It’s 2012 (Happy New Year!) and time for a fresh start. For Disneyland Paris, that appears to mean several key elements of the current
Disney Magical Moments Festival, marketed to run until 4th March 2012, will be cleared out early. Rumours long suggested the main
Mickey’s Magical Celebration show on Central Plaza would face an early finish, due to the much detested
Central Plaza Stage finally being ripped out, opening up the hub of the park ready for
Dreams.
Now, here’s the confirmation: no performances
from 9th January onwards! In truth, the show has had a lukewarm reception ever since last April. Notably lacking the grander spectacle of the previous
Disney Showtime Spectacular, it wasn’t quite the kind of production to justify such a monolithic stage to take over the heart of the park. Initially it seemed the four large satellite “arms” of the stage might be lopped off, but now the whole stage is said to be for the chop. For stage shows, this means any future open-air productions will (quite rightly) be on the
Théâtre du Château where they belong. For new nighttime spectacular Dreams, the rumour mill is still pumping: Will the removal of the stage open up the area purely for more standing room again, or could the hub become part of the show? One particularly fun (if purely fabricated) rumour is for a “magic” dancing fountain to take the place of the former flower bed. To be honest, even being able to walk across and use the plaza as a “hub”, rather than an impermeable roundabout, seems an exciting prospect at this point.
Surprisingly, this show isn’t the only “Magical Moment” preparing for early retirement. It will be joined on 9th January by
Disney Dance Express, the garishly-coloured dance show which reused the old Dumbo Casey Jr. parade float. Could this, the float’s fifth iteration since its launch as part of
The Wonderful World of Disney Parade, be its last? Meanwhile, the
Green Army Men Meet & Play event over in
Toy Story Playland will also end on the same date and, as reported earlier, the
first float will be removed from Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade for its “Magic on Parade!” makeover.
Making it all the way to the
4th March end date, but not continuing beyond that date, will be the “interactive” show stops of
Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade, the temporary
Tangled meet ‘n’ greet location for Rapunzel and, surprisingly, the small
Following the Leader with Peter Pan show in Adventureland. That event was perhaps the most appreciated of all the new “moments” in 2011. For Rapunzel, we must presume she will simply join the other princesses in the new
Princess Pavilion.
Finally,
continuing into the
20th Anniversary are the many photo locations which popped up around the parks: Wall•E and Eve in Discoveryland, Alice in Wonderland near the
Labyrinth, Aladdin near Adventureland Bazaar, Ratatouille near
Restaurant des Stars and
Monsters, Inc. in Toon Studio (which, added in 2006, was never “new” for 2011 to begin with, but never mind). Lighting McQueen will remain in his
Moteurs… Action! Stunt Show Spectacular cameo and the new
Adventureland Rhythms of the Jungle location next to
Restaurant Hakuna Matata will remain the home of the popular Tam Tam.
Discover more from DLP Guide
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
Follow DLP Guide on X and Facebook for Disneyland Paris news and updates as they're posted.