With a heavy workload pushing through EU laws, members of the European parliament know a thing or two about amendments. But an unscheduled Mickey Mouse experience on their way to Strasbourg on Monday morning was something of a first.
A French train carrying hundreds of MEPs and their teams from Brussels ended up by accident at Marne-la-Vallée, the stop for Disneyland Paris.
Instead of the rolling hills that usually greet them as they head to the Alsatian city, MEPs were caught between the Art of Marvel and Main Street USA, with Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain and Peter Pan’s Flight in the near distance.
Emmanuel Foulon, who works with the parliament’s press team, wrote on X (formerly Twitter): “‘When magic comes to life’ – will Disney’s slogan soon be that of the European Parliament?”
Aaaah : On vient de redémarrer
— Emmanuel Foulon (@efoulon1) October 16, 2023
Pour dieu sait oú, si ça se trouve on part au parc Astérix où au futuroscope… 😀😀😀#Eplenary #Disney pic.twitter.com/l3SkebaWDI
Passengers on the train, told that the diversion was due to an “error in the route”, were quick to see the funny side, prompting Disneyland to trend briefly on social media in the Belgian capital.
The location of the parliament in Strasbourg is a regular source of tension for MEPs as there is no direct train from Brussels, forcing travellers to change either in Paris or at a station near the Disneyland complex.
Every month the parliament charters two trains for the plenary session in Strasbourg to avoid a large convoy of vehicles on the 300-mile (480km) stretch between the two cities. But even political powerbrokers cannot make magic happen. The trains still have to travel through the Parisian area before turning left for the historic city on the border with Germany.
One passenger onboard said they didn’t even notice they were in Mickey Mouse land. “There was no announcement about the specific location and most didn’t identify it,” they said.
But others found the experience entertaining, though perhaps not in the traditional Disneyland sense. “Team Disneyland,” wrote the Dutch MEP Samira Rafaela, posing for a photograph with another MEP in the train’s buffet car.
Team Disneyland 👇🏽 https://t.co/KnrKtiu5VZ pic.twitter.com/iKfYK0lGmf
— Samira Rafaela (@samiraraf) October 16, 2023
Alluding to criticisms levelled at the so-called “travelling circus” that ferries MEPs to the Strasbourg parliament, Daniel Freund, a German MEP, joked: “We are NOT a Mickey Mouse parliament.”
SNCF Networks said the cause was a signalling error at the Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle TGV station. It apologised for the inconvenience, noting that the diversion caused only a 45-minute delay. “The passengers arrived at their destination at 12.50pm,” it said.
