News / Walt Disney Studios Park

Modern silver-colour elevator doors suddenly receive themed coverings, wood panelling completed
throughout collapsed corridors (walls are 2D, panel effect stuck on), turquoise walls have their
paintwork ripped, faded and even washed down onto the elevator doors.

Bright colours and strong details — chipped plaster, decorated elevator doors, “art deco turquoise”
collapsed corridors and brown drainpipes forming a maze across the hotel.

Queue roof getting paint and art deco details, appears to be at about the same stage
as the Fastpass area (see further below).

Beautiful theming on a beautiful day. This one’s just for the picture.

Turning the corner from the back of Toon Studio, Tower of Terror is an awesome sight ahead.

Redbrick theming is now a touch more “purple-brick”.

Drainpipes reach their end, the larger tubes above the doors enclose the on-ride cameras! Notice
the wires falling from them. Stairs between floors in the alcove have yet to be enclosed.

Covered hotel entrance area finally started theming, Fastpass canopy (foreground)
now has paint and countless darker art deco details.

The three domes of the Tower are infact now outdone in style and
beauty by the dome of the Hollywood Boulevard placemaking!

Look out for a full photo and video tour of the Hollywood Boulevard area following shortly, including many more angles on the Tower of Terror and its surrounding placemaking from across the park.

If you have not had the chance to step into the park recently and experience the effect of all this new construction for yourself, you won’t want to miss this!

Photos by DLRP Today; Dated 23rd-25th August 2007.

The brilliant thing about a company like Disney with many different entities so closely tied is that, when one area has great success, this success can than be easily spread to the other areas. High School Musical has not only been a big hit for Disney Channel, merchandise (Consumer Products) and Home Entertainment — three of Disney’s theme park resorts have enjoyed capitalising on the TV movie’s vast cult following with similar success.

For Walt Disney Studios Park, already boosted by the huge impact of Toon Studio, High School Musical On Tour has been a huge hit with guests since its premiere 16th June 2007. The talented cast of dancers and singers immediately won their fans, drawing large crowds, many repeat viewings and superb guest feedback.

The show has certainly been a factor in the two parks suddenly appearing slightly more “balanced” in their offerings this Summer, the Studios now seen by more guests than before as a viable, separate park which should command more time during their visit. You’d almost be able to see the huge, smug grin across the face of Disney Studio 1, if it weren’t for that billboard in the way…

It comes as no surprise, then, that management want this “golden age” for Walt Disney Studios Park to continue beyond the end of the Summer season, 26th August 2007. High School Musical On Tour has now been confirmed to run until 14th October 2007.

Fewer performances will be presented each day, no shows will be presented on Mondays or Tuesdays and new cast will join to replace those whose Summer contract has ended, but continuing such an immense hit until mid-Halloween should prove incredibly popular. You can find showtimes for this extended run here.

Crucially, the show will bring life to the Production Courtyard area of the park which otherwise only currently features CinéMagique to entertain guests whilst Hollywood Boulevard and Stitch continue their development. This is the first time a seasonal show at the park has been continued outside of the main Summer season.

High School Musical On Tour will also definitely return in 2008 following its Winter break, to be pushed by Disneyland Resort Paris in brochures and advertisements as strongly as their key 15th Anniversary ceremony at Disneyland Park, Candleabration.

It seems Karl Holz is the latest recruit on the Wildcats’ team.

» You can now find a full video of High School Musical On Tour at DLRP Magic! Video.

The agreement with MGM began back in 1986 as Michael Eisner’s new management sought after more “adult” properties for the park Disney hoped would beat Universal Studios’ Florida outpost.

On 1st May 1989, Disney-MGM Studios Theme Park opened its gates in Orlando, Florida, the third theme park at Walt Disney World Resort. Since then, fans have long used the ‘MGM’ tag to refer to the park, but not for much longer…

The troubles began way back in the 1990s, as MGM became unhappy with Disney’s use of the name and Disney became unhappy with MGM’s use of the name for casinos, hotels and a small theme park in Las Vegas. The news of a name change has been expected for years… but did fans expect this? Not a hint of ‘Pixar’ in sight, a possible sign that the park will return to its purely Hollywood roots…

Disney-MGM Studios name to be put to rest January 2008

The press release from late yesterday:

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (Aug. 9, 2007) — In the Walt Disney World theme park famous for all things Hollywood, it’s curtain up on the launch of new attractions, new looks, new breakthrough experiences…

…and a brand-new name.

Disney-MGM Studios will be renamed Disney’s Hollywood Studios, effective January 2008, announced Meg Crofton, president of Walt Disney World Resort.

“The new name reflects how the park has grown from representing the golden age of movies to a celebration of the new entertainment that today’s Hollywood has to offer — in music, television, movies and theater,” she said.

Framed by the park’s supporting cast of classic Hollywood architecture are shows and attractions straight from contemporary Hollywood, such as Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, “Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show” and many more. Disney’s Hollywood Studios is also the place to meet favorite character stars of today including Lightning McQueen and Mater from Disney-Pixar’s “Cars,” Power Rangers and Little Einsteins.

With exciting coming attractions and experiences, the best and brightest of Hollywood is about to emerge for park guests, Crofton said.

“As Disney continues to grow and invest in our family entertainment business, we constantly explore new ways to deliver high-quality, immersive experiences for our guests,” she added. “As a park all about entertainment, Disney’s Hollywood Studios will deliver like never before. Now we can say that Hollywood is literally our middle name.”

Initial reaction from a Paris perspective: relief.

The ‘Disney-Pixar Studios’ name was always the favourite (or rather the “most likely”) amongst most followers, but there was always the off-chance that Disney-MGM could become something along the lines of ‘Walt Disney Studios Florida’, casting our much-loved little park in Paris into the shadows, in the eyes of the public nothing more than an offshoot from the older brother.

Luckily, that hasn’t happened. The park in Florida stays true to its “Hollywood that never was” roots and the fast-growing park in Paris can stand on its own two feet, still the only park with Walt Disney’s name on it… whether its critics like that or not.

Still the one and only Walt Disney Studios Park

The release goes on to confirm several new attractions for the park — ‘Toy Story Mania!’, ‘Block Party Bash’, a new ‘Playhouse Disney-Live on Stage!’, ‘Disney’s High School Musical 2: School’s Out!’ show and ‘Handy Manny’ meet ‘n’ greets. Obviously having exclamation marks at the end of names will be a new criteria for Disney’s Hollywood Studios. Ever confident and superlative of their offerings, Walt Disney World announce this line-up as “one of the most ambitious attractions rollouts in the 18-year history of the park.”

‘Toy Story Mania!’ has been anticipated for a long time to be the attraction to launch the new park name, but not confirmed until right now is the second new offering — Block Party Bash. The high-energy parade from Disney’s California Aventure park coming to Florida means that the old 2002 Disney Stars and Motor Cars parade finally jumps ship…

Disney Stars and Motor Cars freed up for Paris?

…and if you remember the rumours on magicforum or our article from March, you’ll know where rumour says it will wash up. Yes, our very own Walt Disney Studios Park. The news today that its five-year run at Disney-MGM Studios will come to an end in Spring 2008 fits perfectly with the rumours that it could premiere in Paris ready for the first summer of Hollywood Boulevard and a slightly extended 15th Anniversary Celebration.

Is that really likely to happen? Visit Disneyland Resort Paris tomorrow and watch the current parade, Disney Cinema Parade. A little later, hop over to Disneyland Park and catch the new Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade — the difference is quite shocking, don’t you think? For all its charm and interesting avant-garde designs, Disney Cinema Parade is, after over five years of daily “lights, camera, action!”, tired and ready for replacement — especially next to the dazzling show on offer next door.

A brand new parade on the scale and budget of Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade is out of the question, so the park would be a fool not to pick up the Stars and Motor Cars to celebrate its very own new Hollywood, don’t you think?

“Walt Disney Studios: More than just Hollywood”

So, as it works out, Disney’s Hollywood Studios could mean very good things for Paris’ Walt Disney Studios Park. A new parade, it’s own identity. Good things at least… so far.

Yes, the shadow being cast over this “good news” for Walt Disney Studios Park is that several online news sources continue to push Crush’s Coaster as a possible new attraction for the new ‘Pixar Place’ area of the park, next to ‘Toy Story Mania!’.

Kevin Yee mentions it as a rumour in every ‘Rumour Rundown’ article on MiceAge.com and today Jim Hill even spoke of Pixar Place as the area that will “play host to the studio theme park’s ‘Toy Story Mania’ attraction as well as the soon-to-be-announced stateside version of ‘Crush’s Coaster‘.”

Crush’s Coaster, “soon-to-be-announced” for Disney-MGM Studios? The bright blue showbuilding and its wacky blue rockwork don’t seem like an instant match for the more serious Florida studio, not to mention this would give Walt Disney World its third consecutive Nemo-based attraction at a third different park (after The Musical at Animal Kingdom and The Seas at Epcot).

Haven’t folks in Orlando had enough ‘Nemo’ yet?

It’s no secret that Crush’s Coaster was built on a fairly tight budget for Paris, so a second version in Florida could end up teasing unlucky fans in Paris with enhanced effects. Even if the attraction arrived in Florida in identical form, it would mean Walt Disney Studios Park losing a unique attraction, one which has finally helped to edge it onto the Disney map in a very positive way.

Hopefully rumour of Crush’s Coaster in Florida will go the same way as the ‘Disney-Pixar Studios’ name… to a Hollywood that truly “never was”.

Photos and logos © Disney.

The curse of -those details which have been on the California Tower all along but you probably never noticed- returns! For example — we know a whole front section of this deserted hotel was blown to pieces by the lighting bolt on that “fateful night”, but did you know the Imagineers would fully decorate the remaining corridors and walls as if real rooms within the hotel, before giving them their lightning-struck purple scorch marks?

Disneytheque.com brings the latest construction pictures…

Hollywood Tower Hotel – ready for reopening? (Photo: Disneytheque.com)

The rooms are certainly bright and modern for the era – the Art Deco favourite of turquoise has arrived on the remaining walls of Paris’ front wing, with the completed Californian version showing the wood panelling, window details and — eventually — purple cracks and scorches still to come.

The design of the corridors matches with that seen in the two show scenes below — the elevator’s disappearance in a mirror and the ghostly corridor where The Twilight Zone takes hold of you.

Corridors in Paris (Photo: Disneytheque.com) …and California (Photo: Sun-Mountain.net)

Currently looking a rather innocent shade of pale yellow, the completion of this corridor decoration will then allow for the heavier signs of the lightning strike to give the resort’s newest icon a quite surprising sense of devastation. This is no Sleeping Beauty Castle!

The cracked and broken wall around the front portion of the building has now nearly completed its purple lightning overcoat, jutting up across the facade to further push the “story” to guests that the Tower is missing a large portion of its original 1920s structure.

More destruction, but rooms are bright are airy! (Photo: Disneytheque.com)
/ Rear paintwork completed (Photo: NeMo, Disney Central Plaza forum)

Finally, more signs elsewhere show the exterior theming project wrapping up remarkably fast — the vertical line of windows on the far left of the building’s behind has now been surrounded by a finished coat of pale yellow paint and 15 years-worth of dirt. The final piece of construction scaffolding — two small steel towers for the “real” service elevators — should be removed soon, finally marking the completion of the rear wall.

The opening date, you ask? The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror is still most definitely on track for an official opening in January 2008, it’d be suicide for the resort to begin the full launch any earlier, but word from insiders continues to confirm that guests visiting from 22nd December 2007 onwards could be treated to a special “soft-opening” test ride during their visit. This would then put the attraction in line for a proper launch in the early weeks of January — exactly when many European families begin to plan their holidays for the year.

Will the five-star luxury and bright and airy rooms of The Hollywood Tower Hotel win them over?

You can see the rest of Disneytheque.com’s latest update here.

Our thanks go to magicforum member Maarten for all the photos in this update, who has even sent us in a few extra pictures of construction progress in addition to those posted on the forum.

Facing toward the Castle and therefore away from the sun, it’s rare to see the sun’s rays across the front of Walt Disney Studios‘ Tower. With the long days of July and August, however, the sunset just catches its Californian front…

Sun sets on another day of rapid ageing

Inside the park, and the Summer season also works wonders for the greenery of Walt Disney Studios, framing the Tower and its nearby Hollywood Boulevard companions for a perfect snapshot. Not bad for the Studios, is it?

Hiding behind trees and boulevards / All letters face inward

No doubt you’ve noticed the pesky letters – which, last time we updated progress, had just seen the letter ‘Y’ turned to face the park for testing, only to be swiftly turned back again. If you believe the latest rumours, it appears that not only do the letters still need to be wired up and installed properly before turning over, but the first few letters of the word “Hollywood” infact need to be taken down and repositioned several centimetres to the left…

There does certainly seem to be more of the walkway exposed on the left, but could a construction team working for Walt Disney Imagineering really make that mistake? At least if true it’ll make a good “fun fact” for the future!

Tower of Terror from across the park

Despite the letters still facing inwards, it’s now much easier to get a sense of what Tower of Terror will bring to the park. Visible from every angle, plastered with detailed theming and Hollywood style, and most importantly set within its own miniature timezone.

The Twilight Zone is a strange place, where cracks and debris can form in just days. However, differences on the “lightning struck” part of the Tower continue to appear between the Paris and Californian versions. The red and grey brick design seen on the right of the building remains and is looking more and more to be the final design.

On the left side, the damage isn’t quite so severe but the purple blast marks certainly are. Overall, though, the strength of the purple markings on this Tower, perhaps a little over-done in California, are looking much more restrained so far.

More purple “blast” marks / Tower Hotel Gifts given the gift of paint

Much of the recent progress on the exterior is now focusing on the walls and entrance tower of the Tower Hotel Gifts boutique, a part of the Tower previously far from completion both outside and inside. Circular art deco details have been added to the corner pieces of the tower, which will eventually be quite similar to that of Studio Photo on Front Lot, and the terra cotta tiled roof is finally going on, the final roof to be completed on the project.

Elsewhere, the balconies on both sides of the building have now been uncovered with only small sections of scaffolding remaining. We’ve now less than five months to go until opening, and square front section of the hotel is showing it. With its final coat of paint and final age details, it might not be too long before scaffolding comes down here too.

29th July 2006 / 27th July 2007

One year ago it was just a concrete shell, today – it’s The Hollywood Tower Hotel.

From Disney Village parking – Hollywood will now “always have Paris”

The years really do pass quickly in The Twilight Zone!

All photos by Maarten.

…And, in classic Walt Disney Studios Park style, they did it on budget with just a bit of clever thinking.

Rendez-Vous des Stars Restaurant becomes Buffet Service

Like Disneyland Park in the early nineties, a simple change of service can solve the restaurants problem. Luckily, this doesn’t mean downgrading a restaurant (such as Explorer’s Club to Colonel Hathi’s), but rather turning the park’s “highest” class restaurant – the Art Deco cafeteria-style Rendez-Vous des Stars into a fixed-price unlimited buffet.

The original idea was that the restaurant served as the dining place for the more prestigious stars and directors during their time at Walt Disney Studios. However swanky the interior, though, there’s only so much magic you can get from a canteen-service. As a Buffet Service from 27th August 2007, the restaurant will provide one menu price of € 23 and a dining quality very similar to that of Plaza Gardens Restaurant at Disneyland Park. Quite a step up for the actors and crew of the Studios!

Since the restaurant is already set up with long serving counters, the change will likely take place overnight at the end of the Summer season. Et Voilà – Walt Disney Studios finally has a buffet service!

Toon Studio’s first merchandise location!

It’s bizarre that as the park’s most popular land, filled with popular and marketable Disney and Pixar characters, Toon Studio has before now only had the Disney Animation Gallery to its name – a boutique so small you fear for your life (or at least wallet) every time you try to navigate around the delicate glass ornaments and snow globes. Meanwhile, groups of large retail trucks populate areas such as Disney Bros. Plaza and Backlot.

The balance has begun to shift – again in typical “small budget but clever thinking” Walt Disney Studios style. The sligthly barren piece of courtyard between Animagique and Flying Carpets Over Agrabah is now finally home to a brand new retail location. Simple in design, but nestled amongst the trees with colours and a curved roof matching Disney Studio 3 itself. The location is clearly more along the lines of “La Petite Maison des Jouets” in Fantasyland, though currently without its own name.

If you’ve ever spotted those merchandise trucks in Backlot, the sheer quantity of merchandise hanging out in the street might have given you the feeling of being at some kind of jumble (rummage) sale. Strangely, the Toons are being much more restrained with the amount of goods on their shelves, and the location even appears to be slightly understocked.

Now they have a place to sell merchandise, and have seen the hundreds of guests running to Crush’s Coaster each morning, will they finaly realise the Studios could have a mega franchise to exploit, and make some more merchandise? Not everyone can fit into a 7-year old’s T-shirt, after all…

Toon retail photos by Maarten on magicforum.

…Apart from the ‘Y‘, that is. But more on that in a second…

“They’ll have to wait until the construction elevator is taken down,” we all thought. “They’ll be the very last thing to take their place on the facade,” we believed. Well, we were wrong. The iconic letters spelling out “The Hollywood Tower Hotel” are now all in place high above the ground of Marne-la-Vallée, installed in just a matter of days along with the service walkway hidden behind them.

You might be thinking “Ah, so now guests will begin to ask Cast Members when they can book a room in the hotel at the middle of the park?”, but we’re not there yet. All of these letters are still upside-down, facing inwards…

Progress on Tuesday by Willi77, Dlrp.fr forum member

Fans of the the Tower of Terror (and in particular its existing Californian incarnation) will likely be well aware that a series of important maintenance and service walkways are hidden behind the famous letters.

Probably a lesser-known fact is that each of the neon-lit letters are connected to the side of the walkway on an axis, apparently allowing them to be turned inwards for maintenance. Installed piece-by-piece in this way, we’re now going to begin a second unveiling, as each of the terror-filled letters turns to face the public and finally reveal… “The Hollywood Tower Hotel”.

Progress early yesterday by STS, WDSfans.com visitor

The words and walkways were only just completely fixed in place yesterday, following several months of preparation backstage, but already the letter ‘Y‘ has jumped ahead and been flipped over to face the park.

Progress late yesterday by Willi77, Dlrp.fr forum member

Each of the larger letters spelling “H-O-L-L-Y-W-O-O-D T-O-W-E-R” has its own independant axis, whilst the italic script words of “The” and “Hotel” are split into three sections – “The”, “Ho” and “tel”. They should gradually be turned to face Walt Disney Studios Park over the coming days, as their electrical components are hooked up. The final nightly illumination won’t come for at least several weeks, and may be held off even longer – perhaps with an elaborate ceremony, as at Disney’s California Adventure?

When illuminated at night, the second ‘O‘ of “Hollywood” is blown-out completely, whilst the ‘W‘, teetering at an angle, buzzing brighter and darker every few seconds. Standing 183-ft tall (as if you needed reminding by now!) and truly “tower”-ing over the entire resort, visible for miles around, the installation of these letters on the resort’s largest icon is a historic step in construction.

And when it’s done?

Completed Tower of Terror by sun-mountain.net

Not only will the glowing letters and startling purple illumination of the Tower be a unique and rather bizarre new landmark for Marne-la-Vallée (don’t forget – it can be seen from as far away as Meaux!), but every time an elevator drops into The Twilight Zone, the bright flash of the on-ride photo cameras two-thirds the way up its facade will be like a flash of lightning over the region.

The Hollywood Tower Hotel wasn’t called a “beacon” for nothing!

Photos by Willi77, WDSfans.com, Sun-Mountain.net.

The latest photo update by Photos Magiques provides several views from across the park on the latest construction, which has caused quite a stir as it suddenly injects a whole lot of “Hollywood” into a previously empty area. They chose the “placemaking” term well – when you see Sorcerer Mickey across from Hollywood Boulevard, the separate lands of Walt Disney Studios are finally obvious.

This “new” version 2 of Paris’ second gate isn’t forgetting its past too quickly though, the first update today actually comes from La Terrasse. Our beacon of hope for a future Tower of Terror since 2002 — now due to live on as a food court, albeit in a rather daring (and very Art Deco) new colour scheme of mint green details and faded yellow edges.

The first of the new landmarks — Studio Tram Tour‘s future entrance, the ‘Hollywood Hills Tunnel‘ — we spot from the area currently serving as the attraction’s entrance. The frame of the tunnel appears to be shaping up just like the design seen on the current park map, which has turned out to be an excellent and very accurate “placemaking guide” for any curious visitors.

As one new landmark has risen, others are already receiving the smallest of details. A new photo update posted today by G-force on Disney Central Plaza forum shows one week of remarkable progress.

The “Off the Page” tower now has a sandy-coloured base to its green spire, but the real star of the production is the building on the furthest edge of the development, still beating all others with its fast construction. The steel shell has begun to receive the first faux stone carvings on its façade, with the shape of its main window actually cut out of the thin walls — confirming once and for all that the inspiration here is indeed Disney-MGM Studios’ “Sweet Success” boutique.

The “stick-on” edging and details show just how fake this Hollywood really is. But, fake it may be, those details speak for themselves. The size of the sets is also impressive, especially when put into perspective with the construction workers seen applying the façades in these pictures.

However, the real “skyscrapers” can be found at the end of the boulevard — another two new landmarks, the First National Bank (on the left) and the Broadway Building apartments (on the right), nestled together either side of the Hollywood Hills Tunnel. The frames match exactly the designs seen on the current park map.

As Photos Magiques spotted on the construction permit a few weeks ago, the tallest of the sets reaches a surprising 62ft tall, just 4ft short of the Earffel Tower!

You might notice a difference between the tunnel and these two forced-perspective towers compared to the Gone Hollywood storefront in the foreground — they’re all painted a yellow-tinted magnolia, rather than left as bare steel. Which, when you think about it, makes it very likely we’ll continue to see at least part of these frames (likely from behind) once the façades have been applied.

Something else to be watched closely is how the Imagineers are planning to bridge the gap between faux, forced-perspective Hollywood movie sets, such as the First National Bank, and the real, functioning Tower of Terror…

Photos by Photos Magiques (more here), and G-force on Disney Central Plaza (more here).
Don’t forget — our new Hollywood Bouelvard guide provides a full layout plan of the entire project!