News Disneyland Paris Updates & Features

The small splodge of blue paint is located just to the left of the attraction’s future exit doors, therefore is likely just a quick test coat from the Imagineers before they let the painters get started. To the right of the exit, you can also see some coats of white paint, though that’s as much as a fleeting glance from the Flying Carpets can get you at the moment.

Any paint fans (or DLRP Today readers suffering from strained eyes after trying to spot the paint) shouldn’t be too upset though, since a quick step around the front of the attraction reveals an extra splash of a deeper blue, for the rocks around the front of Studio 5.

Previously a chalky light blue colour, one of the rocks towards the middle of the facade has now been given a much darker painting job, more similar to the dark blue/purple rocks of initial concept arts. Not only does this add a very bold, vibrant colour to the new Toon Studio landscape, it should also sit nicely against the lighter sky blue of Studio 5.

Photos by nicoetsab on Disney Central Plaza forum.

Back in May, after a month of “Extra Magic Hours” testing in April, Disneyland Park began trialling a new opening hours system based entirely on the amount of visiting guests. For weekends and busy holidays, extra hours are added. For slow weekdays, an hour is taken off, balancing out the hours. The trend continued throughout June and July, before making its mark on Autumn and Halloween hours. Now, it seems Christmas Season – a season now considered more important than Summer for the resort – is finally getting a taste of the changes.

Park hours are now available right up to the end of the season on 7th January 2007, and, whilst 18 days between November 6th and January 7th will see Disneyland Park open beyond 8pm, it should be noted that on 33 days the park will close one hour earlier than normal at 7pm. Still, for anyone vising at weekends or during the incredibly busy Christmas holidays, an extra one to two hours of park time to enjoy the magic lights of Christmas is sure to be a pleasant surprise.

Here are the hours in full:

from November 6th to December 1st, 2006:
10.00 – 19.00 from Monday to Friday
9.00 – 20.00 on Saturday and Sunday

from December 2nd to 7th, 2006:
10.00 – 19.00 from Monday to Friday
9.00 – 20.00 on Saturday
9.00 – 21.00 on Sunday

on December 8th, 2006:
10.00 – 20.00

from December 9th to 21st, 2006:
10.00 – 19.00 from Monday to Friday
9.00 – 20.00 on Saturday
9.00 – 21.00 on Sunday

on December 22nd, 2006:
10.00 – 20.00

from December 23rd to 30th, 2006:
9.00 – 22.00 daily

on December 31st, 2006:
9.00 – 1.00

from January 1st to 6th, 2007:
9.00 – 22.00 daily

on January 7th, 2007:
9.00 – 20.00

Unsurprisingly, the closing time for Walt Disney Studios Park remains permanently stuck at 6pm.

It seems likely that, on the days Disneyland Park closes later than 8pm, Disney’s Fantillusion will be shifted to a later timeslot to make sure guests stay in the park. The Enchanted Fairytale Ceremony will likely retain its usual dusk timeslot, the perfect time to light up the park, so the only question remaining is whether, like the late opening nights in May, June, July and September, some special fireworks will add an extra fiery sparkle to those cold Winter nights…

Using the whimsical “Walt Disney Script” font rather than Animagique’s “Impact”-style typeface, the new number 5 on the Crush’s Coaster showbuilding marks a distinct change in direction for this area of the park. Only time will tell if Studio 3 is to follow the trend with a new Walt Disney Script “3” to fully separate Toon Studio from the rest of the park.

The soundstages of Walt Disney Studios are now as follows:

Studio 1 – Disney Studio 1
Studio 2 – CinéMagique
Studio 3 – Animagique
Studio 4 – Unknown
Studio 5 – Crush’s Coaster
Studio 6 – Unknown
Studio 7 – Armageddon: Special Effects
Studio 8 – Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster
Studio 9 – Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster

Cast your eyes down from the 60ft+ high number 5, and you can spot more changes below. The craggy blue rockwork surrounding the outside drop has grown further, with detailing to suggest an underwater, coral-like theme. Various sections of the wire mesh are now covered in plastic sheets, perhaps suggesting the next areas to be profiled, whilst the rocks already completed in front of the track appear to hide a number of inlets and hidden spaces, probably for technical equipment and lighting.

One attraction already benefitting from the Toon Studio project is surely Flying Carpets Over Agrabah, since a quick flight through the Genie’s film set gives the only clear view of the far side of the expansion land, where the queue buildings for Cars Race Rally have recently risen at racecar speed.

Taking their designs from various memorable Radiator Springs establishments, the buildings will also apparently be soaked in a plethora of neon lights as they lead through to the race area in the “canyon”, 1 metre below ground level. The ride itself remains a series of concrete foundations, but the ride and its vehicles are confirmed to be under construction in Italy as we speak. The attraction will therefore be different to Francis’ Lady Bug Boogie at Disney’s California Adventure, which is currently experiencing some serious technical problems. In addition to featuring twice as many vehicles, Cars Race Rally will also apparently be twice as fast as the Californian attraction.

Though not featuring Lightning McQueen, Doc Hudson or any of the other key Cars characters, the vehicles will certainly feature everything to suggest they are from the Cars universe (such as eyes, mouths, and so on). The use of more “generic” vehicles is likely to ensure they are all equal, with no need for guests to fight over their favourite characters. This also allows Lightning McQueen and Mater to instead be featured at the side of the Race Rally, cheering on guests and “posing” for pictures. European characters Guido and Luigi will also be featured near the attraction, posing for pictures at a meet ‘n’ greet location outside their shop.

Photos by Olivier for Disneytheque.com. For more, click here.

The Living Seas pavillion at Walt Disney World’s Epcot is due to reopen in late October as “The Seas with Nemo and Friends”, turning its old Omnimover ride system (which travels through aquarium tunnels) into a full Finding Nemo adventure with the use of state-of-the-art digital video projection. Digital video projection that will then also be put to use in at least two special scenes of the dark-ride portion of Crush’s Coaster. Infact, the technology will also be used a third time, and much more expansively, in the new Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage at Disneyland in California, though this isn’t due until Summer 2007. So, months before the new Walt Disney Studios attraction opens, we can get a sneak peek at how successful this much-boasted technology is.

Already, theme park news website Screamscape has posted a few words of encouragement:

Nemo’s Undersea Adventure / The Seas with Nemo & Friends – (9/22/06) Screamscape has heard a little info about the insides of the new Nemo attraction, and so far the word is good. I’m going go try to not give anything away that might spoil it, but if you don’t want to know anything at all, stop right here.
Apparently the queue is quite large for this new ride and has been given a beach theme. As you move forward though the queue area, you will be given the impression that you are moving closer to the water and eventually walking under the water, which will be reinforced by a view of the bottom of a boat attached to the ceiling. This is all before you’ve even boarded the Clammobiles. From here I’ll leave out any details other than to say that the scenery work is apparently really great and the projections from Pixar are also said to be top notch work. The EAC effect is also said to be quite convincing and if there is one downside people could comment on, it’s that the real marine life just are not as impressive looking as their new Pixar counterparts.

We know already that the queue of Crush’s Coaster will be largely outdoors, themed to a dried-up fishing pier with the pier itself providing shelter above, so the statement here that Epcot’s attraction features a “beach” themed queue with “the bottom of a boat attached to the ceiling” suggests more could be crossing over than simply the projections, with the “EAC effect” being another likely candidate for the Paris attraction.

Despite these cross-overs, though, Crush’s Coaster can still be classed as a “turtally” unique attraction for Paris, with a ride system not yet used by Disney and a layout and design arguably like nothing they’ve ever Imagineered before.

With over 2 weeks to go until the season begins (and over 6 weeks until Halloween itself), two of the most major Halloween props have already arrived. First, the Giant Pumpkin on Central Plaza was completed just a few days ago. The huge temporary structure is home to the festival’s face painting workshops and has been a key icon of the season since 2003.

Over in Frontierland (or should that be “Halloweenland” already?), there’s an unexpected return for a controversial landmark – the huge paint mining tower. Despite being strongly rumoured not to return due to the Big Thunder Mountain refurbishment and supposed dislike from the new management, the towering metal structure is already in place, though not complete. Introduced in 2004, the “Téléfreak” (a pun on the french work for chairlift/cableway, téléphérique) is a large prop consisting of a moving cableway between the steel tower and the “Pumpkin Paint Mine” of Big Thunder Mountain. A large paint pot also connects to the tower with a pipe, to supposedly collect the orange paint being mined.

Many suggest it is unlikely the full system will return, since the large scale refurbishment at Big Thunder would make the cableway hard to install. It therefore seems likely that simply the mining tower and giant paint pot will return for 2006.

Thanks to Poppy the Monkey at magicforum for the 2006 installation photo.

Curves are everywhere in Walt Disney Studios – from the arched entrance gate to the curving walls of Front Lot’s Fantasia Fountain, from the hub of Disney Bros. Plaza to the giant Sorcerer’s Hat. The trademark feature of Disney Studios 1, 2 and 3, setting them apart from the rough, industrial buildings of Backlot, is the arched roof and prominent soundstage number, and it’s this tiny little touch of style that has now made its way to the Crush’s Coaster construction site.

With the side walls at their full height and the roof in place, this week finally saw the front wall rise further with the raised placard feature similar to Disney Studio 1. Unlike Disney Studio 1, however, an identical raised section will not be found at the rear end of Studio 5. The smaller square building at the front will be integrated into the park with a large seascape backdrop and the blue rockwork currently under construction.

The final section of curved wall features a square centrepiece to house the large number “5” in the near future, and has taken what was previously a long, thin but very tall (and therefore rather unbalanced) showbuilding a step closer to being a real Disney Theme Park landmark. One small step for the builders… one giant leap for Walt Disney Studios!

Photos by Res at Disney Central Plaza forum.

The overall presentation of the website, with its Flash animations and introductions, perhaps gives us a glipse at what to expect from Stitch’s involvement in the season. The opening of the website involves Stitch climbing across Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant, whilst the mini-game sees him throw paint, tomatoes and toilet rolls across some of Disneyland Park’s memorable icons (transferred spectacularly well to the Flash animation). With Stitch popping up throughout the interrupt your browsing experience with paint splashes and ripping of the screen, does this tell us to prepare for an invasion similar to that recently seen at Tokyo Disneyland?

At the Tokyo park, Stitch took over with graffiti and mess across the park whilst the Cinderella Castle was being refurbishmed, whilst a similar stunt at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom saw him throw toilet roll across the Floridian castle for the opening of the Stitch’s Great Escape attraction. Only three details of Stitch’s Parisian invasion are currently known: his general meet ‘n’ greet presence throughout the park, his “CharacteriStitch Halloween Party” (similar to the 2006 Kids Carnival events) and his float in the Disney Villain Parade (the previous Pumpkinmen and current Snow White float).

The website gives away much more detail on the pages describing the Halloween Soirée event on 31st October, with the new Pirates theme being used as much as possible to feed of the success of Dead Man’s Chest. Jack Sparrow is confirmed to appear throughout the evening, and the special Halloween Night Fireworks will feature a soundtrack taken from the films. The website also introduces something new – a nighttime mini-parade in Adventureland. “The wizards and sorcerers, trolls, pirates, acrobats, dancers and percussionists stroll along in a ghost ship atmosphere”, it describes. The site also confirms the attractions scheduled to open during the event, which are:
(8.30pm to 1am) Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril, Pirates of the Caribbean, Big Thunder Mountain, Phantom Manor, Disneyland Railroad, Space Mountain: Mission 2, Orbitron, Star Tours, Honey I Shrunk the Audience;
(8.30pm to 12am) Sleeping Beauty Castle, Le Carrousel de Lancelot, Blanche Neige et les Sept Nains, Les Voyages de Pinocchio, Peter Pan’s Flight, “it’s a small world”, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups.

If you want to be a part of the Halloween frights already, click onto the “Funny Face Contest”, which lets you upload your best worst photo (does that make sense?) with the aim of inflicting terror upon countless unwitting web surfers. You can flick through Stitch’s photo album to see everyone who has enterted so far, and there’s a rather zippy search function too. If this is the future of the resort’s online presence, we’ve got a lot to look forward to.

The “Enchanted Tree” itself has now sprouted up out of the ground and immediately filled the air with bright green leaves and colourful fruits of every kind. To the right of the hut, an old-fashioned wooden wheelbarrow has been carefully placed with baskets filled with the tree’s fruits, setting up an Imagineering story of a magical tree giving never-ending harvests.

The hut itself has also been given extra colours and themeing, with new painted murals showing fruits, the kiosk’s name and the sponsor of the location, The Coca-Cola Company’s Minute Maid brand.

More photos available at Photos Magiques »