Tuesday, 4th February 2014

Ratatouille: The Ride logo revealed in new official German Disney video trailer

Ratatouille: The Ride Disneyland Paris logo & trailer

Here we go, the first official promotional logo for “Ratatouille: The Ride”, as the huge new Disneyland Paris dark ride will be known outside France in the lead-up to its “Summer 2014” grand opening.

The image has been unearthed in a new 30-second video trailer for the attraction first discovered by @CafeFantasia on Germany’s official Disney.de video site, revealing the well-known Ratatouille movie logo simply with an added subtitle “The Ride” in a stylish typeface next to three horizontal lines, perhaps hoping to depict this dash through the kitchens.

Watch the trailer here:

At first the video, viewable in its original form only to visitors from within Germany, looks a lot like the standard “Happy New Year” teaser floated around by Disneyland Paris last month. But then, towards the end – a patented Rémy surprise! We get a first look at some of the actual promotional branding Disneyland Paris will be using for its new €150 million dark ride this year.

Ratatouille: The Ride Disneyland Paris logo & trailer
Ratatouille: The Ride Disneyland Paris logo & trailer
Ratatouille: The Ride Disneyland Paris logo & trailer

This also includes, right at the end, a special version of the Disneyland Paris logo itself (above), complete with cute Ratatouille whiskers and toque (chef’s hat).

With Germany joining, at least we also know that the UK won’t be the only country to forgo the tongue-twisting official name of the attraction – Ratatouille: L’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy – though it can’t be said the mundane Ratatouille: The Ride is any improvement to conjure some excitement. Forget a state-of-the-art technology-driven E-Ticket dark ride, a subtitle like “The Ride” only conjures up something akin to a fairground attraction. But never mind, the only place you’ll ever see it in Walt Disney Studios Park is when you look down at your English (or perhaps German) guide map.

Ratatouille: The Ride Disneyland Paris logo & trailer

No need to translate – the trailer doesn’t reveal much of anything new besides these two logos. It is however a welcome appetiser for what will hopefully be one of the resort’s more driven and more successful attraction opening campaigns… next step, an opening date?

Tuesday, 31st December 2013

Ratatouille ride: First official press release for l’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy

Ratatouille: L'Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy ride

Happy New Year! It’s officially 2014 at Disneyland Paris and we’ve got the perfect reason to celebrate. This is the year Walt Disney Studios Park welcomes a brand new, world-exclusive dark ride, Ratatouille: L’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy, and today is the day — midnight precisely — our embargo is lifted on a new official press release for this eagerly-awaited attraction.

Disneyland Paris published a press release finally announcing the attraction back in February, but since then we’ve been given an official name and an exciting marketing visual. Today’s press release for “l’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy” therefore is the first to really get the attraction’s concept (much-discussed and well-known in fan circles) into official print… along with the all-important final names for its adjoining restaurant and shop.

The world of Ratatouille comes to Disneyland Paris in 2014

Next summer, Disneyland Paris will unveil a major new attraction and mini-land inspired by the Oscar-winning Disney•Pixar film Ratatouille. The film, directed by Brad Bird, tells the tale of Rémy, a young rat who has amazing talents in the kitchen and dreams of one day becoming a great chef.

This leads to a fun but perilous journey that eventually lands him as the head chef of one of the most famous restaurants in Paris. Now Rémy has arrived at Walt Disney Studios Park to share his culinary delights and crazy adventures with the entire family.

On the attraction Ratatouille: L’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy, guests will shrink down to the size of a rat and join Rémy and his friends as they scurry through the kitchen, dining room, and walls of Gusteau’s famous Parisian restaurant, all the while trying to avoid the nemesis from the film, Chef Skinner. This first of its kind Disney attraction will immerse guests into an animated world like never before as they experience what it’s like to be a rat in a human sized world.

The attraction is located in a new corner of Toon Studio that’s been transformed into a Ratatouille-inspired version of the City of Light. In addition to the attraction, this mini-land also features a shop, Chez Marianne Souvenirs de Paris, and a rat-scale themed table service restaurant, Bistrot Chez Rémy. The restaurant, which is the only one of its kind across Disney Parks worldwide, is directly adjacent to the attraction and serves the “little chef’s” famous dish, ratatouille.

After Crush’s Coaster, Cars Race Rally and Toy Story Playland, Ratatouille will be the fourth attraction at the Walt Disney Studios Park inspired by a Disney•Pixar film. Disneyland Paris will once again combine its narration skills with state-of-the-art technology to offer the best possible experience.

Next summer, join us for Ratatouille: L’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy, only at Walt Disney Studios Park, Disneyland Paris.

So that’s “Bistrot Chez Rémy” for the restaurant, located in the same building as the ride, and “Chez Marianne Souvenirs de Paris” for the boutique, located next door in part of the former costuming workshops. The whole Parisian quarter at the back of Toon Studio has come along remarkably in recent months, its finely detailed façades now rich in colour and life.

Ratatouille dark ride construction (C) InsideDLParis
Ratatouille dark ride construction (C) InsideDLParis

If only we could take a peek inside those walls…

The attraction and restaurant open Summer 2014, with the boutique following in Autumn 2014.

Explore our past news articles here!

PHOTOS VIA @InsideDLParis

Saturday, 21st September 2013

Ratatouille dark ride: new attraction’s final name, first marketing visual revealed!

Ratatouille: L’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy kitchen calamity dark ride key visual concept artwork

Looking for the biggest Disneyland Paris breaking news this year? Here it is. “Ratatouille: L’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy” will be the full official title of the resort’s much-anticipated 2014 attraction and what you see above is the very first marketing visual for this 150 million-euro Walt Disney Disney Studios Park dark ride.

Confirming key details about the ride system, design and story which have been rumoured at length since as far back as 2008, the image and information was first shared by Disneyland Paris itself in unprecedented posts on its official Facebook and Twitter accounts earlier this evening.

Picturing Rémy, the lead rat in the Brad Bird-directed 2007 Pixar animation, jumping forward holding a cork, it depicts a rounded, flattened, rat-shaped ride vehicle capable of transporting six guests. Behind, the fiery chef Skinner looms over with a rolling pin — no doubt an example of the huge video projection effects expected to be demonstrated within the vast new showbuilding at the back of the park’s Toon Studio, next to the existing Toy Story Playland, to be augmented with larger-than-life physical props.

As for that long-winded title, don’t despair — it may yet prove to be a moniker only seen in French promotions, or right at the entrance of the attraction. Disneyland Paris has past form with the rambling “La Tour de la Terreur: Un Saut dans la Quatrième Diménsion” (The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror) and even the nearby tongue twister Cars Quatre Roues Rallye, which was always promoted to English-speaking markets as “Cars Race Rally”.

One final piece of information: 2014. That’s still as specific as Disney will be with the projected opening date — though many would expect it not to be early in the year, despite the rapidly-materialising Parisian street scene, given the technical complexity of the world-exclusive ride experience within.

Nourish your memory with our Ratatouille dark ride news archive, including the first piece of “real” exterior concept art and the official announcement from February this year

Wednesday, 10th April 2013

VIDEO — Watch the full ‘Designers of Dreams’ Disneyland Paris fashion show

Disneyland Paris launched its extended 20th Anniversary celebrations with a one-off catwalk fashion show to showcase brand new Disney character costumes made by some of Europe’s most prestigious fashion houses.

Titled ‘Designers of Dreams’, the one-off event took place on Saturday 23rd March for the 20th Anniversary Extended press launch. But luckily, if you’d like to see this unusual meeting of Disney characters and catwalk fashions for yourself, you can watch it here in full!

As well as exclusive outfits by fashion houses such as Lanvin, Sister by Sibling, Philip Treacy and Supertrash, the show featured a performance by Laura Van Kaam, winner of The Voice Kids Nederlands.

Watch, like and share on YouTube here!

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Friday, 22nd March 2013

‘Designers of Dreams’ catwalk fashion show to mark extended 20th Anniversary launch

Minnie Mouse dress by Lanvin for Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Paris will launch its extended 20th Anniversary celebrations this weekend, with a one-off catwalk fashion show to showcase brand new Disney character costumes made by some of Europe’s most prestigious fashion houses.

Titled ‘Designers of Dreams’, the event will take place this Saturday 23rd March to mark the success of Disney Dreams! and launch its two new scenes (not to mention that soon-to-be fashion craze of the parks — well, perhaps — Disney Light’Ears). And there we were thinking Steve Davison and his team were the only “designers of Dreams”

Cinderella dress by Sister by Sibling for Disneyland Paris Cinderella dress by Sister by Sibling for Disneyland Paris

Alber Elbaz of French firm Lanvin was first to reveal his sparkling new blue dress for Minnie Mouse, while British designers Sister by Sibling have been tasked with creating a high-fashion ball gown for Cinderella. Also joining the fun will be Philip Treacy for Ireland, Luisa Beccaria for Italy, Alexander Terekhov for Russia, Michalsky for Germany, Custo Barcelona for Spain, Jean-Paul Knott for Belgium and for The Netherlands, Olcay Gulsen for Supertrash.

If the event is designed to create media “buzz”, it seems to have succeeded somewhat already with the two articles linked above on Vogue, plus The Telegraph, StyleList, Le Monde, Glamour, Fashionista, Yahoo and, err, CocoPerez.com. Oh, and DLRPToday.com

Watch a video of Minnie Mouse visiting Lanvin to pick up her dress below… Read More…

Friday, 15th March 2013

St Patrick’s Day 2013 programme: Irish music and dance takes over Disneyland Paris

St Patrick's Day at Disneyland Paris

This Sunday, Disneyland Paris celebrates St Patrick’s Day for one day only with music, dance, fireworks and special character appearances. The full programme of events was released today, confirming the annual Irish celebrations will again be hosted largely in the Cottonwood Creek Ranch area of Frontierland, a tradition begun last year and continued with the St David’s Welsh Festival just last weekend.

On 17th March 2013, guests can expect special appearances from Disney characters in costumes inspired by the Emerald Isle, along with free face painting, a pipe band, Irish musicians and dance shows from the Sarah Clark Academy with special guests Chip ‘n’ Dale. A special fireworks display ends the day as a precursor to Disney Dreams! and the fun continues into the night at Disney Village.

All the times and details are in the programme attached below… Read More…

Thursday, 21st February 2013

First Look: The Lion King’s Simba in upcoming new Disney Dreams! scene

"The Lion King" scene in Disney Dreams! at Disneyland Paris

Just can’t wait to see how one of the new scenes coming to Disney Dreams! will look? Here’s your first sneak preview, courtesy of a new teaser trailer on the official Disneyland Paris website. For a few brief seconds, visible in the screen capture above, we see the face of Simba from “The Lion King” roaring across Sleeping Beauty Castle, surrounded by colourful projections and fountains.

With Simba’s red-leafed mane, this is unmistakably the “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King” segment of the new scene, scheduled to be officially added to the show from 1st April 2013. We reported last week that this new scene is said to be a medley of the songs penned by Tim Rice and Elton John for the film, also including “Circle of Life” and “Hakuna Matata”.

Along with a scene from Pixar’s “Brave”, it will apparently replace the current “Mary Poppins” and “The Jungle Book” scenes – so catch those “originals” while you can.

However, unlike that second new scene featuring Princess Merida, Simba’s guest role in the nighttime spectacular was reportedly already animated and programmed for the launch of the show last year, but held back in favour of Baloo and King Louie’s “I Wanna Be Like You”, so this footage could actually date from then. One confirmed change to the scene since its 2012 trials, though, will be the young singers of Dutch TV show “The Voice Kids” now providing vocals for its soundtrack, recorded just last month at Abbey Road Studios in London.

Watch the new 20th Anniversary – Extended! trailer here… Read More…

Monday, 11th February 2013

New “Brave”, “The Lion King” scenes confirmed for Disney Dreams! from April 2013

Stills from Brave, The Lion King (Pixar, Disney)

Hurry, you’ve not got long left to see Disney Dreams! — the original show that is. Disneyland Paris has now confirmed that the show will be updated for its first anniversary with two brand new scenes based on the Pixar film “Brave” and classic Disney animation “The Lion King”. The new segments are believed to be replacing the original “Mary Poppins” and “The Jungle Book” numbers respectively, so you’ve only until around the end of March to sing along with “Step In Time” and “I Wan’na Be Like You” in person as fountains and projections fill the air. However the rest of the scenes — certainly the Peter Pan-themed “bookends” which tie together the various segments — are expected to remain the same.

Further information came to light today when it was revealed that the song featured from The Lion King will be “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King”, certainly an ideal choice to replace the similar earlier Jungle Book hit. Six young finalists from the Dutch TV talent show The Voice Kids were given the chance to record it exclusively for the show at Abbey Road Studios in London (pictured below), where this time last year the entire Disney Dreams! soundtrack was recorded by Joel McNeely.

'The Voice Kids' finalists at Abbey Road Studios, London

Meanwhile the Brave segment will be the first for a single film that isn’t a musical. A short Ratatouille scene was included in the original show, but is really little more than a transition.

Steve Davison, who masterminded the show, was at Disneyland Paris along with Chuck Davis, Senior Technical Director, during the heavy snowfall last month, making it a strong possibility they were working on the new scenes.

Premiering on 31st March 2012 to worldwide acclaim, Disney Dreams! has scored an impressive 93% guest satisfaction rating and is now confirmed to be continuing daily at Disneyland Park until at least the end of September 2013, when the extended 20th Anniversary celebrations close.

Update: InsideDLParis reports The Lion King scene will come first in the show and be made up of three songs — “Circle of Life”, “I Just Can’t Wait To Be King” and “Hakuna Matata” — while the Brave scene will utilise two parts of the film’s score by Patrick Doyle — “Remember to Smile” and “Fate and Destiny” — along with “Touch the Sky”, the original song by Julie Fowlis. It’s likely the scenes will officially premiere on 1st April 2013 but may be introduced shortly before then as a “soft opening.”

Watch our 4 different complete videos of the original Disney Dreams! here

• Watch the scenes rumoured to be replaced: “Mary Poppins” and “I Wanna Be Like You”

VIA Disneyland Paris Press, @HyperionPilot, @DisneylandNL, @Jorienvh_

Monday, 11th February 2013

Disneyland Paris Fan Survey: Results make for interesting infographic

Official Disneyland Paris Fan Survey

Congratulations — if you’re reading this, you’re likely one of the 85% of Disneyland Paris fans who visit fansites at least once a week. Let’s hope you’re not also one of the unfortunate 8% of fans who have never actually visited the resort. There, just two of the many intriguing statistics recently dug out in a huge “infographic” of 7,760 responses to the official Disneyland Paris Fan Survey we were asked to help promote last year.

The full infographic is included below. Revealing that fans who responded visit Disneyland Paris on average 10 times a year, 71% are between 18 and 34 years old and 59% (versus 41%) are male, the results of the online survey also reveal what fans themselves want from Disneyland Paris and its communication with us. The official Facebook, YouTube and Twitter streams are given a perhaps surprisingly resounding thumbs up — 87% satisfied with the official Facebook page, 83% with Twitter — while a slightly lower 79% are satisfied with merchandise opportunities.

Disneyland Paris Fan Survey

Though the simpler tickbox answers have generated some nice stats for this infographic, the more interesting text-based answers are what we hope the resort listens and learns from. Most fans, as well as desiring special treatment from the resort, also want to see it succeed and improve in itself. After all, the more successful Disneyland Paris is, and the more people who understand the “magic” of the place, the more confident we’ll feel in our own position as fans.

The suggestion of an official blog for news and backstage insights is still a great one, and probably brought up as much from our desire to read it as our belief that — like the excellent US Disney Parks Blog — it would help in the resort’s promotion and communication with the wider public.

Likewise merchandise, which it’s noted fans want to see more “geared to the resort experience” (ie. based around lands and attractions, rather than generic characters) — we want better merchandise so we can more happily part with our cash and support something dear to our hearts. Rather than improving for us, fans mostly want Disneyland Paris to improve for itself first.

Full infographic attached below… Read More…

Tuesday, 31st July 2012

World of Disney rises in new time-lapse “making of” video featuring store’s creators

Francis Guerrier, World of Disney project manager

World of Disney is now already a familiar, unique icon for Disneyland Paris. But what went into designing and building this new landmark boutique? Via the Disneyland Paris Generations website, an official video allows some of the creators to speak for themselves, as well as giving us a glimpse at the always fun time-lapse video Disney sets up for most of its major projects.

As it happened, after over 10 years of planning and waiting, this new store rose from the concrete roof of the TGV platforms in just over 18 months. Here it rises in about six seconds.

Video follows… Read More…

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