World Cup Moves to Paris Disneyworld

Event News > Val d'Europe

Rolling Out the French Mouse
Disney Paris will differ from Disney Florida
By Planet staff

Disney theme parks are getting to be popular sites for inline marathons.

Walt Disney World in Orlando, Fla., has served as the backdrop of a well-attended U.S. inline marathon for the last three years.

And on Saturday, Disneyland Resort Paris (also known as Euro Disney) will witness the birth of a new inline marathon, the Val d'Europe.

Black Coffee vs. Red Wine

Not surprisingly, the two Disney marathons are an ocean apart in terms of structure and flavor.

The Disney marathon in Florida is an early morning event, designed to get racers out of the park before the regular visitors arrive. Race time this year was an eye-rubbing 6:15 a.m.

By contrast, the Val d'Europe will be an afternoon and evening event. The full marathon won't start until 7 p.m.; the award ceremony gets underway at 10; and then there's the roller disco party.

This evening schedule sounds more civilized. But it necessitated a few compromises.

For one thing, only elite racers will be allowed in the full marathon (40.7 kilometers). This limits the length of time that the racecourse will be closed to traffic.

For another, the race is being held on a relatively small (3.7 kilometer) road course, thereby reducing road closures in the park. (Racers will have to complete 11 loops to finish the full marathon.)

By contrast, Disney-Florida skaters get three hours to finish the marathon and make two 13-mile loops of the theme park.

Crowd Expected

The Val d'Europe is expecting a healthy crowd for its inaugural year: about 2000 skaters, said race director Christophe Audoire.

And while that's a fair number of skaters, it's nothing compared to the 12 million visitors who visit the Paris theme park each year. (Euro Disney claims its 14-year-old, U.S.-inspired theme park is the most popular destination in all of Europe. ... Pretty strange, huh?)

Aside from a full marathon, the event will include a half marathon and kids race.

The marathon will serve as the second stage of the World Inline Cup, which opened two weeks ago in Seoul.

Most of the major World Cup teams are expected to compete in the race, even though it is not a top class event.

The marathon also serves as the second stage of the thriving French Inline Cup, founded a few years ago by veteran racer Arnaud Gicquel.

No doubt the French racers, especially those on the Powerslide team, will be hoping to win on their home turf after the victory by the all-Italian MMCmicro Salomon team in Seoul.