Monday, 9th February 2009

New casting website opens up (too much?)

This new website can be found at the same address — www.disneylandparis-casting.com — but takes on an entirely new and entirely modern design, very different to the current www.disneylandparis.com or Euro Disney SCA corporate sites. Clean, simple navigation, blogs, keyword searches, Cast Member “walls”, colour-coordinated sections, videos and interactive quizzes.

Arriving on the new homepage, you’re confronted not by a flash animation filling the screen but primarily by just three large, simple boxes — Support, Operations & Maintenance and Entertainment — which, curiously, change position between the French and English versions.

New Casting Website

The first few sections introduce the resort as a whole, including several new videos — both flashy B-roll footage of the resort and useful interviews with actual Cast, such as here 2009 Resort Ambassador Prisca interviewing Vice President of Human Resources Daniel Dreux, or here a look at the lives of the Big Thunder Mountain cast.

New Casting Website

Once you get into the key sections for the employment categories, such as Entertainment, they’re each colour-coded and nicely customised, with even more videos, blogs and news updates specific to each department. Here, for example, you see the latest auditions for character look-a-likes and other roles.

New Casting Website

Operations & Maintenance offers another look behind Big Thunder Mountain in its key video, but check out the second page, too, for a smart commercial showing Cast Members remembering the “first time” they did things ranging from booking someone’s trip or preparing Buffalo Bill’s horse!

New Casting Website

Surprisingly, it’s the Support pages you might want to check out though.

New Casting Website

Because, there’s something in the first video — namely when we’re watching one of the Architecture & Urban Planning cast members — that we’re not entirely sure they wanted us all to see so clearly. Or maybe they did…

That’d be the current future development plan of the entire resort, as it currently stands. Now, you may well have seen one of these plans before, but this is their current plan, and it seems to reveal a few new specific details…

New Casting Website

Note, for example, the 5th and 6th hotel at Val de France, the huge space reserved for a dedicated Convention Centre, the masses of land awaiting new Disney Hotels either side of the main parking lot access road and the brand new patch next to Val d’Europe also ready for hotels (in the very, very far future).

Happily, there’s (slightly realigned) space still ready and waiting for a 3rd park, but the most interesting and probably most relevant aspect here is Walt Disney Studios Park — now extended into a huge rectangle, more than double its current size, extending off to the West. As you’d enter this fully built-out park, it’d actually therefore be more of a stretched diamond shape. It’s finally a specific expansion footprint, not the general shaded area we’ve seen in the past.

But, leaving those dreams of the future behind… the new casting website. Clean, easy to navigate, flash animations only where they’re necessary and full of information in a design that makes you want to click another link.

We’re left wondering… why can’t the resort’s actual website be more like this?

Thursday, 5th February 2009

Mickey’s Magical Party preview video… with music!

The special video sees Mickey Mouse rushing from corner to corner all over the resort, meeting up with other characters who are shown to be preparing their entertainments for the upcoming Magical Party.

Several of the scenes were obviously filmed at the same time as some of the still photo shoots we’ve been seeing this past week, but — along with giving a first look at the Stars ‘n’ Cars vehicles as they’ll appear in Paris — there is one huge, enormous spoiler in here… the music!

We posted the lyrics just yesterday and only introduced the concept of this new song — “It’s Mickey’s Magical Party Time” — just last week, but already, here it is! Well, almost… as you might guess from the synthesised opening, this is actually a special remix of the song. Far more “dance” flavoured than the true number, and in fact likely to be the version heard during It’s Dance Time… in Discoveryland.

Here’s the video:

And a series of stills:

Mickey's Magical Party preview video
Mickey rises bright and early to begin another day of hard work…

Mickey's Magical Party preview video
Another close-up of the Minnie’s Party Train concepts — note that the third carriage will be different again from both the first and second.

Mickey's Magical Party preview video
Mickey arrives in the Stars ‘n’ Cars garage to surprise Goofy

Mickey's Magical Party preview video
Mushu steals the show in Mulan’s car

Mickey's Magical Party preview video
Characters polish up their cars

Mickey's Magical Party preview video
Mickey peers through a curtain to see Playhouse Disney — via greenscreen!

Mickey's Magical Party preview video
In the Radio Disney studios, Stitch prepares his beats to some wild camera work

Mickey's Magical Party preview video
The characters rehearse their moves for “It’s Party Time… with Mickey and Friends” backstage — with the show’s additional stars from The Jungle Book and The Lion King

Mickey's Magical Party preview video
Mickey emerges from the baloons…

Mickey's Magical Party preview video
That’s Mickey’s Magical Party!

As for the “It’s Party Time!” song, hearing a slightly wacky dance remix before the real thing maybe isn’t the best way to be introduced to the new theme music of the year, but what do you think so far? Is this another Disneyland Resort Paris song destined to stay with you almost every hour of the day?

Thursday, 5th February 2009

First look as Stars prepare their Cars

Released just hours ago and available to watch in full here, the new video preview of the Mickey’s Magical Party celebrations sees the mouse rushing around the resort checking up on the preparations for his year-long party.

Amongst the special photoshoot set-ups, there are several surprising backstage glimpses, including one into the parade storage building which currently houses the vehicles of Disney’s Stars ‘n’ Cars

Stars 'n' Cars

We’ve seen inside here before, in fact, when some sneaky photos of the cars were published online just after they’d arrived in Paris. Now,eight months later, we can them in their final Parisian state… although, as confirmed in an earlier update, very little actually changed at all in the end.

Stars 'n' Cars

One car is “new”, however, and that’s Donald Duck’s. Now dark green all over with similar movie reel motifs to Mickey’s black and grey old-timer, the Duck polishes off his takeover of The Muppets’ old car neatly. On the bonnet, an old fashioned movie camera points toward the driver!

Stars 'n' Cars

Also note Mushu appearing alongside Mulan’s car — a character who has certainly been hard to spot in recent years, especially since the end of the Videopolis show.

Stars 'n' Cars

Only three of the cars are featured in the video, you can see the full final lineup here.

It has also been confirmed recently that the performance of this event will now involve two separate, small cavalcades entering the park from Toon Studio and Backlot, travelling along the parade route to apparently meet and park-up around Place des Stars.

A kind of doubled-up version of the old Good Morning Walt Disney Studios — with far better cars — if you like.

Wednesday, 4th February 2009

Playhouse construction follows little blue alien’s lead

Indeed, though it upsets DLRP Today to announce this, Walt Disney Studios Park won’t be welcoming an entrance to this new stage puppet show looking anything like the one in Florida.

Instead, the attraction’s entrance will be pretty much as we guessed in the last construction update way back in August — a modest little off-shoot from the Walt Disney Television Studios building looking just like Stitch Live! a few metres away. The indented metal covering on this new extended concrete roof has already been completed, and we can’t even see the join…

Playhouse Disney - Live on Stage!

The latest construction confirms not only that the curved canopy has indeed been extended to provide a new entrance marquee, but that the new Playhouse will also follow Stitch‘s lead with an identical show times display…

Playhouse Disney - Live on Stage!

Having the same display, with two sides, could also hint that the show will be presented in separate French and English performances. So far, nothing about the attraction’s language plans has been announced or even rumoured, but it is expected Playhouse Disney will run more alike Animagique than Stitch Live!, with only 5 shows per day.

Finally, the attraction has followed Stitch Live! again right onto the latest park map. Though, perhaps confusing for some guests, the two attractions’ logos and numbers are presented the wrong way round, with Playhouse Disney’s entrance apparently closer to Rendez-Vous des Stars Restaurant

Playhouse Disney - Live on Stage!

Well, at least that elusive Number 8 on the Studios map has finally been found!

Photos from Photos Magiques; Map images from Scrooge on DMI forum.

Wednesday, 4th February 2009

Buffalo Trading Co. blacked out

We said the shop, very popular amongst fans, would be heading toward a typical Western sunset when its closing date was officially announced, but here’s the part you never see after those end credits roll… the blackout.

Stroll through Disney Village today and you’ll still see the oversized Western accessories hanging atop its large wooden entrance construction, but there’s no life inside — the windows covered over in black and given the standard “This area is being refurbished for your future enjoyment” notices…

Buffalo Trading Co. closed Buffalo Trading Co. closed

The ripping-out of the old Buffalo Trading Co. interior should now be well underway, ready for the fitting-out of that brand new Starbucks Coffeehouse rumoured to be opening.

Yes — still “rumoured”! Neither Starbucks nor Euro Disney SCA has announced anything about a new opening in Disney Village, though there is really no doubt.

Meanwhile, the three stores of Thunder Mesa Mercantile Building in Frontierland and the General Store of Disney’s Hotel Cheyenne will be our remaining frontier for Western goods.

Look out for a special photo tour and history of the old boutique when our Remember…? resort history column finally returns later this week!

Photos from the latest Photos Magiques trip report, here.

Wednesday, 4th February 2009

Lyrics of new “Party Time” theme song revealed

The song, of course, is for Mickey’s Magical Party and will therefore unsurprisingly be titled “It’s Party Time!”, with the actual chorus proclaiming “It’s Mickey’s Magical Time!”.

Beginning with a lone chorus singing out “It’s Mickey’s Magical Time… Everybody’s ready it’s time to play”, the song builds through a quick jazzy brass intro before launching into the first verse with drums, heavy guitars and some very pacey vocals from both a male and female lead. The brass element returns several times, but the overall feel is very much a progression of the modern pop/rock touched upon with Just Like We Dreamed It“.

Unusually, the full lyrics are already out!

It’s Party Time

It’s Mickey’s Magical Party Time,
Everybody’s ready it’s time plaaayyyyy……

(Its time to party, come have a party, ohh yea, you know its party time)

Verse 1:
Welcome everybody, let the fun being
(Oh oh it’s party time)

A Disney celebration with all of our friends!
(You know its party time)

Young, Brand New – we’re so glad that you’re here!
(Oh oh it’s party time)

It’s a magical invitation to the party of the year
(You know its party time)

With Disney magic excitement grows, Grab a balloon – come on lets go……

Chorus:
It’s Mickey’s Magical Party Time,
Everybody’s ready it’s time to play…

At Mickey’s Magical Party Time, yea yea
The party of the year, and it’s happening here!

It’s Mickey’s Magical Party Time,
We’ll let the music out load – dancing with the crowd!

At Mickey’s Magical Party Time, hey hey!

(Its party time, its party time, if you wanna party, you know its party time!)

Verse 2:
Kiddies, right we’re coming, it’s getting a little wild!
(Oh oh it’s party time)

Mothers, fathers, sisters, brothers and every child.
(You know its party time)

Lint, then needles with ribbons and bows!
(Oh oh it’s party time)

Lets decorate to celebrate with everyone we know
(You know its party time)

With Disney magic excitement grows….
Everybody Grab a balloon – come on lets go……!!!

Chorus:
It’s Mickey’s Magical Party Time,
Everybody’s ready it’s time to play…

At Mickey’s Magical Party Time, yea yea
The party of the year, and it’s happening here!

It’s Mickey’s Magical Party Time,
We’ll let the music out loud – dancing with the crowd!

At Mickey’s Magical Party Time, hey hey!

Verse 3:
We’re dancing in the street to a party-time beat –
lets shoot for the stars that’s what you will do…

We’re dancing in the street to party-time beat – everybody let loose!

People from all around the world – have come from far and near!

Everybody clap, everybody cheer – the party of the year and it’s happening here!!

Chorus:
It’s Mickey’s Magical Party Time,
Everybody’s ready it’s time to play…

At Mickey’s Magical Party Time, yea yea
The party of the year, and it’s happening here!

It’s Mickey’s Magical Party Time,
We’ll let the music out loud – dancing with the crowd!

At Mickey’s Magical Party Time, hey hey!
We’ll let the music out loud – dancing with the crowd!

Mickey’s Magical Party Time, yea yea
The party of the year, and it’s happening here!

At Mickey’s Magical Party Time, hey hey!
Everybody’s let loose

(Party time, oh yea, its Mickey’s magical party, yea, party time, yea yea)

ITS PARTY TIME!!

Though very much a generic “event” tune, the lyrics do make reference to several of the key Mickey’s Magical Party emblems, such as “Grab a balloon — come on let’s go…”. The full details of where and when during the celebration it’ll actually appear has yet to be confirmed, but we can certainly count on it being used for It’s Party Time… with Mickey and Friends and It’s Dance Time… in Discoveryland, if not Minnie’s Party Train too.

As mentioned previously, the song is produced by Scott Erickson, who worked on a variety of direct-to-video releases such as Mickey-Donald-Goofy in The Three Musketeers, Bambi II and Lilo & Stitch 2: Stitch Has a Glitch.

Finally — yes, the song will be catchy. Very catchy. In fact, from April 4th, be very prepared to have nothing but “It’s Mickey’s magical party time” ringing through your head, until May at the earliest…

With many thanks to Poppy the Monkey for the lyrics.

Monday, 2nd February 2009

New Central Plaza stage shoots up …literally?

With Candleabration‘s last show on its now seemingly quite dull, circular stage still fresh in the mind, the pace of construction for a brand new stage on the same spot is certainly surprising.

Even more surprising, though, is that guests are no longer greeted by a wall of green construction fences at the end of Main Street, but a pleasant, colourful teaser for Mickey’s Magical Party filling the entire perimeter of the construction area…

Central Plaza Stage construction

The walls, decorated with a new mural of the Disney VIPs in CGI style dancing amongst balloons, have messages popping out of envelopes which read rather placidly: “A big party is being prepared. All my friends will be ready to celebrate Mickey’s Magical Party …rendez-vous on 4th April 2009! -Mickey”.

Central Plaza Stage construction Central Plaza Stage construction

And so, to the construction itself — the choice spot of viewing being the Castle drawbridge. The steel frame for the main body of the stage has already progressed well and already appears far larger than its predecessor, filling a greater area of the Central Plaza hub.

Central Plaza Stage construction

White tarpaulins currently cover the areas where the four “satellite” stages will connect onto the body, which also already features a noticeable feature from the concept illustrations and visuals we’ve seen so far — a circular, raised section at its middle.

What? That doesn’t excite you? Well, if you can bear to be let in on quite a large spoiler for the show to come, some posts from our friends on magicforum reveal a surprising secret about that circular black device in the centre…

As admin Kristof writes, “Mickey will magically appear and disappear through the use of a lift amid a cloud of streamers and confetti.”

Now, there’s a party trick to look forward to!

It has also been confirmed that the new show will be performed five times daily.

Photos from the latest Photos Magiques trip report, here!

Monday, 2nd February 2009

Party? Fête? Festa? Choisissez votre langue…

It’s often said that one of the best things about Disneyland is that it means something different to everybody who visits. At Disneyland Resort Paris, with its countless languages coming together in one place and all their required translations, that’s quite literally the case.

Unlike the 15th Anniversary, which could be communicated in all the required languages simply by placing a “15” next to the resort’s logo, explaining Mickey’s Magical Party in different languages requires a little more effort, and a little more translation.

In fact, English speakers will be the only ones to hear about the event under that name in their advertising and communications. For the other five key languages of the resort, every single one has its own, entirely different, translation.

Let’s take a look…

French: La Fête Magique de Mickey

As usual, inverts the title and stays away from the possessive apostrophe…

La Fête Magique de Mickey

Spanish: El Año de Mickey

Literally meaning “The Year of Mickey”, which was in fact the working title for the event in English, too…

El Año de Mickey

Dutch: Mickey’s Magische Jaar

Again, preferring to push “year” over “party”…

Mickey's Magische Jaar

German: Micky’s Fantastisches Fest

Whilst Germany sits better with some alliteration…

Micky's Fantastisches Fest

Italian: Il Magico Anno di Topolino

And Italy is still the only one of these languages to have an entirely different name for Mickey: Topolino…

Il Magico Anno di Topolino

We promised two new languages, and here they are! The amount of press and advertising visuals for the new event already far outweighs the number created even for the 15th Anniversary, and now to truly prove that all bases are being covered, we have the resort’s very first logos in two extra European languages — Portugese and Greek…

Portugese: A Festa do Mickey

A Festa do Mickey

Greek: To Mayikó Πápti tou Míku

To Mayikó ?ápti tou Míku

It remains to be seen if these two new logos will be followed up by any other communications in these extra languages, such as websites or park guide maps.

But, for now, that concludes our little continental tour. Who knew an obsession with an American theme park could teach you so much about European languages..?

All logos © Disney.

Sunday, 1st February 2009

Magical Party advertising starts at home

Following on the welcome trend begun with Crush’s Coaster and Cars Race Rally to use the resort’s main parking lot and its moving walkways to push the events or attractions you should return for soon, Mickey’s Magical Party began taking over the area late in December.

First, with banners and placards above the walkways:

Mickey's Magical Party advertising
Photo: Scrooge, Disney Magic Interactive

With a second style for the smaller spaces:

Mickey's Magical Party advertising
Photo: Mouetto, Disney Central Plaza

Then, with posters filling all the display cases along the route back to the car parks:

Mickey's Magical Party advertising
Photo: Scrooge, Disney Magic Interactive

Of course, if you’d like to start the advertising in your real home, you can do that too! The new Spring/Summer 2009 brochure is available now online to order or download, and has been taken over almost entirely by previews for the upcoming celebration year:

Mickey's Magical Party brochure

Mickey's Magical Party brochure

The general style and layout remains faithful to that set up for the 15th Anniversary brochures, merely redecorated with these new brighter colours. The back cover even reuses the same tagline — “The only one missing is you!”.

Like much of what we’ve seen of the party so far, the general idea seems to be “if it ‘aint broke, don’t fix it” — just make it brighter!

Photos as credited; brochure images © Disney.

Sunday, 1st February 2009

It’s (not quite) Dance Time (…yet!)

Just like the new Central Plaza show and the redecorated Party Train, Discoveryland’s brand new daily street spectacle — It’s Dance Time… in Discoveryland — has been given the full Disney marketing treatment with its own logo and a full poster-style visual:

It's Dance Time... in Discoveryland

Certainly the most ambiguous visual of the lot, this one might take some extra explanation. It’s Dance Time will be an outdoor street show in Discoveryland — the land’s first for over a decade, perhaps? — somewhat in the same vein as the High School Musical shows over at Walt Disney Studios Park.

How exactly? Because, several times a day, DJ Stitch will roll out into the land aboard an apparently jet-powered set of mixing decks, styled to look similar to his rocket ship from Lilo & Stitch (as also seen at the end of Stitch Live!). Therefore, there won’t be a permanent stage for this event but a designated area of the land — as yet, not confirmed — that will be covered in brightly coloured dance mats.

The inspiration here is clearly the home video games such as “Dance Dance Revolution”, with the audience then invited to step up onto one of the mats and follow Stitch’s directions to dance along to the contemporary music.

In French, the show will be known as ‘Place à la Danse… à Discoveryland’:

It's Dance Time... in Discoveryland

As you’ve no doubt already guessed, this new daily entertainment event is hardly going to be a winner for those fans of the “true” Discoveryland. It seems unlikely there’ll be any reference to the great dance moves of the visionaries such as Jules Verne and H.G. Wells, and the searing colours of the logo above will likely allow those same Discovery fans to even forgive Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast entirely for any wrongdoing.

But, pitched against the land’s often bizarre history for live entertainment, it is a better match than African animals or Californian beach festivals… isn’t it?

Whether you’re convinced or not, Mickey Mouse seems to be happy with the preparations. After taking a look at Minnie’s concept art for the new Party Train, he hopped over to the Radio Disney studios — housed in those infamous areas at the back of Videopolis which were meant to connect to Discovery Mountain — to hear Stitch’s rehearsals…

It's Dance Time... in Discoveryland

With the red mixing decks dotted with bolts and a view of Space Mountain through the Nautilus-inspired window, these scenes are almost worthy of the fans’ Discoveryland seal-of-approval… were it not for the grey skies, dirty glass and reflections!

It's Dance Time... in Discoveryland

Stitch won’t be alone for this show, though — it has been revealed that the little blue alien will bring along a special dance troupe to help get each show going and encourage the audience to take part. Auditions have been held alongside those for this year’s High School Musical show, particularly pushing for dancers with “street and hip hop” ability.

Here’s the casting notice:

The Talent Casting Department are organising auditions for the positions in the stage show: HIGH SCHOOL MUSICAL ON TOUR!, IT’S PARTY TIME… WITH MICKEY AND FRIENDS and IT’S DANCE TIME… IN DISCOVERYLAND.

It’s Dance Time… in Discoveryland, good jazz technique, strong stage presence, knowledge of hip hop/street dance is a plus, girls should be 5’4 – 5’7 and boys should be 5’7 – 6’0.

Jules Verne must be spinning, grinding and bopping in his grave…!

All photos, logos and visuals © Disney.

Subscribe to the Magic!

Tags & Archives