Steam locomotives at Disneyland Paris!

I recently visited Disneyland Paris and I spent more time researching and experiencing the Paris metro system and the RER than looking up and preparing for Disneyland itself. Upon visiting the park in Disneyland Paris I was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by a railway line right by the park entrance. There was no crowd, no line whatsoever, just an elegantly designed station. Going up the stairs I saw the steam locomotive coupled to passenger cars about to depart. I just stumbled across a train!

After waiting a few minutes the staff ushered us to the platform where we saw a second locomotive approach. Doors were opened, passengers disembarked and we hopped on. Could this give us a good view of the park? Is this a reliable form of transport to different locations? How has no one talked about this before?

The answer to the last question was that I had been living under a rock. It’s well-known that Walt Disney was a train enthusiast. I had even read that the first-ever monorail in the United States was installed at Disneyland. I just didn’t make the connection.

I soon found myself chugging along the tracks, we first saw a diorama of the Grand Canyon with animatronic animals before we stopped at the next station, the Forntierland Depot. This is also where the locomotive is topped up with water from a tank labeled Thunder Messa after the fictional town in Frontierland. We saw a few more passengers board, and we were off to the next stop. Well… about that, the next two stops weren’t currently open, we traveled past the rim of Adventureland to the Fantasyland Station, where we chugged on through. We also went right past the Discoveryland stop before returning to Main Street. We were informed over the intercom that the last two stops were under maintenance.

The ride stands as an attraction of its own, but the best part is it also works as a valid form of transport when the other stops eventually open up. There are 4 steam 4-4-0 locomotives in total, each with its namesake. W.F. Cody, C.K. Holliday, and G. Washington entered service in 1992 and Eureka in 1993 each hauling 5 passenger cars. Wikipedia has a good table summarising the rolling stock and what each of their names means. There’s also a video by dlrpfans where they tour the maintenance shed and interview the lead mechanic, which is quite an interesting watch.

Finding this with my wife made a great day even better.

: )