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Editor’s note: Disneyland Paris hosted the author to showcase the new Avengers Campus. The opinions expressed below are entirely hers and weren’t subject to review by Disney or any other entity.
The Avengers have assembled and their next mission brings them across the Atlantic and to Disneyland Paris.
As Disney’s second land themed to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, Avengers Campus officially opened at Walt Disney Studios Park at Disneyland Paris on July 22. On the heels of the resort’s 30th-anniversary celebration, the opening marks a pivotal moment for the European theme park as the first in a series of significant investments, including an upcoming Frozen-themed land that is currently under construction.
Avengers Campus Paris takes much of its inspiration from its predecessor at Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, which opened in 2021, and builds upon it, with additional attention to detail and dining.
The land’s story is themed to the global Avengers initiative and is meant to be a place to inspire and train the next generation of heroes.
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As a guest of Disney, I was able to spend a few days visiting Avengers Campus Disneyland Paris during its opening week to bring you the first look.
First some basics. Much like how in California there is both Disneyland Park and Disney California Adventure, there are also two different parks at Disneyland Paris. There is Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park, the latter of which is where the new Avengers Campus is located.
To enter the park, guests must have a dated ticket for the desired visit or register their date with an undated ticket or annual pass. Downloading the Disneyland Paris app is critical as this will help you monitor wait times and reserve dining and character experiences.
A standard queue is set up for entry into the land with the approximate wait time listed in the mobile app.
Guests with either dining or character reservations can enter the land via an expedited line. I visited the land several times during my trip and each time was immediately granted access despite quoted wait times of up to 30 minutes. I was particularly impressed by how Disney cast members (their word for employees) handled the flow of guests given both theme parks were at capacity that week.
Related: 7 things a first-time visitor to Disneyland Paris should know
As a Magic Key holder, I’ve visited the Disney California Adventure Park version of Avenger’s Campus many times … but admittedly have never been wowed. That land pales in comparison to the grandeur of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge and has a few glaring shortcomings.
Maybe it was that opening week buzz, but this Paris version feels livelier than its California counterpart. It has an improved layout that helps with the overall flow of guests and also allows for easier character interactions. The bareness of Anaheim’s version was improved upon here with tons of intricate detailing, including details such as colored tiles on the ground that sparkle in the sun’s reflection.
There are also additional food options and an Iron Man-themed attraction. With all of these elements working in tandem, it truly feels like self-contained land in a way the California version doesn’t quite accomplish.
Related: Want to save on a Disney vacation, grab your passport
There are two attractions in the land and both are available to ride via a standard standby queue or single-rider line. They are anticipated to become a part of the add-on Premier Access service in the future.
This attraction is an almost identical clone to the West Coast version at Disneyland.
Guests climb aboard a vehicle where they are transformed with spider-like abilities during the screen-based, interactive attraction. Alongside Spiderman himself, you’ll don 3D glasses as you battle Spider-Bots before they take over the Campus. It’s family-friendly and has no height minimum.
This is a total reimagining of the former Rock ‘n’ Roller coaster starring Aerosmith.
In the storyline, F.R.I.D.A.Y has informed guests that a threat has been detected from deep space and calls upon Captain Marvel and other Avengers to come to the rescue.
The pre-ride happenings are a highlight in themselves, with a queue featuring the first audio-animatronic Iron Man, marking the first fully electric audio-animatronic park.
The pre-show is a briefing from Iron Man and it shines with the use of a nearly $1 million screen, Samsung’s The Wall. This technology enables the screen to be seen in immaculate detail from any distance or angle.
The looping video features a bounty of Disney ‘Easter eggs’, including cross-references to both Avengers Quantum Encounters from the Marvel-themeed restaurant on Disney Wish and Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout.
After the pre-show, I found the ride itself to be a bit bare in terms of retheming, but it is still a fun element of the land. Word of warning: the ride is every bit as aggressive as its previous incarnation.
Training Center is an intimate experience where guests receive one-on-one training in a private room from a “hero”, including Iron Man and Captain Marvel. Heroes guide recruits through a set of training exercises as state-of-the-art cameras document the experience through still and motion photography.
The sought-after experience operates on a virtual queue with no standby traditional line offered at this time. Guests can join the virtual queue in the app only after entering Walt Disney Studios Park at 10 a.m., 2 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.
During my visit, I saw time slots pop up in the app throughout the day and was able to secure a visit with Captain Marvel. This proved to be a highlight of my time in Avengers Campus as the visit was extremely personalized and didn’t feel rushed.
Let’s talk food. I’d say that all by itself, the food can be a reason to visit Disneyland Paris.
The ante was upped at Avengers Campus with several standout dining options. Unlike in Anaheim, there’s plenty of indoor seating found at its three restaurants — a welcome addition in France’s climate that sees warm summers and snowy winters.
The menus highlight globally inspired foods reflective of the vast different lands represented in the Marvel Cinematic Universe.
Open for both lunch and dinner, PYM Test Kitchen is an all-you-care-to-enjoy dining experience that requires reservations.
The food playfully alters portion sizes as a riff on the technology — ‘pym particles’ — that Ant-Man and The Wasp used to grow and shrink food.
Science never tasted so delicious as the menu is eclectic, like freekeh and smoked salmon ancestral salad and a giant pretzel sandwich stuffed with smoked salmon and horseradish Cantadou cheese. The playfulness extends to the beverage menu with a particles mocktail, blue chardonnay, and a small-scale beer flight.
Housed in the former Stark assembly line, this quick service restaurant is the largest in the land, offering several dining rooms with ample, climate-controlled seating.
The main fare is pasta, salads, and pizza, with a standout being a slice topped with creamy stracciatella. It’s worth a visit to check out a replica of Peggy Carter’s desk which doubles as a dining table.
Without a doubt, one of the coolest dining spaces is Super Diner.
The 1950’s style diner has authentic indoor diner-style seating, including countertop bar stools and booths, as well as a patio. It operates as a quick-service dining location with some elements of table service as the cast members will take your order and serve you wherever you are seated.
The menu is simple, featuring takes on a classic New York-style Reuben sandwich. They also serve the choco-blast here, a twist on the popular choco-smash from Avengers Campus in Anaheim, and arguably even better.
The land also houses two food trucks, WEB – Worldwide Eating Brigade and The FAN-tastic Food Truck.
The latter is said to be Tony Stark’s all-time favorite with a menu largely revolving around New York favorites, including hot dogs and cheesecake. Adorned on the truck, you can find homages to the Anaheim version of the Campus, like a Shawarma Palace sticker, and teases to Hong Kong Disneyland’s upcoming Stark Expo.
Related: Travel from London to Disneyland Paris
The characters of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are arguably the heart and soul of the land, coming together in its center.
Compared to the land’s counterpoint in California, which also leans into live characters, I found the character interaction here to be an absolute standout. This is a land truly fueled by the characters and at any moment several experiences can be going on at the same time.
From Loki and Thor bantering amongst guests to Spider-Man scaling down the towering walls, it’s all going on in a way that feels organic and natural to the space.
The layout is designed to make it easy to navigate around these experiences without feeling like you’re missing out. From one central point, you can easily see on-the-ground interactions as well as those high in the sky on top of the Quinjet’s landing.
Throughout the day, F.R.I.D.A.Y (Tony Stark’s A.I. assistant) makes announcements along a large screen that covers the Avengers Assemble: Flight Force building.
With any new land opening, there’s no shortage of limited-edition merchandise and this is no exception. There is one new store in the land, Mission Equipment, and an additional pop-up store located at the main entrance to the land. The popular Spider-bots are for sale in addition to branded merchandise exclusive to Paris.
I really shouldn’t have saved this until this far into the story, as it makes this whole experience feel holistic in a way that isn’t replicated elsewhere.
Marvel enthusiasts and casual fans alike can end their day in the park at the only Marvel-themed Disney resort in the world. Disney’s Hotel New York: The Art of Marvel (yes, that’s the name though it is located in France), is higher end with the franchise-theming carefully woven throughout its upscale grounds via art galleries, dining, and exclusive experiences.
Marvel fans will be particularly interested in two experiences that are exclusive to resort guests.
Super Hero Station is part character meet and greet and part photo-op experience, housed in an expansive space. Here, guests can recreate iconic scenes from beloved films on large-scale sets.
The Marvel Design Studio is an art workshop that invites guests to receive training from a comic book artist in yet another highly-themed atmosphere.
Related: I’ve visited every Disney park — these are the best
For domestic Disney park fans, on the international stage, Disneyland Paris is often overshadowed by the more flashy Tokyo Disneyland Resort. But maybe that changes some with the recent Marvel additions.
This was my fourth time visiting the European theme park, and my first time leaving already yearning to go back.
Avengers Campus has brought a new level of energy to the property, making it a must for even casual fans of the franchise. I was most surprised that I found myself spending hours in the land each day of my visit.
It’s evident that Disney embraced what they learned from the shortcomings of Avengers Campus at the Disneyland Resort and learned from them with this second iteration. I visited opening week and was genuinely surprised by how seamless everything was — from the handling of virtual queues to food lines.
The opening of new theme park attractions and lands is rarely without its hiccups, so it’s really saying something that I didn’t encounter a single one after spending several days there.
To put it another way, Avengers Campus is the breath of fresh air that Walt Disney Studios Park desperately needed.
Feature image by Carly Caramanna/The Points Guy
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Welcome to The Points Guy!
The credit card offers that appear on the website are from credit card companies from which ThePointsGuy.com receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site (including, for example, the order in which they appear). This site does not include all credit card companies or all available credit card offers. Please view our advertising policy page for more information.
Editorial Note: Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank, credit card issuer, airlines or hotel chain, and have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.