As surreal moments of motherhood go, jumping out of the queue for a Manhattan street food stall to sprint down a sidewalk in hot pursuit of the superhero Thor is not something I could ever have envisioned. Particularly as I’m someone who won’t run for buses.
But neither would I have predicted what would happen once I had caught up with the man mountain and looked him squarely in the… pecs.
Because my six-year-old, Freddie – who had been planning this moment ever since learning he was headed for the brand new Avengers Campus at Disneyland Paris – had a fit of the collywobbles and refused to come within 20 paces of his hero.
A whole week would pass before he explained why he had become camera shy.
“He was with Loki – and he’s scary!” he finally blurted out during dinner one evening.
You can’t argue with that. While Fred may be too young for the current crop of Marvel movies, last year’s lockdown was spent binge watching the Lego cartoon versions of the stories, so we are very familiar with the good, the bad and the terrifying of the Avengers universe.
Luckily, after a day training in the newest outpost of Tony Stark’s superverse, we were feeling a lot braver than when we arrived, having notched up a few heroic moves of our own.
Back to school
The Avengers Campus, which opened in June inside the Walt Disney Studios Park, is a world away from the princess parades and fairy dust of the parks next door.
The origin story goes that the super-slick chrome and glass campus has been created by Stark, aka Iron Man, a founding member of the Avengers, to train new recruits.
As it turns out, we were exactly the duo he was looking for. If there’s one thing that hits you about the campus when you arrive, it’s just how immersive it is.
Wandering its streets, you are transported to the heart of the action, watching rooftop battles between Scarlet Witch and Taskmaster, grabbing a vibranium spear to train as Warrior Allies of Wakanda with the Dora Milaje, and getting in the groove with Starlord and Gamora for a Guardians Of The Galaxy dance-off – allin the shadow of Stark’s super-sleekQuinjet.
At the Training Centre, one-to-one meet and greets are the order of the day. It’s where The Avengers go between missions to practise their skills – and pose for a few selfies and motion photos (20-second boomerang clips of guests throwing their best superhero shapes).
Freddie’s eyes were out on stalks the whole time.
What do heroes have for lunch?
With our moves finely honed, we headed for Pym Kitchen, where the same science Ant-Man and Wasp use to grow and shrink in the movies is applied to the buffet. Giant pretzel sarnies, Caesar salad with colossal croutons and Oreos bigger than your head await, as well as bite-sized burgers and hot dogs.
The details here really make the experience – think salad dressings served in test tubes and jelly dishes in lab beakers. We washed it all down with a particles mocktail (lemonade with blue Curaçao and berry flavours) with a dash of red fruit serum (strawberry pearls) for Fred, and a glass of (blue) Chardonnay for the lady.
Prefer your lunch in more standard portions?
Power up around the corner at Stark Factory, a pizza and pasta joint, where Iron Man’s Hulkbuster suit is being fine tuned. The
Thor-themed caramel and chocolate “thunder cake” makes a good finale.
Battle ready
We should have taken on our biggest challenges before lunch.
Certainly only the strong of stomach should tackle Avengers Assemble: Flight Force, a high-speed roller coaster darts out of the loading bay at 37mph, straight into its first of two loops, before corkscrewing through pitch black skies on its way to help Captain Marvel and Iron Man lure the threat of the Kree Missiles away from Planet Earth.
Even hardcore coaster fans found it mind-blowing.
With no height restrictions, the Spider-Man W.E.B Adventure across the block caters for all ages. The 3D tech is brilliant, recognising body movements and gestures so you can shoot webs from your wrist as you complete a mission to save the campus with Spidey.
The Endgame
After what felt like a full aerobic workout slinging our final webs our training was complete and we exited past the impossible-to-resist Marvel merch (anyone want their very own Spider-Bot?).
With forearms aching, the only thing that could soften the blow of leaving was a Spidey-shaped strawberry ice pop to cool us down on the walk back to our hotel in the Disney Village.
To be fair, if you’re staying at Hotel New York: The Art of Marvel, the fun is far from over when you leave the parks.
With Iron Man suits in the lobby and 350 pieces of Avengers artwork, the theme has been fully embraced.
Fred was a big fan of the hotel’s Super-Hero Station, the only place outside the campus itself where you can meet Marvel superheroes. Black Panther was waiting for us the morning we stuck our head in.
You can create your own comic book moment there too. Fred climbed the walls of Peter Parker’s bedroom, Spidey-style, took a turn trying to lift Thor’s Mjölnir hammer and stepped into Iron Man’s boots (literally) with the help of a little photographic jiggery-pokery.
I’m still convinced, though, that his favourite gadget of our stay was the machine that made American pancakes at the hotel’s Manhattan Restaurant breakfast buffet.
Book the holiday
Walt Disney Travel Company offers a two-night stay at Disneyland Paris from £562 per person with room-only accommodation at Disney’s Hotel New York – The Art of Marvel, access to the parks for three days and Eurostar from London St Pancras. Based on a family of four sharing and travelling on February 13.
Find out more at disneyholidays.co.uk.
Get more info at uk.france.fr/en.
