Feature Article: Ratatouille at Disneyland Paris - A Disneyland Paris Attraction Review - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Feature Article: Ratatouille at Disneyland Paris - A Disneyland Paris Attraction Review
Ratatouille at Disneyland Paris - A Disneyland Paris Attraction Review by Jennifer Lambert
As Chef Gusteau said in the Disney-Pixar movie Ratatouille, "Anyone can cook!"
And now at Disneyland Paris, anyone can experience what it's like to be the size of a rat running in the new ride Ratatouille at the Disney Studios park! My husband and I recently returned from a twelve day trip to the United Kingdom that ended with two days at Disneyland Paris. That gave us the opportunity to experience the new Ratatouille-themed area and ride, which opened on July 10, 2014 (as a coincidence, our wedding anniversary). The new area is part of the Toon Studio section of the Disney Studios Park at the Disneyland Paris Resort, a short walk from Parc Disneyland, Disney Village, and the three Disney resort hotels.
This new themed area follows the trend started at Cars Land at Disney California Adventure, immersing guests in a theme dedicated to a single film franchise. The new land opened on July 10, 2014 and currently includes a restaurant, attraction, and restrooms, with a souvenir shop planned to open as well. My husband and I learned about the new attraction when we watched our 3D Blu Ray of "Frozen," which we bought from the UK ("Frozen" is not yet available in 3D Blu Ray in the U.S. currently). Featured on the DVD was a promotion for the new ride at Disneyland Paris. We were hooked and already had a trip planned "over the pond" to the United Kingdom, so we found a way to incorporate a trip to Disneyland Paris into our itinerary.
The new land and attraction were announced in 2013 and has a perfect home at Disneyland Paris (after all, miss, this is France! --sorry, wrong movie). You enter via a French courtyard complete with cobblestone streets, Parisian buildings, and a central water fountain decorated with some familiar faces. The fountain shows Remy and his friends popping champagne bottles in celebration of Remy's new restaurant, Chez Remy, which is just across the plaza. If you look up at the building rooftops you'll see they are reminiscent of the movie, and there is also a large Chef Gusteau holding his famous frying pans ,looking down to welcome you to the area. Upon our arrival we went immediately to the FASTPASS kiosks and obtained our return times for later in the day. Wait times for the new attraction were about 90-120 minutes during our stay in August 2014, so we were pretty happy to get FASTPASS tickets. We returned at the designated time slot (which is 30 minutes vs. the 60 minutes we're used to in the States) and entered the queue.
The new attraction is a combination of 3D technology and 4D special effects, with a new 'trackless' ride operating system. Because of our FASTPASSes, we missed the fun of the standby queue, which includes a welcome by Chef Gusteau himself, both in English and in French. Emile (Remy’s brother) gives the safety speech in English and French as you put on your 3D glasses and enter your rat. The ride is set in the kitchen of Gusteau’s restaurant, where you are now rat-sized and are being chased around the kitchen by Remy’s nemesis, Chef Skinner. The first scene shows Remy pondering what to cook, (Ratatouille of course, as coached by Gusteau) and then suddenly you are darting through the kitchen. You find yourself under the flames of the stove; near the fridge, and into the dining room, all while trying to escape from Skinner (Linguini's there to give you a hand). You pass giant fish, fruits, meat, and vegetables along the way and end up witnessing Remy cooking it up in HIS kitchen and dining room at his new restaurant, Chez Remy.
The ride ends with a view of the real Chez Remy restaurant, similar to the view of Blue Bayou restaurant from California Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean and San Angel Inn from the Gran Fiesta Tour attraction at Epcot's Mexico pavilion. 3D technology is used on giant screens as you race through the scenes while your trackless rat-vehicle moves about, seemingly without a pattern. 4D technology comes into play when you feel the heat from the stove.
The ride is unique and so much fun; a great new way to be immersed in the story, thanks to the large 3D screens and larger than life props. You spin and turn and at times we forgot we were watching a screen; the feeling was very real. After our ride, we kept our new rat size and checked in for our dinner reservation at Chez Remy's, which is another story to be told in a future article!
What do you think? Please add your own comments, experiences, or news related to this article in this thread! Reader feedback is welcomed and encouraged.
I loved reading this, as we went on Ratatouille a couple of times during our trip to Disneyland Paris in November and we loved it! It's a lot of fun and very unique, although I'm sure that Disney will be using similar technology on rides in the future, as it's worked so well here.
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It's a lot of fun and very unique, although I'm sure that Disney will be using similar technology on rides in the future, as it's worked so well here.
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