News Disneyland Paris Updates & Features

The attraction as a whole is still progressing well, gaining more yellow decay and stronger purple lightning bolts by the day. The space between the two collapsed corridors on the front of the hotel has been filled with pale yellow paint and brickwork details in its “cracked” plaster covering, and the final piece of the Tower yet to receive any paint – the far left section of its rear wall – has finally begun to receive the final Hollywood Tower Hotel treatment.

Walt Disney Studios Park

The photo above right above shows red tubes carrying the wires for the famous signage of “The Hollywood Tower Hotel” to sit upon its façade and be illuminated throughout each night, complete with several faulty letters. Everything looks right on track to give us the Tower of Terror we’ve known for over three years in California.

Well, maybe not… We already knew that the Paris tower being built using concrete rather than a steel frame was a big difference in construction, and that some extra support details under each wing of the 13th floor would help die-hard fans tell the two Towers apart. Then there’s Hollywood Boulevard, adding a whole different layout and surrounding area to the fictional hotel.

Now, further changes have been spotted across the front of the Tower, adding in extra details and reworking those already seen in the California original. Following their 1950s roots as movie-makers at heart, the Imagineers appear to be producing a nice little “director’s cut” of the quickly-built Disney’s California Adventure (DCA) production.

Disney’s California Adventure park / Walt Disney Studios Park

What’s in a director’s cut? Maybe some details you couldn’t stretch the budget to afford first time around, like these bright new turqoise tiles now surrounding the widest dome of the Art Deco building in its Paris form. Taking a look back to many of the attraction’s early concepts produced for Paris, the dome does appear to feature a tiled surround. Yet, like those Art Deco supports for its two wings, they were left on the editing room floor for California…

Disney’s California Adventure park / Walt Disney Studios Park

After five years, Walt Disney Studios is a much wiser little park. This place has seen the work on its Toon Studio, it knows what Imagineering can achieve, and apparently it won’t settle for “as good as California” anymore. When a director like George Lucas revises his work with better details the fans revolt, but comparing the details of the DCA and WDS Towers above, it’s unlikely the Imagineers will receive the same reaction.

The pale purple sides to Anaheim’s broken Tower walls reveal plain bricks behind the large pieces of remaining plastering. In Paris, scaffolding has been taken down to reveal an incredibly detailed new version of the same idea. Plain walls (originally constructed with grey breeze blocks, as in California) are themed to red and grey coloured bricks, dotted with pieces of plaster which look as if they’re about to crumble away any second. A dusty treatment has been placed on top, and the sides of the Tower appear overall far more believably derelict and subsequently far more frightening upon approach.

Perhaps all of these details were planned from the outset, but simply scaled back on the DCA version? Whatever the story, subtle details like the dislodged and eskewed bricks at the corner of the wing only add to the clever reworking of their first-build. It’s now no wonder that the Paris attraction has long been rumoured to hold a budget way above its 2004 predecessor, and not only due to the higher construction costs in France.

Although no major changes are expected inside the attraction, with an exterior becoming as rich in detail and quality as this, it’s no surprise they want it to stand as the Studios’ answer to Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Photos by Photos Magiques, Sun-Mountain.net and Brraveheart on Flickr.
Special thanks to raptor1982 and WDSFans.com!

Exactly one month ago, 17th June 2007, we reported a very different story indeed – the first sighting of the two keelboats circling Big Thunder Mountain! Their long-awaited return! Life returns to the rivers, Frontierland is the “fabulous” Far West once again!

Today, 17th July 2007, as the Summer season rumbles on, hope is fading for the grand return we’ve been awaiting. Cast Members at the newly-refurbished entrance, completed recently with a wait time indicator, tell guests that the River Rogue Keelboats will not be re-opening this week.

So, what’s the problem? As always, Disney Central Plaza forum is the place for a bit of “inside info”…

Member Jollyroger gives the reason as an unscheduled set of maintenance for at least one of the boats, damaged in some form during the extensive weeks of Cast Member training. Kinoo backs this up, whilst member Piel again adds that problems have been caused as boats brush past the Western scenery, and even suggests that a couple of the keelboat pilots have left the team, causing further delays. An attraction with such low capacity and through-put will need to be firing on all cylinders at all times, with both boats constantly operational and a large Cast available.

The perseverance and effort of the people overseeing this re-opening should be admired, even if they’re becoming unlucky again. They’re certainly using a lot of time and a lot of money to get a relatively minor attraction back up and running. If this was happening in the Jay Rasulo days, they’d have probably been left to rot without question. (Oh wait, they were!)

The date for re-opening now stands at next weekend, the 21st July 2007, but even this has been mentioned with hesitation. Don’t be surprised to see this saga turn into a trilogy then, maybe with the 28th July 2007 as its ending? Or the 4th August 2007? Or, at this rate, 2008…

Photos by Photos Magiques, taken during training several weeks ago.

They’re the first defining features of this particular row of façades surrounding the Tower of Terror. Whilst the park was previously known by most for its collection of mostly featureless soundstages, Hollywood Boulevard looks set to add a real variety of styles and icons to the park’s landscape – and to its skyline…

The first rooftop, on the right, is for the building known as the entrance of Off the Page boutique in Disney’s California Adventure, a half-diamond pointed tower which looks exactly like that of the original. Clearly still unfinished, the rooftop has yet to be given its spike or yellow plasterwork below, but there’s no mistaking the inspiration for this set anymore.

Its function in Walt Disney Studios Park will apparently be as the new entrance to La Terrasse, with reports confirming that final concept art for the street features such new detail as a vertical “La Terrasse” sign down the front of this tower. The arched walkway through the middle will then be a direct route to the revitalised foodcourt behind.

The second rooftop draws clearly from the Tower of Terror itself and its three domes. However, with a pointed top (complete with customary Disney lightning rod) and rusted red colour, this dome also has its own Hollywood style. Interestingly, the building on which this new “bookend” of the row seems to be based, the middle section of this Disney-MGM Studios Hollywood Boulevard building, doesn’t have a dome at all!

Whilst most of these two end buildings are now wrapped in drywall, more visible progress has also been made on the steel frames of the remaining buildings on this row, including thinner and more accurate pieces added to the increasingly dense frameworks.

The top of another building on the boulevard, the First National Bank, can also be seen in background of these photos. The first metal frames for the two tallest façades at the rear of the street were erected at the end of June. We’ll have more photos and updates from the construction when the Photos Magiques team return from 2007’s Summer launch weekend!

Look out for our brand new, fully up-to-date guide and map for the
future Hollywood Boulevard over on DLRP Magic! in the next few days!

Latest photos by Ptitmath (Disney Central Plaza) and Disneytheque.com (more at source).

The Tower is big, easily the tallest building on this side of Marne-la-Vallée. It’s no wonder then that it was recently struck by lightning – not once, but twice – leaving two nasty purple scorch marks above the two elevator openings on its left side.

No, of course this is pure fiction, but the Tower certainly has “bolted” ahead recently, especially since our last update in May. Back then, we spotted the first cracks in the building’s Pueblo Deco façade. Guests at the park today can see broken brickwork, crumbling walls, scorch marks, balconies, terracotta roof tiles and more. It may be big, but right now it’s all about the smallest of details.

23rd June 2007

Let’s step back a couple of weeks to the last Photos Magiques update, before then getting right up-to-date with some July photos and seeing the kind of progress made in that two-week period inbetween.

Steel frames were construction around each elevator opening a little similar to the ones used to construct the rockwork of Crush’s Coaster. Most of them covered with plaster and concrete, they’re now the fictional walls and floors of the hotel wing destroyed by the lightning strike. Each one has had the edges of a brickwork pattern etched into its design – a detail that will actually be hardly visible once the final coats of ageing dirt and scorches are added on top.

Lower down, the roof of the showbuilding/boiler room/show scenes is showing what those brickwork patterns will soon look like. The bricks here, though, are real, with extra broken bricks and crumbling pieces added on top as if you’re looking at a pile of debris from the former wing above.

Roof tiles have completely covered the front wing of the hotel, and the lobby roof below is slowly being covered. The real leap here is for the small art deco tower to one side of the lobby. Just a steel frame like the Hollywood Boulevard sets less than two months ago, it’s now a finished piece of the building, blended seamlessly in with yellow colour, window panes and dome. This certainly gives hope for the speed of Hollywood Boulevard’s façades.

The Finished Attraction

And interlude from the construction, and just incase the Twilight Zone has made your memory a little fuzzy, this is what we’ll be looking at in less than six months…

Notice that the edges of the demolished wing around the elevator openings double-up as positions for the on-ride photo cameras, themed to split and torn drainpipes.

No word yet on when the famous lettering of “The Hollywood Tower Hotel” will arrive, but it probably won’t be at least until the themeing behind it on the front of the Tower is complete, and the current service lift and scaffolding removed.

8th July 2007

And now here we are two weeks later, the height of 2007’s wonderful Summer weather and with a Tower appearing ever closer to the finished article above in these photos by Disneytheque.com. The changes aren’t massive, but every time you look at the Tower, it always looks a tiny bit more like The Hollywood Tower Hotel we know.

In two weeks, some of the last spots of bare concrete on the Tower were finally covered over, between the two sets of elevator doors on the left of the building. Like the rest of the flat concrete walls in this section of the building, false brickwork has been etched or painted into the design, to give the effect of peeled plasterwork on the Pueblo Deco architecture. The fact that it will be barely noticable once the heavy dark purple scorches are added shows a real commitment to detail.

Around the openings, the basic plaster and concrete of the building edges has been finished, now awaiting darker colours and blast marks.

Below, the lobby roof has had its roof tiling completed and the small deco tower has an older yellow colour to its rounded centre. In the foreground of the photo above, you can spot the frame of the tunnel (Studio Tram Tour’s new entrance) to be featured at the end Hollywood Boulevard, showing its proximity to the Tower. The concrete construction at the bottom of the photo is likely the Fastpass area, themed to a luggage drop-off/bus stop. With the entire middle of the park now closed for construction, photos from this angle have become much harder.

The second photo shows a new art deco detail around the large dome at the front of the building, surrounding it with tall, stepped features in the unmistable modern deco style. Something that has been on the California tower all along but you might never have noticed.

The Tower still has a few patches of bare concrete left, most noticably right atop the windows of the 13th floor and around the circular top of the maintenance staircase (lower left). The darker yellow colours strangely cut off just after the third window down, leaving a pale stretch that goes right across to the “overhang”.

The final photo is a new favourite spot – you might have thought with Toon Studio finished its time as a place for construction photos was over. Well, you’d be wrong. There’s something oddly nice about the view of the Tower through the telegraph poles and Leaning Tower of Tires at Cars Race Rally.

For once at Walt Disney Studios Park, you’re not in the world as you know it.

Photos by Photos Magiques and Disneytheque, you can see more at each source.

If you’re in the UK, the new brochure is available right now. If not, you’ve probably got a little bit longer to wait, so here’s you’re first look at the Autumn/Winter 2007/2008 15th Anniversary Brochure. Before we look inside, why not look back at the first anniversary brochure, so you can spot the change?

And what a change this is. Once again, a new brochure brings another brand new design both inside and out for the official brochure, which has now ditched the minimal, stylish cover used for the past 3 seasons in favour of a much lounder and more attention-grabbing design…

Front Cover

The recognisable red carpet of classic characters from the advertising campaigns throughout the year has been reworked with a new Autumnal backdrop. There’s no mistake this is a Disneyland brochure — something that was maybe a bit harder to realise with the first 15th brochure and its golden “15” centrepiece.

The general page layout remains similar to the past two brochures – a fold-out first page, price guides within the book and two double-page spreads for each park. However, the actual design has been totally renewed throughout, and is generally more professional, simple and modern yet again, going back to the clean and clear 2006 versions rather than the flashier (and slightly messier, in retrospect) Spring/Summer 2007 edition. The message throughout is that time is running out, the celebration will only last until March 2008.

How better to make that message clear than with the White Rabbit?

First Page, Closed

Fold the page out, and you’ll find the four birthday gifts they’re proudest of – Kids Under 7 Stay & Play Free, A New Parade, More Characters and — here’s the big one — Four New Attractions. How many of us could have ever imagined to see an advertisement like that in an official Disneyland Resort Paris brochure?

First Page, Folded Out

This is also the very first introduction of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. They’re making no attempt to hide the size and impact of the attraction, the dazzling key visual we revealed one month ago is clearly the biggest on the page. After all, this really is “it” now — the culmination of their huge investment programme, the biggest single new attraction since Space Mountain. They really can’t mess this one up. The logo used is the one we’re all familiar with, but Disneyland Resort Paris have altered it slightly from California with a darker yellow colour and some Photoshop bevel & emboss.

Contents / Experiences

Into the brochure itself, the Contents page is now as simple and clear as can be. Only six sections are listed, on a red page bordered with gold — a theme then carried through all the introduction pages in the brochure. Opposite, a fantastic photo of the main anniversary characters around a giant “15” symbol. You might have already seen this on those “interactive” billboards in Paris, now also a great way to open the brochure.

The next double page (for the resort’s various “Experiences”) introduces the standard page design of the brochure, quite different to the first 15th Anniversary edition. Lots of “whitespace” and simple, small text bordered by colourful photos. They’re even branching into new territory here with a greater focus on adults and seniors in the photos and a large paragraph titled “Just for grown-ups”, something many fans have suggested for years. You’ll see more additions like this through the rest of the pages…

Parks Introduction

The parks introduction page again uses the Castle and Earful Tower together, that most favourite of mistakes for fans, but certainly looks much more inviting than the previous edition.

Disneyland Park

Disneyland Park already unveiled all of its 15th Anniversary events back in April, but they’ve stuck with the illustrations and visuals to advertise them, placing Dreams of Imagination and Dreams of Fantasy on a red carpet. Even Disney Characters’ Express has made its way into a prominent place on the page, listed alongside Candleabration to hint that — since this brochure is valid from now until March — both of these features will indeed continue right through Halloween and Christmas. The second double-page is more standard, still with Buzz Lightyear in the spotlight and all the usual classic attractions.

Walt Disney Studios Park is the real star of this brochure, finally coming across as the kind of qualified second gate that will make guests decide to stay an extra night. Apparently, there’s some new attractions opening at the park, too…

Walt Disney Studios Park (1)

One page, four new attractions. Crush’s Coaster and Cars Race Rally are still featuring using their same old key visuals and Stitch Encounter (or rather ‘Stitch Interactive Attraction’ for now) is hidden away in there, but the star of this production is undoubtedly The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. A full page is dedicated to its fantastic key visual and reworked logo.

Remember when no-one thought Disneyland Resort Paris would use ‘The Twilight Zone’ aspect of its storyline at all? Well, now that the first piece of advertising is shouting out at us, it looks like they couldn’t be more proud of it. As with Crush and Cars, however, that recognisable brand comes at a price — they’re now required to print “The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is inspired by The Twilight Zone, a registered trademark of CBS, Inc.” (CBS being the US television network which originally aired the series) on every page featuring the attraction.

Walt Disney Studios Park (2)

Another thing they couldn’t be more proud of is the actual theme of Tower of Terror. Whilst Space Mountain: Mission 2 was marketed for its thrill alone, they’re already hyping the unique atmosphere and theming of The Hollywood Tower Hotel. The second key visual included is therefore… a bellhop. This brand new image, never before used for the Florida or California Towers, looks set to become very familiar over the next six months. Despite this renewed interest in good theming versus basic thrills, however, there’s no mention anywhere of either Toon Studio or the Hollywood Boulevard projects, which is a shame considering the effort (and money) put into them.

This second double page excitedly lists almost all the attractions at Walt Disney Studios Park — quite an impressive list these days — and also features a glimpse at the very first (and very understated) advertising for Stitch, an image from Hong Kong. What’s more interesting is the small sentence next to its listing in the attractions guide — “Stitch Interactive Attraction — the chance to interview Stitch live”, confirming that the story of the attraction will be a live interview with Stitch in outer space, and that the television studio theme is definitely staying.

Seasons & Events

The Seasons & Events page doesn’t have much to reveal this year, as Halloween and Christmas take a backseat for the anniversary. Next to a nice new image of Stitch to advertise Halloween, we learn only that this October will bring “special shows and events” and “special make-up and hair ‘boo’-tiques”. Christmas is equally vague, but the prominent use of a photo featuring the Enchanted Fairytale “Chandeliers” raises the question if they can be used at the same time as Lumiere’s banners, and if indeed they will return this November…

St David’s Welsh Festival and St Patrick’s Day are also confirmed to return in 2008, following huge success earlier this year.

Disney Village

‘Fun Beyond the Parks’ brings us four double-page spreads showcasing Disney Village, dining, recreation and the Paris region, the introduction page featuring a rather nice new photo of Disney Village itself. The next page, ‘Taste the magic’, features options such as character meals, Half Board, Christmas meals and the restaurant reservations hotline. The new Disney Princes & Princesses meals at Auberge du Cendrillon are given a strong push here.

Spa, Sports & Relaxation

Following on that trend of more adult-orientated features, a new double-page now lists leisure and recreation across the resort with some modern and fresh photos — one in particular not what guests might expect from Disney. The new ‘Celestia Spa’ at Disneyland Hotel seems to be the focus here.

Disney Hotels Introduction / Disney Hotels pages sample

The Disney Hotels pages are another big improvement over the previous edition of the official brochure, with a nicer introduction page and massively improved pages for each hotel. The design is now far more modern and fresh, with new photos, better information and more emphasis on the features only available at Disney Hotels, such as Extra Magic Hours. Continuing their new love of good theming, the first large bullet point on the “why stay at a Disney hotel?” page is now… “Disney theming”.

Disney’s Davy Crockett Ranch gets its own double-page, before the pages shift suddenly into the slightly dull pages entitled “Other Accommodation” for the partner hotels.

2008 Resort Map & Official Partners

The 2008 Resort Map will be a bit of a disappointment to perfectionists. Even though they’d finally managed a correct illustration of the esplanade and hub area for the 15 years development plan revealed in February, the map to be used for 2008 is the same as that for 2007, with Tower of Terror simply replacing Reign of Fire.

More interesting, though, are the “official partners” now featured in the corner of this page — the regulars are joined by Ford and Unilever, Nestlé has now completely gone and right in the middle… IBM. They’re still hanging on!

Special Offers / Price Guide pages sample

The special offers page is also new and improved, the calendar of offers shown via a red carpet wrapping across the top of the page. The usual ‘Kids Free’ offer in the early months of each year is now known by the snappy title of ‘Kids Under 12 Stay, Play & Travel for Free’.

Price guide pages use better photos and are generally simplified yet again. New features include more emphasis on the special benefits at Disney Hotels and the various offers and options available with each booking — “Add Half Board Plus for £16”, for example, similar to the new booking system of the official website.

Eurostar / Mickey’s Holiday Dinner Show

This being the UK brochure, there’s a lot of extra space devoted to travel and transport, in particular the direct Eurostar which moves to St Pancras International from 14th November and will then enjoy journey times of less than 3 hours from the heart of London to the gates of Disneyland. There’s also photos and details on the new entertainments and privileges introduced to make the direct Eurostar a little more “Disney”, such as a jazz band at London and better activity packs for kids.

Finally, amongst the three double pages of “magical options”, one change stands out — it appears that the Christmas dinner show at Disney’s Newport Bay Club, formerly titled The Magical World of Tinker Bell, will change its name this year to ‘Mickey’s Holiday Dinner Show’. The vague description mentions “music and dance” with “Disney friends”, hinting perhaps that the only change may be the name.

Back Cover

And there we have it, the second and final Official 15th Anniversary Brochure!

The world outside the gates of Disneyland now knows that Tower of Terror is on its way to Paris in just six months, that ‘Stitch Interactive Attraction’ will bring the new attraction total at Walt Disney Studios to four, and that — quite simply — this is one year at Disneyland nobody should miss.

All images scanned by DLRP Today, brochure © Disney.

The ‘Disney Wish Lounge’ concept was first introduced at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom earlier this year, inaugurated on 26th January 2007 during the resort’s annual “What’s New, What’s Next” press conference event and located between the park’s Baby Care Centre and Casey’s Corner.

At Disneyland Resort Paris, the concept remains much the same, with the Disney Wish Lounge of Marne-la-Vallée positioned between Discovery Arcade and Plaza Gardens Restaurant, next to the park’s Baby Care Centre and First Aid services. Whilst the journey back to your hotel in Paris is nowhere near the epic journey that can be found at Walt Disney World, the lounge will be a convenient, warmly welcomed place to rest and relax for thousands of children on the Disney Wish Program, a symbol of the resort’s dedication to their most special of dreamers.

Arnaud Gayet / Karl L. Holz / Wendy Courquet cuts the ribbon

Like its Orlando counterpart, the lounge’s interior decoration is based on Disney’s Aladdin, including a real magic lamp! Comfortable seating, a large television, refreshments and Guest Services Cast Members are all on hand for visiting guests throughout the day.

15th Anniversary band plays as ribbons fly / Official inauguration photo

Euro Disney Associés SCA has published several press releases about the lounge and their charity commitments:

Disneyland Resort Paris confirms its commitment to the ‘Disney Wish Program’ with the inauguration of the new ‘Disney Wish Lounge’

Marne-la-Vallée, June 16, 2007 … Accompanied by many guests, Karl L. Holz, Chairman and C.E.O. of Euro Disney S.A.S. inaugurated today the ‘Disney Wish Lounge’. Located in the heart of Disneyland Resort Paris, the ‘Disney Wish Lounge’ is open to children participating in the ‘Disney Wish Program’ and their families, so that they can rest and relax without having to go back to their hotel.

Disney Supports 15 Charitable Organisations in Europe with Surprise Donation of €600,000

Marne-la-Vallée, June 23, 2007 … The Walt Disney Company surprised 15 European charities yesterday with donations totalling €600,000. The gift was presented to charitable organisations that have participated in the Disney Wish Programme from its outset, and make dreams come true for children with life-threatening diseases.

As part of Disneyland Resort Paris’ 15th anniversary celebration, representatives of the 15 organisations will meet with 15 young adults who were granted wishes when they were children.

The 15 associations honoured are:
France: Petits Princes, Rêves, Make-A-Wish France, L’Envol
UK: Make-A-Wish UK, Round Table Children’s Wish Foundation, Christian Lewis Trust
Ireland: Make-A-Wish Ireland
Belgium: Make-A-Wish Belgium Flanders, Make-A-Wish Belgium South
Spain: Ilusiones
Italy: Make-A-Wish Italy
Germany: Herzenswunsche, Kindertraüme
Netherlands: Make-A-Wish Holland

The Disney Wish Programme

Created in 1992, the Wish Programme continues Walt Disney’s tradition of supporting children’s programmes. Every year, Disneyland Resort Paris’ Community Relations department collaborates with 60 charitable organisations to grant wishes to children with life-threatening conditions between the ages of 3 and 18. Since its launch, the programme has made more than 7,000 dreams come true at Disneyland Resort Paris.

Unparalleled storytelling, colourful Disney Characters, unforgettable parades and shows … the world of Disney is built around dreams, which make it their favourite place for many children. One third of children participating in wish programmes have the same dream: to visit Disneyland.

When wishes are granted, children and their families are given star treatment at the park: an all-inclusive stay at a Disney Hotel, free park tickets, VIP access to all attractions, gifts, priviledged meetings with Disney Characters. Children and their families leave with a treasure trove of shared memories of joy and hope.

Inauguration photos by Photos Magiques, with one © Disney.

As we’ve watched the Village change its colours over the past couple of years, removing pillars and the “starry sky”, adding garish colours and poorly designed signs, there’s no doubt the thought that has always been at the back of our minds – “It’s ok. It’s only temporary. Once Tower of Terror is complete, Disney Village will be next on the agenda.”

But what then? Sure, we might finally get a brand new ‘World of Disney’ Store, but in the old part of town, will all this work be replaced again? They’ll have another go, but with a bigger budget? When you stop to think about it, the future for the current street — unless they do something seriously drastic when they start to expand — doesn’t look that good after all. Nor does the present…

DLRP Today is a happy place, let’s not forget that. We’ve had complaints, we’ve had moans, we’ve had could-have-been-done-betters, but, of 300+ articles, very few contain anything remotely negative about Disneyland Resort Paris. In that spirit, let’s start with a few kind words before the real disappointment begins…

The GOOD

Now, it’s quite unfair to entirely blame the current team on the state of Disney Village. The blame really has to go back to the original lead architect – Frank Gehry – or better still the person who comissioned the entire project – Michael Eisner. It’s no secret Eisner wanted Disney to become reknowned for world-class modern architecture as well as world-class theme park design. Whilst he may have given us the most stunning Magic Kingdom, he also gave us the most stunning mess right outside its gates.

Frank Gehry’s minimalist, geometric styles are all well and good – but at Disneyland? Even upon opening, the effect of this rather clever, giant “outdoor warehouse” with its pillars and “roof” of lights was ruined by the necessary signage for Disney’s stores and restaurants. Minimalism needs to be minimalism, not minimalism-with-a-giant-‘STEAKHOUSE’-sign-stuck-on-top. It’s simply impossible for a place like Disneyland to use this type of architecture.

Recently, they’ve added even more to the blank, uninspiring buildings in an attempt to “soften” the atmosphere, such as the rather nice stencil lettering and blocks of colour across the front of Billy Bob’s Country Western Saloon. Already one of the better-looking locations in the Village, the bar/restaurant and its adjoining Steakhouse have now been de-minimalised further with large boards wrapped around the top of their facades, finally giving them the look of real buildings, rather than overstated portakabins.

With the boards also wrapping around the top of The Steakhouse, which still has a fairly empty front, could a final stage in the makeover see some extra decorations here?

The first refurbishments to the work carried out back in 2005 are also happening, such as the much-needed repainting of the dark red pillar bases.

Even from a distance, the new, completed facade of the Disney Store is colourful, attention-grabbing and unmistakably “Disney”. With the balloons applied on top, the Village can now look colourful and welcoming even during the day… That said, whoever thought a red and white tape to cordon off the platform on the left would be OK needs to remember this is meant to be Disneyland, and not some war-torn country.

Hurricanes has some rather nifty new projections across itself, and another new kiosk has popped up over by Disney’s Hotel New York to advertise the Marriot Ile-de-France vacation club. Simple, stylish and with an understated Disney touch – we need more like this, please!

Ironically, it’s placed next to possibly the worst, ugliest, tackiest, (etc), feature in the entire resort – that New York “driving school” which continues to ruin the grounds of Hotel New York. Would the resort really not survive without this feature, would they have to close because they need the profit so much? No. So why, oh why, is it there?

The BAD

We’re definitely onto “the bad” now. You know, in almost an entire year of DLRP Today being online, we’ve rarely added any opinion or comment to our news reports about Disneyland Resort Paris. But when you see things like the “new” Disney Store facade, you just feel like screaming.

First and last impressions are always the ones people remember. With its location right at the heart of the resort, Disney Village is both the first location guests explore upon arriving and the last place they visit before leaving. Oh dear… Sure, there’s the excuse that all of the resort’s money is being pumped into the two parks right now, but that’s no excuse for awful design, especially when they clearly do have money to spend on Disney Village, and have in fact spent it on the following…

The odd, 2D signage, apparently in the style of a child’s colouring book, looks even more bizarre when you take a closer look at the characters. It’s almost as if you’re hallucinating.

I’m sorry, you’re not.

The UGLY

And it gets worse. On the entrance of the Disney Store facing the Sports Bar, the cute “Mount Disney Store” decoration, featuring the heads of Donald, Mickey and Goofy rather than George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Theodore Roosevelt, and Abraham Lincoln, has just been given an extra-special coat of paint…

So what was once a fun salute to one of America’s greatest landmarks now becomes something that makes you feel like you just stepped through the gates of that fake Disneyland in Beijing. They could have taken this “American landmarks” theme and ran with it – Minnie Mouse as the Statue of Liberty, Daisy Duck in Hollywood… but no, that might be too boring. That wouldn’t look anywhere near enough like a rip-off market stall at all, it’d never work.

Come to think of it, Mount Rushmore is pretty boring isn’t it? It’s just a load of pale, grey rock. They really ought to follow the lead of Disney Village and get painting some bright primary colours across the faces of those dull presidents.

If they’re so intent on refurbishing Disney Village to a tight budget, a good place to start tightening the purse strings might have been shrinking the size of Donald and Mickey’s pupils, don’t you think?

Disney Village… will you ever be a worthy hub for Disneyland Resort Paris?

All photos by Photos Magiques.

We watched as Big Thunder Mountain regained its ochre glow, lost its ugly green moss and had colour brought back to its buildings in a 2-month refurbishment last Autumn. We saw Fuente del Oro dazzle once again in its South-of-the-border colours, new paint details and harvest props. Frontierland Depot was restored to life inside and out, the Boot Hill paths were completely rebuilt and, of course, Molly Brown returned to the Rivers of the Far West looking more “unsinkable” than ever before…

Has Diamond Lil’ found another lucky nugget? It looks like the town of Thunder Mesa and its lazy farm ranch have struck another Gold Rush with all these refurbishments. Even at the relaxed meadows of Cottonwood Creek Ranch, they’ve been busy treating the wood of Cowboy Cookout Barbeque and returning its bright red overcoat. How many people even knew Cowboy Cookout was meant to be this colour?

The ranch windmill also recently returned to the paddocks in front of The Chaparral Theater, with the barns and ranch buildings across from it looking brighter than ever. Compare the first photo below (taken April 2007) to the second (taken 26th June 2007 by Joel).

With all the wood treatments and repainting, they’ve still been sure to keep all the old details, such as the Cottonwood Creek horseshoe symbols, and even add a few we’ve not seen for years – such as the bale of hay hung out the top of the barn. The ‘Cowboy Cookout Barbeque’ sign itself is away being fully refurbished, replaced with a smaller, temporary sign for now.

It’s no secret that the buildings along Thunder Mesa Road had seen better days recently. From Tobias Norton & Sons and Bonanza Outfitters across to The Lucky Nugget Saloon and Silver Spur Steakhouse, the entire town was beginning to resemble more the ghosttown of Phantom Manor’s final scene rather than the prosperous settlement which had gold to its name.

As the buildings now finally receive their well-deserved repaint and care, the removal of signage and other details in preparation reveals a little just how downhill this ghost-town went in the early 2000s…

Thank the Lucky Nugget, that’s all about to change, partner! The rotting Thunder Mesa Mercantile Building beside Fort Comstock is getting a heavy dose of care as we speak…

As for the heart of the town itself, The Lucky Nugget Saloon is glistening brighter than it has done for years. When the first coat of paint appeared almost two months ago, it was quite a shock – should it be that bright?

Yee-ha, yes it should! The difference between old and new is startling. The final cracks and rotting corners from the Jay Rasulo age are finally being painted over, the unique paint details which had become barely noticeable (such as The Lucky Nugget’s talent scouting advertisements), returned to their former, very colourful selves…

With Molly Brown back on the rivers, Cottonwood Creek Ranch in full colour, Thunder Mesa shining brighter than a golden nugget and – as if we could forget – the River Rogue Keelboats due to be plying the rivers in less than one week… Frontierland is gonna’ have the rootinest, tootinest Summer ever!

The Gold Rush has come again!

Photos by Joel’s Photo Hunt and Photos Magiques.