News Disneyland Paris Updates & Features

Our thanks go to magicforum member Maarten for all the photos in this update, who has even sent us in a few extra pictures of construction progress in addition to those posted on the forum.

Facing toward the Castle and therefore away from the sun, it’s rare to see the sun’s rays across the front of Walt Disney Studios‘ Tower. With the long days of July and August, however, the sunset just catches its Californian front…

Sun sets on another day of rapid ageing

Inside the park, and the Summer season also works wonders for the greenery of Walt Disney Studios, framing the Tower and its nearby Hollywood Boulevard companions for a perfect snapshot. Not bad for the Studios, is it?

Hiding behind trees and boulevards / All letters face inward

No doubt you’ve noticed the pesky letters – which, last time we updated progress, had just seen the letter ‘Y’ turned to face the park for testing, only to be swiftly turned back again. If you believe the latest rumours, it appears that not only do the letters still need to be wired up and installed properly before turning over, but the first few letters of the word “Hollywood” infact need to be taken down and repositioned several centimetres to the left…

There does certainly seem to be more of the walkway exposed on the left, but could a construction team working for Walt Disney Imagineering really make that mistake? At least if true it’ll make a good “fun fact” for the future!

Tower of Terror from across the park

Despite the letters still facing inwards, it’s now much easier to get a sense of what Tower of Terror will bring to the park. Visible from every angle, plastered with detailed theming and Hollywood style, and most importantly set within its own miniature timezone.

The Twilight Zone is a strange place, where cracks and debris can form in just days. However, differences on the “lightning struck” part of the Tower continue to appear between the Paris and Californian versions. The red and grey brick design seen on the right of the building remains and is looking more and more to be the final design.

On the left side, the damage isn’t quite so severe but the purple blast marks certainly are. Overall, though, the strength of the purple markings on this Tower, perhaps a little over-done in California, are looking much more restrained so far.

More purple “blast” marks / Tower Hotel Gifts given the gift of paint

Much of the recent progress on the exterior is now focusing on the walls and entrance tower of the Tower Hotel Gifts boutique, a part of the Tower previously far from completion both outside and inside. Circular art deco details have been added to the corner pieces of the tower, which will eventually be quite similar to that of Studio Photo on Front Lot, and the terra cotta tiled roof is finally going on, the final roof to be completed on the project.

Elsewhere, the balconies on both sides of the building have now been uncovered with only small sections of scaffolding remaining. We’ve now less than five months to go until opening, and square front section of the hotel is showing it. With its final coat of paint and final age details, it might not be too long before scaffolding comes down here too.

29th July 2006 / 27th July 2007

One year ago it was just a concrete shell, today – it’s The Hollywood Tower Hotel.

From Disney Village parking – Hollywood will now “always have Paris”

The years really do pass quickly in The Twilight Zone!

All photos by Maarten.

From the first days of the 15th Anniversary, fans have been asking what will happen during the annual Halloween and Christmas events. Recent weeks have presented rumours such as a new daytime show on the Candleabration stage and even the return of Disney Villain Parade! Trick or treat?

The English press release reads as follows:

A SPOOKTACULAR HALLOWEEN FOR DISNEYLAND PARIS’ 15TH BIRTHDAY

From 6th October to 4th November 2007, a spooktacular Halloween season comes to Disneyland Resort Paris, offering laughs and mischief for all the family

With the help of Classic Disney Villains, Frontierland in the Disneyland Park transforms into Halloweenland. Cruella de Vil and Captain Hook will take over the park, creating a spooky setting for Halloween mischief and mayhem. There will be tricks and treats galore with the spooky season’s special guests, the high energy Pumpkin Men and Pink Witches, who are sure to entertain kids of all ages at the daily Disney Villains’ Halloween Showtime.

There are regular daily shows on the Halloween stage in front of the Sleeping Beauty Castle. Goofy and the Magic Pot is an exhilarating, energetic show where children can learn to make pumpkin soup and dance alongside Goofy himself! Minnie and the Bat Boys will also be appearing on stage daily, with live music and a host of other Disney characters singing classic Disney Villain’s songs.

Kids can join in the fun as favourite Disney monster Stitch, from the ‘˜Lilo and Stitch’ Disney animation film, wreaks havoc across the park and takes over the 15th Anniversary ‘˜Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade‘.

Disneyland Resort Paris also becomes even more interactive during Halloween season. Guests will have the chance to meet dozens of Disney characters, witches, stilt walkers and other street artists. Children aged between 3 and 11 can enjoy free face painting and ‘˜hair-raising’ antics with Disney’s crazy coiffeurs. Several times a day the Mexican game of Piñata, in Halloweenland, is a test of strength and luck as kids try to break into the colourful paper mâché objects, stuffed with all kinds of sweets, biscuits and candy.

So to recap, the new Disney Villains show on the Candleabration stage will be called Disney Villains’ Halloween Showtime, whilst the FantaStitch Stage in Halloweenland (Frontierland) will welcome back Goofy and the Magic Pot from last year along with the Bat Boys – this year led by Minnie rather than Donald. And as for the parade – it appears a minor Disney Villain Parade-style takeover may happen to the fresh-faced Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade, likely the pre-parade mentioned in the past.

However, the French press release goes on to give even more information and confirm that a Halloween pre-parade, led by Stitch, will precede Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade – “A cortege 100% Halloween led by Stitch”, “Guests won’t believe their eyes! Surprises guaranteed!”.

The Disney Villains’ Halloween Showtime appears to be a spectacle of rivalry between the Pumpkinmen and Pink Witches, hosted by the Disney Villains, to determine which camp of Halloween mischief should be declared winner of the season. Guests will clap, dance and tap their feet to the music and songs, before laughing (for the Pumpkinmen) or screeching (for the Pink Witches) to determine the winner.

The decorations and atmosphere of Halloweenland will return as normal to Frontierland. And the “Orange County” makeover of Main Street USA? Those Pumpkinmen won’t give way for anything, not even the 15th Anniversary! They’ll be back, and apparently giving the 15th Anniversary decorations their own personal, orange, touch…

This Halloween seems like a big success – we’re having nightmares already!

Revenues up 12%, attendance up 9%, hotel occupancy up 4.7 percentage points… have they been assessing the correct Disney resort here?

A quite significant “boom” is clearly taking place within the berms of Disneyland Resort Paris, and yet these nine-month results only show three months of the year-long 15th Anniversary Celebration expected to boost revenues and attendance. Their hopeful new E-Ticket, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, is still five months away. Can we begin to hush an early “to infinity and beyond” ?

Revenues & Costs – The Balance

It seems wonderful to think that the resort has increased revenues by an incredible 12% in one single year, but as CEO Karl L. Holz warned in his statement accompanying the results, costs and expenses have also increased.

One look at this Summer’s activity — two new attractions, a new parade, new decorations, three nighttime shows, shows and streetmosphere at every angle, Molly Brown and other refurbishments, River Rogue Keelboats — proves the amount of money currently being spent by Euro Disney SCA on boosting their two parks. Not only the initial cost of creation, but the continual operational cost of two extra new attractions, a year-long castle ceremony, for example, must be a worry to the bean counters.

Factor in costs such as 15th Anniversary advertising (noted to be their largest ever), secondary campaigns for Crush’s Coaster and Cars Race Rally and a new website launch, and things begin to add up. But by how much? In 2006, costs and expenses rose by an agreable 1.6% — a long way from knocking down a 12% revenue increase. Things should be fairly sunny, unless the reopening of the Keelboats this Summer happens to be costing € 130m…

Attendance – Smashing the 14 million?!

We’re forever hearing of the impressive attendance Disneyland in California has been counting since its 50th Anniversary, so it’s refreshing, for once, that Disneyland Resort Paris has something in common. The attendance record in Paris is 13.1 million in 2002, the year of Walt Disney Studios Park‘s opening. Last year, in 2006, the two parks welcomed a pleasing 12.8 million guests, 500,000 (4.1%) up on 2005, when they actually fell by 1%.

No such disappointments this year. In First Half 2007 attendance rose by an unparalleled 10.9% to 6.1 million guests, and, proving that guests haven’t simply displaced their visits, Third Quarter saw an equally spectacular increase of 9%. Exact figures for the second half of the year aren’t released until the full annual report in November, but if you’re as committed as a few of the fans over at Disney Central Plaza, you can work out some of the maths for yourself.

Of its 12.8 million visitors last year, 7.3 million were in the second half. Should attendance increase by 9% in the fourth quarter as it has in the third, we would be looking at a 7,957,000 attendance for the second half and (plus 6.1 million for the first half) an astonishing 14.1 million for the year, one million higher than their previous record. Since Summer is already a busy season and less likely to see such growth, however, it’s understandable to hear that current attendance hopes are in the 13.5 to 13.8 million region.

So, that’s the state of the theme parks. What could this mean for the future? Such a strong increase in attendance would clearly mean their investment programme has been a success, and this time they seem far keener to keep the good times rolling rather than let them fizzle out, as the aftermath of Space Mountain…

Therefore, if advance reservations are strong enough for The Hollywood Tower Hotel’s opening season, an additional new attraction is apparently waiting in the wings, ready to be Soarin’ into the corner of Production Courtyard as early as 2009. The most popular attraction at Walt Disney World, and the one which Disney Executives are most keen to open up around the world in the manner of Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast, could begin construction as soon as Tower of Terror is completed, should the good news continue into the first quarter and first half of 2008.

Sleep in the heart of the magic? You’d better wish upon a star!

If the theme parks attendance is looking like a dream this year, you’d better ready yourself for the Hotels & Disney Village. It’s no secret that the real kick to the success of Euro Disney wasn’t so much overspending in the park but Michael Eisner’s desire to build no less than seven on-site hotels for opening, with the hope they’d instantly see the same success as the then-booming Walt Disney World hotels. Needless to say, the sheer quantity of rooms (5,200 upon opening) crippled the resort for a long time.

When ready to expand in the early 2000s, during a time when occupancy at the Disney Hotels had reached the lofty heights of 88.2% (2002 figure) and higher, the explosion of on-site parter hotels came — MyTravel’s Explorers Hotel, Hotel Kyriad, Holiday Inn, Pierre et Vacances, Dream Castle and Radisson SAS. By 2004, room occupancy had sunk to a modern low of 80.5%.

Following a 2.8 “percentage point” increase in 2006 to 83.5%, first half 2007 brought an almost doubled increase of 5 percentage points, followed up by 4.7 ppt in this third quarter. Should this continue for an average of 4.8 ppt over the entire year, the Disney Hotels would once again be up at 88.3% — a dream for most hoteliers. To put this into perspective, the resort reported a hotel room occupancy of just 68.5% in 1995, the year of Space Mountain’s opening.

The Hotels and Disney Village can also revel in revenue increases of no less than 15% for the first half and a truly incredible 21% for the third quarter, all the time the partner hotels and their 2,500+ rooms enjoying continued success in the background.

What does this mean for the future? On the continually confusing side of a real Disney Village expansion it’s hard to say, but the boom that began with Buzz Lightyear and has taken flight in 2007 can tell us one thing — that the real big news from 2007 won’t be new attractions like Soarin’. It will be that Michael Eisner’s seven babies may no longer be enough to meet demand. After 15 years, an eigth (and even a ninth) could finally now be on the drawing board.

But — yes, there will always a “but” at this resort — we still have to hope for one thing: that the boom in business at Disneyland Resort Paris hasn’t peaked yet, continues to soar a little further and remains steady.

Should we be hopeful? Euro Disney SCA are certainly hoping for “The Space Mountain Effect” with The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. The Space Mountain Effect, incase you don’t remember, meant 2 million extra visitors in a single year…

Marne-la-Vallée, 26th July 2007 ‘” Euro Disney S.C.A., the operating company of Disneyland Resort Paris, publishes its Third Quarter 2007 Results along with total revenues for the nine months ended 30th June 2007. Revenues for the quarter increased 12% to € 321.7 million from € 286.6 million in the same period in 2006. This reflects increases in both Theme Parks and Hotels revenues.

Revenues for the first 9-months of the 2007 financial year increased 11% to € 834.3 million from € 754.0 million in the period last year.

The key points summarised:

Theme Parks

• Revenues increased 8% to € 173.7 million in the Third Quarter, from € 160.7 million during the same period in 2006. For the nine months of this financial year to 30th June 2007, revenues have increased 11% to € 443.0 million from €397.7 million. The increase this quarter reflects attendance increase. Guest spending remained “essentially stable”.
• Attedance increased 9% in the Quarter year-on-year. This comes following a 10.9% increase in the First Half 2007, which pushed attendance in the first two quarters to 6.1 million guests. Exact figures are not announced for the Third Quarter, but it seems clear the Theme Parks will surpass the previous year’s 12.8 million guest count. The attendance increase this quarter reflects on-going growth in most markets, particularly France and Spain.

Hotels and Disney Village

• Revenues increased 21% to € 132.7 million from €109.4 million in the prior-year period, reflecting a 17% increase in average spending per room 4.7 percentage point increase in hotel room occupancy. Occupancy increase here primarily reflects higher leisure stays, rather than corporate conventions as in the First Half.
• For the 9 months ended 30th June 2007, revenues have increased 15% to € 338.0 million, driven by an overall increase of 10% in average spending per room and an increase of 5.0 percentage points in room occupancy. The higher room occupancy results in an additional 78,000 room nights compared to the prior year period.

Commenting on these results, Karl L. Holz, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Euro Disney S.A.S., appears confident yet realistic about the resort’s position, particularly highlighting the impact new attractions can have on the growth of the resort:

“Our third quarter and year-to-date revenues are encouraging, and both represent records for Disneyland Resort Paris for their respective periods. Naturally, the higher Resort activity and labor rate inflation have caused costs and expenses to also increase.

Clearly, the new offerings we developed for our 15th anniversary celebration are greatly appreciated by our guests. New attractions, like Crush’s Coaster and Cars Race Rally at the Walt Disney Studios® Park, combine creativity and innovation to bring to life immersive experiences that only Disney can create and enrich the appeal of our parks.

Management remains focused on our growth strategy as we move forward into our fourth quarter of the year and we believe our growth in revenues indicates progress in delivering on this strategy.”

As Karl L. Holz comments, the third quarter and year-to-date revenues are already records for Euro Disney S.C.A. in their respective periods. Disneyland Resort Paris appears well on its way to a truly record-breaking 15th Anniversary year.

You can read the Third Quarter results in full here. (PDF)

The full 2007 Annual Report will be published in November 2007.

This really is a year when “any dream can come true”… Once again, guests can wind their way through the thick forests and jagged ochre rocks to Smuggler’s Cove, where either the Coyote or Raccoon keelboat will be waiting to take them for a pleasant, slow-paced tour of the Rivers of the Far West.

Controlled entirely by the Cast Member skippers, these keelboats follow a course that takes them far closer to Big Thunder Mountain and Wilderness Island, giving those on-board a unique close-up of the Western landscape and its wild animal population. As the boat rounds the farthest end of Big Thunder, you’ll even get to sail right through the giant Rainbow Arch.

Along the way, you’ll be kept in the Frontier mood with special area music on-board the boat and your “river pirate” skipper will entertain the decks by pointing out key features of the landscape, not to mention knocking out a few Jungle Cruise-style jokes! (though not quite as bad, apparently!)

Sounds pretty fun, doesn’t it? The two keelboats – directly inspired by the 1956 Disney film ‘Davy Crockett and the River Pirates‘ – are quite a unique feature for the park themselves. We’ve not been able to see inside them for 7-8 years, so the unusual seating either on top of the boat or down almost below the water level might come as a surprise to some.

The boats are scheduled to run at least until the end of the Summer season (26th August 2007), but no word yet if they’ll continue to ply the rivers beyond that date. We can certainly hope to see them as a permanent Summer fixture each year from now on.

The West isn’t Wild enough yet!

So, after returning Molly Brown to service, giving Mark Twain another touch up, repainting almost all of the Thunder Mesa town, completing a two-month refurbishment of Big Thunder Mountain, restoring the Disneyland Railroad Frontierland Depot and bringing a bright “ranch” red glow back to Cowboy Cookout Barbeque, have they reached the end of the tick-list? Not yet…

For over five years, Critter Corral has sat empty with a sign stating, “We’ll be back next season!” – only to remain empty the following year.

In their photo roundup dated 14th July 2007, the Photos Magiques team noted a few construction fences around one of the buildings at the entrance to the former children’s farm. This weekend, more strange things have happened – the entire area has been surrounded with fences, from the railroad to the old Woodcarver’s Workshop, even entirely obscuring the view of the area from the railroad line, all carrying the 15th Anniversary “we’re preparing something new” signs…

So, preparing for the return of animals to the Cottonwood Creek Ranch farm, or preparing for an entirely different future development? With such an abundance of fences and the permanent return of live animals seeming very unlikely, the days of the old Critter Corral appear to be numbered.

But before any inevitable rumours start – no, this won’t be for a Splash Mountain!

All photos by the new-look Photos Magiques! See more in their latest updates.

The latest photo update by Photos Magiques provides several views from across the park on the latest construction, which has caused quite a stir as it suddenly injects a whole lot of “Hollywood” into a previously empty area. They chose the “placemaking” term well – when you see Sorcerer Mickey across from Hollywood Boulevard, the separate lands of Walt Disney Studios are finally obvious.

This “new” version 2 of Paris’ second gate isn’t forgetting its past too quickly though, the first update today actually comes from La Terrasse. Our beacon of hope for a future Tower of Terror since 2002 — now due to live on as a food court, albeit in a rather daring (and very Art Deco) new colour scheme of mint green details and faded yellow edges.

The first of the new landmarks — Studio Tram Tour‘s future entrance, the ‘Hollywood Hills Tunnel‘ — we spot from the area currently serving as the attraction’s entrance. The frame of the tunnel appears to be shaping up just like the design seen on the current park map, which has turned out to be an excellent and very accurate “placemaking guide” for any curious visitors.

As one new landmark has risen, others are already receiving the smallest of details. A new photo update posted today by G-force on Disney Central Plaza forum shows one week of remarkable progress.

The “Off the Page” tower now has a sandy-coloured base to its green spire, but the real star of the production is the building on the furthest edge of the development, still beating all others with its fast construction. The steel shell has begun to receive the first faux stone carvings on its façade, with the shape of its main window actually cut out of the thin walls — confirming once and for all that the inspiration here is indeed Disney-MGM Studios’ “Sweet Success” boutique.

The “stick-on” edging and details show just how fake this Hollywood really is. But, fake it may be, those details speak for themselves. The size of the sets is also impressive, especially when put into perspective with the construction workers seen applying the façades in these pictures.

However, the real “skyscrapers” can be found at the end of the boulevard — another two new landmarks, the First National Bank (on the left) and the Broadway Building apartments (on the right), nestled together either side of the Hollywood Hills Tunnel. The frames match exactly the designs seen on the current park map.

As Photos Magiques spotted on the construction permit a few weeks ago, the tallest of the sets reaches a surprising 62ft tall, just 4ft short of the Earffel Tower!

You might notice a difference between the tunnel and these two forced-perspective towers compared to the Gone Hollywood storefront in the foreground — they’re all painted a yellow-tinted magnolia, rather than left as bare steel. Which, when you think about it, makes it very likely we’ll continue to see at least part of these frames (likely from behind) once the façades have been applied.

Something else to be watched closely is how the Imagineers are planning to bridge the gap between faux, forced-perspective Hollywood movie sets, such as the First National Bank, and the real, functioning Tower of Terror…

Photos by Photos Magiques (more here), and G-force on Disney Central Plaza (more here).
Don’t forget — our new Hollywood Bouelvard guide provides a full layout plan of the entire project!

What began in late April as a rumour for extra entertainment during the opening Summer of the new Toon Studio soon became the re-use of the Starring Cruella De Vil sets and truck for a new live music show on Front Lot‘s Place des Frères Lumière… funny how Disneyland works sometimes, isn’t it?

The final show – carrying the full title of “Toon Train – Lights, Camera, Musique!“ – does indeed reuse the white truck and three trailer sets of Starring Cruella De Vil. Although anyone who saw the previous show will recognise the “train” instantly, the redesign and Toon overlay is very thorough and surprisingly inspired. As the cavalcade pulls out of the doors either side of Disney Studio 1 and creeps slowly around the tight corners of the square, guests will no doubt be instantly drawn to its colourful, detailed sets.

The main design of each remains faithful to its Cruella origins – an office, a rolling outdoor backdrop and a dressing room, but everything has been “Toon-ed up” with a more wacky edge, brighter colours and a clever filmstrip of character sketches stretching along the entire train. The centre stage is no longer a wild, Wintry lane but the colourful streets of Toon Town itself.

The white Chevrolet truck has been adorned with a giant red nose, the show’s logos and the filming accessories of Starring Cruella De Vil in its back. The dressing room’s mirror is now filled with postcards from Paris, “good luck” notes, photos from the 15th Anniversary Launch, some Disney Dollars from the US parks and even a classic Mickey Mouse Club sticker.

It’s this fantastic attention to detail in the sets, however, which could be part of the downfall of the spectacle, so far receiving some less than positive throughts on magicforum. Whilst the sets are inventive, Chip ‘n’ Dale on cue and the Walt Disney Studios Park musicians as brilliant at their jazz renditions as ever, the actual show doesn’t ever live up to the expectation set by what guests see before them.

As the musicians start up, Chip ‘n’ Dale seem a little confused about why they’re there, and even the surprise appearance of Clarice — their female friend from the 1951 short film “Two Chips and a Miss” — from behind the dressing room doors doesn’t bring about any real “raison d’être” for the chipmunks nor their lavish sets. Even the fun moments where Chip ‘n’ Dale dance with children from audience are strangely cut short so more time can be spent dancing aimlessly around colourful props…

One might also wonder why a location in Toon Studio itself wasn’t chosen for this streetmosphere — if not in the small Toon Studio plaza itself, but along the wide parade route which stretches from Flying Carpets over Agrabah to Art of Disney Animation. For example, musical event such as this on a temporary stage next to the Sorcerer’s Hat might have been a better way to celebrate the new land’s first Summer season.

As it stands, with Walt Disney Studios Park is finally finding differences between its Studio Lots comparable to those of Disneyland Park‘s lands, this is a little like sending the African Tam-Tams to Main Street, or letting Merlin l’Enchanteur cast his magic spells on the Molly Brown, when a much more appropriate home is only a few steps away.

Still, it’s a colourful way to properly introduce the Toons to the second gate, and any appearance of a live band (this year making quite an impressive comeback to both parks) will always be met with a smile from fans of Disneyland Resort Paris. With the park hopefully beginning to attract a younger clientele this year, a simple musical dance from Chip ‘n’ Dale might just become the best moment of the day for some of the park’s more easily pleased guests!

Video | Toon Train – Lights, Camera, Musique!

Pictures and video by (the new-look) Photos Magiques.
You can see the full gallery of photos here.

Any guests visiting the park for the first time since the 2006 celebrations might have had to check they were in the right place. No more Wonderful World Of Disney Parade, refurbished buildings all over, decorations across Main Street and the Castle, two new attractions over at Walt Disney Studios Park – this was the park’s major chance to show off its 15th birthday to a more local audience.

After being entertained by Alpha Bet You Are, Disney Characters’ Express, Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade, Disney’s Fantillusion and a nighttime performance of Candleabration, it was time for the fireworks to begin… No doubt, there were plenty of people biting their nails backstage at this point. In actual fact, it’s an outside company which arranges the large-scale fireworks seen at events such as Bastille Day, rather than the regular DLRP Pyrotechnics crew.

It’s 23.15, the show begins, and the good luck of 2007 is still most certainly on the side of Disneyland Resort Paris. The fireworks went off with their trademark “bang”, familiar patriotic French music and a special 15th Anniversary sparkle from the thousands of LEDs across the castle’s turrets and candles…

Some members on magicforum remarked that the day actually seemed a little less busy than in recent years, so here’s hoping the fully-functioning fireworks and the impressive events of the 15th will this year incite guests to return again, rather than enjoy the free events in Paris city centre instead.

Video | Bastille Day Fireworks 2007

Throughout the Summer, guests can continue to enjoy an unparalleled hour of nighttime entertainment, starting with Disney’s Fantillusion (now apparently operating a shorter performance cycle and in the opposite direction, leading to guests only being able to see two stops at most) and ending with Candleabration followed immediately by an unchanged Wishes Nighttime Spectacular.

Pictures © Disney and by Photos Magiques. You can see their full gallery here.
Video by Photos Magiques.