Après en avoir rêvé pendant plus de vingt ans, nous avons enfin visité Tokyo DisneySea-le-meilleur-parc-du-monde et Tokyo Disneyland! Et le moins qu’on puisse, dire c’est que les deux parcs de Tokyo Disney Resort sont largement à la hauteur de leur réputation dithyrambique.

Naturellement, nous y consacrons deux épisodes dans notre podcast La File d’Attente, dans lesquels je vous partage toutes mes impressions.

Mais surtout, mon mari Mansour a réalisé six vlogs de nos aventures au Japon : quatre épisodes à Tokyo Disney Resort, un épisode à Tokyo et un épisode à Kyoto. Retrouvez-les sur YouTube dans la playlist ci-dessous et n’oubliez pas de vous abonner à la chaîne de Mansour ainsi qu’à la mienne sur YouTube, pour ne rien rater de nos prochaines aventures

Bon visionnage!

ENGLISH VERSION

After dreaming about it for over twenty years, we finally visited best-theme-park-in-the-world-Tokyo DisneySeaand Tokyo Disneyland! And the least we can say is that the two Tokyo Disney Resort parks more than lived up to their skyrocketing reputation.

My husband Mansour created six vlogs of our adventures in Japan: four episodes at Tokyo Disney Resort, one in Tokyo, and one in Kyoto. You can find them all in the YouTube playlist above—and don’t forget to subscribe to both Mansour’s channel and mine so you don’t miss any of our upcoming adventures

Enjoy!

The post VLOGS! Our very first time at Tokyo Disney Resort first appeared on Le Parcorama.

De nouvelles attractions à Disneyland Paris, c’est en soi un véritable événement tant le phénomène est rarissime. La dernière en date, Ratatouille L’Attraction Totalement Toquée de Rémy remonte à 2014, il y a huit ans. Par conséquent j’ai été un peu pris par surprise quand Disneyland Paris a inauguré l’été dernier l’Avengers Campus, ce qui justifie totalement l’écart de six mois entre l’ouverture du nouveau land Marvel et du contenu qui en parle sur Le Parcorama.

J’ai eu la chance d’être invité à participer aux festivités du Grand Opening de ce nouveau land et ses deux attractions : Avengers Assemble: Flight Force et Spider-Man W.E.B. Adventure. Et pour vous faire vivre l’évènement presque comme si vous y étiez, on vous a préparé un petit vlog!

Si vous avez envie d’en savoir plus et d’aller dans les détails de cette nouvelle zone, nous avons consacré un épisode entier à Avengers Campus dans notre podcast La File d’Attente, produit avec amour avec Louis de la chaine Parchéologie sur YouTube. On aborde notamment le surprenant manque d’ambition que Disney offre dans ses parcs à sa licence la plus populaire.

Bon visionnage, bonne écoute et à dans huit ans!

ENGLISH VERSION

New attractions at Disneyland Paris is such a rare occurence that it’s a major event when it happens. The latest new ride -Ratatouille L’Attraction Totalement Toquée de Rémy- actually opened in 2014, eight years ago! Consequently I’ve been caught by surprised last summer when Disneyland Paris opened the brand new land Avengers Campus, which totally explains why it took me six months to create dedicated Parcorama content about it.

I had the chance to be invited to the grand opening celebrations of At the new land and its attractions : Avengers Assemble: Flight Force and Spider-Man W.E.B. Adventure. To make you feel like you were there amongst celebrities and other VIPs on opening night we’ve created a whole new vlog!

Enjoy the show and see you in eight years!

The post Avengers Campus Grand Opening Vlog at Disneyland Paris first appeared on Le Parcorama.

Avec mon compère Louis de l’excellentissime chaîne YouTube Parchéologie, nous lançons aujourd’hui notre podcast La File d’Attente! Au programme: parcs d’attractions et digressions. Toutes les deux semaines, on vous propose une petite conversation posey entre passionnés sur l’univers enchanté des parcs à thèmes.

Pour ce premier épisode on aborde un sujet qui déchaîne les passions et les parkfans: le boom phénoménal des attractions basées sur des IP (Propriétés Intellectuelles). De Harry Potter à Star Wars en passant par Astérix et… Ferrari, on fait le tour de la question avec notre invité Julien, ingénieur dans les parcs d’attractions et illustre auteur du site Trips N Pics : LA référence en matière de reviews d’obscures rollercoasters perdus aux quatre coins du monde!

Pensez à vous abonner sur www.lafiledattente.com, sur Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Pocket Casts, RadioPublic, ou tout simplement en ajoutant notre lien RSS dans votre application de podcast préférée.

Et bien-sûr retrouvez-nous sur Twitter pour prolonger le débat ou nous soumettre vos idées et commentaires @lafiledattente , @parcheologie , @parcorama.

On espère sincèrement que vous prendrez autant de plaisir à écouter notre podcast que nous à le produire et nous avons hâte d’entendre vos retours. Bonne écoute!

Credit photo : Ray Horwath

The post Notre nouveau Podcast : La File d’Attente ! first appeared on Le Parcorama.

A while ago I posted a list of my favorite Underrated Disney Park Music, featuring all the greatest lesser known soundtracks of your favorite parks. This time, as the holiday season is starting in Disney parks—I mean those that are not closed due to COVID—I’m in the mood for sharing my favorite Christmas background music from the Disney parks. These are the cheerful atmospheric audio loops you can hear in various areas, attractions, queues and boutiques during the holiday season. They will bring a little bit of Disney Magic to your living room for the holidays.

There is a ton of Christmas background music loops in the eleven Disney parks around the world so remember this is not a comprehensive collection but a selection of our favorite tunes. Those we like to play when we’re just chilling at home.

If you like this selection, I’ve also created a YouTube playlist out of it for your convenience. Enjoy!

Ye Olde Christmas Shoppe

This boutique located in the Magic Kingdom offers a selection of holiday decoration and ornaments. The background music is reminiscent of musicals from the 50’s and 60’s. It’s equally delightful and kitsch. It’s also our most played Christmas music loop at home.

Main Street Christmas Music – Disneyland, Magic Kingdom

This classic music loop has the same vintage qualities and brings typical 60’s / 70’s orchestrations of US Christmas classics. Definitely the most quintessential holiday music from the Disney parks.

Jingle Cruise Queue 

Since a few years the famous Jungle Cruise ride is getting a yearly holiday overlay : Jingle Cruise. The audio loop from the queue is in fact the “Global Broadcasting Service : The Voice of Civilisation” radio. It features swing and boogie woogie versions of Christmas classic songs including the Andrew Sisters and in typical Jungle Cruise fashion, some pretty quirky songs too. If The Twilight Zone – Tower of Terror had a holiday overlay, it would probably sound like this.

Buena Vista Street Christmas Music

From the same 30’s/40’s era, the holiday music from Buena Vista Street is just as exquisite, but with a big band twist.

EPCOT entrance holiday music

And now something completely different. These are basically symphonic orchestrations of Christmas songs. Epcot’s entrance area holiday music is so classic it’s almost generic. In fact it’s so generic they use the same audio loop here and there in the Walt Disney Studios “theme park”. But it will definitely get you in a festive mood nevertheless. Or at least, your mom.

Main Street U.S.A. Christmas music – Disneyland Paris

Unlike its american counterparts, the christmas loop of Main Street USA really puts the Euro in Disney. From the songs to the instruments and orchestration it really feels like Europe’s old tradition of Christmas markets. You can smell the muled wine just listening to it.

Echo Lake Christmas Music – Disney’s Hollywood Studios

Another big favorite here. It features 50’s legendary jazz and easy listening artists from Ella Fitzgerald to Dean Martin, to Nat King Cole. It just feels like Christmas in the lobby of a mid-century modern grand hotel.

World of Disney Christmas Season music – Disneyland Paris

The large boutique located at the front of Disney Village in Paris is packed with symphonic versions of the Christmas classics you need.

American Waterfront Christmas music – Tokyo DisneySea

If you never had the chance to experience Christmas in New York in the early 20th century, Tokyo DisneySea’s American Waterfront holiday background music gives you some joyful ragtime orchestrations of Christmas standards.

Wilderness Lodge Christmas Loop

After all the fuss, the eating, the gift-giving and the child-screaming, if you need some quieter tunes to relax on December 25th, the holiday music from Disney World’s Wilderness Lodge hotel has a bunch of soft versions of Christmas classics to offer. You can almost hear the snow outside while you’re getting warm and cozy near the fireplace.

That’s it folks! If you liked our selection, you can also access it on this playlist.

Merry Christmas nerds!

The post Top 10 : Disney Park Christmas Music first appeared on Le Parcorama.

My husband Mansour and I are happy to share with you our vlog of these unforgettable weeks. As non professional vloggers (yes mom, this is 2020 and vlogging is a job) you’ll see it doesn’t really follow the traditional rules of vlogging. We haven’t covered everything you can do in Orlando and and the footage we made didn’t allow us to make an edit that follows an actual timeline. Instead, every episode will be focusing on one theme, park or land. For instance an entire episode will be dedicated to Star Wars : Galaxy’s Edge !

As French is our language, the vlog is entirely in French. But if you don’t speak French, I think it’s a great opportunity for you to make fun of us as we are painfully trying to say Runaway Railway. It’s pretty entertaining.

We hope you’ll have a good time watching this four part series. One episode released every Sunday afternoon. Make sure to let us know what you think, we love to hear your feedback. Maybe we’ll do more videos of our adventures in theme parks in the future if you like it. Enjoy!

Episode 1

Episode 2

Episode 3

Episode 4

The post Watch Our four part Florida 2020 Vlog ! first appeared on Le Parcorama.

I had the chance to visit Orlando recently and since my last visit, there has been a ton of new additions at Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando, so in the coming weeks I’m going to review a bunch of world class attractions… If motivation remains high and coronavirus lockdown gives me time. To kick off this series, we’ll start with the newest addition that opened just a few weeks ago. Choo choo, here is your Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway Quality Control review !

As MMRR has been open for just a couple of weeks, I should warn you that there will be major spoilers in this review. You’ve been warned.

 

Voir cette publication sur Instagram

 

Une publication partagée par Le Parcorama (@parcorama) le 4 Mars 2020 à 8 :34 PST

First, a tiny bit of context. Runaway Railway is located in Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World. It is a dark ride using trackless vehicles going through the zany universe of the new Mickey Mouse animated shorts. To the frustration of #TeamNostalgia, this new dark ride is taking over the show building of The Great Movie Ride : a mock up of Hollywood’s Chinese Theater. I personally won’t miss The Great Movie Ride. I’ve never been a fan of this old school dark ride that used to take the guests through scenes of classic Hollywood movies. It felt outdated for way too long in my opinion.

From the outside nothing has changed on the exterior of the Chinese Theater, except for the addition of a very nice animated neon sigh reminiscent of the golden age of Hollywood movie theaters. Let’s enter the queue line. Certainly the most underwhelming part of the attraction. The portion of the queue line that is inside the Chinese Theater is short and looks the same as the old Great Movie Ride queue and Mickey Mouse shorts posters are displayed on a dozen of screens. That’s a bit boring but it’s nothing compared with the absolute boredom you’ll experience before, in the outside portion of the queue line, which is basically just switchbacks at the right and front of the Chinese Theater. It’s quite disappointing that there was zero budget for a little bit of theming of any sort when you see the attention Disney is putting to keep guests entertained in the queue line of all major rides and considering the immediate popularity of MMRR. Like they did not expect Runaway Railway to be a hit attraction. Huh?

Photo : Disney

Anyway, after this massive boredom here you are, in the preshow : a projection of a whole new Mickey Mouse short called Perfect Picnic. And as the film just started in this mini movie theater, an event in the animated short is causing the theater’s large screen to burst and be ripped, wide open for guests to literally walk into that gap and step inside the colorful, life-size, hand drawn world of the Mickey Mouse shorts. It’s kind of reminiscent of the famous Cinémagique effect where a performer goes through a movie screen. But this preshow effect is even more elaborate as the movie projection keeps going on while some parts of the ripped screen are torn apart and even curling. This reveal is just the first of the many wow effects that will happen in every scene of the ride.

So let’s step in Goofy’s train. It is made of five trackless vehicles. Four of them are transporting guests and the first one is the locomotive. As the train departs from the loading station, Goofy appears from a window at the back of the locomotive. If you’re in vehicle one or two, you’re in luck because it’s almost impossible to see this from vehicles three and four. The kind of issue we’ve seen previously on Mystic Manor. Then, along the path of our train appear Mickey and Minnie in their car. They are made as audio animatronics and their faces are projected from the inside, like on Frozen Ever After and Seven Dwarfs Mine Train. They’re the stars of the ride but the execution of Mickey and Minnie’s faces looks kind of weird and disturbing. On the other hand I can’t think of another way to translate such a fast moving 2D animation to fully tangible animatronics.

Photo : Disney

As Mickey’s car crashes into our train track switch, Goofy’s locomotive leaves the other vehicles of the train, which are now going on on their own. The four vehicles are travelling trough multiple large scale scenes made of one simple technique : a blend of physical sets and projection mapping. What strikes me the most was how the projections seamlessly blend into intricate physical sets and props. The work on lighting, color grading and projection calibration is truly mind boggling. The ride also heavily includes other techniques to feature media, including transparent LCD screens – the rendering is so sharp I don’t believe it’s pepper ghost. Whatever technique is used, the integration of media animation, large or small scale, is seamless and once again : Oh! So! Sharp!

I don’t want to break down the whole ride scene by scene (support your favorite on-ride POV youtuber instead) but here are a few more observations, other than the name of the ride is impossible to pronounce for a French speaking ass guest like me.

Photo : Disney

In every scene there is something happening everywhere around you. You’re literally wrapped by animation, 360°. That’s great for ride re-rideability because you’re going to need multiple rides to catch everything that’s going on. As a result it encourages you to look around in every corner of every room. However there is one scene (the tropical torrent) that is not themed on a back wall leading to the single vehicle alcove underwater scene – basically what’s behind the back of the vehicles on the picture above. It’s just plain black and it’s weird because from the beginning of the ride, the ride “teaches” you to look around absolutely everywhere, even in your back and all of a sudden you’re like, whoops this portion is not supposed to be looked at.

Daisy’s dance studio is the funniest scene (OMG HER LITTLE BOOTS!), and it may not show on video but the way the vehicles are booty-shaking their way out of the studio makes it impossible not to giggle. However the art direction of this scene feels disconnected to the rest of the ride. No animation, just a lot of humans facing a large mirror… until big ass flowers made of LED lights appear behind the mirror. It suddenly looks like real life again and also kind of tacky. At least the cute Daisy animatronic (AND HER LITTLE BOOTS I’M OBSESSED!!) saves it.

Photo : Dan Brace

Disneyland Paris’ Ratatouille attraction uses a similar system of trackless vehicles going through a blend of projection scenes and a few physical sets. Interestingly (or sadly if DLP is your home park) on Ratatouille the scene that’s the most effective compared to the rest of the ride is when each vehicle enters its own small, individual projection dome alcove. As opposed to Ratatouille,  Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway has a similar feature and compared to the rest of the ride, it’s the most underwhelming part because suddenly it’s lacking physical sets. It’s just a movie sequence without the other half needed to create the illusion that you are in a cartoon : tangible decors. While MMRR fixes the imperfections of the Ratatouille ride, which was back in 2014 Disney’s first attempt at a large scale screen-based ride, it’s another testament on how the rat ride is deeply flawed. When Orlando locals, familiar with world class screen-based rides for 20 years, will discover Ratatouille at Epcot, it’s gonna hurt.

The grand finale is a scene that looks like a factory and in a flash transforms into the park where Mickey and Minnie were supposed to have a perfect picnic from the beginning, remember? Some previous scenes did that kind of environment shift already (tropical torrent to underwater) but never to the extent of the factory grand finale. Here the physical sets where machines, gears and hardware are projected suddenly change shape and morph to appear like trees, a carousel and other things you can find in a park. It all happens so fast and it’s truly never-seen-before as a theme park special effect, it’s the perfect way to end the ride on a surprising wow effect.

Photo : Disney

Some people describe Runaway Railway as a large scale Fantasyland dark ride. I think it’s much more than than. The elaborate preshow, the trackless vehicles, the insane sharpness and preciseness of projection mapping. And the countless wow effects. MMRR is not just action packed, it’s also packed with the most advanced tech. The amount of projectors needed to achieve this instant blockbuster attraction must be crazy. Many times it left me wondering « Wait, how did they do this? » And as an overanalysing theme park nerd who has seen it all, it’s a bold achievement.

In this era of only-major-IP-based-attractions, it’s a miracle that such an innovative dark ride is based on the new Mickey Mouse shorts. Don’t get me wrong though. I think they’re excellent and in my top 3 favorite Disney productions of the past decade but these shorts feel immensely underrated to me. For a lot of guests, Runaway Railway will be their first encounter with the Spongebob style humor and divisive ugly-funny appearance of the new Mickey Mouse shorts. While most theme park fans do not like the everything-IP trend of current Disney, choosing the Mickey Mouse shorts must be saluted.

Photo : Disney

One last thing. Last year a “Black Box” dark ride rumor was floating around and supposedly in development for Disney’s Hollywood Studios. The concept : making a heavy use of projection (mapping) so theme could be easily interchangeable through times. When you think about it, with its solid projection hardware, the lighter use of physical props, and the neutral entrance and queue line, the Chinese Theater could totally be the canvas for that rumored Black Box concept, with the Mickey Mouse shorts as its first iteration. To say the least, I hope I’m wrong and it’s not going to happen.

Overall Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway has been surrounded by less buzz, anticipation and marketing than Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge and Toy Story Playland, but it’s definitely a very strong headliner attraction and the family dark ride that Disney’s Hollywood Studios needed. I understand a ride that relies so much on projection can be repulsive to some people. But believe the hype. Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway masters the theme park industry’s challenge of the past twenty years : screen-based rides are no longer a dirty word.

Thank you nerds for reading my Quality Control review. Make sure to leave a comment below or discuss on Twitter! See you in less than two years, hopefully!

The post Review : Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway first appeared on Le Parcorama.

In the ill fated history of Disney’s Paris resort, the Walt Disney Studios park certainly is the darkest chapter. It has been designed with no ambition, no budget, no taste, no sense, almost no ride and technically no desire to build it. Nothing but the strict, contractual obligation to open a second theme park by 2002, as stated on the convention between Disney and the French government. Walt Disney Studios instantly became famous for being the worst Disney Park ever made thanks to its signature Basic Supermarket Parking Lot aesthetics. In my opinion, it’s not just the worst Disney park but one of the worst amusement parks ever made. But enough with the past. Those fifteen years of WDS nonsense have been painful enough. For more on the WDS fiasco, read my dedicated article.

Photo: Disney

This week’s highly anticipated announcement is the natural next step to The Walt Disney Company‘s recent buyout of the Paris resort. Now that Disney is the sole owner of Disneyland Paris, it finally has full control of what it can or cannot do. While we can’t be blind to the fact that EuroDisney minor shareholders have been pretty much robbed in the process, as a theme park nerd, I’m happy when I can visit a great, fully functional, profitable theme park. I’m even more happy when I don’t have to fly to the US or Asia and double my visit budget to do it. It’s been frustrating enough to be a European theme park nerd when the world’s greatest amusement park operator struggles so much do deliver quality investments where I live, to the point it became a joke. Yes, DLP is still Europe’s number one tourism destination but the the European theme park market leaders in terms of ambition, creativity and guest experience/service have become Europa Park and Efteling. Not Disney. *Awkward silence*

So, what’s in this announced investment plan? Two billion euro will… Wait. Let’s pause for a moment. Two. Billion. Euro. Two billion euro will be invested in Paris, *including* a transformation of the Walt Disney Studios park including new Marvel, Frozen and Star Wars inspired areas, rides and entertainment and also a new lake. These will open by phases starting in 2021 (while in an interview Bob Iger states from 2020 to 2025). The press release doesn’t go much deeper into details, but the concept art, as vague and purposely blurred as it is, maybe reveals a little bit more. Let’s now brainstorm and speculate on what hasn’t been detailed! Please note that the things presented as rumors next on this post come from reportedly insider sources from the ED92 forum.

Concept art: Disney

Marvel Area

This might be the first phase to open to guests considering the recent announcement to revamp the stupid Rock’n’Rollercoaster into an Iron Man feat. Avengers attraction. DLP insiders also whisper that RNRC and the Moteurs Action Stunt Show are both set to close by the end of 2018. Bye Felicias. Looking at the released concept art, this new Marvel superhero land seems themed as a colorful fantasy-sci-fi futuristic land, like the overall aesthetics of the Marvel Cinematic Universe, as opposed to the long rumored New York style theme for this Marvel area. I’m curious and a little bit anxious to discover what it’s going to look like considering Disney’s attempts at doing Marvel theming so far. While the inside of Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout at Disneyland and Iron Man Experience in Hong Kong look fun and sleek, the outside of these rides is quite generic (Iron Man in HKDL) and over-the-top-tacky like it’s based on Power Rangers aesthetics (GOTG in Disneyland).

This new Marvel land seems to include Disney Channel/Stitch Live and Restaurant des Stars buildings, Blockbuster Cafe, the Armageddon soundstage and the stunt show seems to stay, but is rumored to be re-themed on The Avengers. While Tower of Terror appears untouched, some sources say it will keep the overall style and experience but get rid of the Twilight Zone IP, so it can fit the classic Hollywood entry land. And stop paying rights for an IP nobody realizes it’s here or even remembers. If true that’s a great news. Tower of Terror is badly located on the park’s map and theming it on Guardians of the Galaxy would make it look like the central icon of the parc, the one that defines the whole park is a Marvel IP. Phew!

Concept art: Disney

I just hope the Marvel area will not just use its most famous franchises as attractions and newer characters like Black Panther, Dr Strange and Guardians of the Galaxy will also have a presence in a form that is more than a name on a store front.

Oddly enough, there is no clue about a truly new Marvel attraction built from ground: from what we know and guess so far, the makeover of the dreadful Backlot into a Marvel area seems more like a re-theme of existing things than actually adding entirely new content to the park. Which makes sense considering the first phase is supposed to open around 2020-2021 and larger, full fledged Disney attractions usually take more than two years to build.

Concept art: Disney

Frozen Area

This land will feature an whole mountain, the castle and a village town of Arendelle and boat ride similar to the Frozen Ever After ride from Epcot, which was in fact a re-theme of the Norway pavilion Maelstrom ride. Remember, it’s that ride people suddenly started giving a shit and acted offended in true internet fashion when the closure was announced. Hopefully the boat ride will be more elaborate and modern than Epcot’s dated, generic and inappropriately low capacity ride system. Some rumors once had that the ride system from Shanghai’s Pirates of the Caribbean would be used on Hong Kong’s Frozen ride, whose exterior environment and design strongly looks like the one presented on the WDS revamp concept art, but at this time I have no info on which of these two systems will eventually be used on in Hong Kong and Paris Frozen attractions. One thing is sure: this boat ride will be a welcome slow-paced dark ride that the whole family can enjoy. While the screen-heavy Ratatouille attraction is barely ok, the Frozen ride in Epcot balances tangible sets and brillant next-gen audio animatronics much greater. A restaurant is also rumored to complete the Frozen land.

Concept art: Hong Kong Disneyland

While it’s hard to tell when this land, along the completion of the lake, will open to guests, sources seem confident reporting it will open after the Marvel and before the Star Wars expansions. So approximately around 2023.

Concept art: Disney

Star Wars Area

Between the Marvel and Frozen areas around the lake will be what looks like a scaled down version of Disneyland’s Galaxy’s Edge. Oddly, it only features the part of the land featuring the Millenium Falcon simulator ride planned for the US parks, but the full scaled Millenium Falcon spaceship has been removed from the WDS concept art, replaced by an X Wing – a spaceship that’s located at the entrance of the ambitious Battle Escape dark ride on this concept art for the US parks Galaxy’s Edge. Just saying. Also, sources confidently claim that Battle Escape will make it to Paris when this Star Wars land opens at the completion of this investment phase, around 2025. If that’s all Paris should get from Galaxy’s Edge, or maybe if the full land also opens in phases over times, I think Battle Escape is a better pick than Millenium Falcon, and possibly the hottest project of the whole announcement.

Hollywood, Pixar, a lake and a lot of blurred greenery

But here is the thing: it seems that the released concept art’s only purpose is to just show a general idea of the the announced investment to the public. Look how it’s literally a mishmash of Google Maps imagery, copy/paste from US and Hong Kong Disney park project artworks and few actual illustration that looks like a final product (only Marvel does). In other words, pinning Disney’s three biggest IP’s on a map to make a big splash in the media – which they successfully did this week across Europe.

This artwork also features more hints, unannounced stuff and also some keystones of any decent Disney theme park seem to be lacking. Like this main street completely free of any theming. You know it’s not going to stay like this. The long rumored classic Hollywood theme would be the perfect fit to link this mixed bag of single IP-based lands and also as a strong unifying theme umbrella for the revamped park. I wish the style and execution will be as immersive and ‘feel good’ as Buena Vista Street in Disney California Adventure (more on this in my review). Plus, it would make a nice use of the existing Studio 1 that’s in the way and is unlikely to be entirely demolished, as suggest the slightly re-worked facade displayed on the artwork. I can’t wait for more detail on this very part of the project. Meanwhile, I’ll wish of a Red Car Trolly style transportation system that will go from Studio 1 and ride all around the lake.

Concept art: Disney

But when is this entry land going to be ready is an unanswered question at this time. Now that it finally can make it to the news headlines for something else than deficit, layoffs or neglect, Disneyland Paris certainly doesn’t want to use all marketing bullets at once and I assume that more announcements will be coming in the next months and years with more details on the announced lands, and new, unannounced things will be revealed as well. Like this expansion of Toy Story Playland: displayed on the artwork in the form of Walt Disney World‘s upcoming Alien Saucer ride, but not mentioned in this week’s release.

The concept art also suggests a fountain show on the lake, boat transportation (although I’m not sure both of these things are really compatible), what looks like a parade, and last but definitely not least: a lot of greenery. Oh and plenty of unused land too, ready for later expansions.

Trying to figure out how Disney is going to spend two billion euro is complicated, even considering the budgets of similar projects. The publicly announced cost of the Disney California Adventure was 1.5 billion dollar and included large scaled projects like Carsland, Buena Vista Street, the World of Color night time fountain spectacular, the Little Mermaid omnimover dark ride and a lot of cosmetic additions here and there. But the reported cost of the whole Galaxy’s Edge in the US, including two rides, is one billion dollar. So go figure what to understand of these numbers.

Photo: Disneytouristblog.com

It took me almost a week to process the idea that Disney is finally stepping in and does what the Paris resort needed for ages. Long term vision, solid investment, and fixing errors of the past. Usually I’m not especially a fan of this ongoing trend of adding massive single IP-based lands. It seems like a short term investment but takes a lot of space in a park for later expansion. And it swipes the distinct identity of different parks. Every park now becomes a collection of IP’s with just E-ticket rides and no clear connection. That said, in the context of Disneyland Paris, I quite like the planned vision for Walt Disney Studios: a super ultimate IP park with Hollywood as thematic umbrella. While it’s not going to be the most cohesive and perfectly masterplanned Disney theme park like Epcot or the castle parks, the transformation of Disney California Adventure is the greatest proof that an elaborate park map isn’t the only thing that makes an amazing park. Immersion is, and DCA is now packed with fantastic immersive environments.

From what we know at this time (aka not that much when you think about it) the soon to be revamped Walt Disney Studios park seems to follow the Universal theme park model, which is becoming Disney’s model too: large flagship IP-based attractions immersed in their own environment, next to each other. Picking Marvel, Frozen, Pixar and Star Wars surely is a safe bet and that’s exactly what Disneyland Paris needs after decades of inefficient investment. It urgently needs to become a profitable, sustainable business. But Disney must be careful following this path because E-ticket rides are not enough to make an enjoyable theme park experience. Little things are needed too, from small scaled rides to hidden walkways and things to discover here and there. That’s what makes the main park so amazing in Paris, or in Animal Kingdom and Efteling.

Photo: Disney

Walt Disney Studios extreme IP fantasy will sit next to Disney’s most beautiful classic castle park ever made, and I think both theme park concepts could greatly compliment each other. At least for a couple of years, because this new ‘Single IP land’ path seems to be Disney’s new way to design theme parks. I mean all theme parks, including classic castle parks. We can only hope that Disney’s creative minds and decision makers will have the bright idea to differentiate different park identities in Paris, but I wouldn’t raise my hopes too high about this. After all, we’re also in the middle of Disney Parks and Resorts head Bob Chapek taking control, and it’s hard to understand how far will theming execution go under his management. Remember he came in board to better control cost management after the Tom Staggs era investments were reportedly way over budget. Notably Shanghai Disney Resort and the Disney California Adventure makeover. To give you an idea on the theming execution level, the only project that has been entirely supervised under Chapek and is open already is Mission Breakout at DCA. I’m letting you form your opinion by yourself with this information.

Visiting Shanghai Disneyland reminded me of the unanimous buzz surrounding Universal’s Islands of Adventure in the early 2000’s: a thrilling, immersive and innovative theme park that is filled with IP’s. The newly announced projects for WDS, and thinking about what could come next in these large empty spaces brings me the same feeling. If the transformation of Walt Disney Studios is as ambitious and well executed, it can only be just as successful. And after two decades and a half of depressing debacle, that’s all I wish for Disneyland Paris.

And because every answered question brings new questions yet to be answered, it’s hard to believe the Disneyland Park will spend another decade without any new attraction. With that in mind, let the speculation on both WDS *and* DLP continue!

Speaking of speculating on the WDS makeover announcement, make sure to listen to this episode of the Rien Que d’y Penser podcast. I was invited as a guest to discuss the two billion investment. Great opportunity to learn French!

What do you think of this whopping two billion investment plan? Do you like the selected themes? What do you think of the single-IP-land model? What else would you like to see? I’m curious to know what you think so let me know and let’s discuss in the comment section below!

The post Disney to invest in Disneyland Paris with billions and IP’s first appeared on Le Parcorama.

The genesis of the Symbolica project actually started around 2010. Efteling has been working for years on a very different style of dark ride code-named Hartenhof, based on Pardoes the wizard, the mascot of the park. The original storyline revolved around the universe and characters developed for the live action TV series De Magische Wereld van Pardoes, which aired for the first time in 2011. But the most exciting part was certainly the innovative ride system. Think of it as a slow moving robot arm à la Harry Potter and the forbidden journey that can carry an audience of twenty-four people instead of four. The underwhelming public reaction to the TV show and merchandise sales led Efteling to put the Hartenhof project aside for years, in favor of Fairytale Forsest, day-time show Raveleijn, night time fountain show Aquanura and dive coaster Baron 1898. Make sure to google Hartenhof because Efteling released a lot of work material back then, including scale models, artworks and blueprints.

Artwork: Efteling

Back to present day. Despite the TV show disappointed, Pardoes has been the mascot of the park since 1989 and has always remained very popular among Efteling’s guests. The Hartenhof project was completely reworked, including the name change to Symbolica (the fictional planet where the whole Pardoes universe happens) more on par with the new international ambitions of the park. It keeps Padoes as the main character, and the show building keeps a similar design, still located at the originally planned space, at the back end of Efteling’s main avenue, just like the castle in a Disney park. While the outside architecture of Symbolica’s Palace of Fantasy is gorgeous and fits perfectly Efteling’s signature color scheme and shapes, the building looks a little bit boxy and flattened in my opinion. Together with the main avenue called Pardoes Promenade and the recent crêpe restaurant Polles Keuken in front left of Symbolica, it’s a whole area of the park that is now entirely dedicated to Pardoes. It’s cohesive but subtle, not in-your-face, Disney-style which I appreciate a lot.

At this point of the review, I need to warn you about the spoilers that are going to fill the rest of this post. If you haven’t experienced Symbolica yet and wish to remain free from spoilers, you should stop reading here.

Photo: Looopings

Alright let’s enter the castle through the main gate located one level above ground on the front side. This main hall act as a preshow where the audience is facing large stairs where the palace lackey O.J. Ponctueel is briefly introducing us to the world of Symbolica, and the Hartenhof castle we’re in, where King Pardulfus and his courthouse live, including Pardoes. Quick note here: there are multiple versions of the speech, which is nice because preshows can be a pain in the ass when it comes to ride repeatability. As you’re bored to death by Ponctueel’s speech, Pardoes interrupts him and casts a spell that’s literally cutting the stairs in half, revealing a secret corridor. As I wasn’t expecting it I was totally amazed by this large practical effect, complete with colorful (laser) pixie dust and thick fog. It’s a brilliant introduction that give you the feeling you’re about to discover a lot of secret stuff because the audience is invited to step in the revealed corridor. It leads you to the loading area downstairs. This stairway is probably the most underwhelming part of the attraction, due to a severe lack of theming and detail. It’s just basic and feels off theme.

Photo: Efteling

The loading area however is your first introduction to the intimate and detail-heavy theming of Symbolica. These vaulted castle caves beautifully lit by candles are decorated with wizard stuff and also three tapestries facing the three carriages that will travel together. Music Tour, Heroes Tour, Treasures Tour: it’s up to you to chose your favorite experience. Every carriage is nicely designed in (faux) wood and can take up to six persons. At the front of every vehicle is a crystal ball lit up to the color of the tour you selected, and in the back of the car is a lovely pipe system filled with colorful liquid, purposely to magically move the carriages.

Photo: Efteling

As the three carriages start traveling together in darker hallways lit with mysterious crystals, they immediately start to pass each other, a signature capability of trackless vehicles that feels sort of weird and gimmicky here, as the first vehicle is left alone facing a thick door. But here comes the first room, in my opinion the most beautiful scene of the ride: the Observatory. A round, domed space which is the workroom of a human looking animatronic wizard. This room is packed with props and whimsical wizard apparel like antique books, microscopes, potions and animal skeletons… On the ceiling hangs the most beautiful element: an elaborate system of rotating planets. The wizard is smoothly animated, like most of the attraction animatronics. Hidden behind his back is Pardoes, who casts another spell, but this time it’s on YOU! (in typical theme park fashion)

Photo: Efteling

As you go further, the (laser) pixie dust is reaching more objects in the castle and seem to give them life. Here, it touches exhibited butterflies and as you’re contemplating a miniature city from a balcony, large-scaled butterflies fly over the model. I’m really not a fan of these awfully kitsch butterflies complete with obvious led light and fiber optics that don’t match the supposedly antique style of the ride. Also it’s hard not to see the direct inspiration from Mystic Manor with this laser pixie dust effect. Not just the idea (objects that come alive when they’re touched by pixie dust) but also the use of the exact same colored laser light.

Vehicles then reach the Glass Greenhouse, where various plants behave like they want to eat you. But there’s more. Behind the glass you can see approaching something unexpected: a full sized whale like there’s water outside the greenhouse. Wait. Not just a whale. A cute smiling whale that bumps into the greenhouse glass and breaks it! Actual water starts to come in the greenhouse as the cracks multiply on the glass. Hurry up, it’s time to leave this place before water fill the greenhouse completely. The effects on this scene are so unexpected and perfectly timed. It’s one of my favorite rooms in the whole attraction.

Photo: Kris Van de Sande

The carriages then split up accordingly to the tour you initially selected: Music, Heroes or Treasures. Again, like on Mystic Manor, your vehicle stops right in front of a mirror where a chest and various things are rotating around it. The first row of the vehicle has two touch screens where you’re supposed to touch colorful objects to do something on the mirror. Well after two visits at Efteling and riding Symbolica multiple times, I still don’t get what you’re supposed to do on the screen and what effect it’s supposed to trigger. It seems like you can either succeed at the game, or not, but again, it’s hard to understand whether you did it or not. It’s even more frustrating when you’re on the back row, with no screen. Not just because you cannot take part, but because sometimes front row riders will not even understand there is a touch screen in front of them and the whole group will awkwardly face this mirror where nothing is happening at all.

The three vehicles then leave their intimate boudoirs to travel across large and intricate vaulted caves where numerous furnitures and shelves are displaying objects that come alive. The movements of the vehicles are interesting because you’ll pass not just the vehicles of your group but also the previous group too, which creates a fun, messy atmosphere with a lot of action everywhere. This room is also one of the most heavily detailed, with a lot of props, candles, animated objects. Efteling really did a fantastic job at propping every scene on Symbolica. On the other hand, this scene has more interactivity as the carriages split up once again to face music instruments/armors/a big ass diamond in a gloriously minimalist room made of mirrors. Here again, the use of the touch screens is hard to understand. Also when you touch the screen, it takes too long between your action and the object’s reaction so you’re even less sure what you did or not.

Photo: Efteling

You quickly pass through a Champagne and Food Stock room where crêpe chef Polles is running a cart with a towering stack of crêpes, like he wants to remind you to visit the nearby crêpe restaurant Polles Keuken. And here finally is the Ballroom, where the king of Symbolica is feasting with a large buffet filled with sweets, fruits, crêpes and cakes of all sorts that smells like strawberry candy. Basically this room has a large empty space at the center so the carriages can ‘dance’ and spin all together. It’s my least favorite scene, as there isn’t much stuff going on and this one is the closest to the part of Efteling’s signature art direction I really don’t like. You know, when character figures look like their face is melting, as seen frequently in Efteling’s Fairytale Forest, Fata Morgana, Droomvlucht and the Land van Laaf. I guess it’s a matter of personal taste as this scene was my friend’s favorite in the whole ride. Should I consider making other friends for that reason?

Before exiting the ride in the vaulted caves from the beginning, we get to see our on-ride picture on a wall full of frames displaying the various characters we just encountered, from Pardoes to the king to the cutest whale. The arrangement is lovely, but the definition of the used projector is clearly not appropriate as you can see large, chunky pixels on every frame.

Une publication partagée par Le Parcorama (@parcorama) le 18 Déc. 2017 à 11 :30 PST

I’m not a fan of everything on this dark ride, especially some specific art direction choices, the lack of a memorable climax (the most impressive effects come during the preshow, the beginning and the middle of the ride) and the storyline is a bit unclear: what the heck is really happening in this castle? But that’s not preventing you to have a great time riding it. I guess the magic spells explain all strange and magical events. What makes Symbolica truly outstanding is the fact that it’s a purely contemplative dark ride, but in every scene there is something surprising that is never over-the-top like the big budget dark rides you can find in Orlando. Like a delicious sushi compared to a delicious hamburger, Symbolica is more modest but equally amazing because of it’s attention to detail and craftsmanship. Speaking of which, let’s go deeper into details, the work on light and music is remarkable, it makes a clever use of trackless vehicle technology and has a great quantity of props everywhere you look. Symbolica is actually the only dark ride that I know where absolutely every space is themed, from floor to ceiling. You won’t see any intrusive technical element. Even Disney and Universal rides never went that far as they usually have a lot of technical stuff hanging from the ceiling. Even the roof top of the show building received a garden like setup made of plants and solar panels, so it doesn’t look like an ugly warehouse when you’re watching the park from the sky in the adjacent Pagode panoramic ride. Detail, detail, detail!

It is a bit odd that the Mystic Manor inspiration is so obvious, but less than 99,99% of Efteling visitors will notice. At least they couldn’t pick a greater inspiration than Mystic Manor, and the things they reproduced are done as greatly as Mystic. The most important shortcoming is definitely the interactivity. It’s not just hard to understand, it’s unnecessary and in fact, very  distractive. And because it’s hard to understand, you’re looking at the screen even longer while there are tons of practical theming and effects surrounding you. That’s a bit stupid considering it’s the only dark ride of this era that doesn’t rely on projection screens… at all! As it takes out more than it adds to the experience, I would just get rid of the whole interactivity as soon as possible. It’s just very very bad.

Photo: Efteling

Finally, a word about the budget of the ride. The cost of Symbolica is €35 million, which makes it the most expensive attraction in the history of Efteling. When you experience the greatness and discover the quality and quantity of things a regional theme park can do for that budget, it brings me even more respect to Efteling as opposed to the totally flawed experience that Disneyland Paris makes with a skyrocketing budget of €150 million on Ratatouille, an attraction mainly made of domed screens and few practical sets. I try to avoid comparing things too much, but I think it’s interesting to keep the budget in mind to fully acknowledge the efforts a team can make with creative thinking (and yeah, efficient cost management) when, like Efteling, they want to compete on the same international market as Disney in Europe. For all these reasons, Symbolica is one of the greatest dark rides I ever experienced – look where it’s ranked in my Top 20: Best Dark Rides in the World.

Thank you for reading this nerdy review! Make sure to watch the nine part making-of web series that Efteling posted on Youtube, and of course the complete on ride video below. Also, whether you have, or haven’t experienced Symbolica, I’d be curious to read and discuss your opinion about it in the comment section below!

The post Review: Symbolica at Efteling first appeared on Le Parcorama.

Project Sparkle

On Twitter I’m often poking fun at their overpromising use of « Exceeding Guest Expectations ». As this years marks the completion of Project Sparkle’s first phase, let’s find out if DLP did actually exceed my expectations with this big Quality Control review!

A bit of context first. To understand what’s happening today at Disneyland Paris we have to travel back in time before EuroDisney even opened. In the late seventies, Disney was contacted by a Japanese company called Oriental Land to build a theme park in Tokyo. That would be Disney’s very first attempt at opening a theme park outside of the US. Because it was a risky bet, Disney signed a deal that limited their investment in the soon to be Tokyo Disney Resort. But this licensing deal also greatly limited the profits for The Walt Disney Company. When it opened, Tokyo Disneyland turned out to be an insanely profitable Disney resort by all accounts, but Disney wasn’t getting much money from this successful Tokyo outlet.

Photo: Tokyo Disney Resort

When Disney decided to open a new gate in Europe, they sure would not make the same mistake. The success of Tokyo was so huge that it seemed obvious that a Disney theme park in Europe would have the same instant glory and possibly be an even greater success if they made the park even more spectacular. So they made EuroDisney’s size and scope even greater, with more details, more noble materials, more rich and complex architecture and signature attractions and lands. Oh and seven massive hotels too. They also created a complex financial system that would maximize profits for the Walt Disney Company, while limiting its investment and shares in the operating company. Pretty clever, Michael Eisner… but is it ?

Unfortunately Disney’s initial previsions were way too optimistic. After a couple of years, Disneyland Paris was a commercial success: millions of people were visiting Disney’s European flagship. But on the other hand the custom financial scheme and the fact they just built too much too soon made EuroDisney an unsustainable company, unable to make any profit. The financial debacle of Disneyland Paris was like a 20 years long news headline soap opera. A very bad one. Just like Russian dolls, new money problems kept coming every couple of years: from multiple employee restructuration (aka firing people) to the fact Disney had to build a second theme park on the cheap otherwise they would loose some parcels of land, as stated in the contract between Disney and the French government.

For about twenty years all these factors forced Disneyland Paris to cut costs everywhere it could to save money here and there. Maintenance and personnel was reduced to the strict minimum. Of course it had a negative impact on overall guest experience, despite being a super premium priced destination. The early 2010s marked the point where the Paris resort was in an disgraceful neglected condition, never seen before in any Disney park. Visiting the parks as a frequent returning guest was like holding a checklist where you could check most of the boxes when a piece of decor or effect was turned off, broken or literally falling appart. Rides broke down way more often and longer than any local park in Europe. Shows were canceled. Food was overpriced yet not tasty. Hotels were expensive yet outdated. Overall guest experience was low-range but admission ticket price was high enough to make you feel robbed. If you wonder why DLP always had a very low rate of returning guests, look no further.

Disneyland Paris’ bad reputation reached such a critical point that The Walt Disney Company eventually decided to address the Paris situation a couple of years ago with an « Experience Enhancement Program » code-named Project Sparkle – because Disney parks can never be too gay. For the past three years, most attractions, lands, restaurants and hotels have been closed off entirely for months, sometimes an entire year, in order to bring back the world class standard Disney Parks are famous for. DLP’s communication service also put a lot of effort to spread the word on these massive works. So, did these efforts pay off?

Big Tunder Mountain
The resort’s most popular attraction now looks absolutely jaw-dropping. Vibrant colors, clean cut greenery, new whistle sound effects give the ride – and the entire land – more life than ever. Even the long extinct splashdown effect is back. The new, enhanced scene on the last lift complete with dynamite explosions, video mapping and smoke effect is a nice addition but it works too randomly at this time. The smoke effect, which is the most thrilling part of the finale is often missing. Most updated show elements are a success but the technical update, not so much: the frequent breakdown problem hasn’t been fixed yet despite a complete upgrade of the ride’s operating system. Although it’s currently getting better, I wonder if BTM will ever be able to operate normally, without hours of interruption a couple of times a day.

The rest of Frontierland looks just as stunning. The « Rivers of the Far West » lake has been drained during the Big Thunder Mountain’s one year long refurbishment and DLP took the opportunity to completely bring the infamous geysers back to life. Unfortunately all water and smoke effects were turned off when we visited but the rock work looks clean and more colorful than before. Elsewhere in the land, large pieces of architecture and facades have been refurbished from ground like Fort Comstock at Frontierland’s main gate. Visiting it today makes it easy to forget how it was literally crumbling just one year ago. Frontierland is also the land where major works still must be completed on the next phase of Project Sparkle, with a complete update on Phantom Manor (closing scheduled this fall for at least nine months) and we’re still hoping that the Mark Twain steam boat will eventually be refurbished and will join the Molly Brown someday to bring back this ride to full hourly capacity instead of half capacity.

Adventure Isle
Adventure land’s large island complex including La Cabane Des Robinsons, Skull Rock, Captain Hook’s Galleon and two walkthroughs inside caves look better than ever before. The rock work that was once crumbling has been reshaped and repainted, dozens of water falls that were turned off for years are now fully functional and an amazing work has been done on lighting on the whole isle (and Adventureland in general) to make it look even more beautiful and tropical at night. Only one effect isn’t working yet on La Cabane des Robinsons: the system that brings water up to the top of the house.

Deeper in Adventureland’s jungle, the Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril rollercoaster was among the first facilities to be entirely refurbished back in 2013. Even one portion of the track inversion that was cracked for many years was replaced. The Colonel Hathi Pizza Outpost restaurant still serves basic pizza but the recent refurbs even brought back the animatronic bird movements that were missing for almost a decade.

Pirates of the Caribbean
There was so much work to do on this dark ride that DLP did split its refurbishment in 2 x 6 months over two years. The amount of non working effects was sky rocketing on this one and riding it had become a sad experience. Now all effects are back on, except for a couple like one of the two moving chains next the lift. All animatronics are back to life, from elaborate, fast moving human figures to smaller, single-movement ones like chickens, or the famous fireflies. Like all major refurbishments of the program, POTC got an overhaul of it’s audio and lighting system (to LED lights) and the ride was enhanced with more lifelike effects such as neat fire and moonlight projections here and there. You can now clearly understand what the characters are saying. Some voiceover tracks have been especially recorded for this refurbishment. The attention to detail is solid, and it makes it the most beautiful and comprehensive refurbishment of Project Sparkle.

Besides the ride’s technical update, Pirates of the Caribbean also got some show improvements. First, one of the duelists was changed into a female character, and the Bride Auction scene has been modified into something less sexist and awkwardly fucked up. Instead of selling the Redhead character, she’s now a pirate whose other male pirates are envious of her gun collection. Two stronger depiction of what women can be is an important change when you think about all these woman and little girls riding POTC where the very few female characters they could relate to were either being sold like an object or rape victims. Yay. Now they finally are just as badass as men, as women are in real life. Great job!

Photo: Le Parisien

Characters from the Pirates film franchise were also added: Two Jack Sparrow animatronic figures and one of Barbossa – whose movement are impressively fluid. Some don’t like the addition of the film characters at all, just like the changes mentioned above, but I think these additions are 100% leggit: for most people now, the film franchise is your introduction to the world of POTC, not the ride. And you expect to see the characters from the movies on the ride. More importantly these additions have been done right, in a non intrusive way.

My absolute favorite new addition however is not the new animatronics but the dramatic opening during the lift, with the projections of Davy Jones, Barbossa and Black Beard on a fog screen atop the lift and this super cool/scary/loud organ music, reminiscent of Davy Jones playing organ alone on his ship. Simple but very efficient. It’s giving me shivers just writing about it. Brilliant!

I’d say the only downside of this refurb is the use of the (great) POTC movie music themes across a larger part of Adventureland. It just doesn’t fit the ‘fantasy pirate’ theme of Adventure Isle near Skull Rock and Captain Hook’s Galleon. Limiting the use of the movies soundtrack to the outside portion of the attraction’s queue line would make the area feel more cohesive in my opinion.

Photo: Kris Van de Sande

Over in Fantasyland, most of the focus was rolled out on It’s A Small World. It reopened last year after a technical update with an new, more vivid color scheme on the facade replacing the very 90’s pastel color scheme. I still don’t have any interest in IASW but at least the exterior looks neat and more contemporary than before. I really love this change. The technical update however promised that most animatronic dolls would be replaced and it hasn’t been done so far. Also, there has been works too on the ever popular (and overcrowded) Peter Pan’s Flight. Despite DLP’s communication department efforts advertising the ride’s refurbishment, the only show updates besides a well needed fresh coat of black light paint are a couple of video projection effects here and there. It sure does plusses the attraction but it’s still a very small show addition. Maybe I wished they would import bigger media-based features from the Shanghai Disneyland version.

In fact all my attention in Fantasyland was attracted by the cleanliness of the pools, ponds and rivers across the land. Not that it is now 100% crystal clear but all of Disneyland Paris water features used to be filthy brownish green and it did’t fit the picture perfect, gorgeous and romantic utopia that Fantasyland is supposed to be. And it’s not just in Fantasyland. Water features and pools from Discoveryland, Sleeping Beauty Castle and Fantasia Gardens in front of the Disneyland Hotel finally got a water so clear you’d just like to dive into it and play water polo for the rest of the afternoon as long as there will be no Splash Mountain in Disneyland Paris. Clean water features may sound like a small detail but I think it makes a lot of difference on the unconscious overall feeling you have visiting Disneyland Paris. It’s just clean. It means that someone cares. And that quality matches the expensive admission ticket.

In Discoveryland, a lot of things have changed too. Mainly, a lot of floor portions of pathways have been replaced for pavement, a material that is more sustainable, easier and cheaper to maintain on the long run. It’s not just in Discoveryland by the way. This floor replacement is slowly but surely reaching most parts of the resort, from Adventureland Arabian area to It’s A Small World to Pirates of the Caribbean to the amazing Fantasia Gardens. All new pavements are even carefully selected to fit the theme of their various locations. Wow. Back to Discoveryland. All largest show buildings got a fresh, well deserved coat of paint (Space Mountain, Videopolis, Star Tours), nighttime lighting has been fixed and improved, including a super neat lava effect in the volcanic ponds at the entrance of the land. Discoveryland got it’s vibrant colors back and it just looks stunning. Even the kinetic features on top of Orbitron are rotating again. Unbelievable just a couple of years ago.

Photo: Kris Van de Sande

Star Tours – L’aventure Continue
This one wasn’t new to me because I had the chance to ride the updated simulator ride already in the US parks. As Star Tours experts explain better than me, the new version has sort of lost the joyful chaos of the original queue line but I wouldn’t say it’s now less fun or immersive than before. Just a different vibe. I must say I’m not a huge fan of this specific type of simulator ride: I think it became outdated these days where media simulation on theme park rides is just one component among a larger range of technical features. Think about any Universal attraction, from the thrilling Spider-man to the spectacular Gringotts (read my review of Diagon Alley here). However, Walt Disney Imagineering did draw the best out of this technology, as dated as it is. The mastered 3D and the smooth moves of the simulator cabin really make a difference and make the experience more enjoyable if you are subject to motion sickness. Hopefully the next update will make the media look less like video game graphics and more like the actual films.

Hyperspace Mountain
A new decade, a new unnecessary Space Mountain overlay in Paris! Sigh. Ok let’s be clear: this new iteration is less painful than the dreadful Mission 2. Literally, because the iconic rollercoaster has new smoother trains including a new type of restraints. Also, a lot of media featuring Star Wars spaceships battling, and – surprise! – you’re in the middle of the battle, for an unknown reason. Unfortunately, the screens where these spaceships are projected are all super obvious (you can literally see a large, not dark enough rectangle around every spaceship projection) and the illusion doesn’t work quite well.

Photo: Disney

I can’t tell about the soundtrack because there was no sound on our train, which made our ride a totally odd experience. This dome was entirely scilent. It’s quite frustrating that such an important part of the experience seems to be so hard to make work and maintain after 2 x 6 months of refurbishment. Especially considering the use of the iconic Star Wars score from John Williams. Speaking of trains, the new design is reminiscent of steampunk style and obviously doesn’t fit with Star Wars. But even weirder is the fact that these new steampunk trains don’t fit either with the original Space Mountain and Discoveryland cohesive design, graphics and color scheme. The only good thing however is that these trains, as tacky looking as they are, are an indication that the original steampunk theme should come back one day. But when? After a Gardians of the Galaxy and Frozen overlay? Also, if the look of the new trains are any indication of the aesthetics of the ride when it’s finally « Back to the Moon », that’s just not a good sign. These new trains are just missing the mark.

This brings us to Main Street, USA where all buildings and facades look as the park had just opened in 1992. It’s hard to believe that just a couple of years ago, so many lightbulbs were missing at night and DLP even had to put safety nets on Main Street facades because these were falling apart. Safety! Freaking! Nets! Main Street Station looks especially fierce since last years refurbishment. Of course it would look even greater without the tacky temporary decorations for the 25th birthday, Christmas, Halloween, Spring or whatever ugly local mall sign comes next. The only sign I’ll tolerate on Main Street Station is the one celebrating the ongoing buyout by The Walt Disney Company.

Because that’s what it’s actually all about, even thought the refurbishment program started three years ago and the buyout is just about to be finalized. For the past several years, The Walt Disney company injected billions of euros multiple times, for various refurbishment and new addition projects. But the cost of Project Sparkle alone is estimated between € 1.2 and 2 billions  . While it’s a bit bittersweet that so much money is being spend on fixing decades of neglect instead of building marvels like Indiana Jones Adventure, Mystic Manor or Radiator Springs Racers, I think it’s a good and necessary thing. Sort of an unpopular decision that had to be made. And when they’re done fixing DLP, we can’t wait for new attractions in the main park. Not much actually new has been added for the past 20 years and as stunning as it looks today, Disneyland Park has become kind of boring.

In fact DLP is fixing so much stuff that it’s almost impossible to make it a complete list here. Other areas have greatly improved over the past couple of years: countless character meet n greet popped up everywhere and they’re better organized; various stage shows returned as well and the feedback from guests is solid; overall cleanliness has made a tremendous improvement, food is finally getting tastier and some in-park bars are currently being tested for those who wish for more beverage options than basic soft-drinks ordered at a counter service restaurant. Even smaller things have improved, like signage with an appropriate and cohesive use of graphics and fonts that match the themed environment – DLP used to display simple photocopied sheets here and there in the past. Ew. Yes they’ve come a long way.

Photo: Kris Van de Sande

For two decades, DLP relied too much on the power of its brand and IPs to attract people. Now Disneyland paris seems on the right track to become the premium destination it aims to become and offer an experience on par with the super expensive price tag. The only remaining area of improvement to me is Merchandise. DLP attraction-based items are almost entirely a thing of the past. While there have been some efforts a couple of years ago importing merchandise from the US resorts, the current offer still seems to be targeting only the core demographics of DLP. But not everyone likes generic (at best) Disney toys you can find pretty much everywhere outside a Disney Park. I wish Disneyland Paris was collaborating more with independent illustrators or graphic designers to offer more variety and higher end quality. As long as they won’t, I’ll keep saving my money while visiting the parks to spend it online on better fan-made merchandise.

The only question is: will day to day maintenance be increased after this massive refurbishment program? Will there still be eagle-eyed team members to spot and report anything wrong when the Experience Enhancement Program will be over? More importantly will the upkeep budgets be dramatically increased to fix and refurbish things faster and more efficiently than before? These are questions that Disneyland Paris hasn’t answered yet. For now, upkeep sure has dramatically improved but not everything is working full time yet. Some animatronics, water, smoke and fire effects still seem unstable at this moment. Despite some of these were refurbished during the Experience Enhancement Program.  As usual actions will tell more than a post on DLP’s (very interesting) corporate communication blog. Only time will tell.

Meanwhile, let’s all cheer up watching this lovely video of DLP cast members getting ready and celebrating the 25th anniversary grand celebration back in April. The new energy that Disneyland Paris CEO Catherine Powell is giving to thousands of team members is really showing. I think it was a great idea to invite everyone to the party: it’s their anniversary too after all. The difference Cast Members make every day to our guest experience is a major key to a successful visit at Disney. Their job is no easy task and you can feel a lot of progress as well among a increasing majority of dedicated cast members. Kudos CMs!

As the future of the cursed child of all Disney parks never looked as bright, let’s all wish a happy 25th anniversary Disneyland Paris!

Thanks to Kris Van de Sande for the amazing pictures!

Bonus: Make sure to listen to the Rien que d’y penser podcast episode where I was invited as a guest to discuss Disneyland Paris Experience Enhancement Program – in French. Thanks to hosts Naglaglasson and Eparcurien for having me on the show! Make sure to follow the show on Twitter too: @Rienquedypenser.

The post Review: Disneyland Paris 25th Birthday Renovation first appeared on Le Parcorama.

He’s the person you should thank for making Disneyland Paris’ castle so elaborate and romantic, with square trees and a fire breathing dragon underneath. The one who decided to put Big Thunder Mountain on an island because why not?! The man who made the most spectacular Disney castle park ever made, with dozens of highly detailed walkthrough attractions. The list goes on and on.

I strongly suggest you watch this unique moment greatly captured by the folks from ED92 at the bottom of this page. But if you’re extremely lazy, here is is a list of five new things I learned from Tony Baxter during this unforgettable guided tour of Disneyland Paris.

Photo: Arjay Endozo

1. Main Street Arcades have multiple benefits

Imagineers were told Paris would need to cover Main Street USA because of the ever changing weather, like they did in Tokyo. The downside is you can’t run motor vehicles or a full parade under a canopy. Making arcades parallels to Main Street came as a solution. Not only they are one of the most cherished locations of the park, but they were also much cheaper to build than covering Main Street entirely. The benefit of that is Imagineers could spend the rest of the initially budgeted amount to make the boutiques more beautiful and detailed than any other castle park.

Photo: Kris Van de Sande

2. Walt’s restaurant decoration is more than just theming

Inside the fancy Walt’s restaurant, each room is themed upon each of the parks lands. But the art you can see framed on the walls of each room is the actual artworks that were created and used by the Imagineers during the development of Disneyland Paris. These pieces guided and inspired them to make the park as stunning as it is, so it’s a little more than just theming.

Photo: Kris Van de Sande

3. No, Discoveryland is not about Steampunk

Tony Baxter has an interesting way of explaining the very concept of Discoveryland. At all times in history, storytellers imagined what the future would look like, using fantasy or realistic visions. Whether it was through art, technology, books or movies,  Steven Spielberg or Georges Lucas are the Jules Vernes or H.G. Wells of our era. Their visions of the future inspired young children from different eras the exact same way. It means that if Steampunk style is an important part of Discoveryland, it’s not about that and different visions of the future will always live together in this unique land.

Photo: Kris Van de Sande

4. Movie franchises are an opportunity, not a threat 

Some fans are disappointed when something they love in the park needs to be replaced. With the ongoing trend of using intellectual properties (IP) as source material for anything new in theme parks, when something gets changed, the replacement is usually based on Frozen. Eh sorry, I mean Frozen and Star Wars and Marvel stuff. But one of the tasks of Imagineers is to keep the park up to date to stay relevant. The stories and characters we see in Disneyland through rides, boutiques and restaurants can not be stuck in the past of Pinocchio, Snow White and Beauty and the Beast. New characters and stories are needed to keep younger audiences emotionally connected too when they visit the park.

On this topic however, I encourage you to listen to The Season Pass Podcast episodes with Tony Baxter as a guest. He discusses more openly about balancing IP-based and non-IP-based content in theme parks.

Photo: Kris Van de Sande

5. Tony Baxter’s favorite things in Disneyland Paris are…

When he’s asked what are the locations he cherish the most in the park, Tony Baxter quickly answers the following. Big Thunder Mountain because he got to do it four times on three different continents. That’s quite an achievement for a single human being, right? Sleeping Beauty Castle because it was very challenging and it has the dragon he loved so much in the animated movie when he was a child. Then there’s the whole “Discovery Mountain” and Nautilus complex because they compliment each other so well: one is a fast, thrilling, scary ride, and the other is a walkthrough where you can spend hours discovering new details every time. The Disneyland Hotel completes this list. It was the first hotel located inside a Disney theme park and it’s now became a signature product you can find elsewhere in Disney California Adventure and Tokyo DisneySea.

Alright, make sure to watch the complete guided tour on the video above. Just like Walt Disney, Tony Baxter truly masters the art of storytelling. Not only when he’s busy designing the most amazing attractions ever built like Splash Mountain, Star tours or Indiana Jones Adventure but also when he shares his own memories.

Earlier this week, Disneyland Paris Executive Producer Tony Baxter hosted another event where he discussed the creation of Disneyland Paris. It’s right here. And there was also a third event this week where Tony Baxter guided a small group of Disneyland Paris Cast Members through Frontierland, you can watch it right there.

I’d like to thank Tony Baxter for taking the time to share his passion with us, and the people at Disneyland Paris fan communication who had the fantastic idea of organizing this very special moment and inviting me among other bloggers.

The post A Guided Tour of Disneyland Paris with Tony Baxter first appeared on Le Parcorama.