only by their imagination. Working with other TWDC entities, they address the objectives and priorities of parks like the Paris Resort.
For the expansion of Walt Disney Studios, the task was particularly arduous for WDI:
- To give the park a storyline and overall coherence
- To enhance the immersion that has been sorely lacking since the opening
- Change the center of gravity by moving the hub to the back of the park to improve traffic flow
- Increase capacity in order to boost visitor numbers and extend the length of stays.
- To offer attractive worlds to the European public
- Structuring the park so as not to hinder its future development (parade, shows, new lands, backstage areas)
- Add vegetation
- Take into account existing assets
- To respect a total budget of €2 billion
simple and advantageous layout
Therefore, the idea of a park built around a central lake, with the lands radiating outwards, became the obvious choice for the Imagineers. Similar to EPCOT, this layout offers several advantages:
- A storyline revised in 3 acts
- New worlds immersing visitors in the universes of the films instead of showing them behind-the-scenes footage (a major narrative shift), allowing for highly immersive sets and increased park capacity.
- A central lake serves as a screen for a nighttime show, encouraging visitors to extend their stay by one night to see both shows.
- A plan easily understandable by visitors that allows for optimal flow management
- Gardens, vegetation and a lake to provide greenery
- Reusing existing World of Frozen at EPCOT and Hong Kong Disneyland to share R&D costs
Worlds of frozen
Indeed, the design of World of Frozen is atypical. The attraction was born from the ashes of Maelstrom, located in the Norwegian pavilion at EPCOT, Florida.
During the production of Frozen, Disney asked Michel Den Dulk to integrate the film’s characters into EPCOT. The Imagineer chose the Norwegian Pavilion as the setting for this transformation due to the Nordic influences of the saga. Then, faced with the resounding success of Frozen, Disney asked to increase the scope of the project. Michel Den Dulk was then faced with a double constraint:
- Transforming a 102-minute film into a 4-minute 30-second attraction
- Integrating history into an existing building with a defined circuit
The attraction opened in 2016. Then, it was duplicated at Hong Kong Disneyland with the World of Frozen land, which opened in 2023. Freed from the constraints of an existing building, this opportunity allowed Michel Den Dulk to reuse his work, while improving the ride: a more imposing building, richer scenery, improved AA and around it, an entire area representing the village of Arendelle.
In Paris, the land differs slightly from its Asian counterpart. The Parisian version does not have the Wandering Oaken’s Sliding Sleighs attraction and is located on the edge of Adventure Bay, offering a unique view of the North Mountain and Arendelle Castle.
Part 2 – Feasibility Study
Costs incurred
In a project of this scale, it is necessary to carry out a feasibility study in order to verify in advance the technical possibility of building the extension and that the costs incurred will be recouped with a positive return on investment. On the one hand, the investment for this expansion amounts to €2 billion, distributed as follows:
- €500 million for the renovation of existing facilities (Avengers Campus and World Premiere Plaza)
- €1.5 billion for the extension itself
- 500 direct and indirect jobs during the construction phase
- 1000 direct jobs during the operational phase
- The technical feasibility of building the extension had been partially demonstrated with World of Frozen at Hong Kong Disneyland and the lake at EPCOT
Expected Benefits
On the other hand, Disneyland Paris has disseminated its objectives across various documents:
- Improve the services offered to visitors
- To offer a more complete experience in order to extend the length of visitors’ stays
- Increase the size of the parks from 1 1/2 park to 1 3/4 park upon completion of the two planned expansions
- Increase park attendance by 16%
Note that the objectives of the final expansion plan include the 3rd land on the theme of The Lion King (Star Wars at the time the documents were written).
Choice of licenses
Therefore, the chosen licenses are crucial to ensuring the project’s success. Disneyland Paris did not select them randomly.
For Frozen, numerous figures corroborate this choice, without seeking to be exhaustive or objective:
- Box office: Frozen I and II were huge hits at the global box office ($2.7 billion combined), in Europe (UK, Germany, and Italy) and in France (5.2 million and 7.4 million admissions in France).
- Awards: Academy Award for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song for “Let It Go” in 2014
- Music streaming: Let It Go (977M), Into The Unknown (523M), For The First Time In Forever (334M) and Show Yourself (327M) are colossal successes on streaming platforms like Spotify
- Merchandising: $10.5 billion in sales of derivative products worldwide since 2013
The success is not about to fade as the saga will expand with the films Frozen III & IV.
Similarly, the princess franchise is very lucrative, generating tens of billions of dollars in merchandise sales. Rapunzel and the Regal View Restaurant will easily find their audience.
Once the feasibility study has been validated, the design work can begin.
Part 3 – Design and Planning
Overall Plan Design
The Imagineers are deepening the Blue Sky phase by precisely defining the content of the land, starting with an overall plan and then refining it down to the details of the scenery. During the drafting of the planning permission application, WDI considered two other options for the location of the Frozen and Star Wars lands, which were not selected due to significant spatial planning constraints:
- Spacing for transitions between different universes
- Managing flows and the need to isolate areas in case of emergency
- Need to service, secure and maintain the equipment
- Reduction of visual and noise pollution for local residents
- Implementation of the Snow Queen’s palace in axial perspective
Design of detailed plans
Next, the Imagineers work on the detailed design of each area. This step involves obtaining the building permits, which include:
- Exact location of the buildings in the extension
- Area, dimensions, measurements, elevation level of buildings
- Internal plan of the buildings with the layout of the scenes for the attractions
- Technical elements (safety ladders, technical room, tank, staff rest room) and fire safety devices (visitor evacuation flow, fire door, fire walls)
- Visitor flow in buildings
- Vegetation
- Visual renderings providing a glimpse of the facades
The building permits meet a legal requirement but also aim to formalize WDI’s needs in order to simultaneously launch the design and construction of the scenery and atmosphere of the land.
Land Theming
In order to reduce construction time, the study of the sets and thematic elements is launched at the same time as the construction site. For example, UK Loco was responsible for Elsa’s ice palace, while Couach Construction Navale was entrusted with building the Viking ships that parade in Adventure Bay. The ships were then painted by French artisans such as Prelud.
For the music of Adventure Way, which Michel Den Dulk wanted to be entirely original (a first since 1992!), the Imagineer approached Philippe Rombi, a film composer (Joyeux Noël, Bienvenue chez les Ch’tis). The 40-minute background music unfolds in several themes depending on where it can be heard. It evokes themes of adventure, nostalgia, and the horizon, without becoming tiresome for visitors who will listen to it for several hours. It was recorded at the famous Abbey Road Studios by the London Symphony Orchestra.
The costumes required research and adaptation to the operational constraints of an amusement park. The colors, patterns and textures were inspired by traditional costumes. The trees were selected from nurseries so that they would meet the requirements in terms of species, size and shape of the location where they were intended. All these thematic design researches begin during the design phase and continue until the construction phase of the extension.
Part 4 – Public Announcement
February 27, 2018 is a date that will remain etched in the memory of Disneyland Paris fans.
On that day, French President Emmanuel Macron and TWDC CEO Bob Iger announced, as part of the #ChooseFrance summit, a massive investment plan in Walt Disney Studios Park with the construction of 3 new lands on the themes of Marvel, Frozen and Star Wars.
The announcements allow the administrative process to begin.
Part 5 – Administrative Authorizations
A construction project of this scale requires several administrative authorizations.
Prior consultation
The significant socio-economic impacts of the extension required prior consultation from October to December 2018 with residents of neighbouring towns. The objectives of the consultation were:
- Inform the target audiences about the project
- Encourage their participation
- Take into account their proposals on the following topics: implementation of infrastructure related to the extension project, identification of areas for improvement and consolidation of the harmonious integration between the tourist destination and the urban center of Val d’Europe
Due to the advanced stage of the project, the consultation process revealed that this phase was primarily intended to inform the public. Legal and scheduling constraints, as well as Disneyland Paris’s communication policy regarding market risks, limited the scope of the consultation.
Planning Permits and Environmental Authorizations
The environmental authorization files and the planning permit were submitted to the French authorities on February 28, 2019, one year after the announcement of the extension by Bob Iger and Emmanuel Macron.
The scale of the expansion required the preparation of several documents: a planning permit and environmental authorization applications. These contain important information such as the project’s perimeter and characteristics, its objectives, site plans, the site’s flora and fauna, the impacts on local residents, and the compensation measures taken by Disneyland Paris. The planning permission was granted on October 14, 2019.
Building permit
Then, Disneyland Paris submitted the building permits for each building in the extension.
As is often the case with projects of this size, amendments to the permits were submitted during the project. We reported, for example, the addition of a waterfall near Arendelle Castle to add kinetic energy and immersion to the land.
With the administrative formalities granted by the authorities, construction work can begin.
Part 6 – Construction Work
Order of Work
The work followed a logical order:
- ❄️ From the back of the extension (South side) to the location of Frozen Ever After, which was the longest piece to build due to its complexity and degree of theming.
- 🌳Towards the front (north side), at Adventure Way, the area is sparsely populated with buildings and complex networks, but consists mainly of landscaping.
- ⚓The lake, centrally located in the extension, could not be excavated immediately to allow the movement of construction equipment.
Site preparation (2019)
The first step is to prepare the ground. In 2019, the area was prepared to allow the start of construction:
- Destruction of the Studio Tram Tour – Behind the Magic attraction and a parking lot for Cast Members
- Clearing of trees in certain areas (Livrains woods, thuja hedges behind the Stunt Show, vegetation bordering the park)
- Pouring of concrete slabs to the west, south, and east of the extension for the installation of site facilities, warehouses, and parking for workers
- Earthworks for the area of the future Frozen Ever After attraction, including topsoil stripping and excavation.
A construction project disrupted by Covid (2020-2021)
The Covid pandemic disrupted the years 2020 and 2021 and will have long-term impacts:
- Construction site halted for several weeks
- Gradual resumption with health and safety measures complicating and lengthening the work
- Disruption of the global supply chain and inflationary pressure on the cost of materials
- Renegotiating contracts with suppliers
Consequently, these months of uncertainty have delayed the progress of the construction project, which should have been inaugurated closer to 2023 than 2026.
🏗 Despite everything, the teams continue to work on the earthworks in the area. The excavated earth is being used to build the 9m high southern embankment, which serves as a visual and acoustic barrier between the park and the houses in Chessy.
In September 2021, silos were installed on site to allow for the pouring of concrete, particularly for the construction roads. The site also includes storage areas for raw materials, reinforced concrete pipes for water management, and construction equipment.
⚓ At the end of 2021, the technical basin of the lake began to be excavated and the water networks were buried.
The project expands (2022)
⚓In early 2022, the port in front of the village of Arendelle began to be excavated. By mid-year, the channel connecting the port and the technical basin was taking shape. The retaining walls were built, and the concrete structures for the swing bridge were poured.
❄️ Pile drilling machines are digging deep foundations for the Frozen attraction, to make way for the burial of the networks in the middle of the year.
🌳The first steps of Adventure Way, which involve leveling the ground, are visible.
🦺 Between May and June 2022, the temporary living base which was located in the centre of the extension was moved further south, to the new living base called “Tatooine” which is located off-centre to allow the continuation of the work.
🏮From this date, the lake and pond of Rapunzel began to be excavated, and the excavated earth was used to rebuild the western embankment along the canal. The construction site covered the entire area of the extension, which is less than 30 hectares if we exclude the area for The Lion King.
First vertical constructions (2023)
2023 marks a major turning point in the construction of the extension:
- ❄️ World of Frozen: The first vertical elements of Frozen are under construction: the foundations have been poured, and the main construction phase begins with the building of the load-bearing structures (beams, load-bearing walls, etc.) for the attraction and Arendelle Castle. For these tasks, three fixed cranes are erected near the buildings. Starting in March, the ground floor partitions and the tracks for the scenic ride are installed, offering a unique glimpse inside the attraction. Then, from July, the beams rise to the second floor. The metal framework that will be used to spray the concrete forming the rockwork appears. Towards the end of the year, construction extends to the village of Arendelle, which houses the restaurant. The first decorations appear with the placement of the rocks on the canal banks and the roofs of some buildings.
- ⚓Adventure Bay: The lake, covering 2.87 hectares and with a maximum depth of 3 meters, is fully excavated. Concrete slabs ensuring the watertightness of the water features are poured, as well as for the harbor and technical basin. The water pipes are also buried. Around April 2023, the concrete slab for mooring the show’s barges is poured in the center of the lake.
- 🍴The earthworks for the construction of The Regal View Restaurant and Lounge will take place between the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2023. The ground is leveled and compacted. Starting in October, conduits are installed in the shafts for the technical networks.
- 🏮At the end of the year, the first retaining walls are built for Raiponce Tangled Spin and the Pond.
- 🦺 Throughout the year, the construction site serves as a storage area for raw materials, building materials, network conduits, construction equipment, excavated soil…
The extension is rising (2024)
❄️ World of Frozen continues to rise from the ground with the installation of a metal mesh on the roof of the building that will support the rocks of the North Mountain. Only two cranes remain on site. Throughout the year, the land will progress at a steady pace. By July, the metal mesh covered most of the attraction building, hinting at the final shape of the rockwork. Arendelle Castle is nearly complete. The Village buildings are at various stages of completion: those near the attraction’s entrance have received their theming, while those further away are still in the structural phase. At the end of the year, numerous scaffolding structures cover the North Mountain as the rockwork is being built. The vegetation and snow paint can be seen on one side of the mountain. The final frosty decorative elements are being installed on the castle. The lighthouse is under construction. At this stage, all the buildings in World of Frozen have their load-bearing structure and roof. In November, the heating, air conditioning, and ventilation systems are installed on the roof of the attraction.
⚓On the Adventure Bay side, the lakebed is submerged by a few centimeters. Construction of the banks begins, and the terraced walkways take shape. Six months later, as planned, the lake reaches its final water level. By the end of the year, the technical basin is completely finished, the canal banks are planted with vegetation to screen the backstage areas from visitors’ view, the swing bridge has been installed, the walkways around the lake are marked out (although they are not yet paved to avoid damaging the cobblestones when construction vehicles pass), and the south canopy is under construction. The trees around the lake are planted in December.
🍴The Regal View Restaurant is rising from the ground with the help of a crane to erect the load-bearing walls. By the end of the first quarter, the ground floor is well underway, and the prefabricated concrete slabs used for decoration are being installed. Construction of the upper floor will then begin in the middle of the year, and finally, the roof will be completed before the end of 2024.
🏮Two more cranes arrived on site at the beginning of the year for the construction of the Rapunzel attraction and the East Pavilion. In March, the attraction’s platform was installed. The East Pavilion began to take shape with the construction of its load-bearing structures and ground-floor partitions. In July, the pavilion’s tower, housing the control room for the shows on the lake, was built. The copper-colored roof and the gazebo at the entrance were being installed on the Rapunzel attraction. The exterior decoration of the pavilion began in the last quarter of the year.
🪀 At the end of the year, the Toy Story Playland walkway takes shape with the clearing and leveling of the ground. This is the last area to be under construction.
Last full year of work (2025)
From 2025 onwards, all construction is underway.
⚓In January 2025, Disney added green dye to the lake to detect any potential water leaks, giving it a surreal appearance. It retained this color for several weeks before gradually fading until March. All the barges for the nighttime show were moored in the technical basin to allow Walt Disney Imagineering (WDI) to rehearse the Cascade of Lights show. These rehearsals took place several times in 2025, notably in June and October. Meanwhile, ground leveling began for the waterfall adjacent to the castle, which had received an amended permit in January 2025 to add further immersion.
The lake’s banks are being fitted with fixtures such as lighting, poles for the nighttime show, and barriers. Awnings, pavilions, and kiosks, currently under scaffolding, will be unveiled mid-year. Importantly for local residents, the southern embankment between World of Frozen and the future Lion King land will be raised from February 2025 until April, at which point all the different tree species will be planted.
❄️ The facades of the buildings in Arendelle village are finished, and the teams will dismantle the scaffolding in March. The trees in this area will also be planted at this time.
The rockwork decoration work continues until June 2025: using the numerous scaffolds, concrete is projected to form the rock with a forced perspective work, a technique widely used by Walt Disney Imagineering, then painted in the colors of the rocks, greenery, snow and frost for a very realistic rendering.
In mid-August, an important step was taken with the installation of Elsa’s palace on the North Mountain, marking the end of the decoration work on this part of the construction site .
🍴The Regal View Restaurant is now watertight and airtight, and workers are installing tarps-covered scaffolding all around the building to work on the exterior. The building will be uncovered starting in May, with most of its exterior decoration completed: copper-colored roofs, Art Nouveau floral paintwork, moldings, etc. The domes will be added gradually until September.
🌳At the beginning of the year, the notable changes in the Gazebo Garden included the construction of the gazebo, while on the Adventure Way side, the trees were planted and the lampposts installed. Balusters were built on the low walls bordering the garden. The area was paved until June 2025, with Adventure Way following the same schedule. At the beginning of summer, statues of Peter Pan, Winnie the Pooh, and the 101 Dalmatians were installed in the English Garden.
🏮At Raiponce Tangled Spin, the exterior of the building appears to be stagnating under tarps. However, it is inside that the teams are busy preparing for the arrival of the vehicles in January 2025. In July, the attraction receives its purple dome and then its spire.
In February, the pond was filled with water at the same time as Rapunzel’s boat was installed. It would be filled and emptied several times as needed for the work. In November, the small gazebo was finally built facing the pond.
🪀 The Toy Story Playland garden will receive the Woody and Jessie statues in January 2025. The area then progresses very quickly with soil compaction, the installation of pathway borders, the backfilling of verges with topsoil, and the planting of the first shrubs in just two months. In April, the wooden fencing delimiting the backstage area is erected. A problem with the ground forces the teams to demolish the existing surface and pour a new one. In July, the toy-themed lighting is installed, and the area will remain largely unchanged from that point onward, except for the addition of more greenery and benches.
🎈In July, a space left unused since the start of construction on the extension next to the East Pavilion began to be cleared. Announced on April 12, 2025, this will be the future attraction based on the theme of Up, Wilderness Explorers Sky Swings. Work is progressing rapidly, and before the end of the year, the earthworks, foundations, and first retaining walls will already be in place.
As a sign that the construction is nearing completion, rubbish bins will be distributed in the extension in December 2025. The final stretch is approaching.
Final stretch (2026)
Less than 3 months before the inauguration, the construction of the Walt Disney Studios extension is nearing completion.
🏮Most of the buildings are uncovered, including the Raiponce Tangled Spin attraction, which reveals its sign painted by the famous Princess. The pond is filled one last time at the very last moment.
🪀 In the Toy Story garden, colored wood chips are placed among the vegetation to evoke the toy theme. They will likely be replaced with flowers during the summer.
🌳Gazebo Garden is fully finished since the installation of the last technical elements next to the gazebo for future shows.
⚓The pavilions, kiosks and canopies around the lake are all finished as well and little activity is visible at the beginning of this year, except for some finishing touches concerning the decorations.
🍴However, scaffolding has been erected again in front of the south facade of the Regal View Restaurant and around the domes, possibly for last-minute adjustments following checks carried out by the Imagineers.
❄️ World of Frozen is not undergoing any changes at the start of this year given the progress of this part of the expansion.
Synthetic timeline
To summarize the project milestones, we offer a timeline highlighting the key moments of the extension:
Part 7 – Tests & Adjustments
Tests & Adjustments
Their role is to verify that the final product conforms to specifications and, if necessary, to adjust anything that doesn’t meet Disneyland Paris’s expected quality standards. This was the case with the Ratatouille attraction sign, which was replaced shortly before opening. At DAW, the scaffolding erected in early 2026 on the south facade of the Regal View Restaurant was also a possible sign of a last-minute change.
Attractions, shows, and procedures are tested before opening to the public, this is the Tests & Adjusts phase. From February 28th to March 2nd, Cast Members will be able to test the Frozen Ever After attraction and other experiences in the expansion to fine-tune the operational teams, verify the applicability of procedures in a real-world context, and adjust them if necessary.
Soft Openings
Soft-openings are a phase during which the land is opened to increasingly wider categories of the public to continue to fine-tune the operational teams, even if some activities may be limited.
Before the expansion launches, several soft-openings will take place:
- Cast Members from February 28th to March 2nd
- Cast Members and their relatives and friends from March 3rd to 12th
- Insidears on March 14th and 28th
- Annual Passport Members on March 15, 18, 23, 24 and 25
- Shareholders’ Club members on March 20 and 21
- Partners, suppliers and manufacturers throughout the month of March
At the end of the soft-openings, the extension will be ready to be officially opened.
Part 8 – Opening to the public
Inauguration
On Friday, March 27, the Parisian park welcomed the President of the Republic for a final site visit. Eight years after the official announcement in another palace, the Élysée, it was the new CEO, Josh d’Amaro, who greeted him and showed him around the area.
On Saturday, March 28, a media event took place with a conference on Disney Adventure World.
Sunday, March 29, 2026, marked a turning point for Disneyland Paris with the inauguration of the Disney Adventure World expansion, renamed for the occasion, which also featured a new visual identity and storyline. Spider-Man unveiled the new look for the Earful Tower, and several events were planned to celebrate this historic day for Disneyland Paris.
Opening to the public
Since that date, the public with a ticket to the park can enjoy the attractions, shows, restaurants, shops and activities of Adventure Way and World of Frozen.
They can watch visitors stroll through the gardens, enjoy the sound and light atmosphere, share emotions in the attractions and create memories that will remain forever etched in their minds.
Maintenance
Over time, the assets of the extension will wear out. To maintain the high level of quality required by Disneyland Paris, the attractions and decorations will undergo regular maintenance.
For the attractions, in addition to regular maintenance carried out at night, their upkeep will require a closure of several days. This will be an opportunity for the teams to replace worn parts, repaint accessories, mend the clothing of the Audio-Animatronics, etc.
As for the scenery, the furniture will be replaced gradually depending on its condition, and paint touch-ups will be applied to the barriers. The vegetation will also be maintained: flowers will be planted in the spring, trees will be pruned, and any dying trees will be replaced. The 1,000 trees of different species and 100,000 shrubs and bushes will present a real challenge for the horticultural teams.
On March 30th, images of Olaf freezing and falling to the ground went viral. However, the little robot quickly returned to full health, a sign that maintenance was able to get him back in working order quickly.
Evolutions
Finally, the expansion will not remain frozen.
Attractions will undergo changes through updates and improvements linked to technological advancements and visitor feedback. These changes can be technical or scenic in nature. For example, at EPCOT, the animated characters in Frozen Ever After, which previously had projected faces, were replaced with mechanical faces to enhance the realism of the characters and facilitate maintenance. The Paris version features the new animated characters.
But who knows what the magicians at Walt Disney Imagineering have in store for us?
As a famous storyteller said: “ Disneyland will never be completed. It will continue to grow as long as there is imagination left in the world .” Enough to make you roar with pleasure…