There is a lot of work going on in the Walt Disney Studios behind the blue fence. The Disney Workmen are hard at work getting Toy Story Playland ready for its big opening day. Disney does everything to try and make sure guests will have no or limited hinder during the work. They also try to block the view of the place as much as possible. Hence the blue fence,… but other measures are taken too. The photo opportunity platform of the Flying Carpets has been closed. Like this guest cannot have a look at what is going on behind the blue fences. However, could it be that the weather is to blame again? As the icy cold at the moment isn’t the best condition for people to climb the slippery steps, it could well be that’s the main reason for closing the platform at the moment. No worries though, DLP.Info did manage to get a good look at the new zone and is happy to share it with our faithful readers. It might not be more then a lot of concrete at the moment, but for us Disney fans it’s still a nice view of the progress that is being made.
Half-a-Gator
February 18th, 2010 by Andy de Maertelaere
Alligators are very cuddly creatures… well, at least the Disney alligators are! Louis, the trumpet playing alligator from The Princess and the Frog, is a fine example of such lovable alligators. Just have a look at the picture, don’t you just want to get him, take him home and hug him?
If you want, he can be your special cuddly buddy and on top of that he can be it for half price. The price tags says 19,90 Euro but if you spend a total of 20 Euro on other Disney merchandise you can get yourself the alligator just under half price. That’s only 9.90 Euro for this cuddly toy.
Open for Business During Work
February 17th, 2010 by Andy de Maertelaere
Rehabs and scaffoldings are a common sight in the Disneyland Paris parks. They are done regularly to keep the place pristine and beautiful, just like a Disney park should be. At the moment it’s the Disney Clothiers shop on Main Street U.S.A. that is being looked after.
The complete facade of the shop is being scaffolded and the Disney Workmen are hard at work to make the place look fantastic.
During the work on the building guests will have no hinder whatsoever if they want to visit the shop. The shop remains open during the works. Guests can enter the Disney Clothiers shop as normal, through the openings left in the scaffoldings that is placed around the building.
To Cold To Work
February 16th, 2010 by Andy de Maertelaere
The Sleeping Beauty’s Castle is getting some attention to keep the magnificent centerpiece a beautiful sight for all the guests entering the Disneyland Park. This time the main entrance is being looked after. Guest cannot enter the castle from the front bridge, as it has been completely blocked off, and will have to walk around it to enter Fantasyland. The Castle itself remains open to everybody, but can only be entered from the back entrance. Once inside you can walk all the way to the front gate. Both shops, La Boutique du Chateau” and Merlin L’Echanteur remain open for business during the rehab. Also the walk-through gallery is open for all guests.
The front pathways to the cave’s entrances to La Tanière du Dragon is blocked during the rehab. You can still visit the awesome dragon by entering one of the other open entrances. Don’t let the works discourage you visiting the cave and to gaze onto the powerful dragon.
The crew working on the castle has no easy task at the moment. The pictures where taken when nobody was working, most probably it’s the extreme low temperatures that has forced the crew to stay inside. One cannot blame them as working in these below zero weather isn’t going to be easy. For sure Princess Aurora and Prince Phillip wont mind that the crew is taking a break from the cold. Their gorgeous home will shine again soon enough, once the warmer weather is back.
You can see on the small picture (click on it to enlarge it) that the place was deserted at the time. You can recognize work being done on some of the edgings of the pathways. Please note that this picture was taken from a public place through an opening and we at DLP.Info discourage everybody to trespass to get a picture from closed off areas.
Changing Colors
February 15th, 2010 by Andy de Maertelaere
The steel structure shown on the picture is not a Chameleon ride that has just changed color to fit in its environment, but a hangar that will function as the queue area for the new Toy Story Playland attraction “Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop”.
The structure has transformed from white to black and is now ready to get covered up. The two pictures shows you the “before and after” look of the structure.
The final and main color for the complete building will be green to match the attraction’s Tower. The models doesn’t show any camouflage colors as the attraction itself does, so the final paint job for the hangar might be the plain green as is used on the model. (you can see a picture of the Parachute Drop model here in our forum)
“Soldes”: Last Chance to buy
February 14th, 2010 by Andy de Maertelaere
It might be your last chance, but it’s a good one. A chance to buy some Disney merchandise for a nice 50% discount on the tag price.
You can find this massive discount throughout all of the Resort. Big red signs let you know about the last chance to get some steep discounts on the final lots of discontinued Disney articles.
Enjoy your magical shopping spree while saving some Euro for your next visit.
Ready for the Parachutes
February 14th, 2010 by Andy de Maertelaere
The Toy Story Army Man are waiting anxiously to get to work and make their first Parachute jump. Looking at the work that is being done on their Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop attraction it wont be long anymore. The big metal arms that will hold the parachutes are put into place and are sticking out on the newly vertical erect tower. On the pictures you can see the Disney crew being lifted up to work on them and to make sure all is in place and ready for the next phase.
The tower is already turning into a real eye catcher and will be even more once it starts “dropping” screaming guests.
But not everybody might like the new eye catcher as, unfortunately, the Parachute drop will also be very visible from Frontierland. This is a real disadvantage for the atmosphere of Frontierland. This is an unfortunate problem with the Disneyland Park and the Studios being build so close together. While it makes it easy to park hop, guest will encounter the sometimes unfitting panoramic views.
This has been mentioned many times when the Tower of Terror was put in place, but with this new “tower” added could become another heated topic on many Disney Boards. What do you think about about the tower so far? Is the camouflage ride appealing to you or will the view from Frontierland be to disturbing to like the ride?
… and are you ready for your first drop?
Icebreaker
February 12th, 2010 by Torsten SchneiderIt is a rare sight: a frozen lake around a lonely mountain in the usually hot prairie.
- a sight that could be seen at Disneyland Paris today.
Big Thunder Mountain towers over partly frozen Rivers of the Far West today – and one could ask if the resort needs an Icebreaker tonight since the Steamer Mark Twain is planned to run on schedule again up from tomorrow, February 12.
The Mark Twain is not the only attraction that is planned to reopen on Saturday.
Casey Jr. und Le Pays des Contes de FĂ©es will also be open for the guests, again, starting tomorrow.
Revenue Drop
February 10th, 2010 by Andy de Maertelaere Euro Disney S.C.A has release the figures of the first quarter that ends December 31. As was to be expected during the economic environment we are in today, revenue has decreased drastically with a total of 11%.
Resort operation segment revenue has decreased by 10% to a total of 164,7 million Euro. In the previous year this was 323 million Euro, a decrease of almost 23 million Euro. Theme Park revenue was down 12%. While in the prior year it brought a total of 186,1 million Euro, this years quarters revenue was only 164,7 million Euro. The main reason for this was an decrease of 11% in attendance. Especially the United Kingdom and the France visitors guests stayed away. Average spending per guest remained the same.
Hotels and Disney Village revenue also lost 10% and dropped from 124,6 million Euro to 112,3 million Euro compared to the previous year. This due to 9,9% less occupancy in the Disney hotels. Average spending per room did see a small increase of 3%, but isn’t enough to help the massive drop in this quarter.
Euro Disney S.C.A Fiscal Year 2010 First Quarter announcement.
New Show being prepared for Disneyland Paris! (updated)
February 4th, 2010 by DirkJust one respectively two days ago we summed up the rumors regarding the entertainment offerings at the Disneyland Park and at the Walt Disney Studios Park coming to the conclusion that the range might be rather limited despite the “New Generation Festival” starting in April – in particular since one announced happening in the studios, “Monsters Inc. Scream Academy”, is rumored to have been cancelled prior to its premier (despite its cast having already been assigned) and the fact that it is still not confirmed whether the rumored show “Disney Showtime Spectacular” (replacing “It’s Party Time … with Mickey and Friends” on the Central Plaza Stage) in the Disneyland Park will be performed multiple times throughout the day or just once in the evening. However, now we learned that TODAY an open casting is conducted by Disneyland Paris for an all new show in a dance studio in Pantin! …[more] »