DLRP Rewind: Gare de Marne-la-Vallée - Chessy

Every year millions of people pass through the doors of the Gare SNCF de Marne-la-Vallée - Chessy, the majority end up in the Disneyland Paris parks or hotels, others will just be passing through on their way to other destinations across Europe; this is the life of the number one inter-connection station in France. The station and Disneyland Paris are so intrinsically linked that it is almost difficult to imagine the resort without the station that brings the magic so close that 37 million Europeans are now just one train change away!

When the Walt Disney Company and the French State signed their agreement (La convention pour la création et l'exploitation d'Euro Disneyland en France) on the 24th March 1987, the agreement mentioned the creation of a station for the LGV Interconexion Est which is a high speed line connecting the existing North and South East line, this interconnection opened in May 1994. At the time, the Chief architect of the French Railways described the new station as 'helping tilting the balance of the Ile-de-France back towards the east', from an already wealthy west.  When reading the 1987 agreement, Article 11 named 'Extension R.E.R. - T.G.V.' outlines an extension of the exisiting RER A line (previously terminating at Torcy), and the new terminal station which should be able to handle 10,500 passengers per hour. The exterior of the station was to be designed by the winner of an architecture competition run by the RATP (Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens) with Euro Disney S.C.A. being allowed to take an observer role. If Disneyland Park is known for it's castle with its impressive spires, its clear that some inspiration has come from the castled world to this station with its spired front, or according the the architects Arep (JM Duthileul, E Tricaud and F Bonnefille) 'Our task was to express a real station in an artificial world', the glass walls of the station are designed in order to show the impressive TGV trains to an audience who may not take the train, this is achieved as when we leave the yellow Disney busses from our hotels, we must pass the stations glass wall in which we are able to see all the way down to the platform, in this respect the station is very much like that of Roissy Charles-de-Gaulle and Lille-Europe. What really is interesting about the link between Euro Disney S.C.A. and the construction of this station is the amount of constraints put onto the building, for example the agreement states that the station exit and the entry to Disneyland Park could not be more than 150 meters (the final distance is in fact 125 meters) and that Euro Disney S.C.A. should do their best to ensure a direct access to the park from the station (something that new security checks prohibit). The RER station and TGV station are technically different stations, one half is managed by the RATP (RER) and the TGV half is manged by the SNCF, however the two share the same style of architecture and one can easily traverse between the two stations.

RATP, the quickest way to Disneyland Paris.
Photo: Johansdreamworlds.wordpress.com

The 1987 agreement also set how Euro Disneyland would market this new rail link that had been built in order to service the resort (after all, this new line extension and station will have cost the RATP a lot of money, it is only natural they wanted a return on their investment), Euro Disney S.C.A. were not permitted to include parking charges in their park admission ticket (in order to discourage car usage). They were also forced to encourage guests to take the RER from Central Paris to the resort in their advertising in the form of using the approximate time taken from Nation station to the resort. The new extended RER opened on April 1st 1992, 12 days before the opening of the resort, now guests could easily reach Disneyland Paris, and local residents could take the new rail link and arrive in central Paris much quicker than ever before. It would be a further two years before the high speed rail link would open in 1994.

In 1992, the capital city of Paris became that little bit closer to the magic, on the 29th May 1994 the rest of mainland Europe got a little bit closer with the opening of the new TGV high speed link, which linked Disneyland Paris with major French cities such as Lille, Lyon and Bordeaux. This was celebrated by a paper train containing 500 people stretching from Disney Village to Fantasyland, such was the enormity of this train that when the front of the train was in the park, the rear was still in the esplanade.

Photo: www.disneylandparis-generations.com

In November 1994, a new passenger high speed service linked London Waterloo and Paris Gare du Nord for the first time, in January 1996 the Kent station 'Ashford International' opened, a few short months later a Eurostar train pulled into the station of Marne-la-Vallée Chessy for the first time.

Photo: www.disneylandparis-generations.com

On board this first arrival was Sir Richard Branson, who was met Mr. Philippe Bourguignon (who at the time was president of Euro Disney S.C.A.) at the Gare du Marne-la-Vallée Chessy. To celebrate a float was created representing the classic Eurostar train front with two Mickey ears with a 'platform' on either side of the train acting as a place for the two gentlemen to stand, this was accompaigned by Grenadier guards. Just one year later, the Thalys international high speed link (linking France to Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany) arrvied in Marne-la-Vallée. Visiting Disneyland Paris by rail was becoming increasingly easy, with over 70 trains arriving each day and Marne-la-Vallée Chessy becomes the number one station for inter-connections in France.

In fact, getting to Disneyland Paris by rail has never been cheaper as in 2013 the low-cost TGV 'OuiGo' was launched at the Marne-la-Vallée Chessy station linking Marne-la-Vallée to Lyon, Marseille and Montpellier for as low as €15 for a single journey.

The future of this vibrant, busy suburban Paris station looks bright as even more services get added, as even more of us sit back, relax and let the train do the work.

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Paris je t'aime - August 2013 Pin Releases

Are we really at the end of yet another month? Hot off the heels of the Pin Trading Event which took place last weekend at the Hotel Santa Fe where some of the pins we'll be seeing this winter got revealed, the following day Pin traders got more good news with the 'pre-release' of the August 2013 poster! And it's a Paris-heavy month once again...

Photo:Virginie Canneviere

N.b. I will update the poster once Disneyland Paris posts their official version.

The first thing to note is that this month is quite a 'pin-lite' month, unless you love Paris. Once again the headlines for this poster will be stolen by the Paris pins, of which there are 6. I actually quite like these new Paris visuals, but I'm rather unsure why additional Mickey/Minnie Eiffel Tower pins are needed after last months releases. The love pin I'm sure will sell well with Disneyland Paris attracting a large amount of couples. The spinner pin is quite nice, it's very much in the style of the spinner pins we see each year with the year visual printed on it, and yet another Duffy pin. I really like Duffy's Parisian outfit (I wonder if we will be seeing this retail in the parks, as the Sulley outfit did). The releases on August 3rd are rounded off by two Lone Ranger pins, the sheriffs badge is quite nice (but perhaps too similar to the Mickey Sheriff pin released in May) and a limited edition pin which will probably not sell too well if Frankenwenie and Tron Legacy film release pins are anything to judge it by.
Saturday the 17th August sees the conclusion (or so we think...) of the Princess locket series with Snow White. The previews of this series last year only showed 8 pins, this was shown again last weekend so let's assume this series has now finished. The final pin of the month is the Pinocchio good luck/bad luck pin. This series looks really nice and a collection I would really like to add to my personal collection.

The annual pin trading day, which traditionally takes place on the last Saturday of August each year, will take place on the 31st August with a Pocahontas theme. If you're in the park, the instructions are to meet in Liberty Arcade at 1am and then head over to the Pueblo trading post.

Finally, another new pin!

Picture: David Sochard (Facebook)

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Indiana Jones attraction in Adventureland, this cast member exclusive is to be released on the 30th July. I love this pin, as Indiana Jones is my favourite film series, and Mickey, my favourite character, I really need to add this one to my collection.
On sales at Boutique Jessica 1 and 2 as well as at Wild West Show, 3013 editions, one pin per cast member. Cast Member Exclusive. (We felt that as pin collectors, this one needed to be reported).

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2014 Pins revealed! (UPDATED!)

UPDATE 01/01/2014): Despite the  2014 dates, these pins have now mostly been released, for an updated 2014 pin release preview: Click Here
Here at DLP Town Square we are huge pin collectors, and knowing that a large portion of Disney Park fans are pin collectors, we felt we needed to share these new pins! At the Indiana Jones pin trading event yesterday, a few pin sneak peaks were given. Here is what to expect for the rest of 2013 and in 2014. Amongst the big news is that the hugely successful attraction pin series will continue and even extend into lanyards, as well as the 2014 Disney Parks imagery pins.

We start with this good luck / bad luck series, 4 pins will be available in this set which started in July 2013 with the Cinderella pin, it seems that this set could continue until October 2013 with one pin per month. The set is a double sided spinner set with one side depicting an element of good luck in a Disney film (such as Cinderella with the fairy godmother) and another side featuring bad luck (such as Aladdin with Jafar). My personal favourite in this set is the Aladdin pin. This really is a classy set that we love!

Next up is the big news of the event is that the wonderfully designed attraction pins are set to continue into 2014, with the addition (finally!) of an Adventureland pin in the form of Pirates of the Caribbean. We really like this pin, the imagery on these are reasonably 'grown up' and up to present there are not any especially 'adult' pins with a pirates imagery. We then move into the Walt Disney Studios park with another fantastically designed Crush's Coaster pin, the Rock'n'Roller coaster pin looks very much like the one currently on sale. Despite the fact Disneyland Paris has a lot of Tower of Terror pins currently on sale (and most of them very well designed), they have seen fit to release another pin. We are once again fans of this set and cannot wait to add these to our collection!

More princesses! If you like princesses these carriage style pins are beautiful and features the more rarer princesses of Pocahontas and Mulan. It also features the princess branding with Merida, in what is a Disneyland Paris first!

If you are enjoying the current wave of Phantom Manor merchandise, here is yet another to add to your collection. Fans of this classic Disneyland Paris attraction will be wanting to display that Ravenswood Manor wallpaper round their neck with the spooktastic pin collection!

Isn't it crazy that we are already thinking about 2014? Disney Parks across the world usually release various pieces of merchandise with the year visual, Disneyland Paris is no different. I really like the booster set here featuring the year with the various land landmarks, such as the Earful Tower, the Castle, Phantom Manor and Space Mountain. The usual lanyard, Duffy and spinner pins will be released as well. Fans of year merchandise will snap these up. I really like the 2014 visual, however the 2013 visual tops it a little bit in my opinion.

It's 20 years since that familiar 'This is Halloween' song played in our cinemas. This will be celebrated by two rather average open edition pins, however it's that limited edition 20 years pin that has really caught our attention. We love the 20 years visual on the tombstone with Jack peering round the back. Somehow we'll find a way to get this one.

The next two are a slightly lower quality, but still the visual can be seen. Frozen will be given some open edition releases to tie in with the new film.

 No prizes for guessing when this lone ranger pin will be released. Expect this on the August poster.

Overall, the Disneyland Paris pin trading team continues its form of exceptionally strong pin releases that make for great traders in the parks across the world. Tell us what you think by tweeting us @dlptownsquare or commenting below!

We found these on the Disney Central Plaza forum, and were credited to a facebook user, despite our best efforts, we could not find the images of facebook and so cannot credit the images! Please contact me (info@dlptownsquare.com) if these are your images as we would really like to credit you!

UPDATE 22/07/2013, Even more pin news! Pascal Poullain at the Disneyland Paris Pin Trading and Sales facebook group has uploaded even more future pin releases

Let's carry on with these Chef images, these seem quite a random choice for pin releases, but I actually really like them.

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Christmas in Disneyland Paris, and this years visuals look stunning. The open edition pins are Chip and Dale, which looks very nice and a Mickey and Minnie in front of a Christmas tree (not too dissimilar to last years offering). We get our usual lanyard which is a bit busier than last year, but looks nice enough. A Duffy open edition pin, and a Tinkerbell limited edition pin continue the celebration, and our usual booster pack with various characters rounds off this christmas pack.

A small summary of the Duffy pins so far, nothing we've not seen previously here, except the Halloween Duffy which I really do like.

The Disney marketing machine really is in overdrive. We've already seen Frozen and Lone Ranger pins, here is a planes pin....

...and here's a Violetta pin (a new addition to the Disney Channel family according to @plazagardens).

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Debate: Celebrating national holidays at Disneyland Paris

Version en Français en bas.
For some years now, Disneyland Paris has put on extravagant celebrations for the national holidays of St. Davids and St. Patricks day, as well as for the annual bonfire night celebration. Compared to these holidays, the national holiday of France is the least well observed, passing with a simple five minute firework display.
St. Patricks day was marked by Mickey, Minnie, Chip and Dale in a Irish dress as well as short shows featuring traditional Irish dancing and music (despite the pipe band being from Scotland!). Disney Magic on Parade was extended with a pre-parade and the day ended with a spectacular firework show using Disney Dreams! projection technology and Disney music with a Irish touch. Disney Village also featured a few Irish themed shows in Billy Bobs.
St. Davids Day was marked by a Welsh market in Disney Village, whilst Disneyland Park featured similar events to its Irish cousin, such as the characters in Welsh dress, a pre-parade and fireworks.
We were particularly impressed by Bonfire Night in Disney Village, which was an impressive twenty minute firework display around Lake Disney directly following Disney Dreams! There is no doubt that Disneyland Paris celebrates these nationals holidays very well, most likely to attract these guests to the resort.

However, Bastille Day (14th July) is not particularly celebrated in Disneyland Paris. Bastille Day is essentially the French national holiday in celebration of the storming of the Bastille prison. For the last few years the only sign of it being celebrated in the park is the five minute firework display, without Dreams! projections set to traditional French music (Such as Boum! by Charles Trenet). In the United States, Disney World and Disneyland celebrate their national holiday with limited edition merchandise, a pre-parade, street decorations and an extraordinary firework spectacular! Would these Disney Parks get away with not celebrating Independence Day? American guests would not accept such an oversight by Disney parks management.

 

Video: Disney Central Plaza

So why was the 14th July not celebrated? Perhaps due to the parks already hitting capacity every year on the holiday and so Disney management has decided not to add more so as not to attract even more guests. Perhaps as Disneyland Paris is close to the major celebrations in Paris and the celebrations taking place in every town and village across the country (including those just 10km from the parks), management decided that putting on 'traditionally French' events was not worth the expense. What is certain is that a 14th July celebration could be done reasonably cheaply by involving the Disney Music Days program with local schools to perform on stages across the park. The local community would make the day feel more special, and Disneyland Paris betters its community relations. This scenario really is a win-win.

What is your opinions on national holidays in the Disneyland Paris parks? Perhaps you are reading from a country where you would like your national day celebrated? Tweet @dlptownsquare or comment below.

Thanks to @CafeFantasia @parcorama and @dedicatedtodlp who started this debate on twitter and inspired me to write this article. Go follow them, they tweet fantastic Disneyland Paris content each day!

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Français

Depuis plusieurs années, Disneyland Paris a observé des fêtes nationales de la Saint David, Saint Patrick, mais aussi Bonfire Night. Par rapport aux fêtes anglo-saxonnes, la fête nationale de la France est la moins observée, marqué par un feu d'artifice d'une duration de cinq minutes. La fête de la Saint Patrick était marqué par Mickey, Minnie, Tic et Tac avec ses déguisement Irlandais, les spectacles Irlandais comme la danse traditionnelle et musique traditionnelle (malgré les musiciens écossais). La magie Disney en Parade était prolongé avec une pre-parade Irlandais et la fin de cette journée magique était des feux extraordinaires avec la téchnologie de Disney Dream! et la musique Disney avec le 'Irish touch'. En plus Disney Village avait des animations Irelandais, nottament en Billy Bobs Country Western Saloon.

La fête de la Saint David était marqué par un marché gallois en Disney Village. Disneyland Park était similaire à sa cousine Irlandaise. Les personnages Disney était dans ses déguisement gallois, une pre-parade et des feux-artifices.
Nous étions impressionnés par les feux de "Bonfire Night'" en Disney Village après Disney Dream! Sans doute les fêtes nationales anglo-saxonnes sont très bien recu en Disneyland Paris, probablement d'attirer ses guests au resort.

La fête nationale du 14 juillet est célébrée avec très peu de choses. La seule animation de la fête est le feu d'artifice de cinq minutes sans projections de Disney Dream! avec des musiques classiques françaises (comme Boum! de Charles Trenet). Aux États-Unis, Disney World et Disneyland fêtent leur fête nationale avec des marchandises en édition limitée, un pre-parade, une main Street décorée par leur drapeau et des feux d'artifice extraordinaire! Et si les parcs américains ont laissé le 4 juillet sans animations? Les guests n'acceptèrent pas une telle omission par la direction.

Mais quelle est la raison pour la non-celebration du 14 juillet? Peut-être c'est parce que les parcs ont déjà aux capacités chaque année pour la fête nationale et la direction ont décidé de ne pas ajouté les animations pour ne pas attirer bien plus des guests aux parcs. Peut-être c'est parce que Disneyland Paris est pres des grands évenements de Paris et les celebrations qui ont lieu dans chaque ville en France (les villes au moins de 10 km au parc inclus!), la direction ont décidé que les spectacles "traditionnellement français" ne méritent pas la dépense.
Ce qui est certain est que le 14 juillet pourrait être pas si cher que la fête de la Saint Patrick et Saint David, par la participation de Disney Music Days avec les écoles locales en utilisant les scènes au parc. La collectivité locale pourrait bénéficier, et Disneyland Paris pourrait améliorer son rapport avec les collectivités locales. Il n'y a que des gagnants avec ce scénario.

Alors, qu'est que vous pensez? Quelles sont vos opinions des fêtes nationales aux parcs Disney? Peut-être vous voulez votre fête national celebret en Disneyland Paris? Envoyez-nous un tweet @dlptownsquare et lassez-nous un commentaire.

Merci d'avoir lu notre article en Français! Nous espérons qu'il n'y a pas trop des fautes grammaticales! On va faire des articles en français de temps-en-temps, ils seront signifiés sur notre page d'accueil.

Merci à @CafeFantasia @parcorama et @dedicatedtodlp qui ont commencé ce débat au twitter et on m'inspirait d'écrire cet article. Ne hésites pas à abonner à leurs tweets (en Anglais), leurs tweets de Disneyland Paris sont vraiment géniaux!

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Halloween Festival starts to become unveiled.

Over at Disney Central Plaza forum, they've been discussing Halloween festival for a while now, today a press release has been posted that originates from ameworld.net. Here is the exciting news we've been waiting for, some details on Halloween 2013 at Disneyland Paris!

Hewie, Dewey and Louie will be arriving at Disneyland Paris from October 5th to celebrate Halloween, and their Uncle Scrooge will be joining them! The amazing Halloween decorations from last year will return as Main Street is transformed into a place where you can meet those friendly ghosts.

A new three float Halloween cavalcade will be presented by Mickey and Friends called 'Mickey's Halloween Celebration' featuring Disneyland Paris's newest arrivals (Hewie, Dewie, Louie and Uncle Scrooge as well as Clarabelle!).

Goofy will return with his sweet machine on Main Street USA, and we can, for the first time, visit Minnie's studio where she will be creating some Halloween fashion creations.
Other returning features are the villains in the Castle Courtyard and Jack and Sally will return to their photo location outside Phantom Manor.
Characters will be present in Halloween dress (probably making up for the confirmed cancellation of Mickey's Trick or Treat in the Street show)

Disney Dreams returns for the season where we can get 'haunted' by our favourite Disney Villains, Doctor Facilier, Ursula and Captain Hook.

Don't forget Disneyland Park's Halloween Soirée from 20:30 - 01:00 on the 31st October, and tickets are on sale now!

Below is the first visual from the Season, credit goes to Ameworld

Big thanks to Ameworld for posting this exciting press release. We think the 2013 Halloween season will be exciting, and we really cannot wait to see that Halloween cavalcade.

Will any of our readers be visiting the Halloween season? We'd love to know what you think of these proposed plans, comment below or tweet us @dlptownsquare

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DLRP Rewind: When the Tour de France came to visit

This year is the 100th running of the Tour de France and to celebrate, this years Tour de France is taking place 100% in France. But did you know that the race has visited Disneyland Paris twice? We decided to celebrate the final week of this weeks tour by delving into the archives and finding out all we could about the races visits to the resort.

The Tour de France is a sort of badge of honour for a French town, if you have not hosted a stage of the Tour de France, you want to, and you are prepared to spend a lot of money in order to get it. It seemed that for our newly launched Disney park in France, that badge of honour was much wanted, or needed, perhaps to prove that Disney wanted to integrate itself into French culture and not be seen as an invading American force. The Tour is screened worldwide, and more importantly, in many European countries such as the UK, France, Belgium, Spain and so on providing a good method of getting cheap advertising. The Tour and Disneyland Paris have a long history, the park has hosted the race in 1994 and 1997. It has appeared in the races publicity caravane twice and even today the race is screened in the sports bar in Disney Village each day in July. So, let's open that history book and take a look at what we have found.

Tour de France 1994

The final day of the Tour de France traditionally starts in a Parisian suburb within easy reach of the capital city of Paris, where the race would end with a few laps of a Champs-Elysées circuit, this stage would mostly be a procession until the riders hit the circuit. In 1994, Disneyland Paris was chosen as the 'suburb' to start the final stage. Whilst very little information is available about the start of this stage (as is usually the case, the starts are rarely televised), a few frames did make the highlight reels of the pre-race buildup.

 

Part of the reason for hosting the tour will have been to get short clips of the parade to advertise the resort, such as this clip of the Disney Classics Parade

 

The resort would have probably have hoped for a bit more time than 10-15 seconds of footage on the highlight shows, however the Tour is essentially a sporting event.

The previous day, Miguel Indurain (one of the 5 time Tour de France winning legends) will have sealed victory. On this July morning, the money shot for the photographers will have been this, the yellow jersey with Mickey and Minnie mouse. Subtle advertising once again for the new resort.

The stage start was given outside the Town Square photography store on Main Street USA, and very quickly left the park and headed on its way to Paris. And just like that, the Tour had been and gone.

When asked about the decision to bring the race to Disneyland Paris, the race director replied that the race must be modernised, and so a little bit 'Americanized', this was probably also to please the new Disney owned broadcaster of the Tour de France in the United States, ESPN. America was an emerging market in the world of professional cycling, the Tour was the first to crack the big money American television market. The worlds biggest cycling race was soon to become much, much bigger.

Tour de France 1997

This time the Tour's visit is much better documented thanks to the effort of French Disneyland Paris fans on YouTube as well as English speaking Tour de France fans. The Australian and British television coverage featured a small feature on the problem of the parks being an American invasion on French culture, but pointing out that essentially the reason for bringing the Tour to Disneyland is to make the race money, much like the original reason for the creation of the race by L'Auto newspaper. This year, two of the twenty one stages would feature Disneyland Paris. The first of which was Stage 20, an individual time trial from Disneyland Paris to Disneyland Paris. Despite starting and ending in the resort, the stage never actually went into the parks, however it did end on the Avenue Paul Séramy after the main road splits off to become the parking lot.



Below is a video from Australian television station SBS which features a full highlight package of the stage, but perhaps only the first 5 minutes is of real interest to Disneyland Paris fans.



It is Stage 21 of the 1997 Tour de France that really showcased the resort. A stage of the Tour de France

typically starts with a neutralised section, to allow the riders to find ideal positions in the bunch and to allow riders to warm up a little bit before heading into the race.
In the case of this stage, the neutralised section took place in the Disneyland Paris backstage area, luckily for us Disneyland Paris fans, footage still exists from this stage on youtube. The race passes through the parade passageways before entering the park itself through the Autopia backstage entrance (we assume, that is not so well captured) before turning onto Main Street USA and parking up for the official start outside the Town Square Photography store, where Mickey was waiting for the bunch in his cycling gear. The footage also features some fantastic aerial views over Disneyland Paris, it also gives us a glimpse of the 5th anniversary decorations for the 'Carnivale des fous'. Then the race steps out of the park through the backstage entrance next to Discovery Arcade where cast members greet the tour with a cheer, then using the same passageway it used to enter the park, to leave the park, via 'Parking Nord' which is reserved for cast members, before exiting backstage at the roundabout near Coupvray. For those who have wanted to see the roads that the parade leaves the park on, this piece of footage really is a gem.


A huge thanks to ThunderDCP for finding, or recording these videos and uploading them to YouTube for us to enjoy.

 

Backstage at Disneyland Paris

 

The peloton lines up at the bottom of Main Street USA outside Town Square Photography greeted by the Disney Characters

 

View just through the gates in town square

If Disney was still an outside force invading French culture, by hosting this race a second time, perhaps Disneyland Paris showcased the best of both French and American cultures.

Tour de France 2005

Photo: dcpblog.canalblog.com

The Tour may not have come to visit the park since 1997, but Disneyland Resort Paris did not let that hold them back. The race is presented with an accompanying 'Caravane', essentially this is a rolling advertising cavalcade. Better know by fans as the cars that come along giving free gifts (and a break of watching empty roads) to spectators. These cars were decorated with Disney characters riding bikes. The message seemed to be that Disneyland Resort Paris is closer than you think with each character being placed next to a distance stone with various French towns listed on them with their distance to the resort.

Photo: dcpblog.canalblog.com

Whilst the partnership between the Tour de France and Disneyland Paris has come to an end (at least for now), Disneyland Paris still is a keen advocate for sporting events, as shown by hosting the LNB Leaders Cup in 2013 (and that will return for 2014) as well as looking into other sporting events. There certainly aren't any other sporting arenas quite so 'magical'. 

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The Blue Umbrella review

Where do we begin with this one? Ever since the early Pixar films we have come to expect an animated short to be placed in front of the film, quite often these animated shorts remain in the memory long after we have left the cinema which is a tribute to the artists and storytellers who work on these films, this will be the case of The Blue Umbrella.
We are all familiar with the story of Paperman, the 2012 Disney Animation Studios short placed before Wreck It Ralph, the Blue Umbrella shares more than a few similarities with that film. The plot is basically it begins raining and in a sea of black umbrellas in this monotonous city, a single blue umbrella stands out, suddenly a red umbrella appears next to the blue umbrella at a zebra crossing. These two umbrellas are separated and then must find their way back together (helped by some unlikely sources).

The animation in this short film is quite honestly incredible, at times it even looked as if we were watching a live action film, we really could not believe our eyes at the rendering of the city, as in most Pixar shorts there no words used and every emotion comes from Jon Brion's wonderful score which is as beautiful as that of Paperman.

This is a short you'll want to see again and again thanks to it's wonderful storyline (despite it's similarity to that of Paperman), absolutely beautiful visual animation and the moving score. We enjoyed Monsters University, but possibly we enjoyed this little short more. One note, this is not really of interest to children, adults will appreciate this. We heard the children were bored in our screening.

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Technical Profile

The Blue Umbrella
Studio: Pixar Animation Studios
Director: Marc Greenberg
Music: Jon Brion
Running Time: 6 minutes
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Monsters University Review

Monsters Inc. was released 12 years ago in 2001 to rave reviews and to this day remains at 96% fresh at Rotten Tomatoes. So in a sense the world has been waiting 12 years for a follow up to the film. In 2010 we learnt a follow up was to be made, it was in 2011 that we learnt the follow up was, indeed to be a sequel. So, armed with our popcorn we went down to the cinema to answer the question, was Monsters University going to meet our expectations?

We saw this film in 2D and we felt that was the best way to see it, there was nothing in the film that made us feel like we'd gain from the 3D aspect of the film.

Plot: Monsters University is, essentially, the story of how Mike and Sulley met each other and became the formidable scaring team that is depicted in Monsters Inc.

Monsters University is not a sequel to the original film, it is a prequel and a prequel in which, we felt, you would really benefit from separating yourself from the original as there are a few points that contradict the original film. Graphically, despite being 12 years on, the art style is exactly the same (a bit more progressed perhaps) in Monstropolis, well we assume this film takes place in Monstropolis, the city name is actually never mentioned. One thing I will say about the art style, the scenes in the human world blew me away like no Pixar film has done since Cars, it's seriously breathtaking.

The films storyline was reasonably strong, the title basically tells you everything you need to know about the film. Our main gripe was how little we cared about the outcome, in Monsters Inc. we were made to care about Boo, there was something at stake. In this film there was equally something at stake, but it was a bit like 'Well, if that happens, so what?' It just lacked something to really make me care for the characters.
Speaking of characters, the child Mike was delightful to see and really created a connection with the character further on, and really set out from the first minute that this film is Mike's story whereas Monsters Inc. was Sulley's story. The difficulty of a prequel is that we already have our preconceptions of these loved characters, so making Sulley out to be a bit of a 'jerk' was difficult to accomplish, however we will all connect with the idea of Sulley being that kid in class who doesn't make an effort and won't bother bringing a pen. We really cared for the characters of the Oozma Kappa fraternity, especially Art who was quite easily the funniest thing in this film, despite the fact that for a UK viewer, a fraternity really is a foreign concept.

If what Cars 2 and Brave taught us, is that Pixar is imperfect, Monsters University teaches us that they have a strong set of characters and a good storyline in them. Pixar are on the way back. This film maintains a bit of the charm from the original, and adds something that many kids will enjoy. However, I think it lacks something for the bigger kids audience amongst us. If you are a University student, or have been a university student, many of the scenes will really connect with you as campus life is reasonably accurately represented.
We recommend going to see it, but perhaps don't expect the masterpiece that was Monsters Inc.

In a seperate review coming soon, the Blue Umbrella which was utterly charming.
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Technical Profile

Monsters University
Studio: Pixar Animation Studios
Director: Don Scanlon
Staring: Billy Crystal, John Goodman
Running Time: 103 Minutes
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2013 Christmas Season Rumours!

Disneyland Paris promised a bigger Christmas season than ever before and so far that seems to be the case. So, let's just get straight into what we already have heard on the rumour mill. Once again to clarify, these have not been confirmed by Disneyland Paris.

Last year Christmas began it's overhaul, gone was Mickey's Winter Wonderland, gone was Belle's Enchanted Village, and so far we know that the Enchanted Village is not due to return this year. Mickey's Winter Wonderland is unlikely to return, at the shareholders meeting in London Disney Character Central reported that Disney are working on something new. Perhaps we will see that this Christmas?

Last year one of the more finer points in the advertising was a brand new Christmas tree for the 20th Anniversary, and then once the Halloween season ended the old Christmas tree was put up. The reason? The new tree hadn't got through all the approval processes in time. But luckily this year the tree has passed all the tests and we should see it in Town Square this Christmas season! Radio Disney Club have claimed that this tree will be at the 'height of technology'

The garlands arrived on Main Street last year to huge fan approval, and so it seems as if they are here to stay! Radio Disney Club once again have written that new decorations will be used on Main Street USA and in each of the lands.
The Christmas cavalcade also arrived last year to more fan approval, the plan that Disneyland Paris had for this little parade was to increase it by a float or two each year until it became a proper parade that could potentially replace the daily parade during the season. So this year the rumour is that one or two floats will be added and that a new female character will be added to the park (rumours range from Shelly-May, who has already premiered in our parks during Disney Dreamers Everywhere to Mary Christmas), one user on the Disney Central Plaza forum has said that there will be improvements, more performers and new costumes.
Like last year, this cavalcade will be three times per day and will not replace the classic parade.
The future really does look good for this cavalcade, and we are glad of this. It's the showpiece event of the Christmas season.

The Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony will be all new this year with new music and new characters for a more immersive ceremony which will include the garlands on Main Street USA.


Moving onto Disney Dreams! the UK version of the Autumn/Winter 2012/13 brochure advertised the Christmas season using this image. It really does look very likely that Disney Dreams! will be receiving a Christmas makeover. Now this is where we've heard conflicting rumours, we have heard that Disney Dreams! will be running with a little bit extra, but we've also heard that Disney Dreams! will be replaced by this Christmas edition. We think that perhaps it'll play with a little attachment, it's hard to see an entire new 22 minute show being played each night. Either way, we're really excited to see the results!

Father Christmas Village and It's a Small World celebration will continue as last year.

The Walt Disney Studios park will not see any new additions this Christmas season, except perhaps a few new decorations. Time will tell.
Finally, Christmas merchandise seems to be arriving in the resort, featuring a Christmas visual!

These were posted online by Mickey Island on Disney Central Plaza in the image we see the Main Street garlands and Mickey and Minnie in a Christmas costume with Disney Characters dressed in a Christmas outfit including Stitch and Angel. We also see a glimpse of the Christmas tree (is that representative of what we will be seeing in Town Square this November).

The Hotels are getting Christmas rooms for an extra £105 (Disneyland Hotel) and £89 (Hotel New York), included you get Christmas decorations, a christmas tree and a few little gifts. Thanks to Parcorama (Twitter) for pointing that out.

That concludes our look at the latest Christmas rumours. The Christmas season runs from 10th November 2013 until the 6th January 2014 and we are really exciting to hopefully be going over and taking a look at all the new features. We're huge fans of the Christmas season and just how the entire resort has a buzz around it. What are your opinions? We'd love to hear them both below and on twitter @dlptownsquare

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Les Artisans du Rêve: Review

Behind the world that we, the guests, see lies a world inhabited by over 14,000 cast members. Les Artisans du Rêve invites us into their world for a one hour glimpse into the part of Disneyland Paris that is hidden from most fans. Lets start by saying that this 50 minute look into backstage life is brief and only an
introduction, (We're not saying that's a bad thing, but Disney fans wanting an in depth look at what goes on behind the scenes of a Disney park will need to look elsewhere) but what that means is that during the 50 minutes we get a good look at many different departments over a wide variety of time. One thing we did notice which confused us a slight bit was the opening which featured beautiful tilt-shift shots of the parks, including the Walt Disney Studios park, but this second gate was not mentioned once during the film itself which leads us to believe that this could have, unfortunately, made the cutting room floor.

We really liked how this documentary, whilst seemingly targeted at fans of Disneyland Paris, did not alienate visitors who had never visited by giving introductory piece of aspects of the park, examples of this include cast member costuming how 'each land has it's own look, it's own costume' and during the segment about park refurbishment Main Street USA was described as 'The Champs-Elysées of the park'. The film gave a good insight into 'operational backstage' as we are going to call it, for example we are shown the costuming department solving problems, such as fixing a parade outfit, or creating Mickey's 20th anniversary wizard costume. Our criticism however with this section was 'sugar-coating' aspects of the process, we are treated to Cinderella's presence in the department as she has a problem with her dress, we are then given a 'tour' of the dress and as the filmmaker asks Cinderella a question she looks almost blindly towards the camera in a 'I've been told not to say anything' sort of way, it's a small complaint for a otherwise fantastic insight into the work of Disneyland Paris cast members. The brief nature of each segment of the documentary means we can see a diverse range of roles offered at the resort, perhaps the most well realised section is the day in the life of a parade performer, we learn just how much work these cast members put in before they make it out for that 7pm parade. 

Some information given is not there to shock fans of the parks, it's doubtful that if you are reading this that you'll be sitting mouth open as you are told that Main Street USA is a representation of an American town at the turn of the 20th century and inspired by Walt Disney's birth town, but there are wonderful shots behind those green maintenance fences as we discover the care and attention given to make our parks look as beautiful day in and day out as they do. It's little facts such as where the inspiration for our version of Sleeping Beauty Castle came from and how the colours of it were chosen that is likely to make you want to pick up this film and spend 50 minutes of your day watching it. Fans of ride maintenance won't be disappointed as we are treated to a few minutes of overnight maintenance footage on both Indiana Jones et le temple du péril and Pirates of the Caribbean, again don't be expecting information on the ride system but seeing how much care is put into the rides from both an artistic and technical viewpoint was something to behold. Again we were very impressed with the segment on the care of the audio animatronics both by those tasked with locating the problem animatronics and those tasked with the unenviable job of creating and fixing them. Something that we can't overlook in the park is the excellent work by those who work on the parks horticulture, and whilst perhaps this team is given the briefest section of all the teams featured it is enough to convey for a neutral audience, the love and attention given to each individual plant. A gardener is asked about an individual plant and he could tell us immediately its age and when her birthday was, a real eye opener.

Perhaps the longest section (at over 10 minutes) was reserved for a behind the scenes look at the work put in each day by the team of the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show. We felt the time reserved for this was perhaps a bit over what we expected compared to other roles in the resort but interesting nonetheless. If behind the scenes of this show interests you (horse training, how the actors prepares and a bit of information on the props) this is an ideal film to watch in itself.

Overall, this is a basic introduction to the world of the backstages of Disneyland Paris, fans of the parks are not going to be shocked or amazed by a wealth of information, however what you will get from this film is a look behind the scenes and interviews with the people that make the magic happen everyday, you will see their passion and determination to do their job to the fullest so that we can enjoy ourselves.
This film is not for those who do not care for seeing underneath the magic, if Disneyland Paris for you is what you see in the park, this film really is not for you, you might not enjoy the sight of a 'naked' pirate or a Fantillusion float in the daytime.

We really enjoyed the film and gave it a 4 star rating, our wish is for it to be a little bit longer and to go more in depth. (But for French speaker we have France 3's 'Disneyland et ses secrets' for that).

This film is presented in French with English subtitles and can be purchased from the French Amazon website.

Finally, a note of thanks from us to all cast members of Disneyland Paris, past, present and future. All fans of the resort really appreciate the work you put in to keep our resort looking fresh and giving us unforgettable days each time we visit. This DVD serves as a tribute to your work and hopefully brings your work to a wider audience. Thank You! ~ I'm sure we'll return to thank cast members in a later post.
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Technical Profile

Les Artisans du Rêve
Studio: The Walt Disney Company (France) - Bonne Pioche Télévision - Disney Channel 2012
Director: Dominique Lenglart
Narrator: Tom Novembre
Running Time: 50 minutes
Language: French
Subtitles: English
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Pin Trading: Indiana Jones Event pins!

The next pin event to be held at Disneyland Paris is on the 20th July, and that means more Disneyland Paris pins! Just to remind you, these pins are not usually featured on the monthly pin release poster released by Disneyland Paris, but you will still see these on the park shelves after the events, and as most Disney fans are interested in pin trading, it's only fair we tell you about them. And it's great news for fans of Duck Tales!

The pictures are quite small, but this is the poster that Disneyland Paris proves. The pins look beautiful and fit nicely into the Indiana Jones themed. These will make great traders as the Duck Tales characters are quite rare on pins. Expect the film based pins to be available in park stores after the event. The round pins are the most sought after pins and will be sold out at some point during the event.

For those of you going to the event, have a great time!

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Envie de + 33: Light'Ears to be sold online and more!

At the turn of the season Disneyland Paris annual passholders receive a little package through their door from the park. We get this little magazine (totally in French) called Envie de +, this is essentially a promotional magazine for the parks, giving their passholders reasons to come back and spend some time in the parks (We need a reason?!). The summer edition is of course focused on making the most of the remainder of the 20th anniversary celebrations, and discovering the big new addition of the summer Disney's Light'Ears.

The magazine gives annual passholders hints and tips to make the most of a day in the parks (such as reminding them that they may also partake in the Extra Magic Hours). Most of the information is promotional, but we do occasionally learn something about the goings on in the resort. (The Halloween and Christmas editions are particularly good for this). So, let's get into the little discoveries.

Disney Store website to stock Light'Ears

Disney Light’Ears sont en vente à la boutique Emporium, dans une sélection de boutiques au prix public de 20€ (l'avantage permanent Passeport Annuels’applique) ainsi que sur DisneyStore.fr.

We already know that the Light'Ears are on sale on Main Street for €20, and annual pass reductions apply (10% for Francilien and Fantasy, 20% for Dream). But the big news is one that Disneyland Paris fans had hoped for, that Light'Ears will be made available online! The magazine being French based lists disneystore.fr but seeing as the stock on the European Disney Store websites are identical and are based out of a United Kingdom warehouse, we can assume that the Ears will make their way to Disneystore.co.uk and Disneystore.de ! Great news if you want to buy them in your own currency before you go and save some money for more holiday goodies!

Tasty food!

Whilst not exactly 'news' the magazine has a little bit of text about the 'Snow White Tempation' that we can experience in the California Grill restaurant in the Disneyland Hotel. The treat is an apple mousse with a chocolate centre, but no ordinary chocolate! We won't spoil the surprise for you, but why not give it a try next time you are at the parks?
The magazine also details a little bit about the new 'Hep Cat Corner' in Disney Studio 1 where we can buy delicious VitaminWater drinks. A Hep Cat was the name given to jazz fans in the 1940s and 50s, the new kiosk is named after the Club HepCat

Annual Passholder Offers!

The Disneyland Paris annual pass is THE way to save money in the resort. Since the magazine and all Annual Pass literature is in French, we've translated the summer offers for you.

Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show with Mickey and Friends: Between the 1st July and the 8th September, a reduction of 50% is given in category 2 of the 21h30 show for the passholder and 5 guests. (€29.90 per adult instead of €59.90 and €23.40 per child instead of €46.90). Reservation at the ticket office or by telephone 01 60 45 71 00 (Don't forget to add the French calling code, which is +33).

Disney Hotels: -25% for Francilien and Fantasy passes. -35% for Dream passes off a room in a Disney Hotel. Reservations: 01 60 30 60 69 (Again, don't forget the French calling code +33)

Panoramagique: This summer discover Disneyland Paris from the Sky with upto 25% off!
-25% for Dream Annual Passport, so €9 per adult instead of €12 and €4.50 per child instead of €6.
-15% for Francilien, Fantasy, Découverte and Classic Annual Passport. €10.20 per adult instead of €12, and €5.10 for a child instead of €6.
Offer valid for the annual pass holder and up to 5 guests from the 1st July until the 30th July 2013. As usual, Panoramagique's opening is subject to weather conditions.

Boutiques: -10% for Francilien and Fantasy, -20% for Dream in all boutiques in Disneyland Paris.

Restaurants: -€0.50 from the VitaminWater drinks at the HepCat corner kiosk, this offer is valid all summer. €3.19 per bottle instead of €3.69.
-10% in all Disney park, Disney Hotel and a selection of restaurants in Disney Village.

Tickets: Why not bring 5 friends with you to the park? €21 for friends of Dream, Fantasy and Francilien passholders
€25 for friends of Découverte and Classic pass holders.

(5 friends per week, maximum of 20 friends during the offer period, a week is Monday-Sunday. Offer not valid the day of purchase of your annual passport.  Offer does not include the 13th July).

All the offers listed about are subject to terms and conditions which can be found in your copy of Envie de +, this is a English translated guide and does not substitute reading the offer conditions as distributed to all annual passholders and available on the Disneyland Paris website.

The Disneyland Paris summer has begun, all that's missing is you!

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Coup de Cœur #1 - Front Lot

You're standing in the resort hub in the inevitable queue for the security control, and in the distance you hear the Star Trek theme, it's ironic that that is the theme to a film from a rival studio that lets you know that you have arrived at Disneyland Paris.
At Disneyland Paris we are lucky to have two Disney parks with beautiful entrances, the grand Victorian entrance to Disneyland Park is unique in the world and is, in my opinion, the most beautiful theme park entrance in the entire world. The second represents a Hollywood film studio, we are invited in with the words "Welcome behind the scenes" as we delve into the world of film making and tributes to the seventh art form (Cinema). As we walk to the park entrances we are greeted by the lot entrance gates featuring the Studio emblem of Mickey Mouse
operating a camera, as we veer off to the sides we are greeted by Hollywood 'porters', with a polite 'Bonjour' they take our ticket place it in the turnstile and give it back to us. 'Bon Journée'. The sights and sounds of the Studio surround us, in front of us the impressive Studio 1 building, the 'gateway' to the park, and for us an opportunity to see a Hollywood sound stage set up with its props and reading for a day of filming. In the centre a fountain with our studio emblem once again returning, Sorcerer Mickey from the 1943 Disney Classic 'Fantasia' representing one of the most iconic pieces of Disney animation ever created, Mickey controlling the brooms filling up with water. This provides us with one of the early photo opportunities of the park as we pose with the broom on the pavement. To our left, the Walt Disney Studios store designed with beautiful studio theming, the walls adorned with photos from the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California, all of which featuring the man himself, Walt Disney. The store almost feels like a studio set itself with it's dark ceiling and lighting rigs and a dangling lighting fitting. We truly have entered the wonderful world of the silver screen, this is no functional film studio, this is the glamor of what we have dreamed it to be, this is the showcase section of the Walt Disney Studios Park.

 As we move back into the Place des frères lumières, so named as the Lumière brothers were the french inventors of the art of film making, just across the square is located Studio Services and our studio lot clock tower (Well, we need to know what time we have to be on set!), underneath the clock tower we can visit the Studio Photo store, which essentially is a slightly smaller version of Town Square photography in Disneyland Park, nevertheless the theming is once again that much more magical and links perfectly to the park's theme of the movies with it's old film cameras from an earlier era of cinema, the walls feature film reels and clap boards, and this is when we realise, we've made it on the studio lot! As we turn our backs on the photography store and head towards Disney Studio 1, we enjoy the sight of the 'Earful tower', of course it's not a functional water tower but it's almost a staple of a film studio such as the Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, our water tower in this studio has been given a pair of Mickey ears, again to pay homage to the biggest star the studio has produced, who knows? Maybe we might just bump into him today, I've heard he likes to take photos with the extras! We continue towards Studio 1, walking with the excitement of what awaits us. We are living the magic of the studio. What's that? PLACES EVERYONE! That's our cue, to the set!


Coup de Cœur is a regular feature in which we take a look at a particular attraction of Disneyland Paris in detail and enjoy what makes Disney parks so beautiful be it a ride, a walk through experience, a shop, a restaurant or an entire land.

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