Disney’s beloved kingdom of Arendelle, from the hit film “Frozen,” has found a permanent home just east of Paris, complete with a picturesque lagoon, a charming Nordic village, and an interactive robotic snowman.
This immersive new land, “World of Frozen,” marks the centrepiece of a €2 billion (£1.7 billion) expansion transforming Walt Disney Studios Park into Disney Adventure World, officially opening on Sunday.
Visitors to the enchanted realm at Disneyland Paris can experience the Frozen Ever After boat ride and meet beloved characters Anna and Elsa. The extensive relaunch also introduces a vast central lake, a “Tangled” attraction, 15 new dining options, and a spectacular nighttime show featuring what Disney claims is the world’s first combined aquatic and aerial drone system.
More than 90% of the second park will have been redesigned since it opened in 2002.
It is no coincidence that “Frozen” and “Tangled” anchor the new lineup at Europe’s sole Disney resort.
Both are rooted in European folklore — “Frozen” loosely in Hans Christian Andersen’s “The Snow Queen,” and “Tangled” in the Brothers Grimm’s Rapunzel — and Disney is leaning into that heritage.
“’Frozen’ has its roots in European storytelling,” said Michel den Dulk, vice president and creative director at Walt Disney Imagineering. “To have a northern European, charming wooden little village here in Disneyland Paris just made sense.”
The park opened in 1992 as Euro Disney to withering criticism. French intellectuals at the time called it a “cultural Chernobyl.”
Now Disney says the resort has drawn 445 million visits and supports 70,000 jobs.
The Paris investment is reportedly one piece of a roughly $60 billion global expansion of Disney’s parks and experiences business, which generated 57% of the company’s segment operating income in fiscal 2025.
French President Emmanuel Macron called the resort “the leading tourist destination in Europe” during a visit to the park Friday and said the expansion would create 1,000 direct jobs.
