Disneyland has started testing the new “Disney Dreams” Show, the show especially created for the 20th anniversary of Disneyland Paris, inside the park. The test includes the show, that will be projected on the castle, and the new music. It’s not know if all show elements are already included in this first test phase, but one can expect if not all elements are there yet more and more to be added until the full show can take place.
Those test are taking place during afterhours with no general public in the park, but if you are staying at the Disneyland hotel the coming months you might see a little more of the magic before the premiere.
Especially those staying at the Castle Club level will be able to see a little early “Disney Dreams” magic. The show itself will be part of the new Disneyland Paris programme that will officially start as from April 1st. The night time show “Disney Dreams” will be filled with Disney characters that are being projected on the castle. But that’s only the beginning of what looks like an amazing display of Disney magic. There will be tons of other projections on the castle and on water screens in front of it. There will be water fountains and fire, an amazing new music score and a collection of other surprises.
Disney is starting to share some official information about the show via a new video they posted on the web. Here you’ll see the Imagineers, including Steven Davison (creator of Disneyland’s World of Color in Anaheim), whom worked on the show talking about what to expect. The video already shows some of the projections, including a scene with Peter Pan (what is rumoured to be the opening scene), pyrotechnics, fire effects, water fountains and even a short Mickey Mouse teaser. A very nice preview for those fans that can’t wait.
Also in the video is some information about the new “Disney Magic on Parade!” Disneyland Resort will get. The new floats include a Castle float, horse carriages with princesses and a fantastic looking final float celebrating the 20 years of Disney magic in Paris. There are also some pictures included in the video with the Disney characters and their new costumes they will wear during the festivities. They are very colourful and look like fun, especially Goofy’s green outfit can’t be missed.
Only a couple of months left before we can enjoy this amazing looking show for Disneyland Paris 20th anniversary celebration. Not to be missed!Â
Picture capture from Disney Dreams; Copyrights Disney
Ratatouille at the Walt Disney Studios in Disneyland Paris is a fact. Disney has not announced the attractions yet but the news is out their because of a visible building permit that has been put in place last week on Euro Disney property. This permit has to be up, according French law, before building starts. So Disney can’t hide it anymore, even if they didn’t put any press release out yet, but with the permit up and building to start, expect something official soon. (Picture via: Disney Central Plaza). This news doesn’t come as a surprise, especially after the news of the new loan Euro Disney S.C.A. got secured to build the attraction.
So far we can expect a trackless vehicle system where vehicle will move almost freely inside the attraction. This technology is already used in Tokyo Disneyland’s Pooh’s Honey Hunt, so it’s no secret to Disney on how to use this technology in the best possible way. Other superb park rides already using a similar system can be found in the fantastic Spider-Man attraction in Island of Adventures (Orlando). The possibilities of this system are endless and one can only imagine what the Imagineers will come up with for Ratatouille’s attraction in the Walt Disney Studios.
So far we’ve seen some amazing early artwork for the outside of the attraction building and the area around it. We will be in a mini Paris (just outside Paris) to enjoy the cooking arts of the rat Remy. While there is not much known from what is going to happen behind the facade, one can expect to see a lot of scenes from the movie. Especially scenes in and around the kitchen might become a big part of the Dark Ride experience. Together with 3D projections, including a big rumoured dome projection will make this the ride to look out for.
The permit also gives some extra information. The building permit is for a building of 17.8 meters high. This could mean that there will be either big sets or even movement on several levels. The new area that is being prepared for building will be 5719 square meters big. One more important note on the permit; it’s not accessible for the general public, but we hope to get some pictures from the works once the start. From behind the fence of course, away from the building site, until we can enter it and enjoy this new exclusive Disneyland Paris attraction. (We encourage everybody to take pictures of the works, but do not break any rules and only take pictures from a locations that is freely accessible by the public)
Euro Disney S.C.A. has announced in an official press release and in a letter to their shareholders that it has obtained an additional credit that they can use to further expand Disneyland Paris. The new money could be used to build the rumoured Ratatouille attraction in the Walt Disney Studios. While nothing is set in stone and nothing has been confirmed by Disney as of yet, this seems the most likely road they will follow. The credit comes from the Walt Disney Company, something that was expected after lending from banks became more and more a difficulty, even if you carry the Disney brand name. Without new investments a company cannot grow. This counts for Euro Disney and their parks in France as well. New, incredible, attractions are needed to have guests return to the resort and to make money and profits so a company can evolve.
Plans for the Ratatouille dark ride attraction have leaked a quite a while ago and had fans of Disneyland Paris on the edge of their seats ever since. Together with a nice new area and a restaurant with the same theme, this new ride would give the Studios even more Disney style, something that was missing during it opening according to many Disney fans. The new attraction would be placed next to the new Toy Story Playland where some early preparations for the rumoured attraction where already set in place, including the pathway with the Remy decorated benches and the covered Gusteau head on the archway.
Although no assurances can be given, the Group believes it has sufficient funds to finance these and other necessary investments and repay its borrowings consistent with the scheduled maturities, based on its existing cash position, liquidity from the Existing Facility and the benefit of certain conditional deferrals permitted under the Group’s existing debt agreements.”
…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)
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.
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”.
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
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.
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.
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.Â
 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)
The Mousekingdom Daily is out! http://t.co/TGFmhGel â–¸ Top stories today via @debsdistwit @srsounds @laughing_place @dlrpfans @disneychiefFebruary 8, 2012 1:50
Disney News today: Trip Diaries Day 16: Harry Potter Time http://t.co/eI5HvuozFebruary 8, 2012 5:17
Disneyland has started testing the new “Disney Dreams” Show, the show especially created for the 20th anniversary of Disneyland Paris, inside the park. The test includes the show, that will be projected on the castle, and the new music. It’s not know if all show elements are already included in this first test phase, but one can expect if not all elements are there yet more and more to be added until the full show can take place.
