News Disneyland Paris Updates & Features

Wait, did you misread that? Not quite a “virus”, but what’s known as a “viral”…

This is actually the very first time Disneyland Resort Paris has used the new — and, occasionally, very effective — method of online video sharing to advertise their resort in Marne-la-Vallée. Create a video with a bizarre or interesting enough “hook”, that just happens to feature your product, and there’s a chance it’ll be passed from person-to-person across the internet. No need to pay a television company for airtime, or websites for advertising space. Just upload the video, and let the viral spread… Readers in the UK will already know of the famous and incredibly successful “Cadbury Gorilla” viral advert, featuring a gorilla playing the drums to a Phil Collins song, with nothing but a purple background to link the advert to the chocolate maker.

Disney’s Hollywood hot-dog video was first posted, without explanation, on the official 15th Anniversary blog. Clicking “play”, you’d be forgiven for thinking host Tristane was just showing us some nighttime CCTV images from around Disneyland Park, filmed during this past Christmas season. The lights are still twinkling, but not a soul is around…

Suddenly, something runs across the frame… a wild dog! Do they really roam the park at night?! How strange…

Next, we’re on a glittering, illuminated Hollywood Boulevard. The dogs runs across from Toon Studio towards… yes! We can see where this is going now…

The Hollywood Tower Hotel. In their preparations for the public opening, it looks like the bellhops were more than happy to test the service elevator with un petit chien…

Emerging, a few faster-than-gravity drops later, as a stretched-out sausage dog. Maybe this is why the parks’ hot dogs are so expensive?

Rather than television advertising, the marketing directors are, for the first time, trying to directly capture some the elusive, younger “iPod generation”. Or in this case, rather, the “YouTube generation”. After all, it’s the young thrill-seekers to whom The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror should appeal most. Their word-of-mouth amongst friends, video sharing and parental persuasion to visit, hopefully, the pay off.

How is it doing so far? The original video displayed here has been seen 5,164 times on the Paris-based Dailymotion, most popular for video sharing in France, whilst a fan’s re-post of it on YouTube has gained just 1,397 views. Most impressive, however, is this duplicate posting of the video back on Dailymotion, currently standing at a very impressive 74,327 views!

As well as an inventive teaser for the new attraction, the viral video aims to give a little inspiration for a unique new competition recently launched across several of the resort’s international markets, allowing visitors to the attraction’s official website to imagineer their own teaser which will then, crucially, make the reverse-leap from the internet to television.

Here’s the official DLRP Today idea — show a gorilla (preferably the Cadbury “gorilla”, or a close relative) wandering the parks and climbing aboard the service elevator. When it drops into the Fourth Dimension and the doors open, none other than Phil Collins steps out into the boiler room. He’s got a soft spot for the resort, after all.

No, we don’t expect to win.

So you presumed that, just because The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is already operating at two other Disney resorts and looks rather like the one in California, we’d be seeing all the same old publicity photos to advertise the Parisian version? Yes, so did we. Not even the brilliantly remastered key visual seemed to make it any less likely.

As it happens, we couldn’t have been more wrong. Just a few weeks after we brought you those clever publicity shots of Mickey and Minnie’s first trip to their new, nearby Hollywood, Disneyland Resort Paris has released another series of far more sinister images. There are screaming on-ride photos, atmospheric lobby scenes and, first things first, spectacular establishing shots…

Moonlight breaks through the rolling clouds above The Hollywood Tower Hotel, bathed in purple lights, as an antique motorcar pulls up the drive with another set of willing victi— err, “guests”. Such high regard for the theme and period of the attraction is exciting to see — a CGI motorcar? Maybe one day Walt Disney Studios will have ambitions for its own, real Hollywood vehicles.

Inside, we’re introduced to the starring family, famous reception bell in the foreground. They’ve clearly been practising their “concerned/intrigued” facial expressions very well…

Whilst, on the other side of the reception desk, we’re introduced to a wonderfully sadistic-looking bellhop. This photo in particular is sure to see a great deal of use, with such atmospheric lighting and well-positioned actors. The deeper red of the bellhop costume, compared to the magenta of their American cousins, lends the entire attraction a darker feel from the outset.

The family edge nearer to the service elevator doors as a ray of smoky white light slices through the scene.

Not only atmospheric and good to look at, the photos also do very well setting up the story and explaining to first-timers the sequence of events inside the Tower, such as the fateful steps through the elevator doors…

Again well-lit with perfectly positioned actors, from a very unique and effective angle.

They’ve remembered the classics, too — several “on-board” photos are included in the set, featuring the family and other guests screaming at the elevator drop, as the bellhop nonchalantly sits beside them.

It might appear that Disneyland Resort Paris have been late to begin advertising the attraction, with holding it back until an April 2008 press launch, but these past months have clearly been well-spent preparing an excellent campaign — and these images, they’re just a drop in the ocean…

— All photos © Disney.

The company’s announcement that revenues have increased 20% year-on-year to € 314 million compared a rise of 6% to € 284 million to the same period in Fiscal Year 2007 is an impressive step forward for the debt-troubled group. Whilst First Quarter reports do not include any operating margins or statistics, only a 3-month revenue report, the announcement does include some details behind the rise.

The Resort area increased revenues by 13.7% overall, a 14% increase at the Theme Parks and 17% growth at the Hotels and Disney Village. Higher guest spending (3%) at the parks can largely thank the ticket price increase last November, whilst the reported 10% growth in attendance is particularly reassuring, considering 2007 was a record year for the parks. The First Half 2007 saw an increase of 10% to 6.1 million guests. Should the difficult second quarter be as strong as the first, the results of April 2008 could take this over 6.7 million. Growth is reported to be mainly from Spanish, Dutch and British markets.

At the hotels, there were increases again in average spending per room and hotel occupancy, which rose 6.8 percentage points. Last year, the First Half brought only a 5.1ppt increase (no figures were announced for First Quarter). Unlike last year, however, visitors from the United Kingdom as well as Spain are attributed to the increase.

In its Real Estate dealings, the group’s revenues increased € 18.4 million to € 24.4 million due to a property sale in Val d’Europe.

Karl L. Holz, the Chairman and CEO of Euro Disney S.A.S., stuck to his line on enhancing guest experience to drive revenue growth:

“We are pleased with our first quarter results, with the growth in revenues reflecting increases in all our key business drivers. These revenue results show that our strategies, coupled with our team’s solid execution, are delivering and we remain focused on driving the business towards profitability.

Our 15th anniversary celebration, marked by the opening of the Crush’s Coaster and Cars Race Rally attractions as well as the new Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade, has created another level of emotional connections with our guests. In fiscal year 2008, the Celebration Continues, Big Time with the April grand opening of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror in the Walt Disney Studios® Park. This iconic Disney attraction will add to the high-quality experiences we offer visitors to our Resort … the place where dreams come true.”

If a 14% revenue increase in the Resort is truly as good as it sounds, that glorious sunset horizon of profit might not be as far away as first thought.

The celebration — and hard work — continues… Big Time.

— You can download the full report in PDF format here.

Arriving on Hollywood Boulevard in their most glamorous outfits, the pair walked arm-in-arm toward the recently reopened Hollywood Tower Hotel, ready to check in. Nothing to worry about, it’s been getting some great reviews! Mickey was ever the gentleman, carrying their suitcase as they posed for the photographers…

Not even the hotel’s gaping hole into The Twilight Zone could dampen their smiles. Minnie’s bow even survived the faulty service elevator!

This series of photos have just been released by Disneyland Resort Paris ready for the upcoming explosion of press and publicity surrounding the new attraction, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, in a couple of months. It’s unusual and certainly fun to see the two starring characters dressed up for a new attraction in fitting costumes, even posing around the rest of the Hollywood Boulevard area with their suitcase prop…

It almost seems like something Tokyo Disney Resort would do.

Hopefully, the fickle people of Hollywood will be kind to Minnie for wearing her favourite white dress again — after all, she did first wear it to the opening of the park itself back in 2002, so it seems fitting. Photoshop aficionados should also try to forgive the colour enhancing in the photos, taken earlier this month — the Mouse has achieved a lot in Paris, but consistent blue skies are still a “grey” area in particular.

Dancing in front of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, they probably mirror many managers backstage at the resort right now. The happy couple might have just spotted one of the only “Hidden Mickeys” in the new area, carried across from other versions of the Hollywood Tower Hotel — the little girl in the pre-show video carries a Mickey Mouse doll into the elevator.

Expect to see these fun photos many more times throughout this year — and well into the future. The 2009 calendar, perhaps?

— Photos © Disney.

From having one incredibly weak attraction dedicated to the television side of Disney entertainment, Walt Disney Studios Park will very soon have two incredibly strong attractions based around the medium, both with their own retro style.

Whilst the Tower of Terror sees guests entering Hollywood in the 1950s to film an episode of The Twilight Zone in an abandoned 1930s hotel — an episode which will never make it to air, ‘Stitch Live!‘ across the courtyard appears to be taking on a far more kitschy, geometric style than the boulevard. The kind of style which took over in the late 1950s and 1960s, that the original Disneyland was very much a part of.

The letters spelling out “Stitch Live!” arrived this past weekend, ‘Stitch’ in red with a blue outline and “Live!” simply in bold blue, caught on camera here by the Characters Photos Blog as the alien himself passed by. Whilst ‘Stitch’ uses the typeface familiar from the film, as guessed from the white outline seen earlier, the typeface for “Live!” surprises with a continuation of the kitsch red/black surround, rather than the modern and almost Diet Coke-esque style seen in the promotional logo.

Disney-MGM Studios’ 50s Prime Time Café and Sci-Fi Dine In Theater could be seen as close Imagineering relations of this new creation for Walt Disney Studios Park. What remains to be seen here, however, is whether the retro styles will be continued inside the attraction — this would be the perfect place for an homage to Walt Disney’s overlooked work in television during the era, after all. Unfortunately, the modern Disney Channel logo on the signage would point to the flogging of Hannah Montana than the celebrating of television history.

Disneytheque.com provides photos capturing the entire complex, including its recent satellite dish addition. Another add-on has also now appeared under the signage itself — thin, horizontal metal casing, with best guesses pointing to this being an illuminated show times display.

However, Disneytheque also guesses that the removal of a tree in front of the attraction could point to a stand-alone show times board, as depicted in the original concept art.

— Photos by Characters Photos Blog and Disneytheque.com

This month sees the conclusion of Stitch’s Walt Disney Studios invasion, with #12 celebrating Cars Quatre Roues Rallye and #13, very cleverly, depicting The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror.

Elsewhere on the Tower of Terror front, two open edition pins released next weekend are particularly worth looking out for — the first styled like a key for a room in The Hollywood Tower Hotel, the second — the attraction’s main pin — making use of an elevation drawing from the Tower’s original building plans. Both pins are available only from the Tower Hotel Gifts boutique at the exit of the attraction, which will therefore be ready and waiting for Annual Passport Dream holders after they’ve experienced the attraction itself!

Saturday, 1st December 2007

Jessica Bubble Fun pin
Reference number 209401008005
Price 6.00 Euros

Saturday, 8th December 2007

Minnie 2008 pin
Reference number 209401007140
Price 6.00 Euros

Tower of Terror Key pin — *PIN DELAYED* — Release Date TBA
Only available from Tower Hotel Gifts
Reference number 209401008000
Price 6.00 Euros

Cars Piston Cup pin — *PIN DELAYED* — Release Date TBA
Reference number 209401008008
Price 8.90 Euros

Tower of Terror pin — *PIN DELAYED* — Release Date TBA
Only available from Tower Hotel Gifts
Reference number 209401008012
Price 6.00 Euros

Stitch WDS Invasion 12: Cars Quatre Roues Rallye pin LE
Reference number 209501007055
Limited Edition 900 ex.
Price 10.50 Euros

Saturday, 15th December 2007

Once a Upon a Dream Parade 9 pin LE
Reference number 209501007019
Limited Edition 900 ex.
Price 10.90 Euros

Mickey Minnie Winter Season 07 pin LE
Reference number 209501008007
Limited Edition 900 ex.
Price 10.50 Euros

Friday, 21st December 2007

Pin Trading Night
at Disney’s Sequoia Lodge
from 6.00pm to 9.00pm

Saturday, 22nd December 2007

Dro’Pin Event – The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
Evening pin event at Walt Disney Studios Park, extra ticket required (SOLD OUT)
from 8.30pm onwards

Pre-release pins to be sold during the event:

Merry Christmas LE Plus pin

15th Anniversary Christmas 5-pin set

Happy New Year 2008 LE pin

Mickey Gang Tower of Terror Mirror LE pin

Stitch WDS Invasion #13: Tower of Terror LE pin

15th Anniversary Retrospective display card

Stitch WDS Invasion display card

Sunday 23rd December 2007

Remaining stock of pre-released pins sold:

Merry Christmas LE Plus pin
Reference number 209501008005
Limited Edition 900 ex.
Price 14.90 Euros

15 Anniversary Christmas LE 5-pin set
Reference number 209501008006
Limited Edition 400 ex.
Price 45.00 Euros

Happy New Year 2008 LE pin
Reference number 209501008048
Limited Edition 900 ex.
Price 10.50 Euros

Mickey Gang Tower of Terror Mirror LE pin
Reference number 209501007059
Limited Edition 900 ex.
Price 10.50 Euros

Stitch WDS Invasion #13: Tower of Terror LE pin
Reference number 209501007058
Limited Edition 900 ex.
Price 10.50 Euros

15th Anniversary Retrospective display card LE
Reference number 209411007009
Limited Edition 500 ex.
Price 4.90 Euros

Stitch WDS Invasion display card LE
Reference number 209411007008
Limited Edition 500 ex.
Price 4.90 Euros

Here it is! The lobby of The Hollywood Tower Hotel, untouched since 1939, reopening in the early 1950s. Covered with spider webs and dust, it reveals suitcases left at reception, newspapers dropped and toys left behind… the abandonment of this icon was very quick indeed…

Soak it all in — the details, the furnishings, the ambiance…

…and don’t forget, this photo was taken at the heart of Walt Disney Studios, in Paris, just seconds from our old friends like CinéMagique and Art of Disney Animation. Breathtaking, don’t you think?

Wall carvings, rugs, dead plants, statues, old chairs, the reception desk, stained glass windows, wall lights, hanging roof lights, an ornate wooden ceiling and beautiful floor tiles combine to create the view that will soon be taking the breath of every guest to enter the new attraction. Even with the highest price tag of any single theme park attraction ever to open in the whole of Europe, that’s money well spent.

These official Disney photographs were clearly taken recently, on a bright Winter day, with light pouring into the lobby area and lighting up the cobwebs stretching across almost everything in sight, from beautiful desk lamps, period handbags and magazines (also left in the hurry to leave), to the iconic reception bell itself.

The reception is lit by a diamon-shaped light hanging from above, decorated with orange and yellow stained glass and an intricately designed casing. Two lamps also sit on the desk itself — complete with ‘HTH’ lampshades. The pigeon holes behind are filled with letters and keys, whilst a hat and coat sit on reception, left behind on that fateful night.

Some details have yet to be finished with an appropriate aging, and indeed even more spider webs should be present by the time this haunting hotel officially opens its doors once again.

Beyond the lobby, along the passageway to the right and behind reception, through the library rooms where the pre-show video introduces the story, guests encounter the boiler room — the location of the service elevator which takes you high into the Tower above.

Upon the opening of this version of the attraction in California, the boiler room areas were highly praised for being arguably even more detailed than the lobby before — filled with tools, curios and left-over possessions from the workmen, to create a very informal and “lived-in” space, packed full of atmosphere and history.

The photos released from this area show an eclectic collection of clocks and dials (above left) and some of the rusted and oily dials on the boiler machinery itself (above right). What the photos don’t show is the spectacular show lighting, which we saw very briefly with the Filmparade TV special several weeks ago.

A workman’s locker in one corner completes the story, with hanging overalls and a pair of shoes. Unwanted decorations from the hotel are stored above, whilst period bottles and cabinets fill every corner of the room, pushed up against the crumbling plaster of the walls (above right).

At Disney’s California Adventure park, the Imagineers proudly revealed how many props and accessories — such as stopwatches — hinted directly to specific episodes of The Twilight Zone TV series. Whilst the new photos above might reveal many of the incredible details in the early portions of the Tower, no doubt many more are still to be found, the closer we get…

In related news: Look out for a brand new Tower of Terror section on DLRP Magic! soon, featuring everything from a tour of the hotel to videos, Imagineering secrets, histories, concept art and much more. Work is just beginning, so these photos couldn’t have come at a better time — thanks, DLRP!

— All photos © Disney.

Would you book an entire trip to Disneyland Resort Paris to enjoy the big new attraction, knowing that the dates you’ve chosen are based entirely on rumour, unpublished dates? Anyone who has already booked to take advantage of the special December previews of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror for Passeport Annuel Dream holders will have certainly done just that.

Because, with just 7 days (or 14 days, for the second round of previews) to go, the Annual Passport service has finally got round to that rather important task… sending out the invites. The first ones have now been received by French fans, which should leave only around one month to wait for anyone in another country. Regard, in all its splendour, the AP service’s constant belief that no-one — not a single fan — outside of Ile-de-France owns an Annual Passport Dream, and may not have to plan a visit in advance.

The invite for “La Tour de la Terreur: Un Saut dans la Quatrième Dimension”:

Sarcasm aside, those who have already taken a chance on rumours and booked or can do so within the next 7 to 14 days will be able to enjoy some generously lengthy preview slots — the people deciding those, at least, know that the Tower of Terror is a really big deal…

Saturday 8th December — 10.00am to 6.00pm

Sunday 9th December — 10.00am to 7.00pm

Saturday 15th December — 11.00am to 3.00pm

Sunday 16th December — 12.00pm to 7.00pm

Annual Passport Dream holders need only turn up at Walt Disney Studios Park on those dates and show their pass at the attraction entrance to enjoy the ride. Each holder can invite one friend (with a valid park entrance ticket) to join them on the new attraction.

Previews for Shareholders are currently rumoured for January, with the official public opening now sure to be 22nd December 2007, following neatly the weekend after the second of these AP Dream preview weekends.

The preview times have also been added to the DLRP Magic! Calendar schedules for these days >>

— With thanks to Scrooge on Disney Magic Interactive forum for the invite scan.