On 7th July 2018 Disneyland Paris hosted their second annual pass night at the Walt Disney Studios Park. The event was open to those with Infinity and Magic Plus passes plus two guests. Coming a month in to the Summer of Marvel big things were expected. We had a good night but the evening was far from perfect.
Arrival
When we arrived we joined the queue being warned that doors wouldn’t open until the start time of 8:30pm. Once in the queue we couldn’t leave and re-join. We had hoped to be in the park prior to the start as with FanDaze. While in the queue cast members came around handing out a programme and exclusive pin for the night. Both were very impressive and a good way to start the night.
Programme
The programme had been released prior to the night through those part of the Insidears programme so there was little in the way of surprises on the programme itself. There was a Marvel Conference which was expected to cover the comics and behind the scenes information around the Marvel Super Heroes United stunt show. We skipped this as it didn’t interest us. There was one Marvel show of Guardians of the Galaxy dance off. We’d also seen this earlier in the day so missed this out.
Marvel Meet and Greets
There were several Marvel meet and greets; Spiderman, Black Widow, Captain America and Thor with Loki. We had already met Spiderman previously and Captain America earlier in the day so skipped these also. The Thor and Loki queue closed by 9:50pm though the soiree ended at 12:30 meaning we weren’t able to meet them. We saw reports of the queue reaching over 3 hours. For a 4 hour party it is clear Disneyland Paris massively underestimated the popularity of characters you can’t normally meet. We also didn’t manage to get to the Black Widow queue before it closed.
Rides
They had teased changes to some rides for the evening. Our final ride of the night was Rock n Rollercoaster. Some small changes had been made. The usual soundtrack had been replaced by Iron Man, all the pre-show had been closed and effects before the ride turned off. The lights were also off during the ride itself. This was disappointing but not as much of a let-down as our first ride. On Tower of Terror all the effects and sounds had been turned off throughout the ride. The doors didn’t open at any point and it was in total darkness. We had been expecting some form of diluted Mission Breakout with at least the soundtrack being changed. We were also hoping for some different visuals on the screens in the library and on the ride. We heard later they can put some form of Mission Breakout soundtrack on the ride itself but that seemed to be very late in the evening and disappointed those that experienced it.
On a positive note almost every ride was walk on with the exception of Crush’s Coaster which peaked at about 35 minutes but was only 15 minutes when we queued. We were able to ride everything in the park. Only the shows and Tram Tour weren’t open.
That’s Not Marvel
We knew before the event that would be some rare Disney characters. As big Disney fans we were quite happy with this but given the lack of Marvel characters we would have rather they had been replaced by the likes of Iron Man, Nebula, Black Panther, Scarlett Witch, Doctor Strange, Bruce Banner and Big Hero 6 characters. All of these had appeared at Disneyland Paris in some form already so they were available.
We were able to meet Boo, Sully, Bullseye, Jessie, Jasmine and Sultan. Adding another three characters we’d never met before was great. Mike Wasowski, George Sanderson, Woody, Buzz, Abu, Genie, Frozone and Mr and Mrs Incredible were also available for meet and greets. We had already met all of these. For Marvel fans these meets would have been a big let-down as they added up to more non-Marvel than Marvel meets.
There was meant to be a 70s and 80s DJ party for the final hour but apart from YMCA all we heard were songs from the last 10 years. It certainly didn’t seem to include any Marvel related music.
Negatives
For a party advertise as a Marvel event it certainly lacked a lot of Marvel. Given the long queues for Marvel Super Heroes United we expected that they would have at least one showing. Given how the character meets seem to be covered by those appearing in the Stark Expo or daily character meets, running the show seemed possible. Having Thor and Loki as well as Black Widow only out for 30 minute spells at a time prevented queues dropping at a sensible rate. At the very least they could have alternated these with another character. Though my preference would be to make sure they have at least two of each character available.
The night was incredible hot with temperatures in the high 20’s. We saw someone in the Thor/Loki queue who appeared to have passed out but Cast members came to their aid quickly. Reports did come out about another medical incident where Cast members didn’t appear to be so helpful but we didn’t witness it.
Final Thoughts
We enjoyed the night and arguably there was more on offer than at the first Annual Pass night. Given the offerings available during the day the Marvel offerings were disappointing and a bit lazy. For €39 each (about half a day ticket price) the short queues on the rides alone may justify the price. Given that this was for annual pass holders who attend regularly this is unlikely to be worth what it would to a casual visitor. We will try another of these parties in the future and have higher hopes for the 90th Birthday Mickey party later in the year.
One final word should go out to the many people that did dress up as various Marvel characters which brought a lot to the atmosphere in the park.
When we arrived we joined the queue being warned that doors wouldn’t open until the start time of 8:30pm. Once in the queue we couldn’t leave and re-join. We had hoped to be in the park prior to the start as with FanDaze. While in the queue cast members came around handing out a programme and exclusive pin for the night. Both were very impressive and a good way to start the night.
Programme
The programme had been released prior to the night through those part of the Insidears programme so there was little in the way of surprises on the programme itself. There was a Marvel Conference which was expected to cover the comics and behind the scenes information around the Marvel Super Heroes United stunt show. We skipped this as it didn’t interest us. There was one Marvel show of Guardians of the Galaxy dance off. We’d also seen this earlier in the day so missed this out.
There were several Marvel meet and greets; Spiderman, Black Widow, Captain America and Thor with Loki. We had already met Spiderman previously and Captain America earlier in the day so skipped these also. The Thor and Loki queue closed by 9:50pm though the soiree ended at 12:30 meaning we weren’t able to meet them. We saw reports of the queue reaching over 3 hours. For a 4 hour party it is clear Disneyland Paris massively underestimated the popularity of characters you can’t normally meet. We also didn’t manage to get to the Black Widow queue before it closed.
Rides
They had teased changes to some rides for the evening. Our final ride of the night was Rock n Rollercoaster. Some small changes had been made. The usual soundtrack had been replaced by Iron Man, all the pre-show had been closed and effects before the ride turned off. The lights were also off during the ride itself. This was disappointing but not as much of a let-down as our first ride. On Tower of Terror all the effects and sounds had been turned off throughout the ride. The doors didn’t open at any point and it was in total darkness. We had been expecting some form of diluted Mission Breakout with at least the soundtrack being changed. We were also hoping for some different visuals on the screens in the library and on the ride. We heard later they can put some form of Mission Breakout soundtrack on the ride itself but that seemed to be very late in the evening and disappointed those that experienced it.
On a positive note almost every ride was walk on with the exception of Crush’s Coaster which peaked at about 35 minutes but was only 15 minutes when we queued. We were able to ride everything in the park. Only the shows and Tram Tour weren’t open.
That’s Not Marvel
We knew before the event that would be some rare Disney characters. As big Disney fans we were quite happy with this but given the lack of Marvel characters we would have rather they had been replaced by the likes of Iron Man, Nebula, Black Panther, Scarlett Witch, Doctor Strange, Bruce Banner and Big Hero 6 characters. All of these had appeared at Disneyland Paris in some form already so they were available.
We were able to meet Boo, Sully, Bullseye, Jessie, Jasmine and Sultan. Adding another three characters we’d never met before was great. Mike Wasowski, George Sanderson, Woody, Buzz, Abu, Genie, Frozone and Mr and Mrs Incredible were also available for meet and greets. We had already met all of these. For Marvel fans these meets would have been a big let-down as they added up to more non-Marvel than Marvel meets.
There was meant to be a 70s and 80s DJ party for the final hour but apart from YMCA all we heard were songs from the last 10 years. It certainly didn’t seem to include any Marvel related music.
For a party advertise as a Marvel event it certainly lacked a lot of Marvel. Given the long queues for Marvel Super Heroes United we expected that they would have at least one showing. Given how the character meets seem to be covered by those appearing in the Stark Expo or daily character meets, running the show seemed possible. Having Thor and Loki as well as Black Widow only out for 30 minute spells at a time prevented queues dropping at a sensible rate. At the very least they could have alternated these with another character. Though my preference would be to make sure they have at least two of each character available.
The night was incredible hot with temperatures in the high 20’s. We saw someone in the Thor/Loki queue who appeared to have passed out but Cast members came to their aid quickly. Reports did come out about another medical incident where Cast members didn’t appear to be so helpful but we didn’t witness it.
Final Thoughts
We enjoyed the night and arguably there was more on offer than at the first Annual Pass night. Given the offerings available during the day the Marvel offerings were disappointing and a bit lazy. For €39 each (about half a day ticket price) the short queues on the rides alone may justify the price. Given that this was for annual pass holders who attend regularly this is unlikely to be worth what it would to a casual visitor. We will try another of these parties in the future and have higher hopes for the 90th Birthday Mickey party later in the year.
One final word should go out to the many people that did dress up as various Marvel characters which brought a lot to the atmosphere in the park.
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