2009

This new Mickey’s Magical Party CD album was first confirmed in DLRP Magic.com‘s exclusive interview with Director of Music Vasile Sirli back in July, with an expected release for August.

Well, they certainly kept us anticipating — the new album, in a shiny foil cardboard sleeve, began appearing in the resort’s stores in the very last week of the month. Here it is…

On the disc you’ll find pretty much the full original score of the centrepiece show It’s Party Time… with Mickey and Friends, plus two new versions of the ‘Mickey’s Magical Party Time’ theme song by Scott Erickson and the ‘He’s a Pirate’ (a track from the original Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl soundtrack) remix heard at the start of It’s Dance Time… in Discoveryland.

Rounding out the collection are a few oddities. We’ve got a track by The Hill Billy Trio (‘How Many Biscuits Can You Eat’) and another by The African Tam-Tam. Considering these two were both previously available on Frontierland en Musique and Disneyland Resort Paris en Musique releases respectively, are they there to provide a pause from the very modern, pop-tempo Magical Party tracks, or do they smell like filler? Let’s leave that to you…

Finally, a more surprising deviation is the full, 13-minute soundtrack of the Once Upon a Time Sleeping Beauty “happening” from Fantasyland’s Castle Courtyard. Again, this has little relation to the theme year celebrated by the album, but the music plays well on CD, almost sounding better than it does through the speakers in that area of the park. Very unusually for a Disneyland Paris CD, the full introduction spiel is included. (Unusual and rather annoying, since we’ve yet to ever see anything this complete for far more worthy events like Fantillusion, don’t you think?)

Can’t get to the park just yet? Wondering how all these new tracks sound? Ahh, let DLRP Today.com bring the Storybook Store listening post to you! Here’s an exclusive collection of excerpts from the CD…

The full tracklisting is as follows:

1. Mickey’s Magical Party Time – Instrumental (04:08) *
2. Following the Leader (01:50) *
3. The Bare Necessities (01:53) *
4. Tigger Medley (01:32) *
5. Hakuna Matata (01:44)
6. Peter Pan Medley (01:50) *
7. Mickey – Finale (01:00) *
8. La Fête Magique de Mickey (03:46) (French version by Georges Costa) *
9. Mickey’s Magical Party Time (01:45) (Main Street, U.S.A. version) *
10. Mickey’s Magical Party Time (06:10) (Remix)
11. He’s a Pirate (05:38) (Remix) *
12. The Hill Billy Trio – How Many Biscuits (03:33) *
13. The African Tam Tam (05:00) *
14. Il était une fois, la Belle au Bois Dormant (12:50) *

Total time: (53:48)

Tracks marked with an asterisk (*) are included in the preview above.

With a running time of just over 50 minutes and over 20 of those taken up by the final filler tracks, it’s still notable what this CD celebration of the year’s events fails to include — besides the Mickey’s Magical Party Time song itself, which you’ll have to buy on the separate CD single.

Still we’ve no ‘Tous en Train’ theme song from Minnie’s Party Train and Disney Characters’ Express, nor any music from the new attractions over at Walt Disney Studios Park. Playhouse Disney is excusable since the rights are held elsewhere, but a ‘Roll out the Red Carpet’ mix from Disney’s Stars ‘n’ Cars could have been a good inclusion, perhaps the ‘Showbiz Suite’ version previously released for the parade at Walt Disney World.

Goofy’s Summer Camp has also provided another remix of the main theme song played before the show begins in a laid-back country style, which may well have been cut too late to make the master.

But, who cares? Have you listened to those preview clips above yet, or seen the ‘Party Time’ show in the park itself? The score of this show, particularly the opening and finale, is a sensational piece of work from Vasile Sirli. Incorporating musical styles and instruments from across Europe to give the classic Disney themes a fresh and vibrant new feel, not to mention a glorious, rich orchestral version of the theme song, it’s one of the best Disney entertainment scores of the decade. And now, we can own it.

The CD is priced at €15.00, and now available for sure at The Storybook Store and The Emporium, though may well have found its way to more locations. Grab it quick, though — we’re nearly half way through the year already and in its first days on sale (particularly over the final weekend of August), the small displays at these stores were being emptied each day.

• If you’ve already got the CD, now is the perfect time to discover Jeremie Noyer’s interview with Vasile Sirli all about the main show score itself. Learn the inspirations, the instruments, the ideas and more as you listen… (Click here)

• You can also order the CD via the resort’s official mail order service. Email dlp.mail.order@disney.com for more details.

Pictures: DLRP Today.com; Music: © Disney.

Last Chance Café has long been on the list of Disneyland Parks see-sawing open/closed restaurants, sometimes open for weeks, sometimes completely shuttered. Considering its incredibly prominent location right opposite Thunder Mesa Riverboat Landing and en route to Phantom Manor, it has long been a wasted dining opportunity.

Well yeeha! It took 17 years, but we’re in luck! The location is now finally getting a proper outdoor terrance, a full wooden extension in the Western style, with its signage being moved outwards to the edge of the new construction.

The fences were put in place a couple of weeks ago, with the work expected to just be a general refurbishment. But as you can see, it has become much more than that…

For a better view, let’s climb aboard the Mark Twain…

The “restaurant” itself is really nothing more than a small indoor counter service queue area, so, despite its excellent placing right on the beaten track, Last Chance Café has frequently offered guests no chance at all for a drink or snack. Aside from the small hot dog stand nearby, they’d have to jump on their horse and ride off all the way to Main Street or Fuente del Oro Restaurante for a meal.

With this large new structure in place we can hopefully expect the location, sandwiched between the table service Silver Spur Steakhouse and the buffet service Lucky Nugget Saloon, to be giving us much more chance for a bite to eat, on the dusty road to Boot Hill.

Pictures: DLRP Today.com

Talk about returning to the real world. The main guest parking saw an interesting turn of events the evening of last Wedneday, 12th August 2009, when a car caught fire and turned into a quite spectacular blaze.

Though we certainly wouldn’t recommend standing close to and filming a car as it burns, the captured event does give us a (thankfully) rare glimpse at the resort’s fire service, who swooped in and swiftly extinguished the blaze like magic…

Short circuit is the most common guess, but still, we can’t rule out guests getting bored of the same stunts at Moteurs… Action! Stunt Show Spectacular for the last seven years and trying to stage their own show in the parking lot… or can we?

Video: miuet81, Youtube.

Trust a Disney fan — particularly a Disneyland Paris fan — to spot a throwaway reference to our resort hidden amid a run-of-the-mill write-up of a Nantes restaurant. But, that’s exactly what tinkerbell7 did here, and it certainly makes for an unexpected new possibility.

Read French? Read on…

Vu de l’extérieur, c’est un petit bâtiment cubique entouré de quelques palmiers. Rien n’indique que le French Pub, implanté zone des Gripôts, abrite un décor grandiose, à la hauteur de l’oeuvre de Jules Verne. «C’est voulu assure Ludovic Quefellec, le patron de l’établissement. Nous souhaitons surprendre le client».

Disney Village serait intéressé pour reprendre l’idée d’un pub consacré à l’univers de Jules Verne «Nous sommes encore en pourparlers confie le patron. Disney nous propose une surface de 500m2».

Find the full article here.

Alors… quoi? This is a place simply named “French Pub”, near the city of Nantes, which has been decorated inside to what looks like a quite lovely Jules Verne theme. They’re apparently having huge success, and the owner happens to mention — “Disney Village are interested in taking up the idea of a pub dedicated to the universe of Jules Verne. ‘We’re still in discussions’ entrusts the owner, ‘Disney have proposed an area of 500m2 to us’.”

So, where is this 500 metres-squared? A replacement for the Sports Bar and New York Style Sandwiches? Perhaps even for Disney Store, when World of Disney eventually arrives? Or even a brand new building, sometime in the future?

Whether anything comes of these discussions of course remains to be seen, but it’s interesting to hear that they’ve been looking beyond the everyday Starbucks and franchised Earl of Sandwich to expand Disney Village. Should the Village ever finally expand into a full second street of restaurants and shops, they’ll certainly need a lot of tenants to fill the space.

And, between the German experience of King Ludwig’s Castle and the very likely upcoming British experience of Earl of Sandwich, it would be a shame not to have this new, international, Village anchored by something much more closer to home.

In the words of Jules Verne himself — “Nothing is impossible… only improbable.”

Picture: PresseOcean.fr

There’s no doubting the breath of fresh air Starbucks Coffee has given Disney Village. Time for another? Yes, it’s looking likely.

Back in 2008, we reported:

“But what for that second new eatery? The admin of Disney Central Plaza, Grandmath, promised that at least one of the two was already operating at Walt Disney World. Since there are no Starbucks franchises on Disney’s Florida property, the second location must surely be the Orlando import.

“Indeed, current rumours, again very strong and from reliable sources, point to an Earl of Sandwich opening at Disney Village.” … “No location for the second building has been rumoured, and no tentative dates for construction of either have yet been given.”

Ahh but now, with the benefit of Starbucks’ completion and around 18 months, some rather more precise rumours are beginning to surface about the possible Earl of Sandwich store. This new chain of restaurants, founded by John Montagu, 11th Earl of Sandwich himself, on the basis that his ancestor, the 4th Earl of Sandwich, popularised the sandwich in Great Britain in the 1800s, launched at Downtown Disney in Walt Disney World in 2004 and has recently been expanding rapidly in the US.

Various ‘Earl of Sandwich’ images, including artwork for a standard franchise outlet

Most importantly for us — they’ve got their sights set on Europe. This business plan was revealed due to a rather embarrassing start over here, however, when the Earl of Sandwich chain made news in the UK for taking incredibly fierce legal action against a small sandwich shop in Aberdeen, Scotland, unknowingly bearing the registered name.

The reason, buried inside the filling of those reports (hey, sandwich puns are hard), was confirmed by a spokesperson for the company:

‘We now have plans to launch in the UK and Europe and we have trademarks both in the name Lord Sandwich and the Earl of Sandwich in relation to various things, in particular sandwiches and the provision of sandwiches.

‘With the launch of shops in the UK and Europe we have to avoid confusion with similar businesses – that is essential for a successful launch.’

So, with Earl of Sandwich clearly stating UK and Europe, there’s certainly weight to these rumours. The latest of which are pointing to one clear fact — that the restaurant will be in a brand new building — and also offering some very interesting, perhaps unexpected, suggestions for locations within the Village.

Naturally, with the long-awaited removal of the despised Rainforest Carousel this April, this big vacant space looked promising for the British-themed toasted sandwich restaurant.

But perhaps not, after all… An interesting snippet of information was posted by phantom247 on magicforum, stating simply: “By the end of the year Earl of sandwich preparations for construction should begin with the lake area nearest Steakhouse and the dome being filled in.”

So… by the end of the year, that’s good to hear. But wait a minute — the lake area nearest Steakhouse and the Dome being filled in…? Yes, we said these rumours were surprising.

A more likely area of this inlet to be filled in would have been the corner between Rainforest Cafe and the bridge (above right), allowing an Earl of Sandwich to use both this and the area vacated by the old carousel, becoming a part of the main thoroughfare.

Alternatively, placing the restaurant on the other side, opposite The Steakhouse (above left), seems on the first hand incredibly unlikely, but could turn this forgotten corner into a more worthwhile second area of Disney Village, adding something more to the corner currently dominated quite negatively by McDonald’s.

However, whilst the area does currently feel a little run-down, losing too much of this precious water could take away the possibility of it ever becoming a nicer, but still sedate patch of the entertainment district.

The size of the restaurant is completely unknown, so these are just guesswork — but the two general areas at least have been marked on the satellite photo above to help visualise the possibilities. Clearly this will be a much larger construction project than Starbucks, especially if any infilling of the lake inlet is required.

Though which area the Earl ultimately seizes — if any! — we’ll just have to wait and see.

Pictures: DLRP Today, Google Maps.

It’s the kind of thing that makes the blood of long-time Disney fans boil. When any classic, nostalgic Walt Disney-spirited corner of a park is given over to new merchandise, franchises and especially… Princesses. And now, they’ve just been handed their prime example on a plate.

Remember how Walt Disney Studios Store looked when it opened?

Now, in August 2009, not only has the merchandise changed — the decorations have, too:

The largest picture of Walt Disney, hands-on with a movie camera, has been unceremoniously covered over by a modern Disney Princess mural, to help along sales of the associated merchandise which has now filled the entire middle of this newly “opened-up” boutique. Walt Disney, we presume, just wasn’t making the tills ring loud enough.

Of course, it’s not the first time the Princesses have found an unlikely home in what should be a studio administration building. Just last year, the red carpet canopy outside was redecorated with 2D designs of royal curtains and a small placard of the damsels themselves…

The shop has suffered a bit of an identity crisis right since the opening of the park — the original plan of having two large, Emporium-style stores at the entrance to the Studios, selling almost exactly the same items, seemingly wasn’t thought through. Next to the very well-themed Legends of Hollywood inside Disney Studio 1, this rather bland store was always going to see guests simply walking past.

But consider Main Street… There’s a reason why we love browsing and shopping there: variety. If this store were on that street, it would comprise at least three different units — Boardwalk Candy Palace, Disney Clothiers and Harrington’s, for example. Giving this building the same — just three clear sections with three different names outside — would generate more footfall and more sales than yet another Princess display, wouldn’t it?

Pictures: © Disney, Photos Magiques, DLRP Today.

The project has been in planning and kept top secret for months. But now, as the deadlines for advertising visuals and creatives for the next round of brochures nears, the entire list of new events has been leaked online.

Working title: Disney’s New Generation Festival, this next theme year will put the newest animated characters firmly in the spotlight. That means, though Toy Story Playland will certainly be the key new attraction of the year, we aren’t looking ahead a whole of solely Toy Story themes. No, instead we’ll be seeing Disney’s upcoming The Princess and the Frog plus a whole lot of Pixar — they are, after all, the closest to “Disney” the past decade has offered.

Avert your eyes now — the most spoiler-filled post of 2009 awaits! Here, are the events of 2010:

• Toy Story Playland
  You know this one already: Three brand new attractions set within a highly-themed giant garden to extend Toon Studio at Walt Disney Studios Park. However, with groundwork barely begun, there’s no way this new Walt Disney Imagineering area can open before at least June next year — meaning a surrounding festival of events to begin in April 2010 is necessary…
• Princess Tiana joins Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade
  The newest Disney Princess hasn’t even hit the big screen in The Princess and the Frog yet and already she’s being prepared to join the Disneyland Park parade. Not on a new float, unfortunately, but just stepping up onto the final Dreams of Romance: Finale float with Prince Naveen, giving this unit an overwhelming cast of five Princes and Princesses.
• ‘Enhanced’ Monsters, Inc. meet ‘n’ greet
  A little patch of Monsters, Inc. has been in the Studios since 2006, but for some reason it’s now being included in next year’s new events. The leaked details here say it’ll be “enhanced”, but there isn’t any further information yet.
• Ratatouille joins Disney’s Stars ‘n’ Cars
  The Studios’ new evening finale will definitely continue into 2010, with the advertised novelty being a brand new car themed to Ratatouille, featuring Rémy and Emile. We can reveal it’ll be the old Star Wars car to undergo this transformation.
• Minnie’s Party Train becomes a New Generation Express
  Yes, the old Casey Jr. float will be given its fourth colour scheme and feature mostly — if not entirely — Pixar characters next year.
• It’s Party Time… with Mickey and Friends reworked
  We confirmed this just yesterday — this year’s Central Plaza show will be pretty much staying, though is to be reworked to a single-performance finale to the day, and — just a guess — given some more modern characters to join Mickey.
• NO Castle decorations whatsoever!
  That’s an event in itself, right?!

And finally… in 2007 we had the red carpet, in 2008 the wrapping paper and in 2009 the very successful balloons motif. Next year, it’s all-change again on the advertising ideas front — and the new theme? Taken straight from the most imposing attraction of Toy Story Playland, we’ll be seeing… parachutes! No, seriously.

The New Generation begins here… your thoughts?

Details broken by mclarkson, magicforum.

Fear not, this won’t be “Mickey’s Magical Party Continues… Big Time!”, but an extended run for the centrepiece show itself — It’s Party Time… with Mickey and Friends.

Of course, we could guess from the start that the vast new Central Plaza Stage wouldn’t be ripped out come the previously scheduled end date of 7th March 2009, but we may not have guessed the follow-up show would be… exactly the same. In name, at least.

The casting call above (PDF) was posted on the Entertainment section of the resort’s dedicated Casting site, requesting dancers for the show with full time contracts beginning end of October 2009. The surprise, however, is the end date: end of August 2010!

And, it’s absolutely correct. Current work-in-progress plans do have next year’s Central Plaza Stage show bearing the same name, but the content is still to be finalised. The crucial detail, in fact, is that current plans have the show only as a single performance — a finale to the day — in the 2010 season, rather than the four afternoon performances seen this year.

It makes sense — the several performances of “It’s Party Time” have brought nowhere near the anticipation or audience retention of Candleabration in previous years. The daytime timeslot means guests are often just passing by to another land, heading to Main Street for lunch. Many miss the start or end of the show, or don’t bother staying to see the middle. Unlike true theatre shows, which visitors must choose to watch, queue for, and take a seat for, there doesn’t appear to be much affinity to this seemingly continuous daytime event on the hub.

However, if It’s Party Time… with Mickey and Friends is to move to the end of the day, as a big finale to whatever next year’s “theme year” may be, will games like the Tigger bounce and Baloo scratch really be adequate? Perhaps it will be the same show only in name and staging after all — the “Mickey and Friends” tag is certainly open enough for a new middle section to be easily slotted in where the party games currently sit.

Don’t stop practising your “Mickey Dance” just yet, then. Plus, with Minnie’s Party Train set to return in yet another new guise and Disney’s Stars ‘n’ Cars surely not going anywhere soon, the party may be ending March 2009 but its legacy — such as it is — will certainly live on.

Picture: Photos Magiques; Casting call spot thanks to DLP.info.