News Disneyland Paris Updates & Features

And so, another attraction finds its way into Euro Souvenirland…

The news came via trusty magicforum host Kristof, that Hurricanes Discotheque at the end of Disney Village will close permanently on 31st March 2010. The night club has apparently been scheduled to end its days for several years already, with nothing eventually coming of any of the earlier dates. Will the Cyclone Special cocktail be gone for good this time? Certainly sounds like it.

As improvements and additions have spread through the Village in recent years, Hurricanes has slowly become a final champion for that original Festival Disney spirit, sitting up there above Rainforest Cafe like Carl Fredrickson surrounded by skyscrapers. It’s a remnant of the early ’90s idea that the entertainment district should be a “hip”, “happening”, buzzing nighttime spot, the streets filled with party-goers until the early hours. An idea that never really happened.

The official 1992 Euro Disney Guidebook enthuses:

Hurricanes — Festival Disney’s disco nightclub is just above the Key West Seafood restaurant. Having climbed the spiral staircase, you’ll be swept up into the whirlwind of nightlife. Hurricanes boasts four different bars, including one in the indoor terrace, plus twenty video screens, cosy corners for talking and a dance floor that’s open until 3 am. Don’t be surprised if you catch yourself standing there sipping on a Caribbean or Cyclone Special cocktail, dreaming of Key Largo.

Hurricanes was originally part of a small Key West district in Festival Disney, comprising Key West Seafood below (closed 1998), the Surf Shop opposite (now World of Toys) and the then-rainforest-animal-free lagoon behind. In what must be one of the kitchiest ideas in history, the dance floor was originally covered in sand. Which must have been fun in heels.

Why close a fun venue like this? The official reason: “repositioning” of Disney Village. What kind of repositioning hasn’t been clarified by Disney, but it’s not hard to work out. Just as the nightclubs and comedy clubs of Pleasure Island at Walt Disney World in Florida have been swallowed up by the wider Downtown Disney, to be replaced with new shops and restaurants, it seems a venue like Hurricanes simply doesn’t fit in their current focus on either side of the Atlantic.

Indeed, with its foam parties and “ladies nights” where women get in free, it’s not a surprise that Disneyland Paris have been thinking about dropping the venue for a while. And did you notice it’s a little dated? Would the cost of improving the nightclub, updating the staircase entrance (which has become rather tacky with subsequent additions, long after Frank Gehry left), really be worthwhile? Probably not, which brings the second element of the “repositioning”…

Stating the obvious, a nightclub like Hurricanes is useless during the day. Here we have a substantial, prime space right in the middle of Disney Village just lying empty for most of the day up until 8pm, when a café or restaurant could have tills ringing (for much greater amounts) right through from morning. Though we still mourn Buffalo Trading Co, just look how much better utilised that space is as a Starbucks café.

Whilst those plans for the Convention Centre and Disney Village extension are still many years from coming to anything, it’s bad business sense to leave this space as a faded nightclub.

What could be pushing Hurricanes out? No replacement has been announced…

However, the first floor location naturally points to a bar, café or restaurant, something which unlike a shop doesn’t rely on heavy footfall. Recent rumours that Groupe Flo, the group which operates almost all of the Disney Village restaurants, is interested in another venue could well ring true. The resort has experimented with promoting an Italian menu at Hotel New York’s Manhattan Restaurant in recent years, so could this space go from the Caribbean to Italy to permanently offer this much-requested cuisine in the Village itself?

Then there’s that possibility we picked up less than a year ago — the Jules Verne-themed pub/restaurant. Check it out — the hot air balloons in the roofspace, the blue sky walls and vintage lanterns. It’d seem right at home in the elevated position of Hurricanes, with its circular observation room. If they opened up some of the nightclub’s boxy walls with large windows, you’d have a superb view out to the “real” PanoraMagique balloon and the lake.

Intriguingly, the original article (which was a brief interview with the owner of the original pub in Nantes) mentioned that they’d been offered a floorspace of 500m2. Do some flimsy measuring in Google Earth, and that’s exactly what Hurricanes has to offer.

It’s not just the spirit and idea of Hurricanes which seems out of sync with the rest of the Village: The blank white exterior is one of the few remaining Frank Gehry boxes, which worked with the 1992 “party district” ideas but were ultimately diluted with later add-ons, certainly never looking all that pleasant on any but the sunniest of days. We mentioned with the Earl of Sandwich concepts that that new restaurant offered the opportunity to hide this exterior behind it, but even so this big white box will still be clearly visible. A change of tenant would surely fix this final piece.

As Disney Village has come blinking into the daytime, gaining its eco-clad Starbucks, planters and trees, time has finally caught up with Hurricanes. Finish up your Caribbean cocktail, put those Key Largo dreams to sleep. The storm is almost over.

Images: Photos Magiques; DLRP Today.

And so, Toy Story Playland really is coming.

Groundworks, foundations and queue buildings have been worked on for months already, but this is our first real look at the “look” of this new mini-land. And a first look for any Hong Kong fans, too.

These pictures from yesterday caught Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop just as it was topping out, being pieced together from large, tubular sections just like a toy set.

From this angle next to Cars Quatre Roues Rallye, it fits in quite well, doesn’t it? No? OK…

Our photo reporter Dlrpteam even caught the moment the construction crews, after about two hours of confusion and checking under all their tables and chairs twice over (“Well it must be here somewhere!”), found that last important piece — at the bottom of the box all along…

In fact, this is just one of several pieces which will hold the all-important rope/wire of our parachutes — note the wheel at the back, for feeding it down the tube into the ride mechanism.

The Parachute Drop tower is a considerable height, touching 25-30 metres, roughly as high as the front body of Tower of Terror. Now just about up to its full height, it can be seen between Studios 1 and 2 as you enter the park — and from the end of Hollywood Boulevard.

But it’s not the first piece of the Toy Story Playland playset to make an impact on the park. Even before the Parachute Drop tower, the queue buildings for Slinky Dog Zigzag Spin, RC Racer and Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop itself have grown as concrete and steel shells, becoming hard to ignore in the still rather plain landscape of the Studios…

Above, the box of Slinky Dog has its ends ripped open, whilst below, RC Racer is due to be accompanied by a collection of Hot Wheels-style garages and playset buildings.

Whatever you call this Imagineering creation — Toy Story Playland or plain Toy Story Land of Hong Kong — both names have unfortunately become poison in the Disney fan world. When the concepts were shown at the D23 Expo last year, they even apparently drew audible boos and unhappiness. Blog upon blog and countless forum comments have trashed the development at every turn.

It’s lacking in imagination, it’s cheap, it’s ugly, it’s just for kids… they say. And that’s before you even get into the lack of a restaurant, toilets or a shop (in the Paris version, at least). Or the minuscule capacity of sure-fire hit RC Racer.

Being the first piece that all Disney fans in the world will see of this development, the Parachute Drop tower is unlikely to win over anyone just yet. It’s unashamedly in-your-face — its plastic, simplistic pattern clashing completely with the course the park appeared to be heading with when it opened Hollywood Boulevard.

But — perhaps ignoring the bright orange Hot Wheels track of RC Racer — that’s the “worst” over with. From here, the land will be filled with a huge variety of props, details and in-jokes from the Toy Story films, all surrounded by 5 metre tall bamboo plants, like you see in Adventureland, to double up as tall grass. Should we be worried, or should we even be excited?

Since this project got going while DLRP Today was offline last year, it’s snowballed. From the original rumours to the Hong Kong clone, there’s a lot to catch up on now. And with the Parachute Drop now standing alongside Tower of Terror and the Sorcerer’s Hat, there’s no chance of leaving it on the “To Do” list any longer.

To be continued…

Photos by Dlrpteam for DLRP Today (1-7: 3rd Feb; 8-9: 16th Jan)

Last Chance Café, sandwiched between The Lucky Nugget Saloon and Silver Spur Steakhouse, is undoubtedly one of the less reputable establishments of Thunder Mesa town. The last place were hardy cowboys would stop before setting out on cattle trails, its walls plastered with “Wanted” posters rather than wallpaper, a remnant of the wilder West which is slowly being outlawed as we arrive in Frontierland.

But, when it decided to open up a new terrace in the second half of 2009, fans were initially pleased and then suddenly… disappointed. Whilst the idea makes a lot of sense (providing sheltered seating so it can open for more of the year) and the execution is even surprisingly thorough (countless Western props hanging in the roof space), the wider picture doesn’t quite fit.

The least successful view of the extension is what you see below. Though the new entrance has now been “plussed” further with some very in-keeping lamps, the flat frontage simply looks wrong compared to its neighbours — and what was there before. Compare the detail and “weight” of the original façade, at the back, with the very “flatpack”, cheaper look of the extension. The maroon edges lack the fine detail and the wood panelling appears thin and unweathered.

The original 1992 take-away counter area remains unchanged.

The new terrace in a cold and wet Wild West

New Western props

Even Alain Littaye offered a critique, which hit the problem spot on:

“But if you look well at this new terrace – and although they put props inside – it doesn’t look like a building which would have grown “organically” out of the buildings right behind it. There is a story with each Thunder Mesa building whether it’s an attraction or a restaurant or a shop. Thunder Mesa is supposed to be a real town and although most of the guests don’t know the stories (unfortunately) they can feel the “logic behind”.”

Alain went on to criticise the props and decoration of the terrace, which yes, whilst all well within the Western style, were lacking in personality. Saddles, ponchos, guns, bottles… all in-keeping with the theme but not exactly pushing it forward, developing the story.

But then, a week or so ago, something — or perhaps, someone — rolled into town to remedy our concerns, a classic bit of Disney plussing and storytelling in action:

“Doc Wassell’s Travelling Apothecary — Miracle Cures for All Ailments” reads this freshly-painted wagon, positioned between Last Chance Café and Silver Spur.

Insider RiverRogue on magicforum confirmed that the wagon is part of the extension of the café, not just a fun addition. Having been moved around on-stage and backstage for several years, it has been painted up with some brilliant designs to finally find a home.

So, is Doc Wassell’s little bit of Imagineering gold dust a “miracle cure” for the underwhelming extension itself? That’s up to you. But what we can’t ignore is the changing attitude to ‘Counter Service’ restaurants in the parks recently.

Over at Cowboy Cookout Barbeque, for example, a new menu has been in place for a year now which aims to offer a higher quality and variety of dishes — for an increased price. Where elsewhere the standard charge for a Counter Service main, side, dessert and drink is — gulp — €12.95, here they’re now pushing prices to €15+ for the “improved” Sheriff menu, attempting something closer to a pub restaurant or Nando’s format than fast food burgers.

Having Last Chance Café open for more of the year is a great thing, but during rainy, cold times like these, it’s much better to be inside, in the warm, well-Imagineered cafés like Fuente del Oro or Pizzeria Bella Notte. Locations that don’t starve you of an enclosed interior and beautiful themeing just because you’re paying for counter service.

Recent answers to fast food expansion like the new Coca-Cola kiosks L’Arbre Enchanté and Cool Station — or any of the trailers at Walt Disney Studios Park, especially La Terrasse Perrier — all have one thing in common, and there’s a danger that by adding a roof, Disneyland Paris will now begin to think of Last Chance as more than just a high season take-away kiosk. That it’s “good enough” to be considered the antidote for what might be need for a new, indoor counter service location as attendance continues to climb and Cowboy Cookout prices people out.

Although at least here, unlike the Studios, the Budgeteers shelled out for the themeing.

Photos by Dlrpteam for DLRP Today.

First, a scheduled refurbishment for Peter Pan’s Flight, which began on Monday.

With major modifications in recent years such as the “air gates” in the loading area, the work this year is focusing on pure refurbishment. On the outside, general repainting and restoring details in the queue area.

The attraction reopens, all freshened up next Saturday, 6th February.

Retracing our steps through Fantasyland, we stumble upon the big one: the Castle Bridge. A couple of weeks ago we reported the sudden, unannounced closure of the bridge, which was swiftly wrapped in scaffolding and tarpaulin covers on all sides.

While the front of the bridge has a pleasing Sleeping Beauty theme, the sides are as wrapped up as could possibly be — we’ll likely see no sign of changes or improvements at all until they come down.

And when will that be? Still no date, sorry. But we do have a few new details since the last report. Though not being completely replaced as some rumours suggested, the bridge will see indeed a part of its structure replaced, along with extensive works to rewire and upgrade its lighting.

So, it could well be another month or more. And when the scaffolding comes down, it’ll look fresh and new but not any different — the original plans are being strictly stuck to.

Until then, as mentioned previously, there are still many places for that classic photo in front of the Castle, such as the Adventureland and Royal Castle Stage areas. Or stand a little further back up Main Street, U.S.A. and you won’t see it at all (although you might need to use someone’s head to block out the persistent Mickey’s Magical Party decorations).

Photos by Dlrpteam for DLRP Today.

This is not official confirmation, of course, but from a very trusted source on the comments of our previous article, the Monsters, Inc. Scream Academy event, which is already being advertised as part of the New Generation Festival, has been cut before it even began.

Similar information has appeared as a rumour on French forum Disney Central Plaza in recent days. But, according to the new source, the performers were told only last week that they would be moved to other shows, and the auditions for the live host/MC were cancelled just days before they were due to take place. The event as it was planned is now assumed to be cancelled.

And so the only certain live outdoor entertainment at Walt Disney Studios Park this year will be Disney’s Stars ‘n’ Cars, with the addition of that new Ratatouille car from 2nd April.

But what was this planned event? The latest excerpt from a press release read:

Everyone gets permission to be as loud as they want, and screams of delight are filling the air several times daily at “Monsters Inc. Scream Academy” at Walt Disney Studios Park. “Top scare” Sulley from Monsters, Inc. looks for new recruits with his friend named Patty. Guests of all ages get in the action as they test the monster boogie, monster roar and monster scare – with as many laughs as screams. All are invited to participate in this family-friendly, high energy character interaction. Try your hand at being a Monster!

With guests being invited to “test their screams” to become new Monsters, Inc. recruits, it sounded a lot like the character interaction of Merlin’s Sword in the Stone Ceremony crossed with a little of It’s Dance Time… in Discoveryland, held together by a live host called Patti. We expressed concern just a couple of weeks ago that this corner of Toon Studio surely isn’t big enough for a proper live event.

If Monsters Inc. Scream Academy really is cut from the New Generation Festival programme, will it not look a bit embarrassing for Disneyland Paris, who have already advertised it in brochures, images and texts for the new theme year? Perhaps not. After all, the only texts released to the wider public are much vaguer than that above, advertising more the chance to meet Sulley and use the Scream Monitors which have been in place at the photo location since 2006.

In fact, it’ll only be a little embarrassing when dealing with eagle-eyed, frequent visitors to the resort. To much of the less fanatical public, that Monsters, Inc. corner could well be brand new this year. So rather than brushing this advertising under the carpet if the entertainment event is binned for good, they could, in theory, continue pushing this Sulley meet ‘n’ greet spot as a new addition.

But it wouldn’t be like Disneyland Paris to simply wipe something down and then pretend it’s brand new, would it?

Images: Disney; DLRP Today.

For the past three years, since 16th June 2007 to be precise, the streets of the Studios have come alive to the music of Disney’s hit TV movie musicals.

After that first year of High School Musical On Tour, the original show returned in 2008 alongside a new show — High School Musical 2: School’s Out!, more heavily promoted as part of ‘The Celebration Continues… Big Time!‘. Last year, the third show, High School Musical Party!, combined both of those together with new musical numbers from the theatrically-released High School Musical 3.

With that third film becoming but a distant memory and the proposed High School Musical 4: East Meets West (West Side Story rip-off by any chance?) not due until later this year, it seems there’s a lull in the “phenomenon”. Still looking to save money and focus on the New Generation of characters, Disneyland Paris has not renewed the show. No doubt that whole High School Musical overlay of Backlot Express restaurant is seeming like an even better idea now…

Naturally, this is a blow not just for High School Musical fans but for the cast themselves, many having stuck with the show over all three seasons to become recognisable faces at the park. In fact, they’ve launched a Facebook group titled “Save the Wildcats!” to state their cause.

Though ironically in this same week, Disneyland Paris chose to send out a Wildcats-themed email promotion to UK visitors:

Maybe you’re one of those people which didn’t like the ‘HSM’ shows and their overbearing soundtracks trundling through the park — so is this good news for you? Probably not, because there’s no replacement. Given the whole economic crisis shambles we perhaps can’t complain too much, but it is just another area of the Studios’ live entertainment crossed off the programme.

In the time since the first High School Musical show, a lot has changed. Check out our article from back then, proclaiming a “blockbuster” Summer for the park. Besides the opening of Crush’s Coaster and Cars Quatre Roues Rallye, there was Lilo & Stitch Catch the Wave Party on Place des Stars Stage, Disney Cinema Parade on the parade route and — the real star — CinéFolies in Disney Studio 1. Those, of course, became known as “Shooting Live” when they were moved to Place des Stars for Summer 2008, only to be cancelled — rather than moved back to a street-based location — when they didn’t prove quite so successful.

Though Disneyland Park has also lost some big, popular and high quality shows in The Tarzan Encounter and The Legend of The Lion King without replacement, it has at least kept a good array of smaller entertainments — such as Mary Poppins, Sleeping Beauty — not to mention Mickey’s Winter Wonderland and the still-wondrous contender for Best Daytime Parade Ever, Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade.

In 2010, the only new live entertainment over at the second gate appears to be Monsters Inc. Scream Academy, which from the very vague details we’re guessing will be something small along the lines of Merlin’s Sword in the Stone Ceremony. Except, instead of pulling a sword from a stone, we’ll be invited to scream as loud as we can and, of course, dance. Screaming kids? We’ll see you there!

From the time these shows began, it’s disappointing how visibly the “party” has come to a crashing halt. Economic crisis or not, the Studios hasn’t seen the faintest touch of “plussing” for some time — revenue-driven additions like the Production Courtyard kiosk add little to the experience and even Toy Story Playland will be an entirely self-contained addition, not improving the existing park.

Where once Hollywood Boulevard was rising from behind the construction fences, promising a rebuilt, properly-themed Studios, and little details like the Monsters, Inc. photo location itself began to appear, it now seems the park is deemed “good enough”. And with High School Musical no longer partying in the streets, whatever your opinion, the park just lost one thing to distract visitors from the fact that it still really, definitely isn’t.

Images © Disney, DLRP Today.

On the other side of the A4 motorway, a patch of Disneyland Paris magic exists that you’ve maybe never experienced. Peaceful forest lanes and quaint cabins; a whole village of amenities and the best swimming pool on-site.

However, as surprised as new visitors often are to discover this whole other side to the resort, Davy Crockett Ranch often seems to collect some not-entirely-positive reviews. Worn-out cabins, mould in the bathroom… For some reason, these issues appear quite common.

Perhaps it has been attracting the wrong people, more suited to the glamour of, say, Disney’s Hotel New York than the rustic charm over here. Nevertheless, the ranch may now be answering their complaints — it’s in the middle of its biggest accommodation refresh for many years, adding some modern luxuries to its trappers’ lifestyle.

We mentioned this new accommodation option when reporting the Rio Grande, Eldorado and Buffalo rooms at Disney’s Value hotels, but now the Shareholders Club magazine (the November 2009 issue, but delivered to many addresses just this month) reports some numbers — there will be 139 new cabins — and the first on-site photos:

The Spring/Summer 2010 brochure previously revealed the layout and a generous interior mock-up:

When these come into use from April, larger families will finally have a better accommodation choice at the resort. In addition to the extra beds, the cabins feature two shower rooms, a private terrace with barbecue, air conditioning… and no bath (except the bathroom sink, which can be used as a bath for babies). They’re also located on the “trails” (the loop roads around which the cabins sit) closest to the Davy Crockett Ranch village.

From the new photos, they’ll look very familiar to anyone who has stayed with camp site travel operators such as Keycamp or Canvas Holidays. They may even help to build up to the still-proposed Villages Nature, the Centre Parcs-style project which is still “just about to be green lit” for the forest area around Davy Crockett Ranch.

When — or perhaps if — Pierre & Vacances really do get going with that project and its far more luxurious accommodations, Davy Crockett will need to have lost its mouldy bath image. But hopefully, still have some rustic charm left.

And until then, any hope of a shuttle bus service returning? For all the “eco” claims of these new cabins, the people staying in them still all have to drive individually to and from the parks each day…

Images © Disney.

Back in 1992, faithful Air France were one of the resort’s most important travel partners. After all, the high speed TGV rail connection was still two years away, and the UK’s direct connection to the magic via Eurostar and the Channel Tunnel not due until 1996.

But, as airlines such as itself focus more and more on long haul flights, it appears Disneyland Paris have looked to one of the successful low cost airlines, snapping up the short haul market, to give visitors more choice when booking a package.

As of 19th January 2010, Flybe.com signed closer links with the resort, effectively becoming one of its preferred travel partners. Compare the Autumn/Winter 2009 brochure with the updated Spring/Summer 2010 brochure, announcing the new options as available “soon”:

The press release from Flybe is rather vague, but confirms:

Flybe, the UK’s Number One Domestic Airline, has teamed up with Disneyland Paris® in a move that will pave the way for exciting promotions and added incentives for Flybe passengers to include flights, accommodation and theme park ticket packages. The deal builds on two successful campaigns that Flybe has previously run with Europe’s leading tourist destination.

Hugh Wood, VP and MD of Disney Destinations International says: “Disney Destinations is excited about expanding the business – this is very positive news for Disneyland Paris and our guests as it offers a wider choice of travel options for them.”

Flybe flights from Belfast City, Birmingham, Cardiff, Exeter, Glasgow, Jersey, Manchester and Southampton to Paris Charles de Gaulle can now be booked at the same time as your package via the Disneyland Paris booking hotline. In return, Flybe will be promoting Disneyland Paris more heavily as a destination for its Paris flights.

As visitors increasingly sniff at paying the higher prices of airlines like Air France for short hops, it makes sense for Disney not to be losing out on these booking commissions — at the same time making clear how easy it can still be to get to the resort for people who don’t live in the South East.

But of course, there is a downside to not using Air France — that you won’t have Gérard Depardieu as your baggage handler… right?