Storybook Land

Disneyland Paris is the only other Disney Park in the world (after Disneyland) to include Casey Jr. and Storybook Land Canal Boats, here known as Le Pays des Contes de Fées (literally translated: Fairytale Country). The attractions were added to Paris in 1994 as part of a program to increase the park's capacity with small attractions that could be completed quickly and with limited investment. The investment paid off, though, by creating one of the most charming corners of the park.

Le Pays des Contes de Fées is similar to Storybook Land Canal Boats at Disneyland, in that Guests board colorful watercraft named for Disney characters (Ariel, Aurora, etc.) and float past miniature scenes from famous stories. The attraction in France is quite different, though. For starters, boats are boarded from a rotating platform and then propelled mechanically along the waterway with no pilot on board. With no one operating the boat, that means there's also no narration. Language gets tricky at Disneyland Paris, where Guests visit from all over Europe. Instead, the stories are communicated through storybook graphics (in French and English), as well as iconic musical themes.

The first tune we hear as our boat passes through the portal into Le Pays des Contes de Fées is "Heigh Ho," from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. The mine is built into the side of the mountain, and if you look closely, you'll even spot Dopey. Nearby is the cottage of the seven dwarfs, and it looks like an unwelcome visitor is making a hasty exit.

Classic Disney stories abound, as we float past Prince Eric's castle from The Little Mermaid (where Eric's on the balcony, pining for the girl with the amazing voice) and the French provincial village from Beauty and the Beast (complete with Belle reading to the sheep at the fountain). There's even Maurice's cottage and, high on the hilltop, the castle of the Beast.

Le Pays des Contes de Fées has been kept up to date, too, with the recent addition of Rapunzel's tower from Tangled. A tower representing the Rapunzel story had been part of the attraction from the beginning, but that was replaced last year with this model from the film... along with the figure of Flynn Rider climbing the golden hair.

Le Pays des Contes de Fées is not all princess stories. There's actually a great mix here, including this tribute to Aladdin. In the spirit of Monstro's agape mouth on the original attraction, here boats drift into the Cave of Wonders. Inside, we're warned to "touch nothing but the lamp." Too bad Abu so easily gives in to temptation!

Making it out the other side of the cave, we come upon a tiny but effective scene of a sword cast into a stone and anvil. Bits of magic fall down upon Excalibur, as we're reminded of the moment in The Sword in the Stone when young Arthur surprises everyone (except Merlin) and becomes king.

The Sword in the Stone isn't the only unexpected entry in Le Pays des Contes de Fées. There are several scenes from stories not included in the American version, but chosen here to represent a broader spectrum of European culture.

Look for scenes from Disney's 1937 short film "The Old Mill," "Peter and the Wolf" from the 1946 animated feature Make Mine Music, and the "Pastoral" sequence and "Night on Bald Mountain" from Fantasia.

There are even truly obscure scenes not typically associated with Disney at all, such as the old witch's candy cottage from "Hansel and Gretel," a story made into a Walt Disney record album and Mickey and Minnie TV short.

Ultimately, the grand finale of Le Pays des Contes de Fées leads us to... the Emerald City? Walt Disney held the rights to some of the Oz books for a period and even toyed with making an animated film of the stories. In 1985, Disney released the live action Return to Oz, and another film, Oz: the Great and Powerful, is in production now for a 2013 release.

In the end, all the stories - well-known and otherwise - come together in harmony to create a perfectly enjoyable experience where everyone lives "Happily Ever After!"

A Storybook Classic

Storybook Land Canal Boats is another classic Fantasyland attraction with its roots in the earliest days of Disneyland. Before settling on the idea of a theme park in Anaheim, Walt Disney was fascinated with miniatures and imagined a traveling exhibit of them, entitled "Disneylandia." Later, as the concept of the park grew, land was set aside for a proposed Lilliputian Land.

On opening day in 1955, Canal Boats of the World was featured in Fantasyland. The attraction's scenes of miniature international landmarks were never fully realized. It closed after just two months to be re-imagined as Storybook Land.

A remarkable amount of detail is packed into this corner of Fantasyland. Guests board small boats named for Disney characters (Snow White, Alice, Flower, etc.) to float past tiny scenes from Disney animated classics. Each scene is enhanced with audible flourishes and live, miniature trees and shrubs.

From Pinocchio's village to Toad Hall, many of the classic Disney tales are represented. There are the homes of the Three Little Pigs and the giant patchwork quilt seen in the Silly Symphony "Lullaby Land."

You'll even spot the occasional subtle storytelling touch, like the little pumpkin coach on the road to the prince's castle in the Cinderella scene.

In 1994, a major refurbishment restored some of the luster to Storybook Land and added scenes from some of the newer Disney classics. Now, visitors can explore the Sultan's palace and city of Agrabah from Aladdin and perhaps even find the Genie's lamp hidden inside the Cave of Wonders.

The last scenes encountered on the journey come from The Little Mermaid. There's Prince Eric's castle and ship sitting on the coastline and just behind the waterfall, King Triton's underwater palace (cleverly shrouding the entrance to a backstage boat storage area).

Storybook Land Canal Boats is one of those charming, only-in-Disneyland experiences (although a different version has since opened in Disneyland Paris) that I simply must do every time I visit. There's nothing like stepping aboard one of those little boats and passing through the jaws of Monstro the whale, right back in time to the days of Walt Disney.