November 2006

Bright blue skies one day, fog the next. Thousands of local French guests one day, scores of Brits the next. At Toon Studio, you see painting here, painting there, and endless games of scaffolding moving around all over the place. With more time, you can also appreciate more how the new construction fits into the park, such as from the arena of Moteurs Action or the backlot route of Studio Tram Tour…

Wednesday, 1st November 2006

Where else to begin than with that obligatory shot over the Art of Disney Animation fence? We have a lot to thank emergency exits for. Three trees have already been planted next to the dark ride building of Crush’s Coaster, and you can see even the metal surround waiting to be added.

Flying Carpets Over Agrabah, on the other hand, has an added advantage to its short waiting times compared to Dumbo next door – a great view over the construction site. Last week, the metal framework of the attraction’s outdoor queue canopy was added, which will eventually be themed to a fishing pier, with guests queueing underneath on the dried-up seabed.

Looking across to Art of Disney, you can see not only the new Arabian lamposts (similar but certainly not identical to Adventureland’s) but also the queue buildings and boarding area canopy of Cars Race Rally, which faces directly towards the Flying Carpets to create a reassuringly designed space.

Thursday, 2nd November 2006

No changes today, but a funny look towards Toon Studio from Disney Bros. Plaza to celebrate the Art of Disney Construction Fences. The time change earlier in the week also allows us to finally get a good view of Toon Studio in the dark.

Friday, 3rd November 2006

Before you even enter the park, the new construction is very noticable. And I don’t mean Tower of Terror – Studio 5’s height and vibrant blue colour really attracts your attention from the resort hub.

Inside the park, finishing touches were being made to the paintwork on Studio 5’s façade, whilst the deserted (no pun intended) Flying Carpets, hidden behind the sea of construction walls, are probably hoping more popular times are ahead.

The changing colours of Art of Disney Animation will be featured in an article all of its own, but for now this new unifying Toon colour scheme is already working well. From the top of the Moteurs… Action! arena, Studio 5 is a new icon on the surprisingly impressive Walt Disney Studios skyline.

Jumping onboard Studio Tram Tour: Behind the Magic, fans can now ignore Jeremy Iron’s increasingly frigid commentary and instead enjoy panoramic views from the lesser-seen side of Toon Studio. The left-hand side wall of Studio 5 was being painted last week and is now complete, leaving only the back wall of the coaster building without paint.

After enjoying Jeremy Irons in a jester outfit, the tram pulls out of costuming to give guests a great view of the new queue buildings for Cars. The curved façade is likely Luigi and Guido’s store, whilst the circular building is the entrance to Doc Hudson’s new driving school, with the large metal pole eventually holding a huge 3D neon version of the Cars logo high into the air – another new icon for the park. Back at the fan-favourite view, and some of the scaffolding and tarp on the rockwork has been removed to reveal over half is now painted in the final, deep blue colour.

Actually, it’s more of a full-on fizzle, crackle and BANG! The giant production over Lake Disney uses the largest amount of fireworks for any show all year at Disneyland Resort Paris, combined with fountains and the bonfire itself to create an epic 19-minute experience.

Before the show, the crowds are kept buzzing with British music favourites from past and present, showcasing bands from Queen to Keane – a pleasant break from the usual Disney Village DJ. With such a massive show area, the final announcement before the unique show states only that the spectacle will begin “shortly”, before lights around the lakeside (including PanoraMagique) are gradually turned off. Luckily so far featuring none of the 2 hour delays of 2005, the 2006 season of this overlooked event appears incredibly successful.

And, in typical British fashion, not a single person in the audience can resist saying “right, that’s it, we can go home now” after the first, single, lone firework explodes.

The show is performed over Lake Disney and is totally free to watch, the best views being from anywhere between Newport Bay Club and Hotel New York, near Sequoia Lodge. 2006 performance dates are the 6th, 8th and 10th November, whilst next year the show will return on 5th, 7th and 9th November. If you can’t make it to see the final show of 2006 on Friday, don’t worry – we’ve got an exclusive video of Disney’s Bonfire Spectacular 2006:

Disney's Bonfire Spectacular 2006
Video by DLRP Magic!

The front cover of the new plan matches exactly with that of Disneyland Park’s, featuring Jiminy Crickett sitting on the full park logo with tickboxes and the dates below. The colour is much lighter and fresher than the old map, and the cleaner feel is continued inside the guide.

Not only the layout and design has been copied from Disneyland Park’s new plan, however, since most of the tips and advice match exactly between the two guides with (in all but one case) City Hall simply swapped out for Studio Services. Thankfully, the numbering of the attractions has returned to its original form, with all attractions (such as Studio 7’s Armageddon and Studio 2’s CinéMagique) now featuring their correct studio number rather than the random numbering of the previous map.

One strange detail, however, is the lack of attraction number 8. The previous map featured numbering up to 10 attractions, whilst this features 11 with no number 8. A sneaky way to beef up the park’s attraction roster, or just a mistake? I’ll let you decide…

Again like the new Disneyland Park plan, this one features a separate Entertainment Programme. Originally light blue, Disneyland Park’s programme switched to pink during Halloween, perhaps suggesting the colours would match those of the Park Guide. Alas, as November arrived, Disneyland Park’s programmes returned to blue and Walt Disney Studios first ever Entertainment Programme is… purple.

The evening began at 8.30pm, with guests asked to enter via Walt Disney Studios’ gate before filing around to Disneyland Park, avoiding the guests still leaving from the park. Once through the gates, the Pink Witches pounced immediately, chanting their spells and shouting their words of witchcraft to the passing guests on Town Square, holding signs proclaiming “Pink Witches – Choose your side!”

In addition to the park’s main attractions being open for guests, the usual series of special entertainment kicked off in Halloweenland (Frontierland) at the FantaStitch Stage. The Halloween Festival show “Goofy and the Magic Pot” was joined by musical performances from “Hot Couture”, the female lead singer of which gave a rousing performance trademarked by more jiggling dance moves than ever seen before inside Disneyland.

Exploring deeper into the beautifully lit park, Adventureland was the place to meet and greet characters of every kind. Whilst Jafar, Ratcliffe, Shan-Yu and more gathered by Restaurant Hakuna Matata, a massive band of Pirates (including Jack Sparrow himself) was on the rampage opposite Captain Hook’s Galley, taunting guests and jumping over and around the beach scenery. If these characters were a little too menacing, a hop over onto Adventure Isle found classic characters such as Peter Pan, Wendy and Mr. Smee, whilst the Galley featured a pirate playing bagpipes and outside Pirates of Caribbean itself a live Pirate band performed throughout the evening.

At select times during the evening, a firey cavalcade made its way through Adventureland’s Bazaar and across the Adventure Isle bridge to Pirates’ Beach, where a haunting ceremony of flames and chanting took place, culminating in a giant blast of fire into the air above the water. Despite their best attempts, Adventureland appeared intact the following morning. Back in Frontierland, more villains such as Gaston and Cruella De Vil were waiting with the Pink Witches, and all manner of strange and mysterious fantasy creatures roamed the park.

At 11.30pm, The Ghost Ship Cavalcade made its way onto the parade route at Town Square. Presented entirely by an outside performance group, the show featured Adventureland’s fire artists and pirates joined by performers in flowing white costumes (surprisingly none of which caught fire). At the end of the cavalcade, the Ghost Ship itself arrived, with acrobats hanging from the masts. The music was unique to the performance, which featured three long stops just on Main Street itself, and was perhaps reminiscent of artistic circus performances such as Cirque du Soleil. Overall, however, the crowds appeared hugely unimpressed with what most agreed was a slow and misplaced performance.

You can see the Photos Magiques video of The Ghost Ship Cavalcade here.

Similarly disappointing, perhaps, were the fireworks. 2005 saw the creation of an impressive “Sound & Light Spectacular” featuring video projections depicting the story of the Pumpkinmen and Pink Witches. This year, the theme of pirates was used to create The Black Pearl Fireworks, a simple and fairly unoriginal performance of fireworks to music from both Pirates of the Caribbean films. An exciting finale for fans of the film, but otherwise an unimpressive end to a Halloween Party that, in terms of its unique live entertainment at least, never really entertained.

You can see the Photos Magiques video of The Black Pearl Fireworks here, and more photos from throughout the evening here.

In the mean time, more work continues on the revamped Animation Courtyard. Arabian light posts have been installed in the new Aladdin oasis planters and the Art of Disney Animation continues receiving new paint as the brickwall to the left of the entrance has been painted pink.