News / Walt Disney Studios Park

Starting with Toon Studio, Cars Race Rally still remains a huge pit on the spot of the two pairs of turntables. The size of the pit, however, is quite impressive – it seems to be almost as deep as the JCB digger is high! The latest photos show the tarpaulin cover is still lining it – the next step from here should hopefully be concrete foundations poured. Over at Crush’s Coaster, work is still speeding along at EAC-speed, but since most of the ride is now hidden by the huge concrete walls, not a lot can be seen. The walls themselves have also continued to grow, with wide concrete sections being added along both the Flying Carpets and front sides of the coaster building. Some kind of steel supports are currently lying next to the outside dip, probably to be used on the sections of the building where the track leaves and re-enters, which are currently very wide gaps in the huge concrete wall sections.

Over at Tower of Terror, the most visible work is still going on at the rear, where the painters have now covered almost the entire surface in pale paint. A closer look reveals this work has also added texture to the bare concrete, an important element in allowing the Tower to look old and unloved. It’s unconfirmed when we’ll start to see the final paint colours added, but with another three sides still to be prepared for painting, we’re probably in for quite a wait. Take a walk around to the front of the attraction, though, and more progress can be seen right now. In addition to the concrete shell of the lower showbuilding edging ever nearer to completion, the last 24 hours have seen the wooden frames in the elevator openings at the front of the Tower finally removed!

You can see some of the latest Toon Studio photos here, whilst Tower of Terror photos from earlier this week can be seen here. Information sourced from these photos plus french Disney Central Plaza postings.

It began with scaffolding, building and building, higher and higher… Was it a refurbishment? Was it a set of gallows for Michael Eisner? No and no – it was a record-breaking new attraction for the Studios! One of the biggest billboards in all of France!

Originally celebrating the release of Chicken Little, by 3rd April 2006 the little Billboard had grown in size further and changed his affections to Pixar’s Cars. Still towering over Front Lot after 12 months, the future of the billboard seems uncertain.

With no major animted Walt Disney Pictures release for many months, what are we to expect? ‘Cars’ could stay until the DVD release of the movie. It could even stay until June 2007, when the ‘Cars Race Rally’ attraction actually opens at the park.

Whatever the future holds in store, happy birthday, Billboard! You’ve brought us more respect than ever before for the elegance and beauty of Front Lot!

xxxxx

Beginning in just a few weeks, the Big Thunder Mountain refurbishment will be the longest in the attraction’s history, running from 21st August to 13th October. Two other icons of Frontierland are also set to get their share of paint and polish – first up, the “unsinkable” Molly Brown, who suffered major smoke damage in 2005 after the main engine overheated, will finally be given a full refurbishment over the Winter. Beginning 4th October, she will return to service in late April 2007. As she does, the Mark Twain will return to the dock for another two month refurbishment.

Every single major attraction in Disneyland Park is scheduled in for at least a two week refurbishment, with the programme so expansive that even La Tanière du Dragon and Liberty Arcade are due for 2 and 3 week refurbishments respectively. Over at Walt Disney Studios Park, the 5-year-old attractions will also finally be getting a greater share of care. CinéMagique and Animagique will both have 1-week closures, whilst Studio Tram Tour will be given an mysteriously epic 3-week closure in November this year. The most interesting addition to the calendar, however, is surely Flying Carpets Over Agrabah. Closed from 5th to 23rd March 2007, it seems almost certain this will be to allow major work on the attraction to further integrate it into the new Toon Studio area, which is due to be completed June 2007.

You can see all the scheduled closures listed by month here.

After leaving the boarding area inside, the track makes a sharp turn to the left and climbs a steep lift hill which brings riders outside the front of the building. It then curves downwards to the right and goes through a small dip, before rising again and re-entering the building on the opposite side. The track has now been wrapped in a protective covering, since there’s still 10 months and a lot of work to go until completion of the attraction.

More progress has been made with the outside of the attraction, however, as small metal spikes are now visible around the huge opening in the front wall. These are likely to allow for the addition of the fake rockwork which will decorate the front and hide the lift hill from view.

It has also been designed to rise in parallel to the height of the track, so that only the turtle shell vehicles will be visible as they pass. Inside the attraction, a huge amount of walkway rigs have been put in place around the exterior walls and the roof covering is starting to appear.

You can see the full photo update at Photos Magiques’ construction gallery.

It is expected that the transformation will include sandy-coloured paving throughout the area, the repainting (to blue/purple) of several buildings, new gardens and trees and, of course, the long-rumoured addition of Wendy, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell circling the Sorcerer’s Hat. The date for the changeover of names from Animation Courtyard to Toon Studio is not yet known, however current schedules suggest the work will be complete by the time the busy Christmas Season kicks in in late December this year.

News from WDS Fans.

The official website features this preview page for the attraction, which is linked to right from the homepage of the old circa-2002 Walt Disney Studios Park website. The same has been done for each European country served by the website, and these pages must surely be gaining extra attention thanks to the very prominent direct link from each official ‘Cars’ movie website (see the the official UK ‘Cars’ movie website here for an example). At the bottom of every page in the Flash websites, a large banner reads “Cars: The Ride / Disneyland Resort Paris”.

The resort’s effort and success at marketing just a simple tea cups-style ride so effectively bodes well for the other riches they have at their disposal for 2007…