PHOTOS: Tour Disney Village at Disneyland Paris (Construction Updates & More)!
If you’ve visited Disneyland Paris recently, you’ll no doubt be aware that the Disney Village is currently in the midst of a HUGE refurbishment. Or, a “full-scale reimagining,” to put it the Disney way!
We visited the village this week, and took lots of photos of the area while we were there. Keep reading to learn what’s going on, see what has been affected, and find out just how much of the village is actually still accessible there right now!
Disney Village
Located right outside the Marne-la-Vallée Chessy train station, Disney Village serves as the Disneyland Paris resort’s main shopping and entertainment hub, and bridge between the parks and the Disney hotels.
It’s current state of transition has left the place feeling a bit confused in atmosphere, with guests needing to navigate through somewhat of a maze of construction to find the boutiques and restaurants still open in the refurbishment.
If you’re wondering just how big this refurbishment is going to be, even the Disneyland Paris website doesn’t offer a specific timeframe. Instead, it just says that the works will take place “in several phases over several years” – so it seems like we’re in for a bit of a wait!
A Maze of Construction
As you can see from our photos – taken earlier this week – there are currently a lot of construction walls to be found the entire way through the Disney Village passage.
While the walls themselves are green, you can see some are decorated with advertisements, concept art, and general directional signage.
For international guests perhaps more accustomed to the likes of Disney Springs in Walt Disney World or the Downtown Disney District in Disneyland, the Disney Village here in Paris might strike you as being on the smaller side.
Especially with the current closures associated with the refurbishment, it’s true that there aren’t too many shops still to experience here at the moment.
The shops currently open are:
- Disney Store
- World of Disney
- Boutique Rainforest Café
- The LEGO Store (more on that later!)
- Plus, a couple of “mini store” kiosks.
In terms of restaurants, the establishments currently open are:
- Annette’s Diner
- Billy Bob’s Country Western Saloon
- Billy Bob’s Buffet
- Brasserie Rosalie
- Comptoir Rosalie
- Earl of Sandwich
- Five Guys
- La Grange
- McDonald’s
- Rainforest Café
- Starbucks
- The Royal Pub
- The Steakhouse
- Vapiano
So, as you can see, Disney Village is certainly much more of a place to eat than a place to shop right now!
One store which remains open through the construction is the LEGO store, which has been relocated into a smaller premises for the time being.
As we head down into the corner which houses the new LEGO store, we did hear quite a lot of heavy construction taking place on the site of the former sports bar. Interestingly, this work was still audibly happening much later into the night too, after the parks closed at 9pm and we were walking back to our hotel!
Looking up, that iconic old “Disney Store” marquee sign is still affixed to the wall in this alcove. We wonder what the sign’s fate will be?
Talking of cute signage, we do love this adorable Disneyland Paris LEGO mural…
The LEGO “Clubhouse” location was much, much smaller than its old site, but we’re glad to see it’s still open through the refurbishment!
LEGO Mickey is still smiling away too, which we love to see!
Aside from the LEGO Store, World of Disney and Disney Store remain great places to stock up on park merchandise.
Here’s the Disney Store:
This collectible souvenir penny machine was outside, too:
Otherwise, the Disney Gallery and Disney Fashion stores remain indefinitely closed, tucked behind even more of that green-colored construction wall.
It has to be said, the walls are doing a fantastic job of hiding all the construction, making it hard to see what is actually going on.
The only actual physical construction we did see was located right outside of Earl of Sandwich – this photo was taken from the restaurant’s second floor seating area:
Not too cute a view while you’re enjoying a sandwich!
If you head out of Disney Village towards the hotels and Lake Disney, more construction walls follow, and there’s a good view of the hardworking cranes to be seen from a distance.
Despite the disruption, we believe the Disney Village reimagining will be completely welcomed by guests, and can’t wait to see how the area progresses as each phase of refurbishment goes ahead.
As always, be sure to stay tuned to MickeyBlog for updates from Disneyland Paris and beyond – we love having you follow along with the magic with us!
