Thematic integrity is essential to a quality theme park land. Where it exists, there is a real feeling of “place” – and the land truly transports guests to a different time, space, and location. Discoveryland as it existed in its early years was a true example of this – and at that time probably would have been toward the top of this list. The concept here is brilliant: instead of trying to predict the future, and having to update it every few years to avoid looking dated (as is the case with nearly every other Tomorrowland on the planet), Disney chose to intentionally build a vision of the future as seen through the eyes of prominent European visionaries such as Jules Verne and Leonardo da Vinci. The land was covered in a bronze and green color scheme, with heavy emphasis on a steampunk style design. And in its heyday, it really worked. The issue with Discoveryland is that nearly every change since its inception has in one way or another compromised this vision. Both Star Tours and Buzz Lightyear are better attractions than their predecessors, but their color schemes and aesthetics are essentially a cut and paste from the American parks, clashing with what remains of the original Discoveryland motif. Hyperspace Mountain is a completely unnecessary (and lazy) overlay of Star Wars on top of what was a fantastic coaster concept based on Jules Verne’s novel From the Earth to the Moon. And don’t get us started with putting Mickey’s Philharmagic in the Discoveryland theater – there is simply no excuse for that shoehorned attraction. Food wise, the land suffers from underwhelming offerings in several beautiful spaces, including Café Hyperion. Sure there are bright spots here and there, such as the unique walk through Nautilus attraction, but today Discoveryland is ultimately just a mish-mash of conflicting styles and ideas. As a result, it’s the weakest land in this park by far.

There’s a big distance between #5 to #4 on this list, and because fourth place on our list goes to Main Street U.S.A., that doesn’t suggest there is a problem with this part of the park. To the contrary, the Paris park’s Main Street U.S.A. is a gorgeous and fully-fleshed out land, with a slight twist on many of its peers across the globe. Here, instead of a turn-of-the-century themed area, the land is based more on the Roaring 20’s of the United States, with nods to baseball, the automobile, and rag time music. At Disneyland Paris, an extremely elaborate and ornate Disneyland Hotel greets those entering the park, where guests pass underneath and into the area housing a beautiful train station. From there, the land opens up to a familiar collection of two-story buildings, plussed up with audio details echoing from the second floor where its residents “live”. Due to the frequent weather challenges in Paris, the land features fully covered walkway “side streets” on each side located behind the main buildings, with entries to the shops, and fully-realized details, keeping true to the theme. The area is alive and buzzing with Main Street vehicles and horse-drawn carriages, adding kinetic energy to the mix. As expected, retail offerings are plentiful, as is the entertainment from passing citizens, musicians, and entertainers. And it is all anchored by one of the parks best eateries; Walt’s – An American Restaurant – a tribute to the man himself, with a reverent charm and wonderful menu. And while, like most Main Streets across the world, it lacks a true selection of attractions, it survives and even thrives on the strong and consistent theme, making Main Street U.S.A. the fourth best land in Disneyland Paris Park.

Fantasyland in Disneyland Paris Park is entered through the most beautiful Disney Castle in the world. It’s an impressive and fitting opening to this charming and gorgeous land, complete with gorgeous walkable balconies, and an incredible dragon in its dungeon. Inside the land itself are sights both familiar and unique. Dumbo, teacups, and a carousel are all surrounded by beautiful gardens and flowing waterways, giving this part of the park a true “park” feel. Storybookland – the only one of its kind outside of the California original – is an updated version of the classic area, that still maintains charm while throwing some unique twists into the mix. A beautiful and unique version of It’s A Small World towers over the land, with its pastel color scheme. The dark ride lineup is no slouch, with solid versions of Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, Snow White’s Adventures, and Peter Pan’s Flight leading the charge. There’s a fun and interactive hedge maze themed to Alice In Wonderland, and other fun props and explorable areas like the Old Mill, scattered throughout. Overall, this land offers a “postcard around every corner”, with a mostly well-rounded attraction experience. The big drawback to Fantasyland is that, like so many Fantasylands across the globe, it lacks a true e-ticket attraction. Sure, there is a great selection of smaller offerings to choose from here, but the biggest draw is arguably the castle itself. Without a true headliner like California’s Matterhorn Bobsleds or Tokyo’s Pooh’s Hunny Hunt, it feels like a big hole in an otherwise charming land. Food is fairly weak here, with Toad Hall offering an acceptable selection, but that’s about it. Retail offerings are scattered throughout, but there’s nothing in that regard to really write home about. At the end of the day, Fantasyland is a whole lotta’ style with not quite enough substance, and ultimately, it comes up a bit lacking. Until it gets that big headliner attraction, it’s going to have to settle for third best in this park.

If there’s an area of Disneyland Paris Park that demands time and attention to be properly appreciated, it’s Adventureland. An incredible amount of this land is dedicated to an area dubbed Adventure Isle – a massive island covered with trails, caves, a full blown pirate ship docked against Skull Rock, and all topped off by a fantastic Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse. This area alone could arguably be an entire land in some of Disney’s other parks, and takes hours to properly see and do everything. And it’s a real homerun, with amazing vistas, plenty to explore, and surprises around every corner. Beyond Adventure Isla, the rest of Adventureland shines brightly with the entire entrance area from the hub themed to a Middle Eastern marketplace, with shops, a walk through Aladdin diorama-based attraction, and Restaurant Agrabah Café – an Asian buffet-style restaurant that is among the best food offerings at the entire Paris resort. A pair of headliner attractions cap off the land: the visually impressive but incredibly awful Indiana Jones et le Temple du Peril roller coaster, and one of the world’s best versions of Pirates of the Caribbean. Pirates here is a real winner, with a fantastically themed queue and loading/dining area, and a very unique and impressive version of the ride itself. Adventureland does seem like it is begging for another attraction or two – perhaps something in the mid-range dark ride or even spinner category, but that’s not a big problem here. Overall, the land just needs to up its game at Captain Jack’s Restaurant, and possibly just bulldoze the Indy coaster; these are the only real warts. The land flows well and the attractions all compliment each other nicely, and there is a real sense of “place” that is achieved here. It feels like a real adventure roaming the jungles, deserts, and settlements of remote and far off lands. And it all sums up to result in second best land in Disneyland Paris Park.

In the archives of Imagineering, there is a truly fascinating story too lengthy to elaborate here about the concept of Thunder Mesa – a massive area originally conceived for Magic Kingdom park in Florida. This would have been one of Imagineering’s most ambitious projects ever -and with the scope and size, it’s easy to see why it ultimately became cost prohibitive. A good idea never truly dies though, and ultimately, much of what was envisioned for Florida’s Thunder Mesa became Frontierland in Disneyland Paris. After passing through the most impressive entrance to this land in the world, with a fully-explorable two story wilderness fort, the land opens up to tell the story of the fictional town of Thunder Mesa. The story goes that the town was founded by Henry Ravenswood, who built himself a mansion on a hill overlooking Big Thunder Mountain. He exploited the forbidden mines of Big Thunder Mountain for his personal gain, before meeting an unfortunate and untimely death. In the sprawling land, the structures and attractions all work together to tell this story, setting the stage for a fascinating experience. In Thunder Mesa, guests can travel uncharted wilderness waters aboard the Molly Brown sidewheel boat, which circles the island housing the best version of Big Thunder Mountain Railroad in the world. There are plentiful shops, restaurants, and interactive areas in the frontier town to be explored. At the outskirts, a steam train can be boarded for destinations unknown. And up on the hill, if brave enough, guests will find Phantom Manor – a unique and scarier version of the classic Haunted Mansion attraction, with its backstory of the departed Mr. Ravenswood and his daughter, whose fiancé met an unfortunate death at the hands of a mysterious Phantom. Frontierland and this Thunder Mesa concept is a symphony of moving pieces and parts, and it works so well as each offering ties into the others, and there are rewards for seeking knowledge about the backstory of the land. Yes, it could use some improvements on the food front, but that doesn’t carry enough weight here to drag down everything that works so well in this masterpiece of a land. Frontierland is truly one of the most cohesive, thorough, and convincing areas of any Disney park anywhere in the world, and it’s without a doubt the best land in Disneyland Paris Park.