Construction Update on the Walt Disney Studios Park Expansion

Disneyland Paris is the only Disney theme park resort in the world that remains closed due to the (yes, you guessed it) pandemic. That’s not to say it hasn’t reopened since it first closed. The French resort did reopen last summer but was forced to close due to France’s updated government guidelines.

Long before the pandemic in the olden days of 2018, 27th February to be precise, Disney announced a €2 billion investment in the resort, which includes refurbishing the existing resort and expanding Walt Disney Studios Park with a new central lake, and three new areas themed to Marvel, Frozen, and Star Wars.

READ: Disneyland’s Avengers Campus Park Map And New Spider-Man Ride Details

Construction on the retheming the “Backlot” area of Walt Disney Studios to Avengers Campus began in 2019 with the closures of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Avec Aerosmith and Armageddon – Les Effets Speciaux. Construction did stop momentarily at the beginning of France’s first lockdown in March 2020, but they were allowed to continue shortly after and throughout 2020 and 2021, work has been coming along.

Avengers Campus was set to open in 2021, around the same time as Disney’s California Adventure. Word is still out on whether it’ll be pushed back to 2022, but if the current state of construction is anything to go by then, it’ll likely be pushed back.

Since the Backlot area mostly uses existing structures to retrofit into the new Avengers theming, it’s no surprise that construction is more ahead than any other new additions. In the image above, you can see the exterior frame of what will be the Iron Man roller coaster’s facade has been completed, although the Tron-like panels that will be covering it are yet to be installed. On the right is the stadium used for Moteurs… Action! Stunt Show Spectacular is strangely still standing, implying that Disney might still have some non-Avengers use for space despite the rumours that it would turn into an Avengers stunt show.

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The Mediterranean theme of the stunt show most certainly doesn’t suit the new Avengers Campus, so hopefully, it gets the necessary overhaul or is “moved” to be a part of a different land.

Concrete walls have been set up, and according to DLPReport, they’re for the Armory and Pym’s Test Kitchen. If you look to the left, you can see that the buildings old name Blockbuster Cafe still hasn’t been removed.

Work is slowly trucking on outside of Avengers Campus with land clearing and a new berm being created around the expansion zone, which will help keep the outside world out and the magic of Disney in.

In the image posted by Disneyland Paris Works on Twitter, we can see the main hotel section of the resort at the back with Hotel New York – The Art of Marvel, Sequoia Lodge, and Newport Bay. In the centre is Disney Village (Disneyland Paris’ answer to Downtown Disney/Disney Springs) with the PanorMagique balloon ride. Finally, at the front of the image is Walt Disney Studios Park, where we can see that land clearing is underway.

READ: Disneyland’s Avengers Campus Park Map And New Spider-Man Ride Details

The section where land is currently being cleared will eventually be a long Hollywood Boulevard type road leading to the new lake, which will have the Frozen section directly behind it. Elsa’s mountain serves as the parks new crowd puller. The smaller version of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge will be built to the right, and the left side has been saved for future expansion.

DLPReport also noted that the paths leading to Disneyland Hotel and Disneyland Paris Park are also being repaved ahead of the June 17th opening.

There is still a lot of work to be done for the French version of Avengers Campus, so it’s likely that we’ll see a 2022 opening possibly around springtime, if all goes to plan.

For more information head over to DLPReport and DisneylandParisWorks on Twitter and for more updates on all things Disney, keep your eyes on The Disinsider.

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