News / Seasons

Any guests visiting the park for the first time since the 2006 celebrations might have had to check they were in the right place. No more Wonderful World Of Disney Parade, refurbished buildings all over, decorations across Main Street and the Castle, two new attractions over at Walt Disney Studios Park – this was the park’s major chance to show off its 15th birthday to a more local audience.

After being entertained by Alpha Bet You Are, Disney Characters’ Express, Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade, Disney’s Fantillusion and a nighttime performance of Candleabration, it was time for the fireworks to begin… No doubt, there were plenty of people biting their nails backstage at this point. In actual fact, it’s an outside company which arranges the large-scale fireworks seen at events such as Bastille Day, rather than the regular DLRP Pyrotechnics crew.

It’s 23.15, the show begins, and the good luck of 2007 is still most certainly on the side of Disneyland Resort Paris. The fireworks went off with their trademark “bang”, familiar patriotic French music and a special 15th Anniversary sparkle from the thousands of LEDs across the castle’s turrets and candles…

Some members on magicforum remarked that the day actually seemed a little less busy than in recent years, so here’s hoping the fully-functioning fireworks and the impressive events of the 15th will this year incite guests to return again, rather than enjoy the free events in Paris city centre instead.

Video | Bastille Day Fireworks 2007

Throughout the Summer, guests can continue to enjoy an unparalleled hour of nighttime entertainment, starting with Disney’s Fantillusion (now apparently operating a shorter performance cycle and in the opposite direction, leading to guests only being able to see two stops at most) and ending with Candleabration followed immediately by an unchanged Wishes Nighttime Spectacular.

Pictures © Disney and by Photos Magiques. You can see their full gallery here.
Video by Photos Magiques.

The new event will see martial arts teams, clubs and organisations descend on the resort from 26th to 28th September 2008, competing in special tournaments inside the Disney’s Hotel New York convention centre and joining in streetmosphere at Disney Village that will include entertainers, market stalls, themed restaurants, demonstrations, lion dance and live video feeds from the ongoing tournaments.

The Disney Village and Lake Disney area of Disneyland Resort Paris has built quite a name for itself over the years hosting seasonal and sporting events,which have ranged from the recent “Tropical Festival” and annual “Country Western Festival” to major sporting occasions such as an X-Games tournament and the annual Xtra Jet jet ski competition. Announced well over one year in advance, this upcoming event shows the amount of time and planning which goes into each of these seasonal events, always a good boost for the resort – and particularly its hotels.

One of the organisers of the event has kindly contacted us with information and a brochure (aimed at clubs who might wish to take part), which can be seen below. Long-time fans might notice the recycling of various graphics and photos from Disneyland Park‘s old Mulan – The Legend show, as well as the Disney Village Chinese New Year events – could some of the props from these events also reappear?

The Times Square ballroom of Disney’s Hotel New York will host the main tournaments, “transformed into a warriors’ arena with fully matted competition, seminar areas and tiered spectator seating”. Competitions will culimate in a grand final at the Disney Village Dome. The event claims it will welcome everyone “no matter what age or level you’re at”, and allow competitors in a wide range of areas, such as Karate, Kung Fu, Tae Kwon Do, Judo, BJJ, Kickboxing or Capoeira.

With promises that the organisers will be “turning Disney Village into an oriental-themed festival”, it seems that – for those of us without a black belt – this future event will also offer more than just sporting matches.

Brochure images © Disney / EFMA2008. See the official website here.

Irish music and dancing plus a special fireworks show are all on the programme for this Saturday, with the Disney VIPs dusting off their emerald green costumes from last year to once again give a special Disney touch to the precedings. Whilst 2006 saw a special stage erected at the front of Central Plaza, the events this year take place mainly around the now-Winnie the Pooh-less refurbished Royal Castle Stage.

St Patrick’s Day
17th March 2007

Irish Parade
Parade Route – 15h30
The pre-parade of the Princess Parade goes green for a very special Irish day! Mickey will be there, and Minnie too! They’ve dressed for the occasion and so have their pals, to dance along to traditional Irish music.

The Pride of Murray Pipe Band
Royal Castle Stage – 12h40, 13h40, 17h40, 18h40

The Lee-Byrne Academy Dancers with Chip n Dale
Royal Castle Stage – 12h, 13h, 17h, 18h
A group of highly-skilled Irish dancers will astound you with their intricate and co-ordinated choreography. Even Chip n Dale will dance for you!

Free Face Painting All Day
Strolling near Royal Castle Stage – 10h to 18h

Fireworks
Over Sleeping Beauty Castle – 21h55

The addition of St Patrick’s Day to the resort’s list of seasonal events was an important step in a new direction, with the park now celebrating popular European national holidays rather than creating new events such as the Kids Carnival. The endless success of New Year’s Eve and Bastille Day (14 Juillet), when guests decide to visit Disneyland to celebrate these special days, brought up the possiblity of commemorating other large events, with the hope that guests from across Europe will soon see the park as a great place to visit for these holidays.

Just two weeks ago, the St David’s Welsh Festival was promoted to Disneyland Park after a quiet Disney Village launch in 2006, this year with a special pre-parade and themed costumes for the Fab 5, similar to the Irish events of this weekend.

Both highlighting the resort’s feel as a hub of Europe and attracting thousands of extra visitors from across the continent’s varied countries, these profitable and unique new events look set to become a major part of the annual calendar.

You can see photos from last year’s events here, or a video of the fireworks here.

Whilst the large lighting rigs along the parade route illumated the procession, several extra lights were added to the classic floats to light up the characters and their decor. Previously, a nighttime version of The Christmas Parade such as this could only be seen on New Year’s Eve, when entertainment times were shifted to compensate for the park’s late 1am closure.

Photos captured 30th December 2006.

The Christmas Parade enjoyed its final performance of the 2006/07 season earlier today, and it remains to be seen whether it will return again in November. With Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade scheduled to run the entire year, either a hushed Christmas makeover will take place, The Christmas Parade will return, or there will be no main Christmas parade.

Whatever happens, enjoy the nighttime Christmas Parade, truly at its best, with two special guests…

The Nighttime Christmas Parade
Uploaded by dlrp-magic

Again from Poppy The Monkey, these photos cover the dramatic evacuation of Walt Disney Studios Park as guests were hurried out of Disney Studio 1, through the backstage gate, past CastmemberLand and across to the more sheltered Disneyland Park.

Click here for the photos »

Poppy The Monkey presented these photos from Saturday on the MagicForum, showing both the initial damage to temporary items at Walt Disney Studios and the clean-up effort that was just beginning. Despite the storms of the day before, the park actually had queues of guests waiting to get inside…

Whilst the majority of the Christmas tree light coverings on Front Lot’s lampposts appear to have survived, the illuminated garland on the Studio Arch was hanging from its fastening, with the area cordoned off to prevent any accidents.

Worst hit were the movie posters on the metal lighting rigs throughout the park. Added in September 2005 as part of a park enhancement programme, they were made with thousands of holes in each design to allow strong wind to flow through, but apparently this was no match for Friday’s weather. The posters were attached to their frames with glue and velcro, but whilst the securly fastened frames remain, many of the posters are gone altogether. The Finding Nemo poster in front of Crush’s Coaster still has one jagged corner remaining.

The construction fences of Tower of Terror, blown over by the winds, have now been repositioned, closing off the Armadillo prop in the process. With their hasty replacement, though, the colours no longer match. At Disney Studio 1, the starlight effect on the windows has been removed completely after almost falling on guests running inside to take shelter on Friday. You can see a photo of the lights falling at DLP.info here.

Fences at the Toon Studio construction sites were also blown over. It’s not all bad news, though – at the entrance to the work-in-progress land, the fences next to Studio 1 have yet to be replaced, giving a clear view of the new “forest” of trees planted here a few months ago…

It is currently unknown whether the Studio 1 starlight effect or the many movie posters will be replaced in coming days or weeks. Overall, however, the Studios stood up well to its first weather crisis.

Storm photos by Poppy The Monkey, other photos by DLRP Today and Photos Magiques.

This one, though, you’ll already be familiar with. With Disneyland Park remaining open until 10pm over the main Christmas holidays, the longest opening hours ever operated during this season, the entertainment department is getting ready to balance out the day’s entertainment. Just as the 11pm closure in the Summer season causes times to be shifted later in the day, the park’s new Christmas hours are pushing back the times of The Legend Of The Lion King, The Enchanted Fairytale Ceremony, Disney’s Fanillusion and even Disney Cinema Parade.

Most interesting of all, The Christmas Parade has been pushed back to 5.30pm, nightfall in Paris during this season, actually turning the parade into a daily “nighttime” event for the first time ever. Only on New Year’s Eve in past years has the parade been performed under the glow of the park’s lighting rigs.

The Enchanted Fairytale Ceremony will then follow at 7pm, with Disney’s Fantillusion at 8.30pm, adding up to many magical nights of exclusive Christmas entertainment for the Paris resort.

You can see the latest times in full here: Entertainment Performance Times

Unfortunately, the Christmas version of Winnie the Pooh and Friends, Too advertised by the resort’s official website to begin on 16th December has yet to appear on any schedules. Has Pooh Bear made a last minute cancellation to his festive tea party, or are they for whatever reason hiding this show in the same way as the hushed relaunch of the Summer version?

(Marne-la-Vallée, France) In the place where dreams come true, Christmas is the season for not only magic, but also for generosity. On 18 November, just a few days before the anniversary of the Convention for Children’s Rights, 150 disadvantaged children from the Seine-et-Marne department were the special guests of Disneyland Resort Paris.

Together they helped assemble Frimousse dolls for UNICEF under the watchful eye of the event’s patron, Laëticia Hallyday. The Frimousse operation was created in 2001 to provide children in developing countries with vital vaccinations.

Like their creators, each Frimousse doll is unique. Aided by volunteers from Disney and UNICEF, the young people of Seine-et-Marne will use their creativity to bring hope to other children. All of the dolls will be given to UNICEF, who will then put them up for ‘adoption’ for a minimum donation of 20 euros – the equivalent of a child’s vaccination program. Disneyland Resort Paris hopes to offer 250 dolls.

This exceptional event seals the almost fifteen year partnership between UNICEF and Disneyland Resort Paris. Disney Cast Members had been working several weeks on making this an unforgettable affair, with many of the special Frimousses already crafted by Disney VoluntEARS.

News from Euro Disney SCA.

You can find out more about UNICEF here, and see the 2003 Disneyland Resort Paris charity CD Single “needmag?c” here.