News / Refurbishments

You might be rubbing your eyes in disbelief (or at least hayfever) as you stroll toward Disney Village this Summer. Because, this once famously dank and industrial entertainment district has turned a new leaf. We saw the work begin and progress start to be made, and now we can see it in bloom for the first time…

At least 8 new planters and over 30 large new trees have suddenly transformed the space into a welcoming, green, human environment. Each planter automatically serves as a new place to sit and watch the bustle of the Village pass by, whilst breaking up the expanse of buildings and that unforgiving, minimal industrial architecture of the original build.

Most thankful for the changes is sure to be Billy Bob’s Country Western Saloon, now surrounded by customised planters with stylised, pruned trees and a fully-covered terrace complete with heavy wooden furniture. Suddenly, the bar is modern and appealing — but not without a little Western charm.

Equally transformed by a new terrace is the other side of the street, outside Sports Bar and New York Style Sandwiches. Here, a fantastic thin, curved planter encloses a wooden-decked terrace complete with trees and shrubs. The red Coca-Cola chairs add a splash of colour outside the Sports Bar, whilst trendy wooden parasols on the customised New York Style Sandwiches-branded tables make the space ever more modern and human.

At the far end of Disney Village, Café Mickey now has an increased capacity for the Summer thanks to its fully-enclosed terrace, functioning as a full extension to this, the most popular restaurant. The curved glazing wraps around the front of the building with several regular doors and several patio-style doors which slide open, all decorated with white and silver branding with red Café Mickey logos.

The blue, white and red decoration around the roof still appears to be as flimsy and creased as when we thought it was a temporary decoration during construction. Against the yellow of the actual building, it all adds up to looking like a circus tent or a poor ‘Dizneeland’ imitation of the original Café. Not great when you see the prices on the menu that apply equally here.

Inside, you might think the primary colours and modern furnishing look like something straight from IKEA, but don’t judge just yet. Look a little closer and you’ll see there is actually a nice attention to detail here. Tables are decorated with dalmatian spots, Minnie Mouse polkadots and contrasting Café Mickey logos. Portraits of Mickey Mouse body parts on the walls are illuminated from behind.

Tiles surround the bottom of the old exterior wall, dotted with several red, yellow and blue colours. From here, you get a great view across the lakeside of Disney Village and PanoraMagique.

Admittedly, the terrace doesn’t quite have the same warm feel or spacious round tables as the original restaurant area. You might feel a little cheated if you were seated here and paid the same price for your meal. But, as a Summertime overflow area, it already seems to be serving its purpose well. And, once Chef Mickey arrives, no-one cares about anything else.

Similar expansion plans now also appear to be afoot over at King Ludwig’s Castle. Designed and built by EDLI (the Paris branch of Imagineering) for the German beer firm which owns and operates it, the restaurant appears to be building a more permanent terrace of its own. The space which used to simply host a few tables and chairs — plus the red carpet leading into the restaurant — has been surrounded by construction fences for several weeks now.

Behind, movement is slow and no visible progress has yet been seen, even in the latest photos from the past few days. Foundations and a new brick wall were certainly spotted by Photos Magiques on 22nd June, however.

The restaurant of course remains open throughout the works, with the entrance instead through the medieval boutique — as highlighted on the sign (above). Notice the background there? That’s Neuschwanstein Castle in Bavaria, from which Le Chateau de la Belle au Bois Dormant took much inspiration.

Photos: Disneytheque.com

Finally, the erasing of the past. When Frank Gehry envisaged a giant “open air warehouse”, held up by giant steel pylons made out of scaffolding, did he know they’d be erased so brutally? The concrete bases of the old pylons have been lying around for several years now, serving no purpose other than to have their paint worn away within a few months, and so it’s a real pleasure to see the money finally spent on removing them for good:

Photo: Scrooge, Disney Magic Interactive forum.

At least three have now been replaced by appropriately-coloured concrete flooring, whilst a couple which fall inside one of the new planters have actually been kept for use as small performance stages during special events.

In fact, it transpires that these trees and planters were intended to be implemented as early as 2005, when Karl Holz joined the resort and was apparently quite horrified by what he saw here. Alas, money did not allow it — until now. Thanks Karl & co, we no longer have to pretend Disney Village doesn’t exist when we dream of the magic. In fact, on a warm Summer’s day, those cafés and terraces suddenly seem quite tempting.

Now, about replacing the rest of that concrete floor…

[Photos: Photos Magiques (more), Disneytheque.com, Scrooge]

Step into Walt Disney Studios Park today and you won’t see 2/3 of Disney Studio 1 covered by a billboard. No, instead you’ll see almost the entire façade covered with scaffolding.

Progress? Actually, yes!

As far as most reliable sources have indicated, the scaffolding has actually repositioned itself and grown to allow not for a new billboard — at least, not yet — but for a full refurbishment of the soundstage façade — it’s first since opening in 2002!

The following two photos, taken yesterday by dlrp team on Disney Central Plaza, show how scaffolding has been removed from the green windows and instead begun to climb either side of the area previously covered by the billboard:

The columns either side of the entrance doors remain visible and scaffolding has yet to reach as high as the number ‘1’ plaque atop the building, which does have some visible dirt.

At the end of yesterday, Friday 4th July, scaffolding was also clearly ready to begin climbing the left side of the building, just visible in this photo from mouetto on the same French forum:

To begin such a large-scale refurbishment now, just as one of the resort’s two busiest seasons is beginning, seems an odd planning move to say the least. For all the months of advertising ‘The Celebration Continues’ and The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, those guests who booked earlier this year won’t get the ideal introduction to the new, improved Walt Disney Studios Park.

The removal of the billboard, surprising in itself after all this time, also brought another surprise — the façade actually isn’t looking too bad at all. At least not compared to the awful state of the façade on the opposite end of the soundstage, or that of Studio 3 (Animagique) facing onto Front Lot.

Though perhaps badly timed, this is hopefully just the first step in one of the greatest outpourings of yellow paint witnessed since 2002.

[Photos: dlrp team, mouetto, Disney Central Plaza forum]

We last reported on the plight of CinéMagique in March, when what began as a simple repaint of the theatre-based attraction’s exterior moved “onto its second reel” with several other alterations around the outside of the building. Though award-winning and still receiving an outstanding “guest satisfaction” score in its 6th year, the Walt Disney Studios Park attraction is apparently failing to fill up its 1,100-capacity theatre quite as much as the operations managers would like.

Indeed, this is almost the anti-Armageddon. That special effects attraction over in Backlot appears to be facing closure due to the negative impact it has on guests’ overall impression of the park. At the other end of the scale, CinéMagique is so highly regarded by those who actually see it that they’d like to make sure as many people as possible do so.

The problem to be overcome is actually quite recent. Let’s call it “Hollywood Boulevard syndrome”. Or, in other words, the Imagineers have just built a wonderful little pocket of pure themeing and escapism across the courtyard, joined with a hugely popular and immersive E-Ticket, that just makes the original Production Courtyard look a little… well… dull.

The first answer: letters! You can’t miss the new ‘CinéMagique’ sign, sitting in the spot where previously a flat artwork-style logo was painted. Though a nice enough throwback to movie posters of old, this mostly featured images which never appeared in the final film, despite appearing around two years after its opening. The new sign appears to jump out from the Studio Theatre façade, perhaps a hint to the things which burst from the silver screen inside.

Below this, a truly huge new show times board constantly scrolls across the façade with an orange glow. Through integrated well into the façade, its usefulness has to be called into question — particularly, as seen above, it shows all the showtimes for the day (sometimes as many as 8 or 9) even at 6pm in the evening.

Against a 10 minute wait displayed for Tower of Terror or the sign next door stating 12 minutes until the next show at Stitch Live!, a better system, indicating the times in this linear way suddenly seems unnecessarily complicated when they’re so keen for guests. Reconfiguring the sign to stay static and simply state “XX Mins to next performance” would likely be far more helpful. The smaller scrolling signs on either side of the entrance could continue to display showtimes for later in the day.

Elsewhere, the rectangles around the canopy of the waiting area have indeed taken on a movie theatre style as predicted by many. In the way a real cinema would display the films “now showing”, these hold words which read “The Magic of the Movies … Comes to Life … Before Your Eyes” on the left and “La Magie du Cinema … Prend Vie … Sous vos Yeux” on the right.

Most impressive, and unexpected, however, is that these are all surrounded by hundreds of small flashing LED lights, giving a real dazzle to the entire canopy. The white backgrounds are also illuminated at nighttime, flashing in sequence.

Indeed, like most of the original park, it’s at nighttime that the revitalised CinéMagique building really comes to life. The new posters installed inside the waiting area are not only bigger, more colourful and much more numerous than their predecessors — they are also lit from behind and link into a clever celluloid filmstrip motif across the wall, using the original lights above and new painted silver squares below.

Nighttime does bring one disappointment, however — those giant ‘CinéMagique’ letters are not illuminated. With the former artwork it didn’t necessarily matter, but now guests see the faint outlines and shadow of the letters without the actual word. Lucky we still rarely get to see the park in the dark, then.

As the curtain falls, are you applauding? It’s true this temporary revamp to increase footfall is a little less than the glitzy, authentic movie palace we all dream of — but, perhaps, it’s a stepping stone to bigger and better things ahead. The ‘Magique’ might still, one day, extend beyond the auditorium.

Fin.

[Photos: DLRP Today]

We’re having a day of follow-ups on DLRP Today, and the Castle Bridge refurbishment is high up there on your list of concerns. Long ago in March, we had the ultimate horror — construction fences around Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant!

As anyone about to depart for the magic was thrown into a brief panic, it soon transpired that the bridge required repairs and retouching of its concrete shell sooner rather than later. The harsh Parisian climate and its frosts do make the upkeep of fairytale architecture less than a ‘once upon a dream’.

Luckily, but the time April rolled around and the resort — mostly Walt Disney Studios Park, in fact — was invaded by press and VIPs, the bridge was finished and shining a brilliant clean white…

So clean, actually, that the Castle above now seems a little dull.

It’ll be an unlucky time when refurbishment does finally begin on Le Château herself, but never too soon. A full restoration was expected before even the 15th Anniversary, but amounted to nothing more than a slight clean-up. After the 15th, we then expected. Well, with the 15th Anniversary now continuing for another whole year, will it ever get done?

Before next year’s celebration, perhaps. One can always dream in Fantasyland…

[Photos: Photos Magiques, DLRP Today]

It’s a modest refreshing of an equally modest entrance, sure. But, given that this area of Production Courtyard will be overrun by the press and VIPs in a couple of weeks to mark the official inaugurations of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Stitch Live!, it’s certainly better than nothing to see the tired yellow walls repainted and a little darker purple to break up some empty space.

The green construction walls have now moved to completely enclose the right-hand side of the Studio 2 waiting area, extending out into the courtyard to allow workers to begin repainting the outer purple panels of the roof in a more traditional burgundy and magnolia, as already seen on the other side.

Underneath the canopy, walls have receded in the waiting area on the left, revealing the new two-thirds-purple wall, currently without its framed posters for movies featured in the attraction. The second waiting area is completely closed to guests, with more flashing “strobe” lights also added to its ceiling.

One noticeable change for CinéMagique fans is the sudden disappearance of the movie cell banners which previously hung from the metal beams of the roof, showing series of split-second stills from various films. Many, such as 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and 102 Dalmations, were not even featured in the actual show inside.

Finally, the famous “Mickey holding a spanner” refurbishment signs began to disappear last year in favour of new signs announcing preparations for the 15th Anniversary (with a “join us from 1st April 2007” line remaining in place on many throughout the year). Now they’re changing again, adopting “The Celebration Continues” wrapping paper designs and the line “In this area, we are preparing even more magic”.

Well, it’s good to see that even with its new hit attractions, the park is still humbly proud of some fresh paint and a few lights.

[Photos credit: Dlrp Time blog]

The planters might still be largely plant-less, but they’ve already had an impact on the look and feel of Disney Village, adding curves and hidden corners to the previously flat and square street. Curiously, they’ve been used to enclose many of the concrete footers of the old pylons, with no signs of these being removed.

Either the square bases will be expensive or difficult to remove, due to electrics and cabling inside, or they have been kept for some other reason, perhaps seasonal decorations or events.

Further down the street, near New York Style Sandwiches and Disney Fashion, the planters circle outwards from the supports of the undercover areas. There are around seven new planters in total, ranging from a small circle next to Annette’s Diner to the large expanse now covered under Planet Hollywood‘s staircase.

At the entrance to the Village, where wooden-bordered planters first appeared before the full concrete edges arrived, nothing has yet to fill the extra gap, as the concrete pieces are still slotted into place. The planters here create large circular seating areas from the empty area previously used by attractions such as the mechanical bull.

The planters aren’t the only additions to Disney Village in the 2008 slate of improvements. Behind the wall of blue fences to the left of the entrance, another new stand is currently under construction. Its metal structure can just be seen above the fence. This follows the recent addition of a proper stand for Marriott’s holiday village sales next to the Planet Hollywood boutique (see the first photo on this page).

On the subject of Planet Hollywood itself, there’s reason for a real celebration. Because, whilst the rest of the Village might be “going green”, the iconic globe of this restaurant has finally lost its years of green moss and dirt to return to a bright blue, thanks to a long-awaited refurbishment…

The globe had already been given a substantial clean-up in recent weeks, before the arrival of stakeholder Sylvester Stallone, but the two photos below do give a good impression of the improvement to this location which, for many, is their first impression of Disney Village. The repainting is still ongoing, with the lowest section of the globe still awaiting paint and new white cloud patterns still to be applied on top.

There’s a return to form elsewhere in the Village, too, and quite an unexpected one. Just a few years after closing in favour of the new NEX Arcade underneath the IMAX cinema on the Village’s future new street, the games arcade in the former Central Stage area has reopened!

The area has remained empty and untouched since the arcade “moved”, but has now reopened with a dark and simply interior design and simple, rather amateurish signage outside. This must raise questions about the popularity of the NEX arcade, and their feelings about being made practically redundant with the reopening of this location. The games at NEX might be better, and it might offer miniature 10-pin “fun” bowling, but will any guests now walk so far out of the way for it?

Finally, with all these additions, it might be hard to overlook one of the most dramatic and surprising losses from Disney Village in recent weeks — the iconic Billy Bob’s Country Western Saloon sign.

As shown in the photo inset, the sign has survived all previous refurbishments and improvement programmes at the Village, but lost at the final hurdle. It follows the removal of the Billy Bob’s signage, awning and many painted decorations from the building in recent weeks. There has been no word of the Country Western Saloon theme disappearing, and so we can only assume this refurbishment will simply be much, much more ruthless than any in the past…

[Photos by Photos Magiques and Scrooge, Disney Magic Interactive forum]

Purists, fans… relax. Martin Short still bumbles his way through the delightful film, the rainy romance of Les Parapluies de Cherbourg still enchants and Julie Delpy still dashes out onto the Yellow Brick Road in the fantastical finale. But then, the film was never the problem.

The half-hearted “movie theater” entrance to Disney Studio 2 has just begin its first full refurbishment since opening in 2002, with green construction fences currently covering the pillars at the left side and back wall of the waiting area. This isn’t a simple retouching of the paintwork, however. They’re taking the rehab as a chance to refresh and renew the “magique” of this award-winning attraction.

With the rumoured ‘Theater District’ expansion of the Hollywood Boulevard placemaking still some time from being green-lit, the operations teams at Walt Disney Studios Park need a quick way to entice some of those new guests passing by to visit the Tower of Terror, Toon Studio or ‘Stitch Live!‘ into the 1,100-capacity theatre.

With their new and exciting exteriors, it might be easy for guests to try the new attractions and bypass a classic like CinéMagique. Which is, in fact, exactly what seems to be happening. And, with its rave reviews and countless fans, this is an attraction the people at Walt Disney Studios Park don’t want you to miss.

The new tips and wait times board at the foot of Hollywood Boulevard introduced a novel extra way to use the unique LCD screens which display the latest showtimes — they now also play brief video clips from inside the Studios’ show-based attractions.

The old tips board, now positioned at the top of Hollywood Boulevard, features new advertisements for CinéMagique and ‘Moteurs… Action!’, another show needing an attendance boost in recent months.

At Studio 2, the familiar purple and red exterior is now in the process of changing to a fresher — and, you could argue — more old-fashioned, “Hollywood” colour scheme. Whilst, inside the waiting area, the bare yellow wall has taken the purple instead, hiding the emptiness of the space and finally lending the area a slightly more atmospheric feel similar to real-life dark, plush cinema lobbies. Well, we can dream.

With only some hanging movie stills and old posters to give this area some visual interest, how do you improve that on a tight budget? Well, how about some flashing “strobe” lights? They have begun to replace the static bulbs at intervals throughout the ceiling of the canopy, adding a little “sparkle”… on a shoestring.

The refurbishment also makes sure that the attraction is looking its best for the upcoming press events over the first week in April, a big deal for the park as it relaunches with the two new 2008 attractions and completed placemaking works. Here’s hoping the all-important ‘2’ atop the building will also be given a clean-up.The works are reportedly completely unrelated to the proposed placemaking project in this corner, which, rumours suggest, would include a completely new, completely “Hollywood” façade for the theatre.

[All photos by Photos Magiques (more here)]

As the icon of Disneyland Park, Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant and its essential moat bridge are some of the most heavily-trafficked places in the entire resort. On a trip to Disneyland, everyone wants to walk over that famous bridge into the fabulous castle rising above. For the foreseeable future, however, their fairytale will be a little interrupted…

Scaffolding and white tarpaulins began to rise on the weekend of March 1st on the left side of the bridge, followed by a complete covering on the right side later last week. The works came unexpectedly for all, with no announcement or advance warning given through the internal park refurbishments calendar at all.

The walkway has had limited repairs and refurbishments in recent history, mainly to the wooden drawbridge section, but the damage and dirt along the concrete-built bridge section has long been a disappointment to fans.

The photo below, taken by mouetto (Disney Central Plaza forum) whilst the scaffolding was still encasing the bridge, clearly shows the various levels of decay and dirt on the bridge. The column on the left, in particular, clearly shows the main reason for these sudden repair works: freeze-rot in the concrete, also known as ‘concrete cancer’.

This is where small cracks in the concrete fill with water, which is then frozen — expands — and causes the cracks to become larger. Eventually, as shown above, large parts of the decorative top layer will be broken altogether. Reports suggest that similar problems are occurring with the bridge (probably no thanks to its unimpressive refurbishment history), that could eventually cause much larger structural problems in the future.

The walkway underneath the bridge to La Tanière du Dragon gives a revealing view on the repairs, which still appear to be in their early stages. From this viewpoint at least, the scaffolding is clearly only for workers to access the structure — it is not providing any kind of emergency support whatsoever.

As with the major refurbishments which sprung up back in early March 2007, in preparation for the 15th Anniversary, it will be hoped that this work on such a key landmark will be complete by the time the Spring/Summer season begins on 5th April 2008. Currently, however, no completion date is known.

Stay with DLRP Today for the latest news on this project as it breaks.

[Photos by Photos Magiques (more here) and mouetto on DisneyCentralPlaza.com]