News / 15th Anniversary

After a day of brief tests and false starts caused anticipation to build further across fan discussion forums, the website officially went live earlier this evening, at around 20h00 CET. Available for nine different countries (with a further two to follow), the website is without doubt one of the resort’s most ambitious online projects to date, and in today’s world forms a key part of the 15th Anniversary advertising campaign, scheduled to be one of (if not the) biggest in the history of Disneyland Resort Paris.

Upon selecting your country or language, you’re treated to a “3D” flash teaser showcasing all of the key events, the same teaser previewed via an email newsletter late last week.

Welcome Page & Host

After the teaser, the Flash website opens to the music of Disney’s “Where Dreams Come True” campaign (itself music from Universal’s Peter Pan movie, believe it or not), with a scrolling view giving visitors the feeling of actually being inside the park itself during the Anniversary. This is where a concept from a previous campaign website begins to appear – the introductions and videos of real people and real characters interacting with the Flash environment.

Originally used for the Space Mountain: Mission 2 website in 2005, they have been brought back here to allow a red-suited host and his Red Carpet friend to introduce each of the main pages.

Visitors have the option of scrolling through several animated screens (seen below), or, for quicker navigation, the drop-down menu at the top links directly to the pages and games currently available.

More Dreams

Each of the colourful pages link into the categories of events seen the teaser videos, with the first – “More Dreams” – presenting Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade. No information is currently given about the parade, but an animation of the first parade float making its way around a stylised Main Street USA does give us an idea what to expect come late March. Make sure you have a listen to the music featured on this page, too, since this is almost certainly an instrumental excerpt from the anniversary’s new “Just Like We Dreamed It” song.

More Wow

The next page is for Crush’s Coaster, and so uses an undersea theme and bubbles to link to the extra pages – both of which currently unavailable.

Even More Wow

“Even More Wow” can be found with Cars Race Rally, where Lightning McQueen and Mater sit outside Walt Disney Studios Park, important since nowhere else is it mentioned that all of the new attractions are infact in the resort’s second park rather than its first.

More Scoops

Up next with an Alice’s Curious Labyrinth theme and an appearance from The Enchanted Fairytale Ceremony stage is “More Scoops”, which links to a clever new idea to help build excitement about the 15th Anniversary – a blog. We’ll have more on this in a separate article soon!

More Wishes Come True

The features on this Discoveryland-themed page have yet to be added, but we’re promised the chance to share photos of Disneyland holidays with families and friends, or send our own dreams and wishes in, to create a complete wishlist for all guests.

More Fun

With an Adventureland Bazaar theme, this page presents games and activities such as the “Dream Invitation” competition (see below).

Dream Invitation Competition

These pages allow users to create their own invitations using graphics available on the website or by uploading their own images. These can then be sent to friends or entered into the competition to pick the best invite.

More Affordable

Showing Fantasyland’s Sword in the Stone (perhaps a hint the streetmosphere show will return for the celebration?) the final themed page presents the three key special offers for the year – Kids Under 7 Free, Free Days & Nights and a “Deal of the Day”.

Downloads

Downloads are always a popular website feature, and it’s good to see Disneyland Resort Paris hasn’t forgotten to let visitors take a bit of the magic for themselves. The full official key visuals for the various attractions are available to download in full (without a single (C) Disney stamp or legal text), along with a well-designed screensaver and several e-cards. The most interesting wallpaper right now is shown above – a previously unseen key visual for Disneyland Park’s Extra Magic Hours, with a giant hourglass over the park!

Anniversary Programme & Preview Videos

Finally the two areas which will undoubtedly receive the most clicks. First, the full schedule of all the Anniversary events. Secondly, and best of all, a selection of official videos previewing the year. In addition to the teaser which opens the website, you can see a good quality English version of the early trailer we saw in French back in October and most exciting a new Behind-the-Scenes video featuring several important backstage Cast Members talking about their excitement for the event – with clips of Crush’s Coaster and Cars Race Rally slotted in! Strangely, since the resort previously wanted to keep this silenced to ensure guests didn’t postpone visits, the Tower of Terror is featured in both of the latter videos. We’ll have a full report on this up next.

And there we have it – Disneyland15.com is now live for the world to see. Will it help sell the celebration to the masses? We’ll have to wait and see. With so many pages still yet to be revealed this probably won’t be the last time it appears here, and with the celebration spanning a full year and set to include features such as Tower of Terror and Stitch Encounter (which won’t be announced until this Summer), hopefully the site will be cared for and built upon for the entire 12 months ahead of us.

Look out for separate articles on DLRP Today covering the new Official Blog and interesting Behind-the-Scenes Video shortly.

Park Hours have now been announced up until the end of May 2007, with the first two months of the 15th Anniversary year standing out with not a single 9h00 opening of either Disneyland Park or Walt Disney Studios Park, the usual standard opening time for peak days. In return for this sacrafice, though, we do get some of the first 10pm Disneyland Park closures over Easter in memory – for a whole week infact. Though again this appears to come at a price – 10am to 7pm openings for most of the month of May 2007.

The reason for this sudden change is not only the Anniversary events and the resort’s new “demand-based opening hours”, but the new Extra Magic Hours concept, available to all Disney Hotel guests for the entire year. Giving an extra two hours in Disneyland Park on specific days, the system therefore sometimes requires the general park hours to be shortened slightly, whilst on high peak days (such as those in mid August), the extra hours are consistently scheduled in the morning so as not to clash with the general 11pm closure.

For guests not staying at Disney Hotel this year, it therefore looks like an extra hour in bed will be your anniversary gift, unless you wish to invest in a Passeport Annuel Dream and enjoy the 1-hour early entry this pass affords its holders.

Finally, perhaps the true winner from the latest Park Hours shakeup – Walt Disney Studios Park. After almost five years of nothing but 6pm closures, the park hits its fifth birthday and suddenly gets an extra hour before bedtime to enjoy the anniversary – likely in preparation for the extra guests hopefully arriving in June 2007 for Crush’s Coaster and Cars Race Rally. The park will now remain open up to 7pm on most weekends and holidays, yet another reason to celebrate in 2007!

What are your views on the new Park Hours? Is the 1-hour cut fair for normal guests?

The new 2007/2008 Resort Map comes from this special page on the official Val d’Europe website, which looks at the economic and social impact of Disneyland Resort Paris on its surrounding area after fifteen years of development. Perfectly illustrating the impact, and giving a truly unique gift to fans, is the presentation of two maps showing the resort firstly at its initial state upon opening in 1992, and secondly after fifteen years of development, in mid/late-2007. Even locations such as the Gaumont Cinema and Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril have been removed to give an accurate look back at the resort in 1992.

The maps therefore take a different angle on the resort to the usual style, with Davy Crockett Ranch and Golf Disneyland no longer pinned on at the edge but fully mapped out with all their surroundings. Val d’Europe has been updated with far more detail than before, including the bar opposite the RER station and the circular Place de la Toscane, inaugurated just last year, whilst even small business parks and local communes have been added to the plan.

Fans of the Disney side of the resort aren’t left out either – if the sight of the hallowed Tower of Terror on a Disneyland Resort Paris map wasn’t big enough to turn this into an annual holiday, the entire esplanade hub area and Disney Hotels district has been re-mapped to be far more detailed and true-to-life.Compare these maps with the current 2007 version for a look at the improvements, which will hopefully be carried over to the true 2008 Resort Map later this year.

The Tower itself is seen from behind, with a bright red chosen for the roof of its lobby (likely just to add colour to the map) and “The Hollywood Tower Hotel” sign moved to compensate for the angle. The Disney Village parking garage has finally been added, but Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is now absent once again from the map whilst the left wing of Disneyland Hotel has been cut off by Toon Studio.

The page at the Val d’Europe website also features a press release about the developments of the past fifteen years along with several quite spectacular images, perfectly timed, too, for today’s earlier announcement that the Pierre & Vacances-partnered Nature Villages project is still on course.

As Disneyland Resort Paris prepares to face its most important year yet, it’s good to look back on how much has already been achieved…

You can download the maps in large PDF format here.

All maps and photos © Disney. Thanks to Japper on magicforum for the link!

“Who celebrates a 15th?” they may cry. But, if there were ever fears this anniversary would be a non event, these can truly be cast aside. Worries that guests won’t know what’s going on, a la the US “Year of a Million Dreams”? Not needed. Every document, every cup, every nametag, every park ticket, every park map, every lamppost… the Anniversary will seep into every single corner of the parks and resort.

To begin, the 15th Anniversary Celebration souvenirs that will cost absolutely nothing! (Well, perhaps in the case of the cup it’ll cost the price of a cup of coffee.) With two months to go until the official launch, the anniversary branding has already popped up on paper drinks cups and napkins at the resort’s restaurants, with candle-holding characters on the cups and a nice two-colour design for the napkins. Yes, you know a Disneyland obsession is bad when you get excited by these.

For Annual Passholders, aside from the 15th Anniversary-edition passes already available for newcomers, stationary and promotion has also adopted the 15th Anniversary colours, design and characters.

Whilst the first souvenirs are already available – albeit in scarce limited edition – in the form of the Anniversary Countdown series of pins. 100 days came in January, followed by 50 Days this month and due to be completed with countdowns 20, 10, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 days before the big day itself.

And if all this wasn’t enough, how about 12,000 walking advertisements for the anniversary? Yes, the Cast Members! Their new 15th Anniversary nametags were presented with much fanfare recently, and many have already swapped their previous 50th Anniversary “Happiest Celebration On Earth” badges for the new design – from 50 years to 15 overnight!

Unfortunately, I’ve received word from a Cast Member in Paris that the badges have been recalled and will soon be replaced again. It seems the “Where dreams come true” tagline used on the nametags is already in use by another company, and so a quick redesign may apparently be required to avoid any unwanted legal action. The ongoing use of the slogan on the Disney Parks website and elsewhere may suggest an agreement has since been made between the two parties, although it should be noted that all mention of “Where dreams come true” has now been totally removed from Paris’ 15th Anniversary logos and copy. Never a dull day at DLRP, eh?

So, now we have 12,000 walking mentions of the 15th Anniversary added to those tickets, maps, decorations, souvenirs and all-important napkins on the ground. But it doesn’t end there – the Anniversary will even take flight, 100 metres into the air above the resort, to be exact! The unmissable PanoraMagique balloon at Disney Village will be joining the celebration with a special overlay adding a new design around its middle, featuring several large “15” emblems joined together by a stylish red fabric (-styled) band.

We were promised a celebration as big as the historic 5th Anniversary – but as time passes and plans build, this is looking as big as – or perhaps even bigger – than the celebration Disneyland waited 50 years for. Luckily for us, we now only have to wait 50 days!

Cup photo by DJinspace on Disney Central Plaza forum, name badge and napkin photos by Photos Magiques.

The new park tickets were announced at the Cast Member Rendez-Vous event earlier this month, and now the designs of the eight different new passport designs have been released. Each ticket option, Park Hopper and 1-Day/1-Park, will have four different designs, each featuring a different graphic from the set of fifteen candle-holding characters we’ve grown to recognise over the past six months.

The characters chosen to feature are Dumbo, Pinocchio and Pluto, with the fourth design presenting the full set of characters surrounding the large gold “15”. Unfortunately, the same set of designs are re-used for each ticket type, with colours and text changed, perhaps making the collection a little less exciting than if a larger number had been used. As reported earlier, Passe-Partout (Park Hopper) tickets are gold, whilst 1-Jour/1-Parc tickets are purple.

One noticable addition to these tickets is the text on the front. Early tickets simply featured the Disneyland Paris logo, whilst those from the past five years simply featured either the Passe-Partout logo or, for the 1-Day/1-Park, a set of Mickey ears. Whilst strange to see the text is presented only in French rather than the usual French/English combination, this should make it much easier for guests – and Cast Members – to see at a glance which ticket they have.

The tickets are expected to begin use on 1st April 2007, the official start of the 15th Anniversary Celebration, and will be used throughout the entire Anniversary year. Then, in March 2008, we’ll almost certainly get another new design – good news for collectors (and eBay sellers) !

Passport images © Disney, thanks to DLRP.fr

This is the latest press frenzy whipped up to try and get the “Year of a Million Dreams” campaign off the ground, but it would appear to benefit Disneyland Resort Paris too. A series of three images showing world famous celebrities “living their dreams” have been created by acclaimed photographer Annie Leibovitz as part of what seems to be an ongoing attempt to move the Disney Parks further upmarket and a true step above the competition.

Whilst released to support the “Year of a Million Dreams” dream giveaway promotion at the US Disney resorts, the images are all generically branded “Disney Parks”, with the main logo showing DisneyParks.com, where the Tokyo, Paris and Hong Kong resorts are also featured. Fittingly, the David Beckham image – featuring the footballer in a scene reminiscent of Prince Phillip’s battle with dragon Maleficent – features our very own European Disney castle, Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant, albeit mirrored for better placement on the photo.

David Beckham as Prince Phillip slaying the dragon, Maleficent / Scarlett Johansson as Cinderella

They must have been jumping for joy at Disney PR when he jumped back into the spotlight a couple of weeks ago, announcing a move from Real Madrid to LA Galaxy in the US itself. If that wasn’t enough, they’ve got Beyoncé Knowles playing Alice in Wonderland, whose latest film “Dreamgirls” received eight Academy Award nominations on tuesday, alongside Oliver Platt as the Mad Hatter and Lyle Lovett as the March Hare.

Beyoncé Knowles as Alice, Lyle Lovett as the March Hare and Oliver Platt as the Mad Hatter / Annie Leibovitz

Finally, Scarlett Johansson, acclaimed actress and associated with L’Oréal, Louis Vuitton and more gives a 21st Century Hollywood touch to Cinderella. Disney are certainly not forgetting to add that she “wears a stunning, one-of-a-kind Harry Winston tiara … a dazzling piece in platinum with more than 62 carats of sparkling diamonds and valued at $325,000. The dress worn by Johansson is a custom-made, Cinderella-inspired gown designed by Nicoletta Santoro” there.

‘Dreamgirl’ Spins For Disney Parks / Beckham Bends It For Disney Parks

The images are expected to be part of a larger series, with more celebrities signed up to be featured shortly. The campaign will premiere as a special insert in the March issues of Vanity Fair, GQ, Vogue, W, The New Yorker, Conde Nast Traveler and Cookie. However, there’s still a chance they could head across the Atlantic too, particularly to the UK or other countries where Walt Disney World and the general “Disney Parks” brand is strongly advertised.

Beckham Bends It For Disney Parks / Stars Come Out For Disney Parks And Leibovitz

With these well-chosen celebrities, though, they’ve already raised interest simply through the press, giving valuable promotion to all Disney parks… and it didn’t cost DLRP a cent!

Whether it’ll be the much-needed kick to get Jay Rasulo’s 50th-follow-up Dreams campaign well and truly started remains to be seen, but David Beckham alone is usually enough to get people talking – imagine the effect of the star on a horse, with fire… in front of a Disney Castle! Swooning women are surely about to fall to the ground the world over.

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The press release in full:

Stars Play Out Disney Park Fantasies In New Images Unveiled by Annie Leibovitz

Photography Featuring Scarlett Johansson, Beyoncé and David Beckham Kicks Off Disney’s ‘Year of a Million Dreams’

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (Jan. 26, 2007) ‘” To launch Disney Parks “Year of a Million Dreams” celebration, spectacular new images were unveiled today featuring the work of acclaimed photographer Annie Leibovitz, and starring Scarlett Johansson as Cinderella, Beyoncé taking a spin in a giant teacup and David Beckham slaying a dragon.

Leibovitz’s images also fulfill one of Beckham’s “dreams,” as the Disney Parks project is his first endorsement since signing a contract to play professional soccer in the United States.

In addition to the three debut images, Disney Parks has commissioned more images by Leibovitz that will feature other celebrities in classic, Disney fairy tale settings.

“I’m really delighted to be part of the ‘Where Dreams Come True’ campaign,” said Leibovitz. “We live in difficult times and I feel, especially as a parent, that keeping dreams alive is one of the most important things we can do.”

Each image features a scene with the featured celebrities transformed into the role of a fabled Disney character, expressing their own dreams and imagination.

* As Cinderella, Scarlett Johansson is seen running down a flight of stairs as the clock strikes midnight with her glass slipper unknowingly left behind. The tagline reads, “Where every Cinderella story comes true.”

Befitting a true princess, Johansson wears a stunning, one-of-a-kind Harry Winston tiara … a dazzling piece in platinum with more than 62 carats of sparkling diamonds and valued at $325,000. The dress worn by Johansson is a custom-made, Cinderella-inspired gown designed by Nicoletta Santoro.

* David Beckham plays the part of the gallant Prince Phillip from “Sleeping Beauty,” atop his trusted steed fighting the evil dragon. The tagline reads, “Where imagination saves the day.”

“There were many Disney characters I liked as a kid,” said Beckham. “Now my sons love the Disney characters and it’s a big part of their lives, a big part of many children’s lives around the world. So to be part of that is an honor and very exciting.

“I love going to Disney, I’m like a big kid,” he added.

* Beyoncé appears as “Alice in Wonderland,” twirling in a teacup, accompanied by Oliver Platt as the Mad Hatter and Lyle Lovett as the March Hare. The tagline reads, “Where Wonderland is your destiny.”

“It’s two great imaginations coming together … Disney and Annie Leibovitz,” said Lovett. “To be along for the ride really is quite something, just knowing that you’re going to be part of a great Disney character. And then when you step into the imagination of Annie Leibovitz, you know you’re in another world.”

“The ‘Where Dreams Come True’ campaign is about the imaginations and dreams that are inside us all,” said Jay Rasulo, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. “By capturing these transformational experiences, these emotional images communicate a powerful concept. Working with Annie Leibovitz was a natural fit … Disney is known for immersive storytelling and Annie is a masterful artist whose photos speak volumes.”

The campaign premieres as a special insert in the March issues of Vanity Fair, GQ, Vogue, W, The New Yorker, Conde Nast Traveler and Cookie.

As part of the “Where Dreams Come True” initiative, Disney Parks introduced “The Year of a Million Dreams” (Oct. 1, 2006-Dec. 31, 2007). During this 15-month, first-of-its-kind celebration, more than one million very special dreams are being granted to guests visiting Walt Disney World Resort and Disneyland Resort. The celebration also is highlighted by the debut of innovative Disney attractions and entertainment spectaculars at both Disneyland and Walt Disney World resorts.

For more information about Disney Parks, “The Year of a Million Dreams” and “Where Dreams Come True,” guests may visit www.mydisneyparks.com.

The introduction of a High School Musical streetmosphere show has been rumoured for several weeks, and now confirmation has been given. The show will run from 16th June to 26th August 2007, adding yet another new addition to the hefty lineup of events for the 15th Anniversary year.

It will likely be based on the “High School Musical Pep Rally” shows from Disneyland Resort in California and Walt Disney World in Florida, the latter of which just moved to Disney-MGM Studios itself after a brief spell at the Magic Kingdom. The shows feature most of the songs from the hit TV movie weaved into a storyline which sees the performers rallying support for the stars of the movie with all the cheerleading and basketball stereotypes of an American High School. If the show is to be performed at the same location as Starring Cruella De Vil, it will be featured directly opposite the Disney Channel studios themselves.

Rumours suggest that the three trailer sets of Starring Cruella De Vil could even be reused for the new show, with the decors replaced. Many will be sad not to see the previous show return, which built up a surprising fan base over its two Summer seasons thanks mainly to the exceptional performances of Cruella herself. You can still find a full guide to old show here, or a video by Photos Magiques here.

As for High School Musical, LaughingPlace.com has a photo guide to the Disney’s California Adventure version, which could give us some idea of what to expect from this all-American high school show.

News from WDSfans.com; Lead photo by LaughingPlace.com

Once again, it’s La Rouquine who brings the confirmation, with additional details adding that shows will be presented alternately in both French and English (Spanish is no longer mentioned as earlier). The show will take place in the current Art Attack stage of the “tour”, with the two preceding backstage rooms presenting the background story to the extraterrestrial encounter on the existing plasma screens and through small themeing additions.

The popular Disney Channel CyberSpace post-show of interactive games and CyberSpace Mountain will remain. No opening date has been announced, but the addition is currently scheduled for early 2008 – a perfect family-orientated companion to Tower of Terror, perhaps. The attraction was reported some time ago to have been confirmed already to most Cast Members at Walt Disney Studios Park, but this resort-wide announcement finally gives a bold confirmation. This brings a fourth new attraction to the 15th Anniversary’s already impressive line up.

If you’re new to Stitch Encounter and not sure what it entails, you can find out everything here.