Backstage Pass

A sneak peek into Disneyland Paris’ backstage area

4 min readJul 3, 2014

Magic has been always a passport to a world where anything is possible and where we forget about the real world. Magic can be defined in many ways- from magic tricks to pure enchantment and beauty. The best example of the last two words is Disneyland Paris, a place where great adventures and childhood dreams come true, a place where we forget that we are in the real world. For more than 22 years, Disneyland Paris was the top leader of themed entertainment in Europe, by creating unique experiences that would make Walt proud. But, behind all this magic, they are over 15,000 people called Cast-Members, who keep everything work and make every visitor’s day unforgettable. This huge theater with actors, decors and the public has, of course, a backstage. In this article I will present you, with the help of some maps and photos, what hides in the backstage of Disneyland Paris, what keeps the magic alive.

Parades

Near “It’s a Small World” show building is a facility where all the parade floats are kept and maintained. With the red line, you can see the area where the parade floats line up and where the parade performers come from the costume facility, that is located in Walt Disney Studios behind La Place de Rémy, with the bus.

The red line represents the path where the parade floats line up

Because the parade at DLP is performed once a day (despite the fact that American parks do it twice), all the floats have to go on a backstage route, instead of going back via onstage.

Disneyland Railroad

If the trees surrounding Indiana Jones et le Temple du Peril were not there, right after the lift-hill ends, you would be able to see a large building, one that keeps one of the greatest symbols of a Disney Park and represents Walt’s greatest passion: trains.

The building where the trains are stored and maintained

The storage and maintenance building is right behind Indiana Jones attraction. It has service track that intersects with the main one right before the train gets inside The Pirates of the Caribbean show building. If you look back before entering into it, you would be able to catch a glimpse of that area of the backstage.

The building can be seen from outside the park too

Fireworks

The fireworks for Disney Dreams! Or, as you may already know, launched from the top of “Blanche Neige et les Sept Nains” show building and “Sir Mickey’s Boutique”. But for preparing the fireworks shells, requires a separate area.

The area where the pyrotechnics are prepared is right behind the Meet Mickey Mouse Building

This site is located just behind Meet Mickey Mouse building and, as you may notice, there are several container- style constructions. They are more because the Pyro industry requires that to avoid accidents (example: If a shell explodes in one building, the other ones will be safe because these constructions are made of steel and concrete so they will resist to the explosion. This will prevent a huge explosion to happen in the back of the park). After the pyrotechnicians are done with the fireworks shells, Fantasyland closes so they are able to place the shells in their place and be sure that the show is ready to run safely and correctly.

Horticulture

As you may know, horticulture represents an important part of the Disney experience- from bamboos and palm trees to flowers and topiaries; all are kept and grown in greenhouses located behind “It’s a Small World”, for replacing the actual flowers with some fresh ones and for creating beautiful topiaries for celebrations like Spring Promenade.

Here is a 3D view of them

Decorations

This does not require a description at all. In the photos you will see the Halloween decorations that are stored outside the building where they are crafted.