The original Disneyland is located in California.
But since it opened, in 1955, Disney parks have been founded around the world and there are currently six Disneylands – four of which can be further divided into a total 12 individual theme parks between them.
In this piece, we look at each of the Disney parks in turn and what theme parks you can find when you visit each site.
For more details on the history of each of the Disney parks, see our piece on when was Disney founded.
Disneyland California
Number of theme parks: Two
Disneyland California is the original Disney theme park and the only one created in founder Walt Disney’s lifetime. The park created the template on which subsequent Disney theme parks have been based – a series of interlinked sections – or “lands” – with a landmark at its heart… in this case Sleeping Beauty’s Castle. In 2001 a second theme park opened at the site – Disney California Adventure Park – which features rides from well-known Pixar and Disney films in a California-inspired setting. There are also Disney hotels at the site and a shopping village.
Walt Disney World, Florida
Number of theme parks: Four
Walt Disney World in Florida opened its doors in 1971 and initially featured just one theme park – the Magic Kingdom, which was similar to Disneyland California. Other Disney World theme parks have followed down the years: the futuristic park Epcot, Disney’s Hollywood Studios (originally known as MGM Studios) – a park based on movie-making – and The Animal Kingdom, a park with African and Asian influences that is home to a safari ride. In addition to the four theme parks, there are two water parks – Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon – a retail and restaurant village, known as Disney Springs, and numerous Disney hotels.
Tokyo Disneyland
Number of theme parks: Two
Located in Urayasu, near Tokyo, this was the first Disney theme park to open outside the US. Again, there is a Disneyland modelled on the California template, plus in 2001, Tokyo DisneySea opened – a separate nautical-themed park with a number of different areas including a Mediterranean Harbour where you can ride on a Venetian-style gondola and Mysterious Island where you can do a ride called Journey to the Centre of the Earth – a unique dark ride. As well as the two theme parks, there are hotels on the site.
Disneyland Paris
Number of theme parks: Two
Disneyland Paris – known then as EuroDisney – opened its doors on 12 April 1992. It included a replica of Disneyland, with a second park – Walt Disney Studios Park – which was similar to Florida’s Hollywood Studios, opening in 2002. In addition to the two theme parks, there are Disney hotels and a shopping village on the site.
Hong Kong Disneyland Park
Number of theme parks: One
This Disney park is on a patch of reclaimed land on Lantau Island and consists of one park modelled on the original Disneyland template, plus a few different ones such as World of Frozen. There are also Disney hotels on the site.
Shanghai Disneyland
Number of theme parks: One
Following extensive negotiations with the Chinese government, Disney built this park with a different layout to the rest – there’s no Main Street USA, for example, (it’s called Mickey Avenue and looks a bit different) or Frontierland. In addition, the castle has an attractive green space in front of it called Gardens of Imagination, where people can relax and soak up the park’s atmosphere (we’d love to see something similar at other Disney parks). The park features more live entertainment than the others but misses out several classic Disney rides including Jungle Cruise, Space Mountain and It’s A Small World – apparently because Disney wanted to avoid accusations of cultural imperialism.
