Disneyland Paris has let slip plans for new guest accommodation, revealing what appears to be a new value hotel in the style of Florida’s Art of Animation and All-Star resorts, earmarked for land opposite Disney’s Hotel Santa Fe. Read More…
Follow DLP Guide on Facebook — New page, please re-join to continue seeing updates!
News / Hotel Expansion
Wednesday, 11th May 2016
New value Disney Hotel in ‘Art of Animation Resort’ style hinted in local consultation
Friday, 15th February 2013
Golden Forest Club to add new premium tier at Disney’s Sequoia Lodge from April
You’ve already upgraded from a standard lodge room to a Montana room, perhaps even a Lake View. But from April, Disney’s Sequoia Lodge begins offering an altogether more “exclusive” category of room with the launch of its own Golden Forest Club.
Modelled on the successful Castle Club of Disneyland Hotel and Empire State Club at Disney’s Hotel New York, these rooms will be located in the top floors of the main building and come complete with their own Golden Forest Club Lounge. Besides the privileged room location, benefits include breakfast with Disney characters and private reception, plus free soft drinks and afternoon snacks in the adjoining lounge, which is said to have a “beautiful tree” as its centrepiece.
Special Disney’s Fastpass tickets are also a benefit, although not as generous as the other “Clubs” which provide unlimited VIP Fastpass tickets: For Golden Forest Club, you’ll only receive one “Disney Hotel Fastpass” per person per day, which is a single-use, any-time, any-attraction ticket.
A higher tier means a higher price, and that’s especially true here. For one night including park tickets for two adults sharing a Golden Forest Club room, prices start at €634 according to Disneyland Paris’ standard pricing grids. That compares to €498 for a standard room at Sequoia Lodge and is notably more than the €596 for the same stay at the Admiral’s Floor of Disney’s Newport Bay Club, which doesn’t offer the private lounge nor any special Fastpass.
The rooms of Disney’s Sequoia Lodge were completely refurbished throughout 2011 and 2012, adding light “Bambi” touches. Current hotel refurbishment efforts now centred on the lowest tier Disney’s Hotel Santa, adding touches from Disney-Pixar’s “Cars” to the rooms. Up next for a major update is said to be Disney’s Newport Bay Club, which rumour suggests could enhance its “Admiral’s Floor” offer to become more like these Club rooms.
Meanwhile, within the next year all Disney Hotels are finally due to provide free Wi-Fi. We’ll take that over any expensive private lounge, personally…
VIA Disneyland Paris Spring-Summer 2013 Brochure
Thursday, 28th January 2010
Davy Crockett, king of the air conditioned frontier
On the other side of the A4 motorway, a patch of Disneyland Paris magic exists that you’ve maybe never experienced. Peaceful forest lanes and quaint cabins; a whole village of amenities and the best swimming pool on-site.
However, as surprised as new visitors often are to discover this whole other side to the resort, Davy Crockett Ranch often seems to collect some not-entirely-positive reviews. Worn-out cabins, mould in the bathroom… For some reason, these issues appear quite common.
Perhaps it has been attracting the wrong people, more suited to the glamour of, say, Disney’s Hotel New York than the rustic charm over here. Nevertheless, the ranch may now be answering their complaints — it’s in the middle of its biggest accommodation refresh for many years, adding some modern luxuries to its trappers’ lifestyle.
We mentioned this new accommodation option when reporting the Rio Grande, Eldorado and Buffalo rooms at Disney’s Value hotels, but now the Shareholders Club magazine (the November 2009 issue, but delivered to many addresses just this month) reports some numbers — there will be 139 new cabins — and the first on-site photos:
The Spring/Summer 2010 brochure previously revealed the layout and a generous interior mock-up:
When these come into use from April, larger families will finally have a better accommodation choice at the resort. In addition to the extra beds, the cabins feature two shower rooms, a private terrace with barbecue, air conditioning… and no bath (except the bathroom sink, which can be used as a bath for babies). They’re also located on the “trails” (the loop roads around which the cabins sit) closest to the Davy Crockett Ranch village.
From the new photos, they’ll look very familiar to anyone who has stayed with camp site travel operators such as Keycamp or Canvas Holidays. They may even help to build up to the still-proposed Villages Nature, the Centre Parcs-style project which is still “just about to be green lit” for the forest area around Davy Crockett Ranch.
When — or perhaps if — Pierre & Vacances really do get going with that project and its far more luxurious accommodations, Davy Crockett will need to have lost its mouldy bath image. But hopefully, still have some rustic charm left.
And until then, any hope of a shuttle bus service returning? For all the “eco” claims of these new cabins, the people staying in them still all have to drive individually to and from the parks each day…
Images © Disney.
Wednesday, 4th November 2009
Forget Shanghai, Paris lets slip major projects
As the official Disney Parks Blog posted a remarkably… unremarkable confirmation that the Shanghai Disneyland project is moving ahead, newspaper Le Parisien slipped out a fascinating article all about the future of our resort. Talking to Francis Borezée, Vice President of Resort and Real Estate Development, they summarise the next phase of development in the Val d’Europe district, from the expansion of Disney Village to the long-awaited new Convention Centre.
Most of this won’t shock or stun a keen follower of Disneyland Paris news, but one element certainly might: the addition of dates, the revelation that all this is finally due to be officially announced, very soon indeed. And, whilst a project being led by a huge Convention Centre doesn’t seem immediately exciting, the development and its surrounding expansions will change the landscape of the resort beyond recognition.
Where now, as soon as you reach the lonely IMAX cinema and games arcade, the old beet fields suddenly stretch as far as the eye can see, soon you’ll be at the heart of a whole new, very urban, Disney development, comprising the new hotels and Village expansion it so badly needs.
Here’s the article in full, skip down for the summary:
Disney dévoile ses nouveaux projets
Tourisme d’affaires, logements, extension des zones de loisirs et de commerces, le Val-d’Europe poursuit son développement sous l’impulsion du géant américain.
Qu’on se le dise : le groupe aux grandes oreilles n’a pas fini de laisser son empreinte sur le paysage urbain du Val-d’Europe. Fraîchement nommé à la tête des activités de développement urbain et vités touristique du groupe, Francis Borezée dévoile ses principaux projets pour le développement à venir de l’agglomération.
Des programmes qui dessinent les contours de la phase 4 du développement du Val d’Europe, actuellement en discussion avec les représentants de l’Etat et les élus locaux.
Des réalisations sur quinze ans. Chargé du codéveloppement de l’agglomération en vertu d’une convention signée avec l’Etat en 1987, Euro Disney SCA a rempli au- aujourd’hui plus de la moitié du contrat. « Nous avons d’ores et déjà développé 1 100 ha sur 1 943, ce qui veut dire qu’on a encore quinze ans de développement devant nous », résume Francis Borezée.
Actuellement en cours, l’achèvement des programmes de la phase 3 – finition de la place d’Ariane, du quartier résidentiel des Lacs ou réalisation de bureaux près de la gare RER — va coïncider avec le lance- lancement des nouveaux projets de l’opérateur privé.
Cap vers le tourisme d’affaires. C’est la grande nouveauté annoncée par le directeur général adjoint d’Euro Disney SCA. Un gigantesque centre de congrès devrait voir le jour aux portes des parcs Disneyland, pour un budget d’investissement d’environ 100 millions d’euros. D’ici 2015, une première phase prévoit la construction d’un centre de 20 000 ha sur ce terrain coincé entre le parking Vinci et l’hôtel Newport. Une nouvelle gare TGV dédiée et un hôtel de 750 chambres seront construits sur le site, qui pourra accueillir des groupes de 4 000 personnes.
Parallèlement, les activités touristiques classiques continueront de se développer, avec l’extension prévue du Disney-Village et la construction de nouvelles attractions dans les parcs… qui devraient faire l’objet d’une annonce à la fin de l’année.
De nouveaux logements en perspective. Le développement résidentiel reste une priorité pour Francis Borezée, qui prévoit la construction de « 500 à 600 » nouveaux logements, dont « au moins 20 % de logements sociaux » par an d’ici à 2017. Le centre urbain devrait s’étendre avec de nouveaux logements assortis d’équipements publics, au nord de la nouvelle mairie de Serris ainsi qu’au sud-ouest du centre de secours de Chessy et au nord du boulevard circulaire. Pour améliorer le cadre de vie, un nouveau bassin et des espaces verts devraient également voir le jour (voir carte).
D’autres constructions pourraient également apparaître en périphérie, à Magny-le-Hongre et à Bailly-Ro- Romainvilliers, avec un programme mêlant maisons individuelles et logements collectifs dans le quartier des Courtalins. A terme, Francis Borezée prévoit une croissance de la population « jusqu’à 55 000 ou 60 000 habitants », soit un peu moins que l’Etat, qui envisage jusqu’à 80 000 habitants au Val-d’Europe.
L’extension du centre commercial Val-d’Europe. Satisfait du succès du pôle marchand, qui « résiste mieux à la crise » que la moyenne des centres commerciaux, le développeur prévoit son extension, avec une « nouvelle ouverture inter- intermédiaire » de la galerie. Sans oublier l’inauguration, en mars 2010, d’un immense magasin Castorama consacré à la décoration d’intérieur, assorti de 600 à 700 nouvelles places créées sur un niveau intermédiaire dans le parking du centre commercial.
La poursuite du développement. Les entreprises ne seront pas oubliées par l’opérateur d’aménagement privé, qui table sur l’extension du parc d’entreprise Goodman, à Bailly-Romainvilliers. Sans oublier de « constituer une nouvelle offre de bureaux prêts à l’emploi près de la gare, dans le centre urbain du Val-d’Europe. » En effet, les bureaux déjà réalisés dans ce secteur sont déjà occupés «à près de 95%».
The reason none of these grand proposals come as a surprise? Because plans showing exactly these developments have been public for probably over a year now, showing the urban streets of Val d’Europe connecting up with the resort centre.
Francis Borezée notes that, after having developed 1,100 hectares of 1,943 ha available since 1987, the resort still has 15 years of development ahead of it. He confirms that Phase 4 of the Val d’Europe development is now in discussions with the state and local town councillors, and that the completion of various Phase 3 projects (housing and office developments, the town squares) will coincide with the launch of plans for the next phase of their private, resort expansion projects.
So here’s where it gets interesting: The Convention Centre, having waited to be green-lit for over ten years now, will see its first phase developed and built between now and 2015. For an investment of €100 million Euros, the “gigantestque” centre totalling 20,000 ha of floorspace will take shape on the land between the existing Vinci (Disney Village) parking lot and Newport Bay Club.
The article confirms a 750-room hotel will be included in this phase, stating “on the site”. As can be seen in the plans released, there are in fact plots for two new Disney Hotels nearby. It remains to be seen whether they’d choose the hotel next to the Convention Centre or the one across the road, joined onto the Disney Village expansion, to build first.
It also then confirms the new TGV Station, but — especially when you look at the plan they’ve drawn up themselves — seems to have the impression that this will be a whole new station. Technically, it won’t. Similarly stuck on the drawing board for a decade, this will merely be an additional entrance and exit to the platforms of the existing Marne-la-Vallée/Chessy station.
Slotted in right next to the Disney Village multi-story parking, it’ll provide a new booking hall and facilities on the South side of the resort hub, allowing convention-goers and Val d’Europe residents far easier access to the platforms, without having to cross the resort hub.
Next, something we all want to hear — “Parallel to this, the resort’s traditional tourism activity will continue to be developed, with the expected expansion of Disney Village and the construction of new attractions in the theme parks… which will be the object of an announcement at the end of the year”.
Continuing on, the report discusses new housing at Val d’Europe, the creation of parks and lakes as seen in the plans, plus developments to the Shopping Centre, which is apparently beating the economic crisis more than most similar malls. Join the news recently that Val d’Europe will become home to a brand new swimming pool Aquatics Centre, and the rumours of the French Open, and things are looking good.
But you’ve probably stopped reading now, right? Knowing that a completion date has finally been set for all those expansions, and the promise of imminent announcements for Disney Village and new park attractions later this year…
Forget Shanghai, that’s the Parisian Surprise we needed.
Plans © Disney.
Monday, 9th February 2009
New casting website opens up (too much?)
This new website can be found at the same address — www.disneylandparis-casting.com — but takes on an entirely new and entirely modern design, very different to the current www.disneylandparis.com or Euro Disney SCA corporate sites. Clean, simple navigation, blogs, keyword searches, Cast Member “walls”, colour-coordinated sections, videos and interactive quizzes.
Arriving on the new homepage, you’re confronted not by a flash animation filling the screen but primarily by just three large, simple boxes — Support, Operations & Maintenance and Entertainment — which, curiously, change position between the French and English versions.
The first few sections introduce the resort as a whole, including several new videos — both flashy B-roll footage of the resort and useful interviews with actual Cast, such as here 2009 Resort Ambassador Prisca interviewing Vice President of Human Resources Daniel Dreux, or here a look at the lives of the Big Thunder Mountain cast.
Once you get into the key sections for the employment categories, such as Entertainment, they’re each colour-coded and nicely customised, with even more videos, blogs and news updates specific to each department. Here, for example, you see the latest auditions for character look-a-likes and other roles.
Operations & Maintenance offers another look behind Big Thunder Mountain in its key video, but check out the second page, too, for a smart commercial showing Cast Members remembering the “first time” they did things ranging from booking someone’s trip or preparing Buffalo Bill’s horse!
Surprisingly, it’s the Support pages you might want to check out though.
Because, there’s something in the first video — namely when we’re watching one of the Architecture & Urban Planning cast members — that we’re not entirely sure they wanted us all to see so clearly. Or maybe they did…
That’d be the current future development plan of the entire resort, as it currently stands. Now, you may well have seen one of these plans before, but this is their current plan, and it seems to reveal a few new specific details…
Note, for example, the 5th and 6th hotel at Val de France, the huge space reserved for a dedicated Convention Centre, the masses of land awaiting new Disney Hotels either side of the main parking lot access road and the brand new patch next to Val d’Europe also ready for hotels (in the very, very far future).
Happily, there’s (slightly realigned) space still ready and waiting for a 3rd park, but the most interesting and probably most relevant aspect here is Walt Disney Studios Park — now extended into a huge rectangle, more than double its current size, extending off to the West. As you’d enter this fully built-out park, it’d actually therefore be more of a stretched diamond shape. It’s finally a specific expansion footprint, not the general shaded area we’ve seen in the past.
But, leaving those dreams of the future behind… the new casting website. Clean, easy to navigate, flash animations only where they’re necessary and full of information in a design that makes you want to click another link.
We’re left wondering… why can’t the resort’s actual website be more like this?