How French is Disneyland Paris? About This Page:

[Roboman]

As I said, how French is it? Not culture wise, but what is the presence of the French language in the resort? I am planning a potential trip for summer 2011 and I am a huge fan of the American Disney Resorts, yet I would not want the experience altered by any language barriers. Certain members of my party, including myself, understand a basic level of the French language, but probably not fluent enough to say, understand attraction narrations or speak extended conversations with Cast Members. That said, are most attractions avaliable in both English and French? Roughly how many Cast Members are billingual?
Thank you for your help!

[chezp]

You don't need to speak any French to enjoy Disneyland Paris. : All Cast Members should be bilingual - the only issue I ever encountered was enquiring about an Annual Pass and her English wasn't great, but that's it. Often, if I try to speak French to them, they reply in English.

There are some attractions that are multi-lingual (the Lights, Moteurs Action Show and Cinemagique spring to mind immediately) and I've got a feeling, although I'm sure someone can correct me if I'm wrong, that there are a couple that are just in French - I'm thinking Pinocchio and perhaps Star Wars? Anyone able to confirm my fuzzy old memory?

[Disneybine]

I agree with Cheryl - not understanding French won't be a big deal at Disneyland Paris. I've yet to come across a cast member who doesn't speak English. All the restaurant menues are available in English, you get maps and times guides in English, and attractions where understanding narration is vital to the enjoyment are bilingual. Sometimes, French and English are mixed. For example, the live show Animagique has different Disney characters speaking and singing in French and English. Other shows have different languages at different times (for example, the Stitch show might be in English at 10am, French at 10:30am, Spanish at 11am, then again English at 11:30am and so on). Some attractions are in French only (I think at the Pinocchio ride, for example, the song in the background is in French but we enjoyed it nonetheless).

While I speak some French, my husband doesn't understand a word of it and he's never felt that that is a problem in any way at DLP. The Annual Pass center is probably one of the very few places that has mostly French speaking cast members, simply because the annual passes are primarily geared towards French guests. The British make up a huge percentage of all guests so naturally, Disney tries to make their stay as pleasant as possible.

Hope this helps. Anything else, just ask - I love talking about Disneyland Paris

[doombuggy]

I just got back from my trip 10/30-11/3 and felt it was very French. Not every CM I encountered spoke English, although i always politely asked in French. I had a big problem in my hotel gift shop when none of the CM's understood what I was asking.

The shows are passable, as mentioned above. Snow White, Pinoccio, and Star Tours are all in French (again I had an issue with communication here, when loading for the ride). I don't remember Peter Pan having any speach in it, but that was probably in French too (as my step-mom said, you're in France).

I got by. The resort is lovely and I did enjoy my stay there.

[Roboman]

Thanks! I guess my limited knowledge in French will come in hand. Now, just to cross my fingers that this trip takes off!

[mousejunkie98]

As previous posters have mentioned, all of the CMs are required to speak English. Other attractions that are in French are Phantom Manor (Haunted Mansion; just the part in the beginning in the creepy elevator) as well as the Tower of Terror. You'll still enjoy the ride! The "It's a Small World" song is in French Shows will be offered in English and French, either at different times or through the use of headsets. I speak fluent French but my husband speaks very, very little, and he enjoyed it as much as I did every time we went! We lived in Paris for 2 years and had annual passes, so that was quite often.

[WeRDisneyFanatics]

It's been 10 years since our visit, but we speak zero French and did just fine. The only problem we had was when we called down to the front desk to let them know that our bed had no sheets on it (), the two CMs they sent up hadn't gotten the details and we had difficulty communicating with them (there was a sheet tucked around the mattress but no top sheet or blanket or mattress pad).

[disneydreaming6]

We were in DLP August 2010....Niether me or my husband speak the language. We got along just fine.....the CM were very helpful and I don't remember any language barriers.
That being said, if you are planning on touring the city itself it may be a little more challenging! The French overall were very gracious and appreciate if you attempt to speak their language : )
Bring rain gear!!! We were caught in a downpour....only lasted a few minutes but we were soaked......not fun walkin around all wet & yucky.....we laugh about it now!
Have a fantastic trip!
Donna

[revtigger]

I found it not be to as French as I expected. I have been to DLP twice and loved it on both occasions. While cleanliness and maintenance was obviously not up to par with the US park, I consider DLP to be the most beautiful Disney park I have been to. On my first trip to DLP I didn't even know how to say hello in French. From the moment I arrived at DLP my inability to speak or understand French was not an issue. I found the cast members were all very helpful and able to speak English to me when they realised I didn’t speak French. Food menus listed everything in English and French. The majority of the attractions can be experienced in English. I found that the attractions that were in French still to be enjoyable and mostly understandable, already having an understanding of the most of these attractions from the US parks surely helps. There are exceptions, on my first trip I went to a Winnie the Pooh stage show that was a mixture of English and French, and it was quite confusing. But I still loved it, and hearing Eeyore sing in French is still one of the funniest things I have ever experienced. On my second trip I did have some communication difficulties at the hotel, once in the gift shop and a couple of times with housekeeper. If you go not being able to speak French, as long as you realise you will not understand everything, you will love it.

[barrackali]

From an ex cast members point of view I'd have to say that DLP is becoming more and more french. In the early days it was very much english / french speaking, all Cast Members should be bilingual...but in many cases they are not.

In saying all of this, you should enjoy Disneyland Paris regardless.

[katsunderthestars]

I was just there last month and I didn't find the language barrier to be much of a problem. I think as long as you're not having a long, complex conversation with a cast member, you're fine. The only place I had an issue at all was at a counter service restaurant where the cashier kept thinking I was saying "fries" when I was actually saying "rice".

Just remember though, in France, the greeting is very important in french manners, so before you say anything, even in english, always precede it with saying "Bonjour!".

Also, not all of the rides say "Exit" in english, so make sure you know that "Sortie" means Exit.

Make sure you see "Captain EO" in 3D! It's the original from the 80s and it's completely in English!