News / Walt Disney Studios Park

Stop a regular guest in Walt Disney Studios Park, ask them how they would improve Crush’s Coaster, and you’d no doubt get a response similar to “add Fastpass to it”.

As the Imagineers and anyone who followed its construction through 2006 and 2007 will tell you, however, it’s not that simple. And Crush’s Coaster most definitely is not a Fastpass-capable attraction. It was a surprise, then, to see the following sign pop up outside the attraction just a few weeks ago…

For two weeks at the end of October, the new attraction everyone generally-loves-but-hates-to-queue-for had the curse of public demand thrust upon its youthful, small, D-Ticket ambitions.

Each day, a small table was set up between the attraction’s main entrance and Flying Carpets Over Agrabah, finally revealing itself, come 10.30am, to be a temporary Fastpass distribution point. On presentation of park tickets, guests could pick up a timeslot ticket for the attraction and return later with their queue only starting at the entrance doors of Studio 5. Tickets went very fast, generally all gone by the middle of the day.

For the lucky few, it was a rare chance to enjoy the attraction with minimal wait (around 15 minutes). For everyone else, it meant almost equally lengthy queue times as before, despite there being less people in the queue. According to the cast members, it was, apparently, “bad”.

For the E-Ticket omnimover of Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast or the two platforms of Space Mountain: Mission 2, the system works like a dream. But then, consider Peter Pan’s Flight, with only between 4 and 6 people per flying pirate ship — due to small capacity tickets disappear in no time at all and queue times aren’t reduced whatsoever. Fastpass, unfortunately, doesn’t add capacity to an attraction, it just gives a nice half-and-half between people waiting in the queue and people “waiting” elsewhere.

If your attraction has a capacity as small as Pan or Crush (estimated at around 1,100 per hour, compared to 2,420 for Big Thunder Mountain or up to 3,000 for an omnimover like Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast), there’s so little room to breathe between the two that neither party gets a good deal.

But alas, the general public don’t understand this. And so, as demands for Fastpass continue to simmer upwards into management offices via questions to attraction CMs and those touch screen surveys at the park exit, they could snap at any moment. According to sources on Disney Central Plaza forum, the crews who oversee Fastpass were “on standby” to install real ticket machines following the results of these trials, and as yet no final decision has actually been made by the park.

It’s clear that something needs to be done to ease the crush of Crush on both impatient guests and hard-worked cast members. But consider this — if they were willing to invest in an expensive Fastpass ticketing system, why not instead invest in a longer outside queue line, one which guests won’t be disgusted to wait in?

A lack of theming, unloved sand dunes, views through the fence into Backstage, and unflattering close-ups of the Flying Carpets backdrop are the biggest “crush” for a Disney fan here, not the queue time.

— Fastpass photo by Joel’s Photo Hunt, logo © Disney, queue photo a DLRP Today exclusive. ;-)

The Disney Filmparade has brought us some truly brilliant looks into the world of Disneyland Resort Paris in the past — such as the creation of Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade or the Imagineering of Crush’s Coaster. Whilst basically a television promotion for the resort in the competitive German theme park market, nothing compares to the gems this show regularly throws up.

In their second special edition for The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror (following one many months ago), then, is there anything close to a “gem” worth looking out for? Well, the 58 screen caps which follow the video might answer that one.

It’s all in German, but, whatever your language, “enjoy!”…

Now, if it’s the first time you’ve seen the video, pick your jaw up off the floor. Let’s start again from the very beginning, the images in this TV special are going to take a while to sink in…

1. Tower of Terror street-level view, some months ago.

2. Pre-show video inside one of the two Library rooms.

3. Test riders (in costume!) superimposed on the screen.

1. View from halfway, early 2006.

2. View downwards, early 2007.

3. Tower going vertical timelapse.

1. Tower reaches full height at sunset.

2. Inside the hotel lobby, bare concrete, no ceiling.

3. (Almost) Completed ceiling with intricate paintwork and wooden carving.

1. Lobby with details on arches and progressing floor – note the beautiful floor tiles.

2. Some of the artifacts and forgotten ornaments to be dotted through the hotel.

3. Read our article about the Tower’s accessories for more on these.

1. Some of the real books to fill the bookshelves in each library, many by famous French authors.

2. Inside one of the libraries – note the wood panel ceiling, bookcases and countless accessories.

3. One of the boiler rooms (loading areas) during heavy construction.

1. Inside the completed boiler rooms – see the stairs to upper boiler room (2nd loading floor).

2. Panning along the incredible detail of the boiler rooms, acclaimed in DCA (and no doubt soon in WDS) for their spectacular show lighting.

3. One of the infamous service elevator entrances.

Continued with MUCH more on Page 2…

Since “The Hollywood Tower Hotel” sign was finally completed back in early October, the thin, double strips of neon surrounding each letter were turned on mid-way through the month — all except for the second “o” in “Hollywood”, which is of course never illuminated (though it certainly has the ability).

Later in the month and, next to the spooky glow of a crescent moon, the “W” of “Tower” begins to flicker and fade every few seconds, completing the look of this neon signage broken by the lightning impact on that fateful Halloween night in 1939.

Our friends at Photos Magiques/WDSfans.com captured a video of the sign undergoing tests a couple of weeks ago, long after regular park hours:

Now, where’s the “spectacular light show” promised? Are these later photos, by Disneytheque.com, spectacular enough for you? In addition to the flickering neon letters, the entire upper section of the hotel is illuminated in purple light with aqua blue effects rippling and swirling across its front, bursting upwards from the front of the hotel as if the Twilight Zone has just been thrust open within the hotel.

Along with these brilliant, bright colours for the upper tower, the lower floors of the hotel will be lit in more subtle yellow light (in all similar, but not identical to Disney’s California Adventure), creating a — you guessed it — spectacular contrast between the two.

At 183-ft tall, the Tower is a rather unique new landmark for the surrounding area, now regularly bathed in purples, blues and yellows as the illumination tests and adjustments continue.

— Photos by Photos Magiques and Disneytheque.com.

Beginning 22nd October, the Tower opened its doors to the very first Hollywood Tower Hotel “guests” in Paris — the cast members of Disneyland Resort Paris. This marks the start of Disney’s regular 60-day attraction testing period, leading right up to the 22nd December public opening, and the start of what will no doubt be an influx of comments, reviews and descriptions of the ride experience in Paris.

Photos or videos are strictly forbidden, but two insightful reviews have already been posted on our partner website magicforum. The biggest news so far is that of the attraction’s languages, finally putting an end to years of discussion and speculation about how the Imagineers — and the resort — might choose to present the hotel’s engrossing story to an international audience.

No separate queues, no one-language-per-library — Tower of Terror’s two library pre-show rooms feature videos dubbed into French with old-fashioned English subtitles. On the ride itself, Rod Serling’s famous lines are spoken entirely in French. Oui, cette tour est vraiment français! However, the option for an English narration will, apparently, be included for bellhops operating the elevators, allowing them the choice of which version to play for each elevator departing for The Twilight Zone.

The Imagineers have therefore found a suitable “voice double” for the original French dubbing of Rod Serling when The Twilight Zone series was broadcast in France. It took years for Mark Silverman to be named as the English voice of Rod Serling, so there’s no telling how long until the French artist is unmasked!

First review, by Poppy the Monkey…

I did Tower of Terror 7 times yesterday during the cast member previews. It is the best ride I’ve ever been on at DLRP, not done the american versions, but the theming, drop, and ride in general is incredible.

The library is in French with English subtitles, and the elevator itself is also all in French.

Great too that there was no queue all day, it was amazing.

All the ride itself is finished, just the shop and gardens and outside queue needs to be completed.

I’m still on a high!!

Second review, by experiment627…

Now, about two weeks ago, I had the wonderful chance to test ride “The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror” at the Walt Disney Studios – and I wanted to share a few thoughts that I have about this attraction… (Don’t worry, I’ll try to keep it spoiler-free.)

The work inside was about 99,5% done, while they still added the finishing touches to the entrance area of the “Hollywood Tower Hotel”.
The attention to detail of the whole experience is amazing: the hotel lobby looks beautifully (but then again, they still hadn’t added the dust to the props), the artifacts inside of the two libraries are amazing pieces and there’s enough eye-candy in these rooms alone. Same goes for the boiler-room, which has kind of a hellish-quality to it due to being two stories high. (Also, the detail in here is amazing…) The effects inside of the elevator shafts were all running and pretty impressive. And then: the view! Just breathtaking… One can see pretty much all of the Studios as well as everything at Disneyland from Big Thunder Mountain to Space Mountain.

I’d call the drop-program “Disney-thrilling”, as in: true thrill-seekers might be a bit disappointed, but just as thrilling as, lets say, “Rock’n’Rollercoaster”. But then again, it’s not about the thrill but about the whole experience…

And in this case… well, let’s put it this way: the “Tower of Terror” managed to transport me into another world. To a Hollywood that never was. To a place, that just existed in my imagination… It’s the very first attraction at the Walt Disney Studios to do so. And in my book, it reminds me of the very best Disney-storytelling (and story-setting) like DLP’s “Pirates of the Caribbean” or “Phantom Manor”.

All in all – even if one should prefer the versions of the ride in California, Florida or Japan -, I view “The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror” as the best, most “Disney”-ride ever since the opening of Disneyland Parks 15 years ago…

I hope I wet your appetite.

Also revealed — or so we believed — during the Cast Member previews were the costumes for our Parisian Tower of Terror bellhops, identical to those of the cinema ushers at CinéMagique.

Luckily, several sources have since confirmed that the famous deep-red bellhop costumes with ‘HTH’ embroidery are in production for the attraction but simply not ready to be worn at this time.

Now, back to learning French for our journey into la Quatrième Dimension…

For weeks already, dates have been thrown around, rumoured and even “confirmed”. Running a news service dedicated to Disneyland Resort Paris becomes a bit of a challenge during times like this — to report the date, or not? But now, we give in. The rumours have become deafening, the rumoured dates narrowed down to one single day, the confirmations coming from all angles (such as here on our own magicforum).

It’s Saturday, 22nd December 2007. Yes, 22nd December 2007. Say it again — maybe a few more times — because, in years to come, this date will be just as special as 12th April 1992 and 16th March 2002.

Have Disneyland Resort Paris confirmed the date? Well, not exactly. But when was the last time they did something as helpful as that? It’s far more fun to keep the fans guessing! The most obvious semi-confirmation comes from the Pin Trading department, who — just a few weeks ago — published an announcement (below) for a Pin Event in December on the worldwide Pin Trading website.

Not just any Pin Event though — oh no. Even if you’re one of those Disney park fans who loaths everything about Pin Trading, you really might want to give this a look. Scheduled for the night of 22nd December 2007 (there’s the clue!), the event at Walt Disney Studios Park is set to include exclusive pins and pre-releases, entertainments and competitions, a buffet in Disney Studio 1 and… wait for it… privatised access to the attraction.

The reservations hotline opened on 19th October: +33 825 30 60 30. Prices are €33 for Adults, €30 for Children, or just €29 if you’re a shareholder or Fantasy/Dream passholder.

So, with lucky Pin Traders (and no doubt a few Pin Haters) getting the chance to ride The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror on the night of 22nd December 2007, we can be pretty sure it’ll be ready and open for the public by this date. The completion date of Hollywood Boulevard area is still undetermined, with work possibly continuing beyond the 22nd December unless this next month-and-a-half sees a continued push for the finish.

The press events for the attraction will take place in the first week of April 2008, allowing the resort to extend the lifetime of the initial 15th Anniversary offerings and make a maximum impact with their most important attraction launch for over ten years. This will also coincide with the opening of Stitch Live and the return of High School Musical On Tour.

As confirmed previously, the Tower has been testing on a daily basis for some time. However, a period of Soft Openings (tests with guests in the park invited to try the ride) will still likely take place before the 22nd December 2007, not least because this represents the start of the full high-season and an incredible influx of visitors to the two parks. Straying back into pure “rumour” territory now, we can suggest the weekend of 8th December 2007 is now looking most likely to begin these, running for brief periods across for two weeks as with the Toon Studio rides. The first weekend could also serve as the Shareholder and Annual Passport previews. As yet, however, this should be taken as speculation only.

The opening date of “January 2008” is still to be used in all official public publications, but this now simply means anybody already visiting over the key Christmas season will have a rather nice (or rather nasty) surprise waiting for them in the Studios… depending on their thrill level!

Back in 1999, when the ‘Disney Studios Paris’ project was first finalised and announced, you could say they left something rather important out of those original plans. When the average European thinks of a movie studio, they think of Hollywood. When they think of Hollywood, they imagine tall palm trees, towering into the sky…

Yet, once past the smaller and more hardy Chinese ‘Trachycarpus’ palms (thanks, Wikipedia!) found throughout Front Lot, ignoring the two or three palms of similar species next to Flying Carpets Over Agrabah, the main body of the park lacked the lush exoticism usually associated with the world of moviemaking.

Yesterday, the central, most important area of Walt Disney Studios Park finally took its climate beyond the bounds of Marne-la-Vallée, France. Along the left hand-side of Hollywood Boulevard, four giant palm trees now reach high into the sky as tall, almost, as the placemaking buildings they surround, seen here in photos by member Silver at Disney Central Plaza forum.

Immediately, if you can ignore the grey Marne-la-Vallée skies, the new developments are transported to an exotic, sun-kissed Hollywood setting. Finally, the heart of ‘Disney Studios Paris’ has the power to make us believe, for a second, that we might not be in Paris. And all acheived with four fake palm trees?

Yes, they’re fake. But not only because species such as these (they appear most similar to Washingtonia robusta, found in both Southern California and Florida) would never grow in Paris.

Look a little closer and it becomes clear the trees have actually been “designed” to shrink in both their height and size as they go further along the boulevard, helping the forced perspective of the background sets at the far end of the street. The tree nearest to Disney Bros Plaza is much larger than those which follow, also providing a perfect silhouette against the façade of Tower of Terror to immediately evoke a more exotic climate when guests step into the park.

A matching series of faux palms should frame the right-hand side of the boulevard once construction on the ‘Gone Hollywood‘ storefront moves forward a little more. Not satisfied with fake palms? The developments will also include several new or redeveloped planters around the area, filled with real palms in the same variety of those surrounding Crush’s Coaster — a couple are already planted, behind the fences.

It might finally be time to say goodbye to our old, deciduous Studios and welcome a park which will have the glamour and greenery of Hollywood, all year round…

( Photos by Silver, Disney Central Plaza forum )

Look out for a major photo update of the latest Hollywood Boulevard contruction this weekend!

Part 2 of our Corbin Bleu visit coverage; You can see Part 1 here, with Corbin starring in the final performance of High School Musical On Tour.

The thrills began at 10am sharp, with Corbin entering Walt Disney Studios Park via the backstage gate in Backlot to be confronted right away with a favourite from his visits to Walt Disney World — Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith.

A theme runs throughout the entire collection of press photos from Corbin’s visit — yes, all the in-park shots are exclusively from Walt Disney Studios Park.

In the past, VIP guests have invariably posed in the usual spot beside Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant, and certainly always within Disneyland Park. However, Disneyland Resort Paris has apparently just remembered it has a second gate, and is only too happy to flaunt the newly-improved experience within.

After the non-celebrities who attended the Toon Studio launch and the original ‘VIPs’ of the 15th Anniversary launch (Andie MacDowell, anyone?), Corbin’s visit was quite a major event for the resort.

His debut album has been somewhat less succesful in the US than expected, but, adored by mostly female fans of a younger age (and no doubt their mothers), the premiere showings of his three “Disney Channel Original Movies” were seen by a total of 33.4 million viewers in their native country. The recent UK premiere of High School Musical 2 drew an impressive 1.3 million viewers on its own, one of the highest audiences in recent years for a digital subscription channel.

Be it from a love of the parks or simply to keep the mouse that made him famous happy, it’s nothing but refreshing to see a VIP guest who has no problem lending his smile to so many moments of great publicity for the Studios…

…or, in some cases, something nearer to a scream.

Next, Corbin headed across the park to Toon Studio and one attraction he certainly won’t have seen in the States: Crush’s Coaster. With his father David Reivers, most well-known, strangely, for his role in Corbin’s own Disney Channel hit “Jump In!”, Corbin made himself one of the first true celebrities to take on the resort’s newest roller coaster.

In interviews taken later, the star apparently had nothing but praise for the latest thrill, enjoying its spinning movement and comparing in detail the different experiences given from riding the initial part of the attraction forwards or backwards.

Speaking of Disneyland Park, he said the Castle was “beaaautiful!” and enjoyed how the original attractions were “the same, but also brand new”, comparing the story of Phantom Manor with its Haunted Mansion cousin. A good soundbite for the 15th Anniversary Celebration saw Corbin suggest how young the resort was and how much there will still be to come, “considering, in California, we just celebrated our 50th.”

Either this guy had a press release fed to him, or he really knows his Disney parks. Regardless, the resort now has a valuable collection of publicity from one of Disney’s biggest modern-day stars…

And he even said a quick “thank you” to Mickey Mouse himself.

All photos © Disney.

When DLRP Today broke the news Corbin would be visiting Disneyland Resort Paris back on Saturday, we knew right away the resort wouldn’t be wasting this perfect opportunity for some of their own publicity. They announced the news on their own 15th Anniversary Official Blog, and, when the day rolled around, it was clearly covered from all angles by their audio/visual crew.

Even before his day at Walt Disney Studios Park began, Corbin was allowed to enjoy the sights and attractions of Disneyland Park, with a stop at Disneyland Hotel’s luxurious Café Fantasia to sign some prizes, pose for photos, show off a Mickey Mouse watch and meet a selection of journalists…

On Monday at Walt Disney Studios, Corbin first visited the Walt Disney Television Studios within the park (home of Disney Channel France and future home of new interactive attraction Stitch Live) to give interviews with reporters from radio stations and Disney Channel’s European networks.

The star wasn’t present at the main European launch event in London last month, so this was his first chance to promote High School Musical 2 and his new album over here.

As promised, at 1.15pm Corbin began the day’s performance of Disney Cinema Parade in Hollywood style, riding atop a vehicle from Good Morning Walt Disney Studios. The dancers and performers from High School Musical On Tour surrounded the car for a special pre-parade set to the music of “What time is it?” and “Get-cha head in the game”, amongst other songs.

The guest reaction was mixed between slightly confused and completely starstruck — the original film wasn’t quite as big a success in France as other European countries, but the look on many kids’ faces as their hero calmly drove by was priceless. Luckily, visiting on a Monday in early October meant park attendance was lower than usual.

High School Musical fans who spotted Corbin here then had less than an hour to prepare themselves for the main event — the final 2007 performance of High School Musical On Tour, with Corbin not just making a cameo appearance but singing and dancing along with the cast…

The show ended with a dream photo opportunity for the show’s 2008 return, plus some final extra pictures for the journalists covering the event…

Corbin was then free to meet his screaming female fans gathered around the area, signing autographs against the backdrop of The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, answering questions such as “where’s Zac?” and posing for photographs.

And that’s it, the first season of High School Musical On Tour has come to a close!

Throughout the later months of 2007 it has symbolised the quite remarkable change seen throughout the whole of Walt Disney Studios Park — the “Start of Something New” would sum it up nicely. With new attractions opened, new theming completed and this mega-hit show presented several times each day, a worthy partner to the original Disneyland Park finally began to appear.

Didn’t have the chance to visit this Summer? Lucky for you, the celebration continues — and so does High School Musical On Tour, returning April 2008!

Join DLRP TODAY tomorrow for EVEN MORE from Corbin’s visit to Disneyland Resort Paris!

All pictures © Disney.