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Changes for Annual Passports
July 1st, 2009 by Dirk
As is is already usual the Disneyland Resort Paris released a new AP flyer / brochure in early Paris to reflect the new pricing in place from April 4 till November 9, 2009 – and also to update the design of the brochure from the 15th anniversary design to the “Mickey’s Magical Party” theme of 2010. But are there any further changes worth noting?
First of all: the design of the actual APs was updated as well to be in line with the balloon design used for “Mickey’s Magical Party”, but there were changes to the AP program as well. The AP Francilien (available to all guests, despite the reference to the locality) increased in price by 10 Euro to 99,00 Euro just as the most expensive one, the AP Dream from 179,00 to 189,00 Euro, while the AP Fantasy staid unchanged (at 129,00 Euro) – for both, adults and children. The central concept of each AP (granting access depending on the type of AP on 300, 335 respectively 365 days per year to both theme parks) staid the same as the central extra benefits granted to AP holders with very few, but note-worthy details. …[more] »
Toy Story Playland – concept art from Hong Kong!
June 30th, 2009 by DirkThe Government of Hong Kong has officially announced a major expansion plan for Hong Kong Disneyland including three new mini-lands one of which is to be called “Toy Story Land”. While the other two will be exclusive to Hong Kong Disneyland for five years from their respective opening, the latter is going to be exclusive to Hong Kong Disneyland only within the Asian region (to learn more about the three lands 
and the multi year expansion plan for Hong Kong Disneyland visit the Mousekingdom Blog, where we have now published an updated version of our detailed post including concept-art and an official expansion park plan).
“Toy Story Land”? Exclusive to Hong Kong Disneyland only in comparison to other Asian Disney resorts, but therefore not to the US resorts and Disneyland Resort Paris??
Hmm… …[more] »
Fewer open positions at DLRP
June 30th, 2009 by Dirk
In the past months the Disneyland Resort Paris has sent cast members all over Europe (most recently the UK) to find new cast members for the summer season starting today – traditionally one of the busiest parts of the year. With this job done the casting department is now turning to the next two major seasons of the resort: Halloween and Christmas. In the past years both seasons have become more and more important for the resort with major guests numbers in both parks and the hotels during the festivities. Especially dates such as the actual Halloween night and New Year’s Eve see the Disney hotels booking up early in advance. So from June 27th till July 1st the casting department is on a bus tour through the regions of Nord-Pas de Calais and Wallonie looking for potential cast members for the Halloween and Christmas seasons interested in working in the various service positions (in the parks as well as the Disney hotels) offered in the resort.
In itself this is a news that can be expected from the resort – however, the according press release includes one interesting statement: …[more] »
Summer Season – changes for the final week?
June 29th, 2009 by Dirk
Next Saturday will be the first day of the summer season 2009 at the Disneyland Resort Paris – in other words: extended operating hours in the Disneyland Park daily till 11.00 pm (the Walt Disney Studios Park continues to close daily at 7.00 pm) as well as extra-entertainment in the Disney Village and in both theme parks, in particular in the Disneyland Park with the all new daily show “Goofy’s Summer Camp” at the Chaparal Theater as well as the nightly streetacular “Fantillusion” followed by the “Enchanted Fireworks” high over the turrets of Sleeping Beauty Castle choreographed to a musical suite from Disney’s movie “Enchanted”.
Traditionally the summer season will last till the final weekend of August – according press releases of the resort have been released already at least in French, English and Italian advertising the extra entertainment and the daily Fanitullusion as well as fireworks display till August 30th (inclusive). Therefore, it has to be noted with surprise, that the resort updated the official calendar of opening hours on its website – now announcing that the last day with extended 11.00 pm operating hours at the Disneyland Park will be August 23rd! From August 24th on the Disneyland Park will close daily at 10.00 pm till August 30th (inclusive), before switching to closing at 7.00 pm on Monday August 31st (operating hours for September have not yet been released). So what about Fantillusion and fireworks? …[more] »
Fast Food Restaurant Update
June 28th, 2009 by Dirk
Following our update about recent developments of the table service and buffet restaurants at DLPR here comes the update for the counter service aka fast food locations. So what’s new at what are the most popular restaurants in the theme parks? As the transformation of the Backlot Express Restaurant in the Walt Disney Studios Park is still an ongoing project, this update concentrates on the Disneyland Park. So what’s new in the Disneyland Park?
According to the current guide map (valid till November 7, 2009) there is a new fast food location in Frontierland … called “Cowboy Cookout Barbecue”! As regular guests of the Disneyland Park know this restaurant is not new, in fact it is one of the fast food locations that opened together with the park in 1992. However what is new is the menu and choice of selections offered. While some burgers and the half chicken is still on the menue, the selection has been updated to fit the themeing of a wild west barbecue better, now including various grilled and smoked items inlcuding skillets of mixed meats and sides. While a la carte ordering certainly is possible, the restaurant also offers pre-set menues which offer a choice between selected meals at a special menu-price – and are heavily advertised outside the restaurant as seen in the photo above.
New “Official Partners” for DLRP
June 27th, 2009 by DirkThe Disneyland Resort Paris saw another set of changes among its “official partners” in the past weeks. One partner has been replaced and two new partners have been added.
The replaced partner is Unilever – however, it was replaced by “Miko” (aka the “Heart Brand” ice crem), which is an Unilever brand. While new in the listing of “official partners” Miko already presented The icre Cream Company (on Main Street, U.S.A.) as well as Fantasia Gelati for several years. Interestingly Ben & Jerry’s is not listed as an official partner despite being an Unilever brand and continueing to present The Gibson’s Girl Ice Cream Parlour as well as its own kiosk at the shores of the Lake Disney in the Disney Village.
The first new “official partner” of the resort is Gibson the world famous guitar company. So far Gibson is not identified as presenting any shop, attraction, entertainment or anything else. However, according to first reports coming in the guitars on display in the Rock’n'Rollercoaster queue- and pre-show area have been replaced with Gibson modells. Interestingly Gibson in the US has teamed up with Universal Studios and House of Blues Concerts to rename the Universal Amphitheatre to “The Gibson Amphitheatre at Universal Citywalk”.
The second new sponsor is the French banking institute “Crédit Mutuel” which is now the “Official Banking Partner of Disneyland Paris”. While at this time the bank is not actively represented in the resort it plans to co-brand its youth bank accounts in France as “Disney”. Also the bank will be entitled to offer ongoing advantages at the resort, e.g. special family resort package offers. Further down in the future the bank will be enabled by the partnership agreement to launch a range of financial services for cast members at DLRP and eventually “propose innovative payment alternatives to the resort visitors“. In relation to the latter statement it is worth noting, that VISA (which replaced American Express as the official credit card of the resort) is already for a longer period not listed as an official partner anymore.
Find the full list of current “official partners” as officially communicated by the resort below the cut:
Table Service & Buffet Restaurant Update from DLRP
June 26th, 2009 by Dirk
Since 1992 the Disneyland Resort Paris is offering guests a unique choice of high quality table service restaurants (and buffet restaurants) not only in the Disney hotels and the Disney Village but also in the Disneyland Park itself offering a relaxing quality atmosphere for lunch and dinner. After initial problems to fill the seats in the early days guests in the past years frequently had to be turned away at the restaurants if they showed up without a reservation. However, it seems the situation is changing again – not surprising considering the overal economic climate.
In reaction The Silver Spur Steakhouse, The Blue Lagoon (historical the most popular of the table service restaurants in the park) and Walt’s are offering an “Express Menu” for lunch consisting of two courses priced at 19.90 Euro per adult with the promise to serve it in 40 minutes (so also to attract one day guests who may be afraid to miss some of the park’s attractions if they spend time in the table service restaurants).
One location that seems unaffected so far seems to be the Agrabah Café in Adventureland, which in a surprise move closed off the small courtyard from the main walkway with a themed fence and seems to have prepared …[more] »
Buffalo Bill, Mickey and friends
June 25th, 2009 by Dirk
Since April 4, 2009 (or March 20th, 2009 if the preview performances are counted in as well) the dinner show “Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show” in the Disney Village after nearly full 17 years (which makes it the longest running show of the resort) is presented in an updated version, which had “Mickey and friends” inserted into the story line of the longest running show of the Disneyland Resort Paris.
With the addition of Mickey, Minnie, Goofy as well as Chip’n'Dale the creative team not only wanted to liven up scenes such as the camp scene but also wanted to counter a trend over the recent years that saw the number of guests booking tickets for the dinner show dwindle. The logic here is that guests may have refrained from paying for the dinner show due to a lack of an obvious “Disney element” in it. …[more] »