Welcome to another of the many dark rides at Parc Disneyland, and another good option for families with children looking for a (slightly) chill ride to rest their legs.
I say “slightly” because, even though this ride has a lot of cute visuals and animatronics, it also features some rather scary set pieces, like a boy being turned into a donkey and our good friend Pinocchio being captured and put in a cage. The story of Pinocchio is actually pretty grim when you stop to think about it, so it’s cool that the attraction tries to stay as loyal as possible. Do we give Les Voyages de Pinocchio a thumbs up, though? Let’s check it out.
What we like about Les Voyages de Pinocchio
Les Voyages de Pinocchio is a pretty standard dark ride when you stop to think about it, and it’s basically a copy of the version at Disneyland California. The main difference is that the ride vehicle is bigger and has three rows of seats instead of two. This not only helps with ride capacity, but also makes the ride feel a bit larger with more spacious environments and allows bigger parties to ride together. It’s not enough to make it the definitive version, but it’s just as good as the California counterpart.
So, what is this ride all about? It tells the story of Pinocchio, with classic characters like Geppetto, Jiminy Cricket, and even the big whale. It has a lot of different scenes, from a carnival to Pinocchio dancing and the fairy godmother granting him and Geppetto their wish. The animatronics are cute, even if they aren’t the most advanced ever. This ride, after all, debuted in 1992 when Parc Disneyland opened. I also think that dark rides like this are timeless, and ultra-modern animatronics aren’t needed when the ride just works.
I don’t know much about Pinocchio, so I might be biased in saying that I prefer Peter Pan’s Flight, Snow White, and other dark rides compared to this one. This ride, however, is almost three minutes long, so it’s definitely longer than the Snow White ride and features a similar style. It’s also a ride with no height restrictions, so anyone can enjoy it, families with toddlers included. Just beware of a small detail…
What we don’t like about Les Voyages de Pinocchio
One of the problems with this ride is the story of Pinocchio itself, which is represented faithfully here: this is a story about a young boy who gets kidnapped, turned into a donkey, and then swallowed by a whale. Like we said in our Disneyland California ride review, our friend Pinocchio had a rough day.
This is a ride that can be scary for young ones. It doesn’t feature a lot of bright environments, and you do see Pinocchio in a cage, Pinocchio transformed into a donkey, and a section inside a big carnival with a giant and a weird Jack-in-the-Box. I don’t know what’s up with Jack-in-the-Boxes, but they always get me unsettled.
The problem I have is that more than 50% of the set pieces in this ride look a bit grim. There’s the boy turned into a donkey, Pinocchio in the cage, and the weird and scary carnival, and all of this makes up about half of the ride. If you add the whale appearing to swallow your hero, it’s even more than that! But hey, in the end Pinocchio is reunited with Geppetto and everything is well, so there is that.
Conclusion
Les Voyages de Pinocchio is okay, but a weaker dark ride than Snow White, Peter Pan, and countless others. I wish it had more bright environments and fewer depressing scenes. We still recommend this one for families, though, since wait times usually aren’t that long.
