Posts Tagged ‘Disneyland’

Disney Wants to Know…

Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011

…about you fans and therefore added an online Disneyland Paris survey to hear from you. The will ask all sort of questions, some of them that fans will be eager to talk about. They’ll ask about the merchandise they sell and what you think about it. How you feel about special events and they even ask you what you would like Disney to add for there big fan community or what would bring you back to the park even sooner as you originally planned (I picked new attraction on that, it worked every time so far). This is a great chance to tell them how you feel about Disneyland Resort Paris and your love for the mouse. Be critical! They ask you to be, but remember that this is a survey to bring us fans even closer to the mouse so do keep it nice and clean. Disney wants to listen to you, the fans, and they are proofing this with this fun and informative survey.

The survey will be online and active as from 24th November to 12th December. However it looks like they started a little early as the link already works. The survey is open to everybody as from the age of 16 and is heavily targeted to “real” Disney fans. Yes they want to hear from you Disney fanatics. Have a good read while you go through the survey as you might find some hints of things to come. If they survey is a success we might even see more interaction with fans and might see some special fan events coming our way.

You will also be able to answer one very important question! What Disney fan sites do you visit. We are right there among a fast collection of Disney dedicated fans with their site. So we would not only like you to take the Disneyland Paris Survey but we would be honored if you tick our box as sites you visit. Thank you! And now, enjoy the Disneyland Paris survey. (in English or French)

Duffy Arrived!

Friday, November 11th, 2011

He has landed in Paris, Duffy the Bear. Duffy is traveling the world and has made his way into the Disneyland Paris parks shops. Disney is targeting young children, with this new “Disney” bear, making it hard to resist for parents to open their wallets or purses. He is a real sweet and ready to be taken home for cuddles and love. But you can’t just get the bear alone! He will need some things to wear.

The bear has several different outfits he can wear. All these outfits can be bought separately in the shop. There are already a nice assortment of different clothing assemblies to choose from, but guest can expect this range to grow over time. The range of clothing has several Disney related movie theme’s like Buzz and Cars, but also Pirates among others. There are also special sets that can be picket up. For example, during Christmas season the bear can be bought in a Christmas outfit.

The bear is getting a lot of attention in Disneyland Paris. He is represented all over the resort. You can find him in most stores in both parks, the Disney Village and the hotels. There seems to be one shop that has some extra love for the bear and it looks like it that this shop will be the central Duffy place. The small, but wonderful, Storybook Store at Main Street U.S.A is the place to be for new Duffy fans. You’ll see some extra decoration dedicated to the bear. It already starts outside the shop where guest can see a collection of big suitcases with stickers showing of all the places he has visited before he came to Paris.

To make sure visitor will follow the bears footprints, or should we say paw prints, stickers of his paws have been placed on the floor in front of the shop. Once guest have entered the shop they are greeted by an over sized Duffy. He is sitting behind the post office desk inside the shop. This desk used to be Tigger’s place, but it seems that Tigger is now (unfortunately) gone for good to make place for the new bear.

The bear comes with a nice back story to give it a reason of existence in the Disney world. With Mickey Mouse traveling around the world so much (he needs to be at many places to make many children happy), Minnie made him a special bear to take along. Minnie made the bear when Mickey set out sail on a long sea voyage. She made the bear so Mickey would never be lonely. Mickey loved the bear and named it Duffy. Once back home Mickey and Duffy shared their magical memories with Minnie.

If children want to know about these memories they can buy a Duffy book. The book will tell you about Duffy’s adventures. An ideal addition for Duffy fans to read before it’s “night, night” time.

Duffy was originally created and sold at the Once Upon a Toy Story at Walt Disney World but it was in Tokyo where he became popular. The bear started of as “the Disney Bear” but was named Duffy once he reached DisneySea Tokyo where he was promoted to such an extend that everybody had to had one in Tokyo. Duffy was re-introduced at Epcot at Walt Disney World in October 2010. Then he went to Hong Kong Disneyland, Popped up at Disney’s California Adventure and was finally introduced at Disneyland Paris in November 2011.

To make sure guest will get to know the new Disney character he will get greet and meet area’s and might be integrated in parades and special festivities like Christmas.

Big Thunder Mountain – another update

Wednesday, November 9th, 2011

As covered in the past weeks Big Thunder Mountain was closed from late afternoon on October 27 till midday October 31 (when it re-opened after Disneyland Park received all required approvals and permissions to do so from the authorities) after one car derailed on what is assumed to have been the ride’s second lifthill. Now the french website Midi Libre has published the first photo taken on-site of the derailed car.

When the attraction reopened on October 31st capacity was significantly reduced with only three trains operating. However, one of the three trains runing was a train retrofitted earlier this year with enhancements to the lap-bar system in all carriages. As can be seen in the photos on board of this train all lap-bars feature a vertical bar going down from the actual lap-bar in the middle of it. Also a forward extension of the seating has been installed featuring a ”hump” right under the position in which the new vertical element of the lap bar comes down. This two element-system adds a separation between the two guests in each row, prevents sliding on the seats and makes it more difficult especially for smaller guests / children to wriggle out of the lap bar system – thus increasing further guests safety. A predecessor of this new system had been tested in selected carriages at the end of at least one train in the past year already.

The new system should have no impact on the ride’s capacity as on October 31st repeatedly parents with one young / small child were seated in one row nevertheless with the kid being placed with one leg to each side of the “hump” thus in an especially safe position.

Victoria’s New Menu

Monday, November 7th, 2011

Victoria’s Home – Style Restaurant is a (by many guests) overlooked alternative to grab a small snack or sit down for a full lunch / dinner. Sure, seating is limited indoors and outdoors but it features a unique atmosphere. Its three rooms offer a unique private feeling while the outdoor seating in the gardens between Gibson’s Girls and Central Plaza on bright sunny days allow guests to enjoy the lively atmosphere of the Main Street, U.S.A. with their food (and maybe even catch a glimpse of any show taking place on Central Plaza). Also their is a limited amount of additonal covered seating available in the Discovery Arcade.

Its location off to the side between Gibson’s Girls and the Plaza Gardens Restaurant is maybe one of the contributing reasons for the restaurant often being overlooked. While the drinks and bakery items on the menu are a staple in the meantime, the warm lunch / dinner options have seen numerous menu changes over the years in an attempt to make it more interesting to guests. Most lately the restaurant was offering pizzas – which are also available in various other locations throughout the Disneyland Park … time for another menu change!

The latest menu now offers “bruschetta” / toast in three different variations all coming with a side salad. With this latest menu Victoria’s sets itself further apart from other restaurants adding a new flavor to the restaurant offerings of the Disneyland Park.

The Dragon’s Regimen

Monday, November 7th, 2011

As widely reported the Sleeping Beauty Castle at the heart of the Disneyland Park has returned from its extensive rehab earlier this year more beautiful than in a long time. However, there us still one area that is off-limit for guests currently where a rehab is still on-going: the dungeon / caves under the castle.

All three entrances are closed off – the gates in front of the bridge leading to the front entrance are closed, a special construction wall blocks the rear entrance and the gates in front of the stairway leading from Merlin’s shop down into the cave are also closed.

However, with a bit of luck guests may be able to catch a glimpse of the ongoing work from inside Merlin’s shop despite a black tarp which is supposed to prevent guests from seeing behind the magic (see photo above)…

Big Thunder Mountain Re-Opens

Tuesday, November 1st, 2011

It might come as a little surprise, but it’s one that will have made many fans and Disneyland guests happy; Big Thunder Mountain opened again on Halloween day.

The re-opening happened less then a week after the accident where one of the carts was derailed. It was expected that an internal investigation, to see what had happened and to find solutions to avoid this from happening again, would take longer before guests could enter the mines again.

Once the attraction opened on October 31st it didn’t take long for the it to fill up as queues formed immediately. The attraction’s queue quickly stretched over the one hour mark within 5 minutes after it opened and FastPass was gone only a couple of hours later. Everything on the attraction was working fine (except for the moving rock) and guest can again enjoy this popular attraction.

Job well done by Disney for making the attraction ready and accessible again after such a short down time.

For those going to Disneyland Paris soon; Enjoy your journey on the “Wildest ride in the wilderness”.

Big Thunder Mountain Derailed (Update)

Sunday, October 30th, 2011

On Thursday 27th of October Big Thunder Mountain derailed (See previous news). Here are a couple of updates on the accident we got from people inside the park. The train derailed just before the second lift hill. It was one of the middle cars that went of the track forcing some of the other cars to bash into each other in an harmonica way. There where two minor injuries during the accident. The first one was a man who had some back problems after the incident (as mentioned in the first report) and the second was a girl who hurt her knee.

Big Thunder Mountain will remain closed for further investigation. This results in an deserted area as with the closure of the attraction people don’t go to the back of Frontierland anymore.

Visit our facebook page to see some pictures on the Big Thunder Mountain area

Big Thunder Mountain Derailed

Friday, October 28th, 2011

In an unfortunate event the Roller coaster Big Thunder Mountain at Disneyland Paris has derailed on the evening of Thursday 27th October. The incident happened around 19:40 when the last car of a train derailed. The accident happened on a straight piece of track at low speed and therefore luckily nobody was seriously injured. However, according to some news sites, one young boy was taken away in shock, while one other rider had some back complaints.

The attraction will remain close for inspection until further notice. While this might be a minor incident, most probably because of a malfunction on the undercarriage and wheels, it is important to determent the cause before the ride will re-open.

Unfortunately this is the second accident within 6 months. The last accident dates back April 25th where an unrelated incident injured several riders. With a second incident so close together we expect Disney to take some time to have a serious look at the attraction before re-opening. We will try to follow up on the news, investigation and re-opening dates.

Sand Everywhere

Thursday, September 1st, 2011

We talked about it on the DLP news blog (Sand Sculptures Festival opens), showed it on the Mousekingdom Blog (opening Night, More Sand) and even gave away some prizes for it; the Sand Sculpture festival from Blankenberge in Belgium themed after Disneyland Paris. The Belgium edition is coming to a close this month but it has been a success story for the artists as well as for Disney. Disney is so impressed that they are thinking about bringing it to Disneyland Paris next year during the 20th celebration of the park, a perfect time to add this special event. The success in Belgium was gigantic with well over 200.000 visitors breaking every record from previous years. Taking this event to Paris would be an instant success for the park and Disney. The team of the Belgium event, Francis Vandendorpe and Alexander Deman, have been talking to Angela Bliss and Yves Boulanger from Disneyland Paris. The Talks are going very well and it looks like a green light for the project isn’t far away.

But that’s not all they have been talking about. Belgium had another Disney visitor, Craig Dezern, from the Florida parks, Walt Disney World. They are also interested in the event. More about this event on Mousekingdom Blog.

Will Sales Tax Hurt Disney Ticket Prices?

Thursday, September 1st, 2011

Going to Disneyland Paris isn’t cheap with a 2 days/2 parks ticket already surpassing the 100 Euro mark but prices could skyrocket even higher once the sales tax in the industry will change from 5,5% to a 19,6% high. This sales taxes increase was announced by President Nicolas Sarkozy last week as part of measures to reduce the country’s deficit and to help retaining the country’s AAA credit rating. While Disneyland Paris seems busier than ever before with record attendance numbers, this increase could hurt the resort as an increase of this measure will not go unnoticed. 

 His announcement comes at a crucial time for operator Euro Disney, as it is hoping to attract bumper crowds next year for the 20th anniversary of its Paris theme park. (source This is Money UK)

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