2011

As far as Disney park “firsts” go, it’s maybe not quite as exciting as a first ride on The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror or a first walk through a whole new area like Toy Story Playland, but the new block stone paving around the back of Le Théâtre du Château, winding from the Fantasyland Gate to Discoveryland, does look pretty damn good. The first patch to be uncovered shows the square blocks actually have three distinct pastel tones of yellow, red and blue, which just happen to match nicely with the stone walls of the Castle. Compared to the old coloured concrete sections, the colour of the paving is certainly less saturated, but it has immediately given the area a much cleaner, well-presented look.

Unlike the concrete, which crumbles and cracks around its edges over time and especially during frosty spells, the stone paving will also be much more robust and can now be easily replaced in small patches when necessary, not like when we’ve seen concrete relaying close off whole walkways in Adventureland and Discoveryland recently. As those replacements showed, this is an isolated switch to stone paving — a block-paved walkway through the desert of Frontierland wouldn’t be ideal.

But while we’re enjoying the first days of this new paving, could these be the last for Le Théâtre du Château itself ? A huge patch of the 800-capacity amphitheatre was completely cleared of its seating last week, leaving a wide empty space. At first this seemed like preparation for further repaving works, but according to member HTH2004 on Disney Central Plaza forum, the benches won’t be returning. The theatre hasn’t been used for a regular daily show since Winnie the Pooh and Friends, Too moved over to Fantasy Festival Stage in 2006, and this has apparently led to one more problem than it just becoming a white elephant: health and safety. HTH2004 suggests that children jumping between the benches had injured themselves so frequently that the park has decided “enough’s enough” and the benches are going — along with them, all chance of the theatre coming back to life any time soon.

By this Friday, the whole two sections at the front had been completely removed (seen in the photo by CharactersPhotos above) and HTH2004 believes all the others will follow, leaving only four rows of benches along the back the theatre (those under the trees) with the entire space to be repaved between April and May. It might not even stop there — HTH2004 suggests that in the mid term (2 to 4 years) the whole theatre could be completely removed or replaced. This June, the area will host some of the Mickey’s Princesses & Pirates Party after-hours events, but otherwise the schedule is empty.

After Le Livre Magique de Mickey ended its run in 1994, the stage has struggled to be given the attention it deserves. In fact, it probably peaked on the grand opening night of the park itself, 11th April 1992, when it played host to various musical acts — and Angela Lansbury miming to “Beauty and the Beast” — with a beautiful lighting set-up and that glorious view of the Castle behind. There’s no chance of a show here in the immediate future, so this all might not look like a great loss, but it seems incongruous to have Central Plaza overrun by the monstrous Disney Showtime Spectacular stage, completely disrupting that elegantly designed space, when the park has this fantastic theatre at its disposal — a real asset (no other Magic Kingdom has a similar space right at its heart) and a great bit of planning by the original Imagineers, but perhaps now destined to be nothing more than a missed opportunity.

VIA Photos Magiques, Fan Characters, HTH2004 (DCP)

You’ve only just over two weeks to enjoy the Disney New Generation Festival that began way back on 2nd April 2010 at Disneyland Paris, but if the one draw for you is Disney All Stars Express, better get to the park extra quick. The new park programme published today (PDF) confirms the colourful character train will be departing a little early — it’s final roll up Main Street will be this Sunday, 27th February — presumably to allow for its transformation into Disney Dance Express — the, er, “new” event due to begin on 6th April for Disney Magical Moments Festival. In all likelihood, if you’ve wanted to see this mini character meet ‘n’ greet parade you’ll have done so already. This is now the fourth time we’ve seen the extended parade float depart for a new look, from its origins as a Wonderful World of Disney Parade float to the Disney Characters’ Express, Minnie’s Party Train and this current Disney All Stars Express.

However, if rumours are to be believed, Disney Dance Express could be a slightly different event to what we’ve become accustomed. Music is rumoured to be taken from Walt Disney World’s “Move It! Shake It!! Celebrate It!!! Street Party” — not we presume yet another remix of “Tous en train” — and those meet ‘n’ greet scrums could be a thing of the past as the train turns into more of a moving show stage, with a live host. So, it’s “goodbye” but definitely “à bientôt!” again.

In the meantime, the gap left in the timetable will be filled this week by a cavalcade of characters titled “Good Morning, Disney New Generation” at 11.15am, 12.15pm and 1.15pm.

The orange halfpipe of RC Racer was always unmistakably inspired by the classic Mattel car series, but now it’s official. Several Hot Wheels logos have just appeared around the attraction, including one on the base of the travel carry bag at the entrance and another stuck on top of the one of the 2D illustrations on the side of the “plastic” station building. In all advertising for Toy Story Playland featuring the trademark orange track, Disneyland Paris has been obliged to print a disclaimer stating the Hot Wheels inspiration, but this is the first in-park nod to the brand.

Interestingly, it comes just after the nod to a rival toy brand — Hasbro — was removed from the giant blue Barrel of Monkeys. A stamp inside the barrel originally read “© Hasbro 2010” but was painted over last month. It’s unknown whether this was removed due to a conflict of commercial interests or a desire not to date this still “new” land now we’re in 2011. Hasbro is counted as one of the resort’s official partners, having replaced Mattel (who originally sponsored Autopia) around 10 years ago.

Now, how long before Mattel see the opportunity for a lucrative merchandise tie-in and let us pick up a more portable version of this unique Hot Wheels playset?

VIA Photos Magiques

Here’s the view guests saw this weekend as they stepped into Disneyland Park. New Disney fan blog Mickey Land has the latest photos of the Sleeping Beauty Castle refurbishment, showing the scaffolding which we last saw surrounding the landmark’s lower walls has now spread right up to its iconic stained glass picture window. The first step towards hiding the less than magical works has also taken place, with an initial white tarpaulin stretched over the majority of the scaffolding, as is normal with Disney refurbishments. Rumours are suggesting that the second covering, featuring a photo-realistic image of the castle behind, could appear within the next week.

Meanwhile, Disneyland Paris continues to invest elsewhere in Fantasyland with the new stone paving going in along the walkway behind Le Théâtre du Château. The red-hued stones stopped with a circular finish at the Fantasyland Gate, leaving fans wondering if the rest of the route could be relaid with coloured concrete as before.

But, as you can see, the stones look set to continue into the land — albeit with the pattern set at a different angle, the circular design helping to make more of a feature of the gate, which will itself surely be fully repainted sometime this year as part of the Castle refurbishment.

VIA Mickey Land

Here it is, the joint advertising campaign for both Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney World Resort in Florida we teased a couple of weeks ago. The spots, almost entirely consisting of user-generated videos, launched on TV networks in the UK on Sunday and will run for two weeks, until 27th February. Coming in 20 and 40-second editions, they show real children being told they’re off to Disneyland (or Disney World) as their parents watch — and film — on, hoping for a reaction that might just make the Disney cut.

The ads have already run in some high-profile slots, including two in a single break during last night’s primetime broadcast of The BRIT Awards on ITV1. Curiously, the “2 destinations, one single emotion” tagline has been dropped, with only the two resort logos and a new web address — www.disneyparks.co.uk — offered instead. For the UK market at least, the commercials could show the start of a new, more joined-up approach to marketing the two Disney resorts, which could particularly help Disneyland Paris as it is often publicly perceived as a much lesser destination.

Once this campaign ends, similar ads will start up again from 1st March all the way into April, focusing specifically on Disneyland Paris and the Disney Magical Moments Festival. Such a heavy advertising spend, also including TV on demand platforms, print advertisements and outdoor poster boards, could be an attempt to address the falling visitors from the UK continually reported in Euro Disney SCA’s financial results.

VIA Disneyland Paris (YouTube)

Just a couple of days ago we were excited to see the first fresh paint being tested on the grey walls of Sleeping Beauty Castle, with just a modest construction of scaffolding on the walkway beneath the fairytale landmark’s drawbridge. Fast forward a few days and the photo above sent in to DLRP Today by Caryl, shows rapid progress with preparation for the full-scale refurbishment ahead as scaffolding begins to climb around the castle walls on both sides of the bridge (which was fully refurbished last year).

Think that shows big things are ahead? Well just take a look a the latest progress yesterday, with scaffolding decks now wrapped right across the front of Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant, covering the majority of its stone walls…

Now we have to wait and see how this breach on the fairytale kingdom is to be covered up. A huge “bache” tarpaulin covering with a photo-realistic image of the castle printed onto it seems the most likely option, having been used for recent castle refurbishments at the other Disney parks (notably Magic Kingdom), as well as at Disney Studio 1 and on less important structures at Disneyland Paris. Though the refurbishment was apparently due to begin late last year or early in January, it was most recently stated to last from March to September, so seeing this amount of scaffolding this soon is quite a surprise.

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Pick up a Park Programme under Main Street Station or inside Disney Studio 1 between tomorrow and next Friday and you’ll now get a little more than just the latest show and parade times. This week’s guide has gone full-colour with a New Generation Festival theme and extended in size to feature a new discount voucher, offering a 20% discount at selected restaurants. Valid before 12pm and between 2.30pm and 6pm each day, the special discount can be used at Cowboy Cookout Barbecue, Fuente del Oro Restaurante, Restaurant Hakuna Matata, Colonel Hathi’s Pizza Outpost, Café Hyperion, Au Chalet de la Marionnette, Toad Hall Restaurant and Plaza Gardens Restaurant in Disneyland Park, whilst your choice in Walt Disney Studios Park is between Disney Blockbuster Café and Restaurant des Stars.

Disneyland Paris park guides have always contained a little tip that guests should try to dine during these “off peak” hours for shorter queues, but this is the first time Disney has offered such a tempting bonus for doing so. The savings could be big, especially if you’re with a family. Four people taking the €23.70 Buffet menu at Plaza Gardens Restaurant, for example, would pay €75.84 rather than €94.80 — a considerable saving of €18.96, especially if you’re having to use the still rather unforgiving Pound/Euro exchange rate. And if you’re going to take advantage, did you know DLRP Magic.com now has fully up-to-date complete menus for all those restaurants listed above? Take a look!

Approaching nine years old, the bedtime rules for Walt Disney Studios Park could finally be about to change. The latest Disneyland Paris park hours show an extended opening schedule for the second gate on the first two weekends of March 2011. As a test, likely to gauge demand and guest feedback, the park will now close at 9pm rather than the usual 7pm on the 5th, 6th, 12th and 13th March. This will surely be a bonus for any fans and if positive could give a tantalising glimpse at a time ahead when the Studios can be enjoyed until nightfall, without the need to join the daily schlep over to Disneyland Park.

The cause for longer hours will have been helped by the three new attractions in Toy Story Playland (not to mention their long queue times), as well as the five other permanent attractions that have been added to the mix since the park’s hours were brutally slashed in late 2002. Up until November in its opening year, the park had closed no earlier than 8pm and stayed open through July and August from 9am to 9pm, but this was cut back to a solid 9am to 6pm schedule from 2003 as guest demand fell short and a financial restructuring (largely due to the cost of the park) required cost-cutting. The situation was so bad, you might remember, that Disney offered guests with a 1-Day 1-Park ticket to the Studios complimentary evening access to Disneyland Park after 6pm. It wasn’t until the 2007 Toon Studio expansion that the park began to live a little with later 7pm closing times on busy weekends.

But is the park even ready to stay open until 9pm? With just two counter service restaurants and a buffet, and only three stores, Walt Disney Studios Park has a long way to go to match the offer of its neighbour, an important factor as guests stay in the park later into the day. If the demand is there for a later closing time, we have to hope Disney will satisfy the demand for better dining, retail and entertainment that will surely follow.