It Happened Again! Multiple Guests Brazenly Break Theme Park Rules at Disney

A recent trip to a Disney theme park confirmed that guests are still brazenly breaking theme park rules in front of cast members–will it ever be stopped?

Disney theme parks, from the sprawling Walt Disney World Resort in Florida to international locations like Hong Kong Disneyland and Disneyland Paris, welcome millions of guests each year. Disney is, on paper, the industry leader in theme park attendance despite increasing criticism aimed at the Mouse House.

While the aim of a Disney vacation is to bring the magic of the century-old company to its adoring fans, there are rules all guests must follow to ensure a safe and positive experience at the parks. From costume guidelines to what guests can and cannot bring into the parks, Disney resort rules differ from location to location but largely remain the same across the board.

When it comes to Disneyland Paris, one big difference between the European resort and its United States counterparts, Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort (Anaheim, Southern California), is that smoking is allowed inside both parks. That’s right. While Disney World and Disneyland Resort’s parks are smoking-free (Disney World guests must vacate the parks to use the designated areas located outside the gates), both Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris allow smoking.

The caveat is that both parks have designated areas slightly off the beaten track for guests who want to smoke and vape and that smoking and vaping are not allowed everywhere in the park—this includes in line for attractions, waiting outside the Emporium on Main Street, U.S.A., or strolling through Discoveryland and Fantasyland.

However, on a recent visit to Disneyland Paris, we noticed smoking and vaping almost everywhere inside Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park, done so brazenly that the guests were obviously confident they would not be reprimanded for the rule-breaking behavior.

“Theme Parks covered and uncovered areas are non-smoking, except for designated outdoor areas specially created and equipped for smokers,” the official Disneyland Paris website notes. “This rule also applies to electronic cigarettes.”

Vaping, or the use of electronic cigarettes, was seen in almost every land during our four-day visit to Disneyland Paris. One guest was seen smoking a real cigarette outside one of the main Emporium entrances on Main Street, U.S.A. Another guest was seen walking through Fantasyland with a lit cigarette, smoking amid throngs of children waiting to ride attractions like Le Carrousel de Lancelot and the Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups.

“In 2022, an estimated 16.4 million people (8.4 million males and 8.0 million females) aged 15 years and older were tobacco product users in France,” writes the Global Action to End Smoking website. “This ranks France 14th globally and 3rd in the WHO European Region in terms of tobacco users.”

When it comes to smoking rates in countries like France versus the United States, research shows that the former is higher due to things like the French café culture and the glamorization of smoking in French movies. Whereas in the U.S., the stigma around smoking increased following more aggressive health campaigns to curb the tobacco epidemic.

These factors are likely why Walt Disney World and Disneyland Resort have no in-park smoking areas, while Disneyland Paris has several.

This is not the only worrisome behavior we witnessed while on vacation at Disneyland Paris. While waiting in line for the 1 p.m. showing of Mickey and the Magician at the Animagique Theatre in Walt Disney Studios Park, a fight broke out after a group of guests created a human wall to block another guest from joining his family further up the line.

Tensions flared with the verbal altercation, eventually moving into a full fistfight in front of children and other guests. Cast members quickly sprung to action, calling security and blocking off one of the entrances into the auditorium while the incident was curbed.

Despite these rule-breaking incidents, magic was still present at Disneyland Paris as guests enjoyed the official first snow day of the season, transforming Sleeping Beauty Castle into a winter icon.

How do you feel about guests smoking around the parks? Should they be banned? Let Disney Fanatic know in the comments down below!