The anniversary now begins right as you enter the resort. After a limited number were added the day before, Friday 30th March 2007 finally saw the end of the circa-2002 dark blue Disneyland Resort Paris banners, featuring the Castle and Earffel Tower, now replaced by the familiar 15th Anniversary Lumiere designs. The base of the three new flagpoles, previously just concrete footers and earth, has now been filled with a bright array of yellow and orange flowers, guiding people toward the information sign and bringing some much needed colour to the hub.

New banners and flowers on the hub / Press viewing platform

Not all the last-minute changes were positive for the park, though. To accommodate the press photographers during the following day’s pre-parade ceremony and debut of Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade, a tiered viewing platform was installed in front of Town Square’s gazebo, covered in white tarp and also featuring an undercover area for the resort’s own cameras (lucky, considering the weather). Notice also the sea of yellow ponchos – now also featuring the 15th Anniversary logo!

New banners and flowers on the hub / Press viewing platform

More strange additions could be found in Frontierland, ready for the nighttime event following the 31st March fireworks. Whilst unnoticed by most normal guests rushing to Big Thunder Mountain and Phantom Manor, the restaurants, boutiques and Thunder Mesa themeing were all covered end-to-end in anniversary flags featuring yellow lanterns. And the guests rushing to Big Thunder? They might have been disappointed – the attraction remained closed for several hours, perhaps also due to press event preparations.

Flags and lanterns cover everything in sight at Frontierland

Amongst all the new additions for the 15th Anniversary Press Event, there were also a few final changes to the already-familiar events and decorations. After losing his bouquet of flowers for several days, the Character Castle Makeover statue of Mickey now instead picked up his magic wand…

Original Mickey with flowers (Photo by Joel) / Mickey now with magic wand

Whilst Disney Characters’ Express began its rehearsal performances. Steaming up Main Street through the rain, its characters then ran off to their four Lumiere locations around Central Plaza, without their candles seen in the previous weekend’s trade preview but instead with their new 15th Anniversary medals…

Characters receive their 15th medals / Disneyland Hotel roof cleaning, afternoon

Of course, there were also the expected clean-ups and repainting around the park. Best of all, the cleaning of Disneyland Hotel’s roof – from almost-black to its warm original shade of red.

With the Plaza Gardens Restaurant refurbishment completed a few days earlier, repainting continued (weather permitting) of the railings between its entrance doors and Central Plaza. The drained centrepiece fountain, still being returned to its former glory, was filled with temporary plants over the weekend to make sure not a single hint of the magic was broken for the press visitors.

Central Plaza railings repaint / Plaza Gardens fountain given temporary plants

The park was quiet for the most of the day, Walt Disney Studios Park even more so, definitely giving the impression of a “calm before the storm” (almost literally). And as the light faded, guests slowly left the park at 6pm, leaving it to get a long night of rest before its big, premature birthday bash the next day… Though, no doubt, its workers continued on long into the night.

A good night’s sleep before the big day tomorrow…

The lower section of Disney Store at Disney Village has been transformed almost into a dedicated 15th Anniversary boutique, both with its standard Lumière banners, wall decorations and floor stickers and with its new golden yellow colour scheme outside. Like almost every boutique across the resort, Hollywood Pictures has a special area reserved for the general merchandise line of the 15th, complete with 3D Lumière decorations and banners.

Disney Store decorations / Hollywood Pictures sale display

The same selection is available almost everywhere, and much of it is currently aimed at children, with colouring books, clothing and stationary completing the standard range of merchandise. More variety has just arrived though, such as a new clothing line with a more “adult” anniversary logo – featuring the date of 2007 and “15 Magical Years”. Strange, since the Anniversary continues into 2008, but with several different t-shirts and sweatshirts already available this provides welcome variety to the offering.

Generic 15th merchandise / New 15th clothing line

A little more exclusive and exceptional Anniversary merchandise has also just appeared, such as the 15th Anniversary wine revealed a few weeks ago, now available from Disney’s Newport Bay Club, Disney’s Sequoia Lodge and Disney’s Hotel Cheyenne. The first wine with the Disney stamp on it, this has yet to actually be spotted inside the Disney Parks, perhaps suggesting it’ll be a resort-hotel-only offering, to keep the more traditional Disney execs happy.

15th wine at Sequoia Lodge / Pair of 15th glasses at Harrington’s

But how to drink the wine in perfect Anniversary style? Head to one of the more exclusive stores, such as the glass workshop section of Harrington’s Fine China & Porcelains in Main Street USA, and you’ll find these beautiful pairs of glasses with the 15th Anniversary logo etched into the glass, supported by none other than Mickey and Minnie Mouse themselves.

Limited edition Swarovski pendant

And finally, for the most exclusive of all Anniversary merchandise and souvenirs so far, splash out on a limited edition Swarovski Crystal pendant featuring Tinker Bell, created exclusively for the resort and its 15th Anniversary! The price tag? Probably larger than the pendant itself…!

That’s right, the classic parade song Dancin’ (A Catchy Rhythm) has not returned for this new morning parade, as was expected by many beforehand. Nor has the popular All Around the World from Disney’s ImagiNations Parade. Not even Just Like We Dreamed It, the new anniversary song…

The music is… new! To Paris, at least – taken from “Disney’s Party Express” at Tokyo Disneyland, a similar parade featuring a steam train filled with characters, the music has been reworked by Vasile Sirli and the Disneyland Resort Paris team with totally new lyrics, including French and several “choo choos” throughout its fast-paced Casey Jr-style tempo. The music begins with a new announcement declaring “Attention! Attention!” “The Disney Character Express is coming!”.

But what of the parade? Casey Jr has been lucky enough to survive the chop after The Wonderful World of Disney Parade‘s demise, and now his 8 month absence from the parade route can really be understood. Sporting a slick and shiny new coat of white, gold and blue paint as seen in the recent concept art, the try-as-he-might steam engine from Dumbo has suddenly found a whole heap of new confidence…

Large 3D “15” plaques adorn each of the carriages and the engine, whilst Casey himself wears a special blue sash that appears to be blowing over his face, adding a frenzied touch of “can he see where he’s going?” to the “express” parade. The coal in his tender has been painted blue, with large silver stars dusted all over.

The most impressive change of all, though, is with the carriages. After almost nine years of knowing the old design, Casey Jr suddenly looks as good as new – better than new. It’s hard to believe they were able to reconfigure the carriages to include the ornate, swirling gold edges and fully-open design (the final wagon of the previous design, remember, was totally enclosed) seen here, especially on the budget the resort has to work with. Elements such as the old Lion Cage can still be spotted, but the final wagon is almost totally new – with its support columns decorated with a spiral white design similar to the wax of the characters’ candles…

The parade featured 13 characters: King Louie, Baloo, Captain Hook, Mr Smee, Goofy, Pinocchio, Gepetto, two mice from Cinderella, Chip n Dale, Woody and Jessie. As you might have noticed, they’ve also tied it all in nicely to the resort’s marketing campaign for the 15th, with each of the Disney characters holding their giant golden candles as seen in all the promotional art.

And now – the video!

The new morning parade will officially premiere on Saturday, steaming up Main Street four times a day for the entire 15th Anniversary celebration. All aboard!

All photos by Photos Magiques. You can see even more right here!

Toon Town in Paris comes not in the form of a real land but instead in the form of a giant backdrop, most of which was lowered into place and positioned piece-by-piece yesterday on the metal framework we mentioned in the last Toon Studio update.

Matching almost exactly the illustration seen recently on the work-in-progress 2008 map, the backdrop features a series of colourful, exaggerated buildings nestled behind the Toon Studio wall and surrounded by the Toon Town hills. As a worker lowers a section of the purple building into place, the true scale of the backdrop can finally be seen.

Of course, you’ll still be able to walk around in Toon Town, since Toon Studio is technically a movie studio located within the fictional town. With this in mind, more and more Toon touches are now making their way to the land. Whilst the entrance area with its Fantasia styles is a more serious look at the art of animation, Toon studio bears all the quirks and fun of a madcap movie studio run by the animated stars themselves.

Recently installed, seen above, are some bendy and twisted lampposts in blue and yellow, filling the area reserved for character locations and bordered by the wall which has now taken on a classic WDS shade of yellow. The work-in-progress map also showed a yellow and blue security booth in this area, where the (faux) main entrance gate is located.

Elsewhere in Toon Studio, progress can be seen all around. From Flying Carpets Over Agrabah, the queue of Crush’s Coaster is surrounded by palms and planting, though you can probably still spot the new lamps also installed here recently – and perhaps the new backstage gatepost added onto the wall bordering the Genie’s film set.

In front of the film set, the recent three-week refurbishment brought not only a general cleap-up but also new changes to the Agrabah Oasis planters, first unveiled in January. The deep red railings have now been painted silver, whilst the planters have finally been covered in sand for an authentic Arabian feel. The lookout platform next to the attraction, closed for almost a year now, has also been repainted from blue to a light purple, blending well with the blue of Crush and the green railings of Flying Carpets (photo here).

The biggest news from the reopening of Flying Carpets, though, is that guests now have the exciting opportunity to walk on the brand new flooring of Animation Courtyard. Whilst not currently what many might have expected for the land, particularly its colour, the different levels of shading from the granite tiles and asphalt mixed with the lines and strong geometric shapes do hint quite nicely back to the art of animation itself. Was this intentional? Who knows!

The Photos Magiques camera also captured a group of Imagineers with some of the construction crew inspecting the new floor, which does certainly succeed in breaking up the vast mid-section of the land and lending the area a more “courtyard” feel – ironically enough when the “Courtyard” name is about to be dropped.

And we’re not done yet… what about Animagique? Covered in scaffolding for a repaint earlier this month, the entire front wall of the building now sports the trademark shade of Toon Studio blue, whilst the large number 3 has been repainted to the same style as the new Studio 5 (Crush’s Coaster)… but not replaced. Studio 5 uses “Walt Disney Script” for its number, whilst Studio 3 will, for now, remain in its original “Impact”-style typeface. No changes have yet been made to the rest of the attraction building.

Finally, we end with an excellent overview of the entire placemaking project from Flying Carpets Over Agrabah, clearly showing the current position of all the construction fences. Yellow “Hollywood Studio” fences have captured the entrance and Sorcerer Hat of Art of Disney Animation this week, as the new flooring expands and more placemaking work begins. For a very short time, guests must enter the attraction by walking towards Studio Tram Tour and then doubling back through the attraction’s outside queue area, behind the current Hollywood Boulevard works.

So there we have it – Toon Town has arrived, a whole new floor is laid and endless new tweaks and enhancements continue to appear. Those Toons sure know how to get their way…

All photos by Photos Magiques. You can see the whole lot here.

In the past, each of these little updates might have been given its very own news update, but these days they’re lost amongst construction, parades, and endless preparations for the grand Disney party of the 15th Anniversary. So instead, they’ve all been collected up here in one bumper collection, each with its own headline-that-could-have-been in trademark DLRP Today style… ;-)

Flying the flags

Let’s begin with those flags – both old and new! The resort now has a new centrepiece decoration on its hub – three giant, white flagpoles displaying the European and French flags with a special one for Disneyland15 in the middle. The flagpoles, right behind the main resort information board, present quite a statement about the resort – it’s European, it’s French, and it’s proud of it! They’re also in a much more sedate and stylish design than much of the resort area, blending well with the new signage and detail installed since the opening of the new hub area in late 2005.

Flag fans – don’t desert us yet! The best is yet to come! Not only does the always-rather-bleak-looking Fantasyland entrance gate now have some colourful new flags adoring it, but Main Street‘s full collection of USA flags have been returned after years of absence. The only flag to be found previously was atop The Emporium’s middle, but now almost every key building in the street is once again flying a period-correct 45-starred flag, paying tribute to the patriotism of America.

Casting a spell

Missing for endless years, a new detail was welcomed back with much delight at Le Confiserie des Trois Fées (the three fairies’ sweet shop) in Fantasyland. Hovering above the stove of their fairytale confectionary store, the three faries from Sleeping Beauty – Flora, Fauna and Merryweather – can once again be seen thanks to the return of this nifty projection effect, similar to those in the post-show of “it’s a small world”. Photos Magiques even captured a video of it, which can be seen here.

Rebuilding fairytale defences

Elsewhere in Fantasyland, the ramparts of the fairytale buildings have regained some old details, such as the metal torches along Blanche-Neige et les Sept Nains and the defence spikes of the castle.

More Frontier fix-ups at Fuente del Oro

Fuente del Oro Restaurante in Frontierland has had some incredible luck lately. Not only has it been fully repainted, repaired and refurbished, but new murals and details have appeared all over – either new or returning, they’re a great example of why Disney is king of detail…

Plaza Gardens Palissades & Fresh Paint on Main Street

Les Palissades – the construction fences! For years they’ve been enveloping different sections of Main Street for much-needed refurbishments, but Plaza Gardens Restaurant has always sat on the edge, unloved. Now, much like the story of how Main Street grew out from the railroad station, the refurbishments have finally reached the Plaza inn and a full exeterior refurb is underway. Back at Town Square, the Riverboat Excursions mural has finished its repaint and is certainly looking much cleaner and brighter.

The flames of Adventure

Since Autumn 2006 burning flames have finally returned full-time to the torches of Adventureland Bazaar and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril. From time to time, they can also be spotted once again atop a look-out tower next to Pirates of the Caribbean. Now, they’ve even returned to a spot where their absence perhaps wasn’t even noted, just outside Le Girafe Curieuse boutique.

Meet the Robinsons!

The new details aren’t just confined to Disneyland Park. Though much of the enhancement work at the Studios is on-track for the June opening of Toon Studio, there are still touch-ups to the sets and backlots. In true Disney-synergy style, for example, Meet the Robinsons are now presented on new posters at both Art of Disney Animation and Backlot Express. Fairly quiet until late last year, Disney has suddenly had a surge of pride with their 2nd Disney-only CGI film, and is doing a great job with advertising. See it in 3D if you can, or return to the Studios very soon to meet two stars from the film in real 3D!

Spiffing-up the first Sorcerer Mickey

Soon to be outdone by an even grander Sorcerer Mickey statue at the entrance to Toon Studio, Front Lot‘s bronze statue has just reacted with a much-needed touch-up to its rocky plinth, returning a mellow brown colour the heavily worn rocks.

Armageddon: Plus d’Effets Speciaux

A nice effect has either returned after a long absence or been introduced outside the exit of Armageddon: Special Effects. Next to the motion-activated special effects wind machine, this grate in the ground now emits steam throughout the day. A nice, industrial way to bring more life to Backlot.

What am I queueing for again?

Just incase guests heading into Art of Disney Animation have a sudden spot of amnesia, a new sign has been added right above the entrance doors to the “Art of Animation” pre-show room. Using a pink background matching the repainted brickwork and a nice illustration of Mickey at an animator’s desk, the sign should actually be very useful to place the name and intention of this attraction in guests’ mind. This is a park, afterall, where guests are often heard to comment “Wow, number 8 was amazing!” or “Have you been on number 3 yet?”, referring to the Studio and park map numbers…

Phew! …and that’s just the tip of the iceberg of new and returned details, not the mention the endless refurbishments and new constructions across the two parks. Look out for part 2 very soon, to get right up-to-date with all the latest changes, including brand new photos from Photos Magiques.

A huge thanks to the following for photos included here: Joel, Scrooge, Photos Magiques.

These rumours began back in January 2006, suggesting the daytime parade of Florida’s Disney-MGM Studios could be heading to Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris for Summer 2007, exactly five years after its current parade, Disney Cinema Parade, began. Details soon changed, and as the year progressed it seemed more likely the Hollywood cavalcade could arrive in March 2008, to close the 15th Anniversary festivities in glitzy style.

Now, amidst rumours of the Florida park changing its name to Disney-Pixar Studios, Al Lutz on MiceAge.com brings what appears to be a confirmation – that the parade will be replaced in Florida, at least:

“DCA’s Block Party Bash isn’t being mothballed in the parade warehouse however. It will be boxed up and shipped out to Florida next winter where it will debut in the Disney Pixar Studios park for the spring.

“Yep, the Disney/Pixar Studios. Say it again, and then yet again, and learn to love it, because as we mentioned before, that’s the new working title for what used to be known as the Disney MGM Studios theme park. When the Florida version of Midway Mania opens in May, 2008 the plan is to debut Block Party Bash at the same time to clearly cement the Pixar presence in the rebranded theme park.”

Block Party Bash is the interactive show-parade which launched at Disney’s California Adventure park on 5th May 2005 for the 50th Anniversary of Disneyland Resort. Similar to Paris’ 2001 Toon Circus, it stops several times along the parade route for the cast to perform dance numbers and acrobatics. It will be replaced by a new Pixar-themed parade in California in late 2007, shipped to Florida for early 2008… giving Disney Stars & Motor Cars three months to travel to Paris. Convenient, isn’t it?

Disney Stars & Motor Cars Parade itself is based on the classic Hollywood cavalcades of glamorous stars in extravagant motor cars, with each car themed in a colourful, over-the-top style to the characters on board. It was launched in 2001 at Walt Disney World, as part of their “100 Years of Magic” celebration. In 2004, 2005 and 2006, the concept was used for Paris’ Good Morning Walt Disney Studios, even using a mix of the same music, and it is perhaps the huge success of this morning parade which created the desire for the inspiration behind it to come to Paris. Interestingly, Good Morning Walt Disney Studios currently appears not to be returning for 2007.

There has been no indication yet how the parade could be performed in Paris – will it replace Disney Cinema Parade, or be performed as a second parade, perhaps in the morning again? With Disney Cinema Parade facing its 5th birthday in June, the park seems ready for a change, and such a Hollywood-style cavalcade could be a perfect topping to the just-completed Tower of Terror and Hollywood Boulevard. Ironically, this would mean that just as Disney-MGM loses its Hollywood-that-never-was to a Pixar invasion, Walt Disney Studios enjoys a total Hollywood extravaganza. With Stitch Encounter also in the mix, this would give a new parade and 2 new attractions for two consecutive years.

So watch this space – in exactly 12 months’ time, the red carpet looks almost certain to be rolling out again, as a spotlight shines on a totally different dream…

You can see a full gallery of photos from what could be the second new parade of the 15th Anniversary on Photos Magiques here.

2006 saw the introduction of new effects and animatronics at the two US versions of the attraction – the original, at Disneyland in California, and the much-criticised duplicate at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. Planned to perfectly coincide with the release of Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest on 7th July, this week’s announcement from Tokyo Disneyland appears to come right behind the debut of the trailer for the third film, Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End. Yahoo! Movies Japan reports:

Jack Sparrow Comes to Tokyo Disneyland Pirates of Caribbean Attraction on July 20, 2007
Oriental Land Co., Ltd. announced on March 23, 2007 that the characters from the Disney movie “Pirates of Caribbean” would appear at the renewed “Pirates of Caribbean” attraction of Tokyo Disneyland on July 20. Due to refurbishment, the attraction will be closed May 7 through July 19. Upon reopening, Jack Sparrow, Davy Jones (from the 2nd movie “Pirates of Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest”) and Captain Barbossa (who revived surprisingly at the end of the movie), will also appear in the attraction.

This therefore leaves the fourth version of the attraction, at Disneyland Resort Paris, as the only one without any influence from the unstoppable film franchise – unless you count the merchandise haven of Le Coffre du Capitaine, of course. Whilst the American resorts milk the newfound Pirates popularity for all its worth, including after-hours “Pirates and Princess Parties” at Walt Disney World, Disneyland Resort Paris has, beyond merchandise, only gone so far as to introduce a Jack Sparrow walkaround character in front of the attraction (seen above). Though incredibly popular upon appearance, Captain Jack makes unusually understated appearances with none of the “Pirate Tutorial” streetmosphere games of the US resorts.

So where does this leave Paris? Disney fans from overseas have long been fascinated by this version of the attraction – introducing a revised layout, new exterior and extra animatronics, it is considered by many to be “the best”. Now, as the only one without the still-controversial addition of Sparrow and co, it has another unique selling point. But for how long?

It seems strange that, whilst Imagineers at Disneyland in Anaheim, California are desperately struggling to shoehorn a pirate theme onto its Mid-West Tom Sawyer Island, the already-existing Adventure Isle at Disneyland Park in Paris remains untouched. Here lies a series of islands already complete with rope bridges, caves and hidden treasure… yet without a hint of the hugely popular and marketable films in sight. One of the cave networks has been named Davy Jones’ Locker since 1992, and let’s not forget La Cabane des Robinson – which, whilst an astonishing structure, has always been somewhat held back by its not-so-popular tie-in to the 1960 movie and original Swiss novel.

Rumours some time ago suggested a full makeover could be on the cards here, turning the treehouse into Jack Sparrow’s quirky hideout, with more hints to the films hidden in the caves and passageways of the islands. Last Summer, very strong rumours spread that the new animatronic characters could make their way to the Paris attraction for the 15th Anniversary. But, for some time now, all has been silent. Once the resort goes looking for something to fill the gap after the 15th though, this now seems like an almost inevitable choice.

So what now, Jack Sparrow? Are we to be two immortals locked in an epic battle until Judgment Day and trumpets sound?

Jack Sparrow: Or you could surrender.

Imagine the scene… on the night of 12th April 2007, all of the resort’s attractions and famous locations join together for one amazing 15th Anniversary party. As Big Thunder Mountain and Pirates of the Caribbean look as fresh as ever and Le Château shows off its new bling, the young upstarts of Walt Disney Studios (Aerosmith and Julie from the TV Tour?) really show how to get a party started. The Disney Hotels play the sleeping aunts and uncles in the corner, whilst those strange new neighbours from Val de France cause more than a few frowns from the Disney classics. Meanwhile, spare a thought for Disney Village – sobbing in the street. Those fifteen years haven’t been kind to everyone. Time for drastic measures? Well, only as far as the budget will stretch…

In truth, the Village seems to have been preparing for this dreaded event for quite some time. A series of refurbishments, repaints and redecorations began way back in 2005, and has since come in sudden surges every few months. Usually met by howls and scowls from fans (who disliked the original design yet appear to hate the new one even more), the refresh has sought to bring more colour, life and Disney atmosphere to the Village – whilst systematically moving every possible hint of the ’90s.

Short of demolishing the entire Frank Gehry-conceived distict, though, there’s only so far this can go. Recently, it means removing the tired old facades and replacing them with fresh paint and simple signs, such as the Team Mickey makeover. Last on the tick-list: Disney Store, which began its renewal around two weeks ago.

The original pastel-coloured Union Station and Grand Central Station façades have been removed and the building patched-up ready for repainting. Since the “Mount Disney Store” side (opposite Sports Bar) was repainted over a year ago now, this will remain in place.

It doesn’t seem certain that the Disney Store’s new façade will feature a similar American theme, though the design of the boutique has always been quite mismatched. Originally, the “Space” theme from inside continued into the street, with Mickey riding a spaceship atop a giant steel pillar stretching across the street.

Rumours spread several months ago, when the World of Toys and Hollywood Pictures received their new paint, that the buildings could be decorated in large murals of Disney characters. Since these have yet to appear, it would be nice to think Disney Store could be their host. But, as ever, we’ll have to wait and see. The surgery seems to have at least restored some confidence in the Village, which has finally joined the 15th with special window decorations throughout all of its stores (photo 4 above).

So, anyone planning a ’90s revival in Disney Village over the next two weeks had better think again. Put away your flourescent clothing, your Power Rangers dolls and your Cher cassette and enjoy a Disney Village that’s as hip and modern as it ever was. Just don’t mention the 90s are fashionable again.

Photos 1& 2: DLRP Today; Photos 3 & 4: Joel.