News / 15th Anniversary

Approaching the park through Fantasia Gardens, the rush of guests was already much stronger than the day before, with extra ‘Guest Flow’ Cast Members even positioned out front to direct guests. At the top of the gardens, it immediately became clear Disneyland had been very busy overnight, with the new, recorated, Lumière entrance adding a new touch of gold and blue to the 15-year-old Disneyland Hotel.

The banners seen on the resort hub and around Central Plaza had also now made their way to the gardens, surrounding the Disney Legends statue whose wand pointed upwards to a blue sky… that wouldn’t last (look out for another article with slightly sunnier pictures than 31st March soon!).

New park entrance decoration and banners

The entrance itself is a brilliant overlay of the 1992 original, replacing the old Euro Disney-years’ castle silhouette with a new 3D Lumière and two new oval plaques displaying the 15th Anniversary logo and castle. The plaques appear as if they’ve been on the entrance for fifteen years themselves, the design is so in tune with the entrance. For once, seasonal decorations that won’t make an Imagineer cringe!

The surprises didn’t stop with the new entrance. Stepping through the turnstiles, guests were greeted by one of the rarest sights from the resort’s history – a live dixie brass band performing at the foot of Main Street Station! Fresh from their brief appearance at the earlier Red Carpet Ceremony for the press, they gave a hint of the things to come during this day of new surprises and returning favourites…

Dixie brass band under Main Street Station

Not everything in the park for the anniversary was quite so complimentary to the theme, though at least they were trying. The huge white press platform erected a day earlier was given a new covering of “15” logo symbols, to make clear it was only a temporary feature for the anniversary press event. Lights surrounded the platform, important for the cloudy day, whilst film crews already began to prepare their waterproof camera covers for the afternoon’s launch ceremony.

Press viewing platform takes over Town Square

Lights were also positioned along the length of Main Street, as were large blue and white balloons containing confetti, to be burst during the launch ceremony later. A temporary projection and filming booth on the roof of North-East Main Street provided the location for many of the official press photos to be featured in later articles, as well as the source of the startling projections seen during the night’s special performance of Candleabration.

Lights and balloons prepare for the afternoon’s opening ceremony

Walking further on, right down the middle of Main Street USA, as it happened, and suddenly another lost favourite from the past strolled into view – turn-of-the-century townspeople! Fresh from their appearance in the ribbon-cutting ceremony, they took a stroll back along the street and clearly relished the chance to meet and greet with guests… and the Emporium statues.

Turn-of-the-century townspeople stroll Main Street, including the Mayor

At the end of Main Street, standing to one side from the press cameras and presenters still on the cobbles, the rarely-seen mayor took the chance to chat with guests after the opening ceremony. The entire park opening ceremony and much of the events to follow were all surprisingly traditional and almost entirely in tune with the park and its lands. This anniversary is clearly about the classic magic of Disneyland, rather than giant birthday cakes and ill-fitting Jester hats.

Finally, how to top-off one of the most exciting and bustling early-morning walks down Main Street for years? Can you say… marching band?! Originally a daily feature at the park upon its 1992 opening – much like the original Disneyland – they were lost amongst the financial choas that ensued. The most recent memorable performance of a Disney marching band in the park was perhaps as far back as the 5th Anniversary. But, for one day only, Disneyland Park once again had its very own marching band.

The video below shows a glimpse at their walk around Central Plaza, but their star performance – with an even larger group of muscians – was without doubt during the special pre-parade at 14:45, to be featured shortly.

Video features:
1. Park Entrance
2. Main Street Station Band
3. Mayor of Main Street & Press
4. Marching Band

An exceptional welcome to what would become an exceptional day. Love or loath the press invasion, their power to kick the park into full motion is always appreciated!

Disneyland Park ready to begin its biggest party ever

As the press filled the end of Main Street, a bright red carpet stretched off into the distance towards the Central Plaza stage and Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant, creating an image like that of the striking print advertising for the anniversary. The ceremony was hosted by the Mayor of Main Street, only seen on the most rare occasions, along with one of the two 2007 Resort Ambassadors – Wendy Courquet, first introduced during The Christmas Parade of 1st January 2007.

The show began with a special marching band, not seen at the park since perhaps as long ago as the 5th Anniversary, who provided music for the equally rarely-seen Victorian townspeople to dance to.

Miley Cyrus joins the Fab 7 on the red carpet

With cameras frantically zooming and photographers clicking away, the stars of the show strolled onto the red carpet – Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Goofy, Pluto and Chip n Dale, joined by 15-year-old Miley Cyrus, star of Disney Channel’s hit show Hannah Montana. The Fab 7 wore their new, blue “Year of a Million Dreams” costumes, as seen in the new nightly Candleabration ceremony show. Following them was a colourful gang of Disney characters old and new, from Lilo & Stitch and Chicken Little to the Three Little Pigs and Genie, helping to recreate the red carpet scene from the resort’s current commericials.

Miley with Mickey & Minnie / Cutting the ribbon with Wendy Courquet

After posing for the cameras, Mickey stepped forward with Miley and ambassador Wendy. Making a short speech in English, Miley said “I am very excited to be celebrating this day of dreams with you. I would love to wish a very happy fifteenth anniversary to Disneyland Resort Paris, especially since this year is my fifteenth birthday too,” before the Mayor of Main Street proclaimed “C’est Magique! Miley, Mickey, Wendy, it’s time to – cut the ribbon!”

The drums of the marching band swelled to a climax as Miley cut the ribbon and the anniversary celebrations officially began, with all of the characters, Victorian dancers and stars joining together to dance to a live brass band rendition of Mary Poppins’ classic “Spoonful of Sugar”.

Press overrun Main Street / Rolling up the red carpet

With the ceremony over, guests could finally move forward to enter the park or get a glimpse at the red carpet being rolled up, as film crews continued to capture the events and find suitable backdrops for their presenters. Amongst the well-known faces watching over events amongst the crowds – Vasile Sirli, the resort’s Musical Director, and Karl Holz, CEO of Euro Disney SCA.

Photos 1-3 © Disney.

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…!

Expect photos, expect videos, and expect a complete guide to the entire long weekend of premieres, magic and press at the resort, truly one of the biggest, most impressive and most important since its inauguration 15 years ago.

There’s a lot of magic to fit in, a lot of dreams-come-true to share, and it’s going to take a lot of work. The red carpet begins now, as we recap it all in chronological order, as if you were really there.

Couldn’t make the invite? Step onto our own red carpet, and experience the dream…

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!

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.