News / 20th Anniversary

When Disneyland Park re-opened its gates at 9.40pm on 31st March, a magical glow had already fallen upon the land. Stepping into Main Street, U.S.A., the twinkling new Main Street Station greeted invited guests — as did some extra-special invitees: the giant, illuminated World of Color pre-show puppets, brought over especially for the occasion! This video takes you to “A Night in Disneyland” for the 20th Anniversary Dedication Ceremony as if you were there.

Everything is included: from walking into Town Square, to the ceremony itself with Philippe Gas, footballer Zinedine Zidane and Mickey Mouse (at 10:00), to the epic, emotional walk up Main Street, U.S.A. prior to the Disney Dreams! World Premiere (at 16:00), when Cast Members from every land and every attraction lined the street to wave and cheer guests along with cries of “Joyeux Anniversaire!” as golden confetti in the shape of the number ’20’ rained from above. Truly an exceptional and unforgettable ending and beginning to these chapters in Disneyland Paris history.

It might be one of the less-anticipated 20th Anniversary events but, with a passenger list now comprising all the “VIP” characters, Disney’s 20th Anniversary Celebration Train will no doubt be just as big a hit with guests as ever. Surprisingly, the characters on-board, who ride up to Central Plaza before stepping down to be mobbed (or in official terms, for “meet ‘n’ greets”) now even include the hallowed Mickey Mouse himself!

However, for this special “premiere” performance at 5.45pm on 31st March, the multi-coloured train didn’t stop as it rounded Central Plaza and Mickey Mouse wasn’t on-board: he was stealing the show in his new sorcerer costume atop the temporary press platform, dancing to new theme song “Do You Believe” and guiding the train around the plaza with a wave of his hands.

This has been one epic upload, but here we go: the full, unedited 48-minute presentation and panel discussion with Creative Director Kat de Blois, Show Director Katy Harris and VP Parades & Spectaculars Steve Davison himself. Seated in Plaza Gardens Restaurant at 12.30pm on Saturday, we were just inches away from the creators of the 20th Anniversary entertainments as they first explained and presented their creations before moving on to an open and informal Q&A discussion with the intimate audience of around 20 invited Disneyland Paris blog and fansite authors.

Kat de Blois began by presenting Disney Magic on Parade! in French (the only small part missing from the video), followed by Katy Harris introducing Disney’s 20th Anniversary Celebration Train in English, then Steve Davison talking about Disney Dreams! — which made up the bulk of the 40 minutes of questions which followed, revealing numerous insights into the new spectacular.

While I had the camera rolling the entire time, Kristof from Photos Magiques put a couple of questions direct to the panel. Including, at 42 minutes in, the million dollar question that is: “When did you decide to get rid of Central Plaza stage, and was it a tough decision?” The reaction, and the justification, is fascinating viewing, as is the entire presentation. We’ll revisit it more soon and go through all of the details revealed about the creation of Disney Dreams! in particular. But for now, we thank Kat, Steve and Katy for taking time out on such a busy day to meet a small number of their fans, and for allowing us to film and document the occasion so that everyone at home can be there, too.

Note: The sound quality has been improved as much as possible in editing, but due to the intimate setting it obviously won’t be perfect. Nevertheless, this is a unique all too rare chance to meet the people behind the “dreams”. And to think, as Steve reveals, it all began by spotting a Peter Pan motif in the design of Disneyland Hotel… Proving that Dreams can come from anywhere, but you never quite know where they’ll take you.

This has been one epic upload, but here we go: the full, unedited 48-minute presentation and panel discussion with Creative Director Kat de Blois, Show Director Katy Harris and VP Parades & Spectaculars Steve Davison himself. Seated in Plaza Gardens Restaurant at 12.30pm on Saturday, we were just inches away from the creators of the 20th Anniversary entertainments as they first explained and presented their creations before moving on to an open and informal Q&A discussion with the intimate audience of around 20 invited Disneyland Paris blog and fansite authors.

Kat de Blois began by presenting Disney Magic on Parade! in French (the only small part missing from the video), followed by Katy Harris introducing Disney’s 20th Anniversary Celebration Train in English, then Steve Davison talking about Disney Dreams! — which made up the bulk of the 40 minutes of questions which followed, revealing numerous insights into the new spectacular.

While I had the camera rolling the entire time, Kristof from Photos Magiques put a couple of questions direct to the panel. Including, at 42 minutes in, the million dollar question that is: “When did you decide to get rid of Central Plaza stage, and was it a tough decision?” The reaction, and the justification, is fascinating viewing, as is the entire presentation. We’ll revisit it more soon and go through all of the details revealed about the creation of Disney Dreams! in particular. But for now, we thank Kat, Steve and Katy for taking time out on such a busy day to meet a small number of their fans, and for allowing us to film and document the occasion so that everyone at home can be there, too.

Note: The sound quality has been improved as much as possible in editing, but due to the intimate setting it obviously won’t be perfect. Nevertheless, this is a unique all too rare chance to meet the people behind the “dreams”. And to think, as Steve reveals, it all began by spotting a Peter Pan motif in the design of Disneyland Hotel… Proving that Dreams can come from anywhere, but you never quite know where they’ll take you.

But first, without further ado… The main event of the 20th Anniversary itself!

Watch our exclusive original video of the Disney Dreams! World Premiere right here. Filmed at 10.30pm on Saturday, 31st March in 1080/50p High Definition with 5.1 channel surround surround, this video gives you the whole experience as if you were there: standing right at the centre of Central Plaza, watching the fireworks, fountains and fire fly into the sky as projections transform Sleeping Beauty Castle like we’ve never seen before.

Find the video on YouTube here and be sure to share it with your friends — this is one spectacular event no-one should miss!

• Enjoy a complete, definitive gallery of spectacular pictures from the show at Photos Magiques!

As previously noted, we’re working to share the majority of our new videos online first, before we go back to provide more in-depth, chronological reports of all the events over the launch weekend.

Wow, what a weekend! From Friday through to Monday, DLRP Today was at Disneyland Paris for the 20th Anniversary launch weekend, collecting over 2,000 photos and several hours of high definition videos (using a brand new camera bought just for the occasion). Amongst the sights, sounds and surprises we’ve got lined up to share with you: no less than THREE high definition videos of Disney Dreams!, including the real World Premiere on Saturday evening and a spectacular up-close view of the very first public performance on Sunday with a fantastic crowd.

We also had the honour of being present for both the morning and evening inauguration ceremonies, featuring the Disneyland Paris Ambassadors, Philippe Gas, Salma Hayek, Zinedine Zidane and Fabienne Bergmans, winner of the Dutch version of The Voice Kids, who sang the new parade theme “Magic Everywhere!” live. Speaking of which, two videos of Disney Magic on Parade! are also on their way: both the premiere performance on Saturday and the opening day performance the following day. We’ve also taken video and photo tours of the beautiful Main Street, U.S.A. Celebrates! decorations and the temporary Meet Mickey Mouse in Frontierland.

Speaking of which, we were lucky enough to be given a “hard hat” tour of the real Meet Mickey Mouse, in Fantasyland, by Imagineer Laurent Cayuela. No photos or videos were allowed there, as it still technically a construction site, but we were all impressed by the new interior for this meet ‘n’ greet experience — we’ll tell you all about it in vivid detail soon!

Finally, we had the privilege of joining a special presentation at Plaza Gardens Restaurant given by Kat de Blois, Katy Harris and none other than Steve Davison himself! Even better, we recorded the full 45-minute question and answer session on video, so you can see it too — including the official reaction to the question: “When did you decide to remove Central Plaza Stage?” It’s coming…

This week, we take YOU to the 20th Anniversary of Disneyland Paris!

This has been one amazing build-up, with over 50 news stories in March alone, but now here we are: our final post before the 20th Anniversary of Disneyland Paris officially begins! So, for this grand finale, we reserved one special story: the story of Disney Dreams! itself.

No doubt you can precisely list every single technical element of the show by now, so what are the characters, films and “dreams” these special effects are bringing to life? They’re a diverse mix of eras and styles, from Peter Pan all the way to Tangled. Here’s your full show programme:

• Introduction
• Tinker Bell & Second Star To The Right
• Peter Pan & Wendy
• Be Our Guest (C’est la fête) from “Beauty and the Beast”
• Rémy from “Ratatouille”
• Friend Like Me from “Aladdin”
• Out There (Rien qu’un jour) from “The Hunchback of Notre Dame”
• Step In Time from “Mary Poppins”
• I Wan’na Be Like You from “The Jungle Book”
• I See The Light from “Tangled”
• Friends On The Other Side from “The Princess and the Frog”
• Captain Hook
• Peter Pan & Wendy
• You Can Fly & Second Star To The Right

According to some sources, the entire show weighs in at a clever 20 minutes and 20 seconds.

It all begins on a starry night, as Peter Pan and Wendy look up at the Second Star to the Right. But then, leaping free from his body, Peter Pan’s shadow escapes and hits the star, causing its special dreaming pixie dust to pour over the castle. What follows is a series of musical set-pieces, following the songs above, as Peter Pan chases his shadow across a timeline of Disney dreams which were wished upon the star, from Quasimodo to Rapunzel and more besides.

Things, as they always do in any good nighttime spectacular, turn spectacularly sour with Dr Facilier’s “Friends On The Other Side” and the arrival of Captain Hook. Will Peter Pan be able to battle his nemesis, recapture his shadow and restore the dreams to their rightful place inside the Second Star to the Right, causing it to shine brightly over the land again?

Well, you’ll have to wait to find out…

• Join DLRP Today next week as we report back from the 20th Anniversary Launch with news, photos and brand new High Definition videos of all the events! In the meantime, follow us on Twitter and ‘like’ our Facebook page for updates over the weekend and subscribe to the DLRP Magic! YouTube channel to be the first to see our 1080p HD video of Disney Dreams! as soon as it goes live.

What do you get if you combine film composer Joel McNeely, a 96-piece orchestra, a children’s choir, an adult choir and Irish folk singer Cara Dillon at the famous Abbey Road Studios in London? A soundtrack to Disney Dreams!, that’s what. The show’s score was recorded in January this year, with Steve Davison flying into London to oversee the project. While Steve has visited Abbey Road previously to record the music for his spectacular Tokyo DisneySea version of Fantasmic!, Joel has used the North London studio, made famous by The Beatles, to record soundtracks for several of Disney’s recent Tinker Bell movies.

For a new nighttime spectacular, based around Peter Pan losing his shadow, they couldn’t have picked a better team. Steve Davison wrote on Facebook, 13th January: “In London this week recording Dreams for DLP at Abbey Roads Studios. Today we’re in the famous Beatles Studio2 recording percussion. The score for Dreams is really amazing. Can’t wait for all of you to hear it!!!”

By 17th January his work in London had finished, with the confident conclusion that the score we’re all waiting to hear is, simply put, “beyond epic”: “We just wrapped the recording sessions for dreams. It’s an amazing score. One of the best we have done in years. It’s beyond epic!”

Wrapping up the many featured songs from Disney classics, ranging from Beauty and the Beast and The Hunchback of Notre Dame to Tangled and The Princess and the Frog, the score will of course also be heavily based around new arrangements of “The Second Star to the Right”.

Amongst numerous Disney projects, Joel McNeely also notably scored the Return to Neverland “sequel” to Peter Pan in 2002. The scale of his score for Disney Dreams! appears impressive: a 96-piece orchestra, plus both children’s and adult choirs. Confirming the project, his official website writes: “Joel has just completed the score to a new outdoor spectacular show for the 20th anniversary of Disneyland Paris. The show is entitled Disney Dreams. Joel recorded at Abbey Road in London with a 90 piece orchestra, children’s choir and adult choir.”

Cara Dillon

And there’s one more surprise: “It will also feature a song written by Joel for Cara Dillon.”

Cara Dillon may also be known to anyone familiar with the popular Tinker Bell movies. For the third film, Tinker Bell and the Great Fairy Rescue, she was invited by Joel to sing the opening song, titled “Summer’s Just Begun”. This led to the Irish folk singer, from Dungiven in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland, to sing a second song over the credits and even read the opening narration.

Her website notes: “Cara and Sam were thrilled to have been invited to record a brand new song to form part of a new spectacular show to mark the 20th Anniversary of Disneyland Paris. They went to the legendary Abbey Road Studios back in January to record the song with a 96 piece orchestra and to listen to the rest of the music being recorded for the show. Joel McNeely, who composed the music for Tinkerbell 3, wrote the beautiful new song and conducted the orchestral sessions.”

This new song will certainly be a world away from the hyperactive “Magic Everywhere” and “Do You Believe” of the daytime events. If the beautiful projections or extraordinary fountains and fireworks don’t bring a tear to your eye, it could just be Cara’s beautiful, delicate voice that does it.

Below, watch a delightful video of Cara Dillon on stage, humbly explaining how she came to work for Disney on the Tinker Bell movie and her first experiences of Abbey Road, followed by a beautiful performance of her second Tinker Bell song, “Come Fly With Me”… Read More…