Disneyland Resort Paris
Disneyland Resort Paris is a theme park in Marne-la-Vallée, near Paris. It is run by Euro Disney SCA, a corporation 39% owned by The Walt Disney Company. Construction began in 1988 and the theme park complex officially opened as "Euro Disney" on April 12, 1992, but attendances were disappointingly low. Furthermore, the theme park faced protests by those who thought a Disney park in France would harm French culture.
In October 1994, Euro Disney changed its name to "Disneyland Paris," and later to "Disneyland Resort Paris." By 1995, Disneyland Paris started to attract more visitors and what began as a near failure for the Walt Disney Company became more successful.
Disneyland Resort Paris is between the original Disneyland and the much larger Walt Disney World in size. Disneyland Paris has five major sections: its version of the Disneyland theme park (Magic Kingdom, essentially); the Walt Disney Studios Park, a theme park similar to Walt Disney World's Disney/MGM Studios; its version of the Disney Village; the Disney Hotels area; and Golf Disneyland.
The park is easily reached by car; near Paris, large billboards guide visitors. The park also has its own train station where the TGV (named Thalys when coming from Brussels) stops as well as its own RER (commuter train) station, so visitors to Paris can easily take the RER straight to the park. (However, the park lies outside of the central Paris metrozones. Therefore, a slightly more expensive ticket is needed to avoid a fine and to exit the station.)
