The official Disneyland Paris 25th Anniversary holiday brochure is here! Well, if you know where to look. Though not accessible directly from the resort’s website, a simple change of a web address now suddenly reveals a whole load more “sparkling” secrets… Read More…
This month’s Pin Trading releases include two more Disney Dreams! pins, two Eiffel Tower pins and another art nouveau Paris pin. Meanwhile in March 2014, Scrooge McDuck finds a pot of gold at the end of the St Patrick’s Day rainbow, Rapunzel represents Printemps (Spring) 2014 and Minnie Mouse gets a touch of Parisian avant-garde with a new “Oh La La” set.
Which ones would you like to add to your collection?
This month’s Pin Trading releases include two more Disney Dreams! pins, two Eiffel Tower pins and another art nouveau Paris pin. Meanwhile in March 2014, Scrooge McDuck finds a pot of gold at the end of the St Patrick’s Day rainbow, Rapunzel represents Printemps (Spring) 2014 and Minnie Mouse gets a touch of Parisian avant-garde with a new “Oh La La” set.
Which ones would you like to add to your collection?
![St Patrick's Day fireworks at Disneyland Paris [Still © DlrpWelcome]](http://dlpguide.com/images/2013/03/130320_stpatricksdavids1.jpg)
Even before Pixar’s “Brave” makes its grand debut with a new scene in the show itself, the technology of Disney Dreams! has brought an extra Celtic flourish to Disneyland Paris, utilised for the first time in both the recent St Patrick’s and St David’s Day firework displays.
Installed before the debut of the top-rated nighttime spectacular this time last year, the high-powered video-mapping projectors, water fountains and pyrotechnics were put to great use for both shows to bring their respective Irish and Welsh themes alive. Though the graphics and animations were not as “clever” as those used nightly in Disney Dreams! itself, they created a far more stunning display than in previous years thanks to the now bright, vivid quality of the projections.
![St David's Day fireworks at Disneyland Paris [Still © DlrpWelcome]](http://dlpguide.com/images/2013/03/130320_stpatricksdavids2.jpg)
![St Patrick's Day fireworks at Disneyland Paris [Still © DlrpWelcome]](http://dlpguide.com/images/2013/03/130320_stpatricksdavids3.jpg)
The two displays, performed 9th and 17th March, were also another welcome chance to see the 40-or-so water fountains now permanently installed in the moat of Sleeping Beauty Castle in action, firing into the sky and lighting up in all new ways. The last time guests got to see the fountains utilised for a different event was the dazzling Christmas Castle Illumination a few months ago.
Watch a complete video of each fireworks show by ‘DlrpWelcome’ below… Read More…
This Sunday, Disneyland Paris celebrates St Patrick’s Day for one day only with music, dance, fireworks and special character appearances. The full programme of events was released today, confirming the annual Irish celebrations will again be hosted largely in the Cottonwood Creek Ranch area of Frontierland, a tradition begun last year and continued with the St David’s Welsh Festival just last weekend.
On 17th March 2013, guests can expect special appearances from Disney characters in costumes inspired by the Emerald Isle, along with free face painting, a pipe band, Irish musicians and dance shows from the Sarah Clark Academy with special guests Chip ‘n’ Dale. A special fireworks display ends the day as a precursor to Disney Dreams! and the fun continues into the night at Disney Village.
All the times and details are in the programme attached below… Read More…
It’s 20s across the board for this month’s Pin Trading releases. The new pins include no less than five special Open Edition pins for the 20th Anniversary, three of which feature Mickey, Minnie and Chip ‘n’ Dale in their sorcerer-themed birthday costumes for Disney Magic on Parade! and Disney’s 20th Anniversary Celebration Train. A fourth pin featuring Tinker Bell completes the set which, priced at €8.99 each, will likely feature the characters in a pin-on-pin effect. At a more affordable €6.99, you could just pick up the Disneyland Paris 20th Anniversary logo pin, which is already in the hands of a few lucky collectors having been given away to shareholders at the Annual General Meeting last month.
Especially nice is the “postage stamp” set of six pins and a lanyard to celebrate the anniversary, while the “20” is even carried over to this year’s traditional season pins, beginning here with the €12.99 Cheshire Cat pin for spring 2012. Tinker Bell, that ubiquitous pin favourite, completes the releases with a €14.99 pin which opens up to reveal her sitting on a pot of gold — for St. Patrick’s Day, of course!
The next Pin Trading Night will be held in La Cantina at Disney’s Hotel Santa Fe from 6.00pm on Friday, 30th March. These are free events, usually with special Limited Pins on sale, where you can meet and trade with fellow collectors. Reservations are now also open for a Walt Disney Studios Pin Event on Saturday, 28th April. Limited to 300 people, the €35 entry fee includes buffet dinner within Restaurant En Coulisse. You’ll need to call 33 1 60 30 60 53 to book.
Ireland’s local Disney resort has made it an annual tradition to celebrate this annual tradition every 17th March, beginning a few years ago alongside the St David’s Day events.
Almost as much of a tradition, the “programme” notice board becomes ever more impossible to read…
We can, however, decipher that the Lee-Byrne Academy Dancers have returned to the park for another year, now one of the few entertainment spectacles you can enjoy on Royal Castle Stage:
This event is also unique in its inclusion of Disney characters — namely Chip and Dale — who rarely join visiting groups, for example during the Disney Magic Music Days events at Fantasy Festival Stage.
The Pride of Murray Pipe Band were this year given free reign of Main Street, U.S.A., parading the length of the street with traditional Celtic bagpipes and drums.
At 8.30pm, they even helped to close the day with a final, nighttime performance on Central Plaza, leading right into the St Patrick’s Day fireworks at 9pm.
Elsewhere, the Main Street Fire Truck rolled out again with shamrocks replacing its earlier Welsh daffodils and leeks for the pre-parade and Mickey and Minnie donned their green and yellow outfits to meet guests at Town Square and Casey’s Corner.
Photos by Dlrpteam for DLRP Today.com
However, the park was distinctly quieter than the same day in 2007, which fell on a Saturday, when record crowds filled the pathways to bursting point and packed into Le Théâtre du Château to see the Irish dancing, musical groups and Disney characters dressed in Celtic greens. On a Monday in low season, the day was a quieter yet still unique occasion to experience at Disneyland.
Once again, it was Le Théâtre du Château which hosted the dance troupes, bands and face painting events throughout the day, swapping its recent St. David’s Day makeover for a return of the green and yellow Irish decorations.
The dance troupes and entertainers themselves were also familiar — many, such as The Lee-Byrne Academy Dancers returning to the resort for the third time. They entertained park guests four times throughout the day with traditional dance, joined halfway through the show by Chip ‘n’ Dale in similar costume.
In the morning and later into the evening, the Gatwick Caledonian Pipe Band provided live music on the stage (see first picture).
All of the performers from both the dance troupe and pipe band, as well as a marching band from Northern Ireland, also took part in the special St Patrick’s Day pre-parade, dancing, drumming and piping their way along the parade route, followed by the stars of the show: Mickey and Minnie in bright green “leprechaun” costumes, riding on the redecorated Main Street fire truck
The pair could be met by guests at their usual locations on Town Square and at Casey’s Corner throughout the morning.
To round out the day of celebrations, which also included Celtic music in Disney Village and into the night at Billy Bob’s Country Western Saloon, the St Patrick’s Day Fireworks exploded into the sky above Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant. The fireworks were largely the same in formation as 2007, with the music remaining identical to the previous two years.
Video by arno-hh on Dailymotion:
[Credits: Programme from Scrooge on DMI forum; Photos by Willi77 on DisneyGazette forum]
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.