News / Parking Lot

British newspaper the Portsmouth News has reported a distressing incident which took place with a local visitor on the walkway between the main Disneyland Paris parking lot and the Disney Parks. Going back to his car during the day, the 39-year old man was twice pestered by a “ticket tout” for his park tickets, presumably so that they could be sold on by the tout for profit. Upon refusing a second time, returning to the parks, the visitor was apparently punched repeatedly in the face and left needing emergency surgery to remove two teeth and a piece of his jawbone.

Fans will be well-aware that this area and all around the resort’s train station is officially classified as public land, outside the control of Disneyland Paris. It’s through this “loophole” that the area immediately outside Disney Village is almost always filled with unpleasant vendors, selling cheap gifts such as wind-up kittens, plastic models of the Eiffel Tower and even potentially dangerous laser pens. Will this attack on a guest finally convince Disney and the French government that something needs to be worked out with the security and status of this incredibly busy, sensitive spot of land?

According to the article, a Disney spokesperson said: “This incident took place on public land, which Disneyland Paris security is not permitted to police. We continue to work closely with the authorities to ensure an incident like this does not happen again.

Those authorities should be aware that, even on a good day, cheap vendors don’t sell a great image of France to millions of international visitors. Being punched in the face is an altogether different league. It could happen anywhere, but it shouldn’t happen at Disneyland.

VIA Portsmouth News, Salon Mickey blog

This year’s Disney Magical Moments Festival has already manifested itself along the moving walkway to the parks, replacing advertising for the New Generation Festival and Toy Story Playland with an incoming style of thick typefaces, bold colours and glittery backgrounds. From the first general banner above, announcing the French title of Le Festival des Moments Magiques Disney with a big “2011” and the Sorcerer Mickey icon for the year, guests roll upwards along the walkway past six more “moments”.

Featured for the celebration, beginning 6th April 2011, are Lighting McQueen, for his new cameo in Moteurs… Action! Stunt Show Spectacular, the new Alice in Wonderland event, the Jungle Book and Lion King meet ‘n’ greet events, the Peter Pan happening, Mickey Mouse, presumably for the new Central Plaza show, and the Disney Princesses for their advertised new meet ‘n’ greet experience in the former post-show “World Chorus” of “it’s a small world”. You can see the full collection here.

VIA DisneyGazette.fr

There are suggestions that Euro Disney SCA, operating group of Disneyland Paris, could be about to sign a landmark agreement with French energy partner EDF.

Currently, as visitors arrive at the resort by car or coach, they’re greeted by a pleasant — but exceptionally large — parking space. A huge expanse of tarmac poured nonchalantly over the former fields of Marne-la-Vallée, this has perhaps never been the best of first impressions for the French to become enamoured with Disney’s controversial arrival.

However, according to rumours now doing the message board rounds, the flat, single-level parking lot serving the two Disney Parks — with more than 11,000 car parking spaces — would be covered end to end in so-called “Ombrières”, a patented type of solar power canopy covered in photovoltaic cells.

An unfortunate necessity becomes a publicity coup?

Creating electricity which can then be used on-site or sold back into the grid, the futuristic canopies also collect rainwater to reduce piped water usage as well as protecting people — and their cars — from the elements, be they a rainstorm or a scorching hot day.

Rather than your car burning up in the full heat of the Summer sun, that energy would be transformed into real power — possibly even to power your ride on Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster or Phantom Manor!

The idea is not entirely new, already being in use at locations such as the E-Leclerc shopping centre near Montpellier seen in these photos. These canopies are manufactured by French company SunVie. Should the enormous parking surface at Disneyland Paris be covered by “solar panels” like these, it would apparently become the largest such energy plant in France and almost certainly one of the largest in Europe.

Naturally, after the initial excitement at such a prospect, thoughts are now turning to the visual impact of the “Ombrières” which, whilst actually functionally good-looking, would probably contrast a bit too much with the more whimsical structures already dotted around the parking lot, such as the canopies of the moving walkways.

To redesign them with a little more Disney spark certainly wouldn’t be hard, but multiplied over several hundred rows could amount to a restrictively large rise in construction costs.

Indeed, details so far are rather sketchy as to how such a project would be managed between Euro Disney and EDF — who would pay for the set-up, who would get the power generated? Nevertheless, this would be a sure-fire publicity winner for the resort, and hopefully more than just blue sky (solar) thinking…

• See more details, photos and a video here.

Images: DLRP Today; SunVie. News via Parcs et Companie, thanks to lil-shawn (magicforum).