July 2008

The financial year of 2008 thus far has been nothing short of a fairytale success. For the nine months ended 30th June 2008, overall revenues increased an impressive 12% on the same period last year.

Revenues for the Third Quarter itself rose only 3%, however, which, despite the displacement of the important Easter Holiday compared to the 2007 results, could suggest that the resort is having to work hard this Summer to pushing itself beyond the record achievements made last year.

Here are the main points of this announcement, which does not include exact numbers for statistics such as park attendance, accumulating all the figures so far for the past nine months:

‘¢ Overall revenues for the nine months ended June 30, 2008 increased 12% to € 937.4 million from € 834.3 million in the prior-year period.

‘¢ Theme parks revenues increased 13% to € 498.4 million from € 443.0 million in the prior-year period, driven by increases in attendance and average spending per guest.

‘¢ Hotels and Disney Village revenues increased 10% to € 371.4 million from € 338.0 million in the prior-year period, primarily driven by increases in average spending per room and hotel occupancy.

‘¢ Real estate revenues increased € 16.8 million from the prior-year period to € 25.6 million, principally resulting from € 12.5 million of revenue related to the first quarter 2008 sale of a property in Val d’Europe which had been subject to a long term ground lease.

‘¢ Revenues for the Third Quarter increased 3% to € 331.9 million despite the shift of the Easter Holiday in some of our key markets from April in the prior-year period to March in the current-year period.

Commenting on the results, Karl L. Holz, Chief Executive Officer of Euro Disney S.A.S, said:

“We are pleased with our continued solid results through the Third Quarter, as we move into the peak summer season. The Celebration Continues… Big Time!, particularly as our guests respond positively to our new offerings in the Walt Disney Studios Park. Our guests are enjoying the thrills of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and the magic of an interactive experience with a favorite Disney character in Stitch Live!. High School Musical 2 is also creating emotional connections through high energy performances and sing-along dance routines.

Our teams are fully mobilized to provide a high-quality guest experience through a combination of new services, iconic attractions and immersive entertainment that only Disney can create.”

So, how are things looking? Overall, very good indeed. There are no horror stories here or any reports which might make a shareholder nervous for the full Annual Report in November. The waters are calm, the course steady. Euro Disney SCA’s position is getting ever stronger.

With the displacement of the Easter Holiday this year to the second quarter, however, it is hard to gauge exactly how well the resort is still growing. An overall gain of just 3% in revenues compared to the same period last year does on first glance seem rather worrying considering the vast expenditure just made to build and promote an attraction as large as The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, especially when you consider park attendance itself increased just 1% in the three months.

Worrying on one hand, yes, but on the other, it is still a gain — and a gain compared to the record 14.5 million visitors of last year at that. The resort is well on course to post a brand new (if only very modestly higher) visitor record in its Annual Report for 2008. Compared to the launch of Walt Disney Studios Park in 2002, which brought only a tiny attendance growth and a severe drop-off the next year, this at least proves that the incremental series of investments and relaunch of the destination for its 15th Anniversary was well-formulated and has good staying power.

The record achievements of last year will be hard to build upon in a big way so quickly, true, but they weren’t a flash in the pan — that’s the most important thing.

— You can see the full report as a PDF download here.

— Find our previous report on the First Half 2008 results here.

Sometimes these days, you really think you’re seeing things at Walt Disney Studios Park. You have to look twice. A 75-minute wait for Flying Carpets Over Agrabah? The billboard finally removed from Disney Studio 1?

Over in Production Courtyard, however, Nescafé’s new signage for its ‘Café Cafés‘ …err… café really will make you do a double-take. Installed just last week, it arrived just days after fans were wondering whether the old signage above the location, reading ‘Rendez-Vous des Stars Restaurant’ would confuse guests into thinking that this small new coffee stand is infact that restaurant.

Problem solved — replaced by Café Cafés!

Though the name itself is perhaps somewhat strange for a location that borders so closely on the park’s “Hollywood” area — and indeed may become part of it in the future, the signage has clearly been designed with a few quirks of the building’s art deco style in mind. The rounded letters, stylised drawings and old-fashioned white supports all lend it a good overall style.

Now, fans may suggest, the ‘Chef Rémy’ sign for the restaurant next door should be moved or removed to avoid clashing with the new signage below.

Inside the semi-circular area still surrounded by construction fences, countless wires hang from the ceiling and work continues throughout the week. It is as yet unknown whether guests will be able to walk inside this area to order, or what kind of seating — if any — will be provided.

The new refreshments stand is due to open in August, as listed on the latest park guide. The guide also gives an interesting clue about its products. We’re used only to small paper cups of Nescafé, perhaps with a squirt of cream on top, around the parks. If this listing is anything to go by, however, Café Cafés will be the first location to sell flavoured coffees.

[Pictures: DLRP Today, Photos Magiques]

Skies were blue, flowers in bloom, attractions running well and crowds relatively light… it was a perfect day to celebrate the host country of our European Disney resort.

Bastille Day 2008 once again saw Disneyland Resort Paris pull out its regular music for a spectacular “feux d’artifice” over Le Château de Belle au Bois Dormant, but, as the show director Christophe Leclercq had promised, things were a little different this year. The resort’s new fireworks partner brought in new designs, new styles and new bursts to light up the sky.

There were certainly hints of the regular Enchanted Fireworks in there, but also rare sights at Disneyland Resort Paris such as “shape” fireworks — giant red hearts bursting into the sky.

Before the fireworks began, fans would smile at the fact that even Disney sometimes make a little mistake. As the crowds milled around after Fantillusion, an announcement proclaimed “You will soon have the pleasure of discovering Candleabration followed by The Enchanted Fireworks”. Several minutes later, the announcement was swiftly repeated with the correct “followed by a special 14th July fireworks” line.

Candleabration itself would also present a little surprise. Whilst the show was still effectively cut-down considerably in line with its other performances this Summer, serving only as a lead-in to the fireworks, this night saw a second new version with an added finale of ‘Just Like We Dreamed It’ (itself abridged) as just Mickey and Minnie danced on-stage.

Candleabration (Bastille Day 2008 Edition)

Luckily, the earlier announcement mix-up did not extend to the fireworks themselves, which went ahead swiftly and without a single fault. Compared to the incredibly muddled recent attempts for New Year’s Eve (using unknown and out-of-place rock songs from the Narnia “inspired by” soundtrack, for example), Bastille Day once again proved to be the resort’s best night for a truly spectacular fireworks display…

Bastille Day Fireworks 2008

You can find more photos of the show at Photos Magiques here.

[Pictures: Photos Magiques; Video: DLRP Today.com/DLRP Magic! Video]

The trumpets begin their fanfare, Mickey Mouse arrives. Then, before you know it, the candles are illuminated and we’re getting the cutesy “oh Mickey, c’est magnifique” line from Minnie. Don’t worry, you haven’t just passed out and missed several minutes of your Disneyland Resort Paris holiday — Candleabration has now been abridged.

Since the start of the 15th Anniversary, the nightly ceremony has begun with a fanfare of trumpets, led into the dancing flags to the theme of “Flying”, then, only after the arrival of Mickey Mouse and his traditional French dance with a hat to Vasile Sirli’s “Proudlights”, would you see the castle illuminated. For a grand finale, all of Disney VIPs join the party and dance along to the theme song ‘Just Like We Dreamed It’, each playing their own instrument.

When The Enchanted Fireworks premiered a couple of weeks ago, however, the show was cut down to its shortest running time yet — just over 2 minutes, and that if we’re generous. Only Mickey and Minnie appear, illuminating the candles together and then going right ahead to personally introduce the fireworks.

However, this change didn’t bring about the expected appearance of Mickey and Minnie on the balcony of Sleeping Beauty Castle itself, as confirmed on DLRP Today.com by the show’s actual director, Christophe Leclercq, several weeks earlier. Instead, they appear on the regular Central Plaza Stage. The reason for the last-minute change is unconfirmed — perhaps it caused operational problems, perhaps the characters simply couldn’t be seen as easily, the scene didn’t work as well.

DLRP Today.com presents a brand new video of the new Candleabration, Summer 2008 Edition:

It seems unsure whether the show will return to its regular form when the fireworks come to a close at the end of August. Several entertainment Cast Members spoke about these changes as a “new version” of Candleabration, suggesting they are permanent revisions and not temporary allowances just for the fireworks. As always, watch this space…

[Pictures/Video: DLRP Today]

Some might say it’s a way to save paper. Others might say it’s to coax more people across to the Studios. The more romantic might even say the “love” theme of The Enchanted Fireworks brought them together at last.

In fact, several months in the planning and design, yesterday saw the launch of a brand new park map ready for the Summer season. As expected for a while now, big changes lie in store for us. There are no more “Little Park Guides” and no more blue or pink covers. No longer will each park have its own, unique leaflet to guide you around.

Meet the new… Plan des Parcs. Two park maps… in one.

The pocket size of recent years is ditched in favour of a size more similar to the maps pre-2003, a regular leaflet size, which folds out across five sheets horizontally and double the size vertically. This seems like a big park guide, but then it does need to cover two entire Disney Parks:

It’s a landmark day for Disney theme parks, the first time two parks have ever shared the same plan. But why? Well, imagine this scene…

You’re visiting Disneyland Resort Paris just for one day. Naturally, you pick Disneyland Park to spend all your time in and stroll straight past the entrance to the Studios. What’s in there? No idea. As you pass through the turnstiles and pick up your map, you get a full guide to Disneyland Park, and nothing more. That other park across the way looked like nothing more than a series of giant yellow buildings — there’s no way of really knowing what lies beyond the imposing Disney Studio 1. You can’t be blamed for missing such top-rated classics as Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster, CinéMagique or Crush’s Coaster.

Now, with the two maps in one, a visitor just stopping by at Disneyland Park opens their map to find a whole new park at the top, with plenty of rather interesting sights. Attractions themed to new films like Cars and Finding Nemo, not to mention truly special experiences like The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Stitch Live!. You’d want to hop over and check it out, wouldn’t you?

Rather than keeping visitors in the dark about what lies within the park next door, it does indeed make much more sense to advertise it to all, make the most of its great guest satisfaction scores.

Are there bad points? Sure. Beyond the fact that converging the parks like this might make their individuality a little less special, the new design has for some reason completely dropped the descriptions for some of the major attractions. How are first-time visitors really meant to know what happens in Pirates of the Caribbean, Phantom Manor or Art of Disney Animation? The restaurant listing also exposes a real horror for Walt Disney Studios Park‘s dining, listing its limited number of eateries in one category, alongside entire lands at Disneyland Park.

The good points and the positive effect this double park plan should have on guests’ awareness of the two, separate parks, especially now Walt Disney Studios Park has some top-notch themeing along with great attractions, will far outweigh any niggling negatives. Last month we consolidated our two cumbersome Entertainment Programmes into a single, simpler leaflet, and now we only have a single park map to carry around.

Not that we need a map to find our way around Disneyland Resort Paris, of course, but we still have that collection to think of…

[Photo credit: Mouetto, Disney Central Plaza forum]

The show begins to the opening strings of True Love’s Kiss, the announcement asking: “Are you dreaming of the beauty, the passion of one true love?” It continues “Reach out… and let yourself be… Enchanted. Reach out, and you will find a very happy end.”

Then, as the music kicks in, you hear “Once upon a time…” and spotlights shine up and down Sleeping Beauty Castle as a rainbow of fireworks fan inwards and outwards from either side. The music shifts straight into the Enchanted Suite we’ve all been expecting, and The Enchanted Fireworks have begun!

Red rockets, white flames, showers of pixie dust, sparkling stars and great, golden cauliflowers that fill the entire sky lie ahead. The slow romantic number So Close, left in the mix despite many fans’ worries about its speed, surprises with a burst of slow, swooping colours that time perfectly with the single piano notes, creating a dreamy, romantic moment… like when you meet that special someone and the whole world seems to run in slow motion.

Brilliant bursts of gold and blue follow, tinted with red rockets, fanning outwards, filling the sky with massive sparks as the “love” blossoms and explodes. As the music reaches its finale with the notes from That’s How You Know, the sky suddenly clears except for the four bright spotlights. Into the climax, single white rockets fire upwards at angles and, to end, a single burst from either side of the Castle, as tall as its highest spire.

But wait… the show hasn’t ended! One of the biggest, most spectacular finales of a regular daily fireworks show at the park suddenly begins, shooting hundreds of white bursts, brilliant sparkling fans and screaming rockets into the sky, just when you thought the Happy Ending had already been reached.

And here it is, the very first video!

Did that false ending fool you too?

Disneytheque.com also has a selection of photos from the show, which make many of the projection and lighting effects much clearer to see:

Clearly, the new relationship with a fresh fireworks partner has brought a great deal of innovation and excitement to this show when compared with recent displays in the past, presenting a seemingly never-ending line of different firework colours and styles, many never seen at the park before. All that, coupled with simple, effective projections that completely stray away from the basic animations of Wishes (such as Aladdin on a magic carpet) criticised for being too “Microsoft Powerpoint”. The new lighting effects also add a powerful tone, yet softer than the green lasers of that previous show.

As we reported recently following our exclusive interview with the director of the fireworks Christophe Leclercq, the show is actually coupled right onto the regular Candleabration ceremony. One surprise for many at the premiere last night was just how much Candleabration had changed for the Summer season, cutting itself down to just a few minutes to illuminate the candles with no preceding flags or ‘Just Like We Dreamed It’.

In addition, and proving just how much things can change at the last minute at Disneyland Resort Paris, the promised positioning of Mickey and Minnie on the front balcony of Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant, as confirmed even by the director, failed to happen. The couple instead conducted Candleabration and the introduction to the fireworks from the regular Central Plaza Stage. Whether this was a temporary measure due to technical issues on the first night or the plans have been cut completely remains to be seen.

The fireworks themselves, however, truly live up to their name. The next 56 Summer nights will be just as Enchanted as we hoped.

[Photos: Disneytheque.com (more); Video: Celli0905, YouTube]

Does it sound a little far-fetched? The rumours certainly did when they appeared out of nowhere just a few weeks ago.

Proving Walt Disney Imagineering really can still throw us a curveball once in a while, when member La Rouquine on Disney Central Plaza announced that you could be enjoying your meal at Rendez-Vous Stars Restaurant only for an animatronic Rémy to pop out from under a serving platter and interact with you, he wasn’t wrong.

The set-up relates to the original teaser trailer for Pixar’s Oscar-winning film Ratatouille, in which a waiter stops at a table in the classy Gusteau’s restaurant and offers the diners some cheese — only to lift the lid on the platter and reveal Rémy the rat, chomping away on a piece of Emmental.

Though the rumours for this unexpected exclusive ‘Living Character’ suggested Rémy would be making appearances at Rendez-Vous des Stars — which recently took on the name of his film to attract more guests — and more particularly the restaurants of Disneyland Hotel, it was in the streets of Walt Disney Studios Park, outside that first restaurant, that he was first spotted just yesterday.

Here it is, the first video:

Rémy wears his miniature chef’s hat just like at the end of the film, sitting on a platter with some cheese and grapes, looking upwards in a slightly hesitant way to the guests around him. The accompanying human chef plays up to the crowds, uses little words and presents the rat to his public.

Though the video cuts away after a few seconds, you get the idea. You might also have a few new questions, such as — will he speak? Well, in the world of Ratatouille as imagined by the wizards at Pixar, no humans can understand the rats. The film handles this fact beautifully through the great interactions between Linguini and Rémy, introducing a squeak for Rémy only in a single scene. But, when you’ve got Rémy right there on a platter… shouldn’t he say something?

Secondly, as Maarten on our partner website magicforum questioned straight away — is he really an animatronic? Certainly his movements and the positioning above a covered trolley could suggest that this little rat is merely a puppet controlled by a human beneath the cloth.

Either way, this is now the park’s second ‘Living Character’ after Stitch Live! and thus far a complete world-exclusive — not to mention a more accurate depiction of the furry movie star than the slightly oversized Toon Studio version, which will continue to meet and greet fans.

So, when we said you won’t meet Rémy in any way other than that oversized character until the rumoured Walt Disney Studios Park attraction opens for the resort’s 20th Anniversary in 2012, we were wrong. DLRP Today eats humble pie. Or some cheese…

[Video: Novastarbuzz, YouTube]

Guarantee yourself a room at the top of the Hotel New York tower, get VIP FASTPASS for the length of your stay, enjoy an exclusive lounge with complimentary drinks and a buffet breakfast with characters every day.

The Empire State Club is certainly a tempting new addition to Disney’s Hotel New York, taking over 34 rooms and suites last month to finally provide the hotel with an exclusive upper-tier option in the same vein as Newport Bay Club’s Admiral’s Floor and Disneyland Hotel’s Castle Club.

In fact, the hotel had such a “club” when it first opened back in 1992, but this fell by the wayside in the years that followed. For the new tier, the old check-in area has been reawakened, as seen above, giving Empire State Club guests a faster check-in and a more personal service.

That service extends to the upper floors of the hotel themselves, on which the rooms are located, where you’ll find a brand new lounge to relax with a complimentary refreshment or your continental breakfast each morning.

Completely redecorated and built just for the Empire State Club, the area has plenty of neat touches — such as Mickey Mouse shapes in the art deco panels — and a very upmarket feel, darker than the other “clubs” but therefore very in-keeping with the New York’s more professional overall style.

The rooms themselves have yet to be seen. Have you stayed there already? Why not send us a photo or post one on the magicforum?

So, at what price does all this exclusivity come?  Based on two adults sharing one room, you’ll be looking to pay between £26 (during the lowest season) and £41 (in the highest season) extra per person per night. On a stay of 4 nights starting today, for example, you’d pay an extra £288 between the two of you, bumping the regular £602 price up to £746 per person (£1492 total).

In comparison, the Castle Club at Disneyland Hotel, arguably a much more exclusive club, costs around £66 extra per night per person, based on two adults sharing. Stay there in the height of Summer for four nights with a friend and you’d pay £472 extra between you, bringing the regular £1021 price per person up to £1257.

At the other end of the scale, the Admiral’s Floor at Disney’s Newport Bay Club — which provides merely a guaranteed room near the top of the building and a dedicated check-in — costs between just £9 and £16 extra per person per night for a one-night stay. The Empire State Club does, therefore, seem well-placed and fairly priced at least within the structure of the overall Disney Hotels pricing.

Whether the pricing — and the offering — is fair in the real world is up to you.

— More about the Empire State Club and its advantages here.

[Photo credit: Photos Magiques]