I am a longtime Disney fan and former Disneyland Paris (DLP) Cast Member who currently lives in London, where most of my time is taken up preparing for a “Mouse Tales” style book I am writing about the resort. I go to DLP several times a year and also often visit Walt Disney World (WDW) and Disneyland in California (DL).
I write for DLDhistory.com and do some occasional proofreading and fact-checking for websites, books and e-books about Disney. This may imply I know something about the company, and may be why Carol has foolishly asked me to write a semi-regular blog for MouseScrappers.com
As my knowledge is mostly on DLP, and as Carol says most of you guys visit WDW more than any other resort, I figured that my blogs here should compare the two. I apologize in advance that a lot of what I write for MouseScrappers may be a glorified re-hash of some of my DLDhistory articles, where I compare DL with DLP.
I will be looking mostly at “park one” of the resorts (Magic Kingdom in WDW and Disneyland Park at DLP) rather than, say, the hotels, shopping district or the other parks.
My short term plan is to cover the Railroad in my first article. Then, my next articles will cover the lands found in DLP and comparing them to their MK equivalent:
- Adventureland
- Discoveryland (the DLP equivalent of Tomorrowland)
- Fantasyland
- Frontierland
- Main Street, U.S.A.
(There is no version of Liberty Square in DLP)
Do please get in touch with me if you have any questions about any of my blogs, if you notice any errors in any of my writings or if you think you have some DLP info which may be of use for my book: hughallison@dldhistory.com
14 replies on “For your future reading pleasure…”
I’m curious about your futur article because I’m a local at DLP (I’m going almost every week end) and I’m going to visit WDW for the second time this year. A new point of view will be interesting ^^ Love the idea !
LOOKING forward to what YOU share about the RR .Perfect starting point for ? 1 is it a Fact Walt’s model RR was inspiration for the PARKS ? looking forward to learn more.
@mommom
Hi mommom. I am intentionally not talking too much about the history of the Railroad itself. There is a lot of things out there about the Railroad, and I don’t want to cover too much that is already written about. My article is mainly to compare the WDW Railroad with the one at DLP. Even then, I may still be skimming the basics. But to (sort of) answer your question, Walt loved Railroads in general (big and miniature) and it was this love which caused him to (a) have his own model railroad and (b) have one in Disneyland. My assumption is that, seeing as Disneyland had one, WDW felt it had to have one, and soforth….
I would say his model RR was one of the inspirations for the RR in DL. I doubt his RR would have been inspiration for anything else at DL. Or that it would have influenced the RR’s in the other Disney parks elsewhere in the world (even though the one at DL would have inspired their design and existence)
Hi mommom. I am intentionally not talking too much about the history of the Railroad itself. There is a lot of things out there about the Railroad, and I don’t want to cover too much that is already written about. My article is mainly to compare the WDW Railroad with the one at DLP. Even then, I may still be skimming the basics. But to (sort of) answer your question, Walt loved Railroads in general (big and miniature) and it was this love which caused him to (a) have his own model railroad and (b) have one in Disneyland. My assumption is that, seeing as Disneyland had one, WDW felt it had to have one, and soforth….
Hi Linece. Glad you are looking forward to the articles. Have you been to any of the other resorts? (California, Tokyo, Hong Kong?) I am looking for various “regular DLP visitors” to interview for my book. Would you be willing to help out with this?
@HughA
I’ve never been to the others resorts, I’m waiting the opening of Shangai to do a road trip including Honk kong and Tokyo ^^ And it will be a pleasure to answer your questions !
@Linece
Thanks. Could you email me to the DLDhistory address (as per above) so I can get your email address, so I can send you the questions privately.
@Linece
PS – I just noticed your avatar. Very funny.
Btw, Carol will be putting out my DLP/WDW comparsion articles on the second monday of January, April, July and October.
Can’t wait for these articles! We are regulars at DLP and frequently do research on the park and go on the guided tours as ofen as we can. We often get wrong off the cast mambers for knowing the answers to all their questions… Ooops hehe. I love that the new blog feature allows for these posts that we could never have experienced before.
Hi Melidy,
Thanks for this. First article coming within the next few hours. Would you be willing to answer some questions for me please for the book I am writing?
(Btw, how many DLP guided tours are there? – I thought only one per park?)
Hugh
@HughA Yes one per park at DLP, but different cast members know totally different facts so although the bare bones are similar each experience has totally different facts. We have also done guided tours at WDW.
Me and my partener would be more than happy to anwer any questions for your book
@melidy
Thanks. Could you email me at the DLDhistory email address at the base of my main article. Then I will have your email, and I can send you some questions.