News / Entertainment

The brilliant thing about a company like Disney with many different entities so closely tied is that, when one area has great success, this success can than be easily spread to the other areas. High School Musical has not only been a big hit for Disney Channel, merchandise (Consumer Products) and Home Entertainment — three of Disney’s theme park resorts have enjoyed capitalising on the TV movie’s vast cult following with similar success.

For Walt Disney Studios Park, already boosted by the huge impact of Toon Studio, High School Musical On Tour has been a huge hit with guests since its premiere 16th June 2007. The talented cast of dancers and singers immediately won their fans, drawing large crowds, many repeat viewings and superb guest feedback.

The show has certainly been a factor in the two parks suddenly appearing slightly more “balanced” in their offerings this Summer, the Studios now seen by more guests than before as a viable, separate park which should command more time during their visit. You’d almost be able to see the huge, smug grin across the face of Disney Studio 1, if it weren’t for that billboard in the way…

It comes as no surprise, then, that management want this “golden age” for Walt Disney Studios Park to continue beyond the end of the Summer season, 26th August 2007. High School Musical On Tour has now been confirmed to run until 14th October 2007.

Fewer performances will be presented each day, no shows will be presented on Mondays or Tuesdays and new cast will join to replace those whose Summer contract has ended, but continuing such an immense hit until mid-Halloween should prove incredibly popular. You can find showtimes for this extended run here.

Crucially, the show will bring life to the Production Courtyard area of the park which otherwise only currently features CinéMagique to entertain guests whilst Hollywood Boulevard and Stitch continue their development. This is the first time a seasonal show at the park has been continued outside of the main Summer season.

High School Musical On Tour will also definitely return in 2008 following its Winter break, to be pushed by Disneyland Resort Paris in brochures and advertisements as strongly as their key 15th Anniversary ceremony at Disneyland Park, Candleabration.

It seems Karl Holz is the latest recruit on the Wildcats’ team.

» You can now find a full video of High School Musical On Tour at DLRP Magic! Video.

Alpha Bet You Are began on 31st March 2007 with the rest of the 15th Anniversary launch events, featuring new music remixing Disney classics with the vocal talents of children from the surrounding region. Directed by Emmanuel Lenormand, it was designed as a new “welcome” and introduction to the park for guests, though for much of the Summer season heavy guest flow has pushed it back to early afternoon performances.

Now, after over 500 performances, the letters reach their final finale at the end of this month.

Curiously, performance times for the event are no longer listed in the latest online schedules of the official website as before, but the final performance is still confirmed to be 30th September 2007, clearing the way for the Halloween events due to begin next month. With Christmas then taking over the schedules for a further two months, it could be that Alpha Bet You Are is simply taking a seasonal break. However, no return for the 2008 months of 15th Anniversary celebrations has yet been confirmed.

Don’t begin to think this “hiatus” is due to poor guest reaction to the quirky cavalcade, oh no. If the insider words of several magicforum members can be trusted, Alpha Bet You Are regularly charts higher even than Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade in the so-called “guest satisfaction” surveys.

But, as now officially the first 15th Anniversary event to come to an end, we say a fond farewell. If past anniversary events are remembered for their more controversial castle overlays and events, you never know what the icons of the 15th will be in years to come…

You can find a full guide to the production including music and behind-the-scenes information here, an archive of previous DLRP Today articles about the event here or a full video of Alpha Bet You Are here.

Originally confirmed by WDSFans.com back in January, the new streetmosphere show does indeed replace Starring Cruella De Vil and feature a unique travelling stage, replicating almost entirely the ‘High School Musical Pep Rally’ shows of Disney-MGM Studios and Disney’s California Adventure, as expected. Following a rehearsal day on Friday and five regular performances throughout the day on Saturday, the cast returned for a special inaugral launch presentation that evening, kicking off the Toon Studio Press Event as invited guests stepped onto Front Lot.

The show uses an almost identical format to the successful US versions, featuring a cast of athletic basketball players and cheerleaders joined by five regular students in various different clothing styles. Whilst the cheerleaders provide dance and the Wildcats a unique variety of “sports choreography” with their basketballs, the students provide additional live vocals to a pre-recorded backing track. Rather than a ‘Pep Rally’ of support for the Wildcats team, however, the story in the Paris ‘On Tour’ version of the show is that the students of East High have travelled to France for a summer vacation of special musical performances.

Guest interaction is a key part of the performance, allowing guests to join the basketball games and dance routines. Surprisingly, for the normally quite reserved DLRP audience, the interaction has proved a success and flows far less awkwardly than most other shows (such as Starring Cruella De Vil) – Disneyland Resort Paris clearly made a good choice with the popular High School Musical franchise.

Whilst the press were given a unique preview of the show on Front Lot (the first time a streetmosphere show has ever been performed here), the regular shows begin in Backlot – bringing regular streetmosphere back to this production zone for the first time since Rythmo Technico departed for Place des Stars in 2003. But, as the show comes to a conclusion with streamers (an item DLRP appear to have bought a lifetime’s supply of this year), guests will be surprised that the production then heads right towards them, travelling down Rue Georges Méliès past Armageddon for a second 11-minute performance in front of Tower of Terror, the previous performance space of Cruella.

This unique 22-minute mix of two 11-minute shows is a first for Disneyland Resort Paris, but already it’s clear through guest reaction that the show can support a double performance – many guests follow the production and watch for an “encore” showing, whilst others can hope to get a better view of the action for its second performance. The “join” between the two shows is seamless, with the cast marching along the road to a continuing soundtrack of High School Musical themes.

Whether you’re a High School Musical fan or not, their “summer vacation” in Paris looks set to be a shining success. With Crush’s Coaster and Cars Quatre Roues Rallye only just opened and returning favourites Lilo & Stitch Catch the Wave Party and Good Morning Walt Disney Studios adding even more to see, the Studios looks set to have a record Summer season.

» You can see a full gallery of ‘High School Musical On Tour’ photos here.

All photos by Photos Magiques.

The special collector’s issue of the quarterly magazine features a double-page spread of an exclusive interview with Francois Leroux, Vice President of Entertainment for Disneyland Resort Paris.

Whilst the questions are largely geared towards introducing shareholders to the unique entertainment Francois and his team have developed for the Anniversary year, the second-to-last question is one that has been on fans’ lips for countless months already…

“During the year of festivities, how many Parades will we have during the Halloween and Christmas seasons?”

Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade will be presented throughout the year of the 15th Anniversary festivities. The Disney Villains will surely try to disrupt it at Halloween. Christmas will follow in naturally at the end of the parade to add still more magic.

The answer provides confirmation for the very first time that not only will Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade continue right through Halloween and Christmas, but there will be NO major dedicated parade for Halloween or Christmas, in the style of Disney Villain Parade or The Christmas Parade of recent years. This has been rumoured for some time, since the floats of these parades — redecorated from The Wonderful World of Disney Parade — have now mostly been taken out of service, and will never return.

Therefore, this Halloween we can expect a “Once Upon a Dream” with a touch of mischeif (likely a pre-parade segment in the style of last year’s Stitch Cavalcade), and this Christmas will bring an extra Christmas dream to the parade — will it be Santa Claus’ sleigh at the end of the parade, or something new?

All we have for now are dreams…

The Pumpkin Men, the Pink Witches and many more inbetween – creating new, original characters has been a tradition of Disneyland Resort Paris which sets it apart from other Disney resorts for years. But how about characters without eyes, without heads, and without arms? This unique streetmosphere creation by show director Emmanuel Lenormand, filing out onto Main Street USA to a playful soundtrack four times each morning, is a daring departure for Disney, and certainly something you would never see in Florida or California.

So just where did it come from? According to Emmanuel’s interview on the ‘Media Magic’ blog… merchandise. It seems that, upon seeing the interesting 2007-brand merchandise in the Emporium one day last October, he thought the same as DLRP Today – could these become real characters? Emmanuel had just been charged with creating a new morning show in Main Street for the anniversary year using the new talents of the varied Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade performers, and the character-themed numbers of “2007” (featuring Goofy as “2”, Mickey as “7”, and so on) sparked his imagination. The letters soon became ten, however – spelling out “Disneyland” – a perfect welcome for guests entering the park for the first time.

As Emmanuel describes, “These are enormous, magical letters, and we have worked on a choreography with lots of humour. My original idea was that, at the start, you wouldn’t understand what was going on – you see lots of huge forms, then you realise that the letters progressively form the word ‘Disneyland’ in the street – in giant form, since certain letters measure 2.8 metres high!”.

The performers inside aren’t actually true character performers but largely puppeteers (such as those of Animagique or the new Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade), who have a better ability to judge movement and balance – and to control the movements of the costumes from inside. Each letter has its own moving element, and each one (aside from the two letter “D”‘s) its own character theme.

The large and small letter ‘D’ are, describes Emmanuel, “like the overture and finale of the act”, both letters featuring a plain theme with the 15th Anniversary emblem and a wobbling hand on springs. Letter ‘I’ is Goofy, with a dot above itself that can spin 360 degrees and suspenders that can fall off and lift back up. ‘S’ is Daisy, dressed in glittery pink with a white petticoat and a large, moveable bow. Since letter ‘N’ is featured twice in the word, this role goes to Chip ‘n’ Dale, who are depicted with soft brown fur and red and black noses – which can move up and down the entire length of the letter!

Letter ‘E’ can’t be mistaken – the familar colours and clothing of Donald Duck, with a tail of feathers, sailor stripes and even a beret than can be raised to courtesy. Leader of the club, it’s Mickey Mouse – letter ‘Y’, with his famous red shorts, yellow buttons and flapping mouse ears. Following right behind, letter ‘L’, his love Minnie Mouse. Decorated completely with polka dots and her famous ribbon, Minnie’s ears also flap slightly as she kneels to courtesy for guests. Finally, following the Mouse couple, their faithful pal Pluto – letter ‘A’. Brown fur and long, black, wiggling ears give him away, not least his dog-like characteristics as he runs and sits on a whim… though he hasn’t quite mastered “roll over” yet.

An important part of this early-morning party is its music. Mixing classic Disney songs such as “Zip-a-Dee-Dah”, “Following the Leader”, “I Wanna Be Like You” and “Mickey Mouse Club March” with new lyrics recorded by choir children from the Seine-et-Marne region, the music is a lively and quirky addition to a morning on Main Street. Musical director Vasile Sirli was behind the brand new music, using the Budapest Pop Orchestra, familiar with the resort since their work on The Wonderful World Of Disney Parade and Disney’s ImagiNations Parade, to record the eclectic instrumental backing, which features a new instrumental theme also heard in Candleabration.

Video

“We’re following the letters, the letters! Sing with us – D-I-S-N-E-Y-L-A-N-D!”

The streetmosphere performance is currently scheduled at 10h15, 11h15, 12h15 and 13h15, entering Main Street from Plaza Gardens/Gibson Girl Ice Cream Parlor and making its way to the centre of the street to spell “Disneyland” and meet guests before dispersing again and gradually exiting through Town Square/Discovery Arcade.

With thanks to Media Magic Blog for their interview with Emmanuel Lenormand.

The official “first day” performance of Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade. The sun was shining, crowds were eager and characters putting on their very best performance. “Once upon a dream”, it truly was…

But then, they arrived. The park forever warns during Disney’s Halloween Festival not to trust a Disney Villain, and, now that Disney’s most vicious cast of characters have their very own float year-round for the first time, it seems we need to keep a watchful eye on this motley gang…

As the final burst of the parade’s show stop music came to an end and Ursula cackled her final “Just Like We Dreamed It!”, each of the floats’ individual scores started up again. Maleficent scowled at the audience… but failed to move. As worried glances spread across the parade control Cast Members and the characters continued on with their performances, the parade – from float 5: Dreams of Power onwards at least – remained at a stand still. Memories of a performance during the previous week’s rehearsal runs – when the float ceased movement for a short time at the exact same spot – will have sprung to mind for everyone involved.

A good five to ten minutes on and music is suddenly cut from the float, with extra crew rushing in along the parade route to check on the troubled float. Watching from the sidelines, coincidentally, was the Fairy Godmother. No, she didn’t cast a spell to end the villains’ nightmare, she was attempting to take a break from her role at L’Auberge du Cendrillon‘s new princess dining, before getting caught up in the chaos and having to “shoo” away Ursula’s slimy green sea creatures.

Whilst the Evil Queen from Snow White (a character almost never seen at Disneyland Resort Paris before this parade) looked entirely unimpressed with her problematic float, the undefeated Maleficent continued to whirl and whip her hugely acclaimed new firey costume for the entire time.

The audience watching at Royal Castle Stage, where the incident occured, were surprisingly patient considering the long wait and warm sun above, with very few deciding to move on to other attractions. Either the audience had a lot of faith in Disney’s showmanship, or the tantalising glimpse at the colours of Dreams of Adventure just around the corner kept them hooked.

Just as parade control decided to switch performers in front of each float, to give the audience some variety to what they were watching, a sudden flurry of radio messages and a reappearance of technical crew from behind the float saw it spring back into action, met with a round of applause from everyone watching. But, alas, this wasn’t the end of the parade’s problems, with the final Dreams of Romance (Part 2) float performing in complete silence – without any music – for the entire run.

Our exclusive video clips from the unfortunate first-day performance of the park’s new parade begin toward the end of the problems, including the re-start of the float itself.

With each float having it’s own computer to control music and the exact position of the show stops, it seems that whilst the dreams themselves may be full of magic, talent and wonderful artistry… technology may not always be on their side. Not least when a Disney Villain is involved.

Mixing the music and movement of a normal parade with dedicated, up-close character meet ‘n’ greets, Disney Characters’ Express presents quite a unique event. Taking place several times in the morning and early afternoon, the event seems to be most inspired by the popular Walt Disney Studios Park mini-parade Good Morning Walt Disney Studios, which sees characters “arrive on set for filming” aboard luxurious Hollywood cadillacs. As this mini-parade reaches Place des Stars stage, the characters climb out and mingle with the guests. For Disney Characters’ Express, the concept has been taken further, with dedicated spots around Central Plaza for the characters to meet guests.

After the opening announcement, the redesigned Casey Jr enters the park from next to Discovery Arcade at Town Square, “steams” all the way up Main Street USA, “En route au coeur du magie!” (On-route for the heart of the magic), and comes to a halt directly in front of the castle…

The dancers/minders help their characters to climb down from the wagons, before they escort them through the frantic crowds to their specific locations around the hub, which help to give guests a better chance to meet the stars. Four è locations have been added at each corner, featuring the inescapable French candlestick host from Beauty and the Beast against a giant “15” backdrop featuring the Disneyland Resort Paris logo – perhaps to remind guests where their holiday photos were taken?

Characters usually head to the corner of the resort which most suits their theme, for example Pinocchio will head to the left of the Castle, Buzz Lightyear to the Discoveryland entrance and Chip ‘n’ Dale to the Frontierland corner. This just leaves Casey Jr, and his engine driver, to take a well-deserved rest…

Video

Featuring footage from two separate performances, our full video of Disney Characters’ Express therefore features two different train-loads of Disney passengers – can you spot the difference?

The characters usually change with each journey of “le petit train”, though some of the key characters (such as Chip ‘n’ Dale) are almost always present. This not only encourages guests to catch the event more than once in their day, but also opens up the possibility for some rarer characters to be featured throughout the year.

Where better to begin than the fairytale worlds of Fantasyland. Guests on 1st April certainly weren’t disappointed – passing by L’Arbre Enchanté opposite Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups, a motley line-up of some of Disney’s storybook stars were ready and waiting, all wearing their special 15th Anniversary medals.

Featuring Lumière next to a giant “15” with the Disneyland Resort Paris logos on one side and a plain reverse, the medals are featured on a blue lanyard with the word “Welcome!” covering the design in many different languages, similar to the banners and posters all over the resort. They can currently be seen on meet ‘n’ greet characters as well as during Disney Characters’ Express.

In Fantasyland, Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum were more than happy to pose for photographs and sign autographs…

Though with some of the more lively characters, it takes a bit of patience…

Even a Penguin from Mary Poppins was up bright and early to meet the crowds!

Over in Frontierland, guests are treated to a picture-perfect meet ‘n’ greet spot opposite Big Thunder Mountain, with the Disney VIPs ready and waiting in their customised Frontier costumes – now also adorned with 15th Anniversary medals.

There always comes that point in scheduled character meet ‘n’ greets when the character in question has to run off for a quick break. Whilst it often produces cries of “No, Goofy! Come back!” from the stressed parents in line, some guests at the front of the queue during switch-over can be treated to, say, four of the Fab 7 all to themselves!

But if you thought meet ‘n’ greets were the only way to get up-close with Disney characters this year, think again. There is, of course, Disney Characters’ Express, which gives its stars around 15-20 minutes to run off to four Lumière-themed photo points around Central Plaza and meet guests.

Then there’s ‘Character Dining’. Already popular at The Lucky Nugget Saloon, Inventions and more, the concept has now been extended to L’Auberge du Cendrillon in Fantasyland, where guests can meet and dine amongst fairytale stars from Suzy and Perla the mice, to princes and princesses and even the fairy godmother! Seen here attempting to cross the parade route from the backstage entrance to Cinderella’s inn, she soon found an alternative route when the Dreams of Power float in front of her (which she continued to hiss and “boo” at) broke down…

But what’s that, you’re bored of these same old Disney characters? Well, stick around in Main Street each morning and you’ll be treated to a very original spectacle indeed…

The ten fluffy letters of Alpha Bet You Are, dancing along the street to themes of “Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah” and “Following the Letters” (rather than “Following the Leader”), they’re free to be hugged and stroked before forming their famous ten-letter word at the foot of Main Street.

But you’d rather something less fluffy? Don’t worry – they have this covered too. For a more “mature” meet ‘n’ greet experience, you could head to Front Lot every morning at 10:30am for the ‘Red Carpet’ meeting, which sees not only classic Disney characters invade La Place des Frères Lumière but also stars from Disney Studio 1’s Ciné Folies shows, such as Dracula…

Alternatively, you might find the treasure of Adventureland and encounter Jack Sparrow himself in front of Pirates of the Caribbean, signing autographs and carousing with the ladies in perfect pirate style. But one tip – should Jack depart on one of his long-winded jaunts through the caves and across the rope bridges of Adventure Isle, it might be best to give up the chase. This pirate has a fantastic ability to completely lose his merry trail of adoring fans in an instant.

As you can see, not all of the Disney characters wear those special anniversary medals. At a mega meet ‘n’ greet session outside Cowboy Cookout Barbeque, guests could spot Brer Bear, Cowboy Goofy, the Country Bears, the Sheriff of Nottingham and Chip ‘n’ Dale. But, strangely, none were wearing their special anniversary apparel.

There we go, “More” Disney Characters indeed! Whatever the year brings, whatever the weather, whatever the time, it seems we can be sure one place will always be ready and waiting to transport us all to our own personal Wonderland…

If you enjoy Disney character photos, you might want to check out the now fully-updated Character albums of our partner site Photos Magiques, now featuring over 100 autographs and over 560 photos! Click here to go there.