2014: A huge year for Disneyland Paris

When looking back at 2013, it almost seems as if it was all build up to this mega year that we have just entered. We know that the big thing on the radar is the Ratatouille attraction in the summer. But that's not all, there is a great sense of optimism for the year that lies ahead. So, what can we look forward to?

LEGO Store
After almost six months since Hollywood Pictures closed in Disney Village, it's almost time for the new store to open in its place. The store suffered a number of setbacks including the incredibly unfortunate roof collapse, but now it's almost ready. In the coming days or weeks the launch will happen to the press, and guests will be discovering a new product range in perhaps the most unique store in Disney Village. Famous Disney scenes will be depicted in LEGO in this, the largest of the European LEGO stores.
It's a small addition, but one that is very welcome in Disney Village and will be immensely popular - Let's look forward to welcoming them to the Disneyland Paris family.

Spring Time
It might come as no surprise that there is no yearly celebration this year something that hasn't happened since the 15th anniversary seven years ago. So, after the usual low season after Christmas, what will be in the parks? Well, according to the current rumours we'll be seeing the return of the Festival des Fleurs from April until July. This festival could see some famous Disney scenes in a flower form, but one thing is certain, the park will look stunning with the flowers. I've always been a great admirer of the work that the Disney gardeners do, I just know we won't be let down by this. Prepare to be amazed.


Ratatouille: L'Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy

Obviously this is the major pull of the upcoming year, this is why you'll be booking trips over there. The latest images from InsideDLParis show an incredible facade being created in La Place de Rémy as it's been called in the French press release (but not in the English release). Aside from this new trackless ride that will be unique in the world, the new land will feature a restaurant Bistrot Chez Rémy and a shop Chez Marianne Souvenirs de Paris. The restaurant should open at the same time as the attraction, whereas the shop will be a little later in the Autumn and will offer a unique style of restaurant (as detailed in this article from Dedicated to DLP). 




Halloween & Christmas
Naturally, as of yet there is no news on these, but if they keep expanding at the rate they have been these last couple of years, I'm expecting big things from them both. Even if Christmas doesn't change much, I'll be very content. These seasons are becoming a staple of the end of year in Disneyland Paris. I cannot wait to see what they come up with this year. 

And so, there we have it.  That's a brief overview of the fantastic things to come to Disneyland Paris this year. Get your seat belts on, it's going to be one heck of a ride. 
Coming up soon: I'll share my wishes for 2014 at Disneyland Paris.

 

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Happy New Year to all our readers!

2013 has been a fascinating year for both Disneyland Paris (a review of the year article is to come very soon!) and DLP Town Square. One of the things that is so good about entering a new year is that it gives us a chance to reflect on the year that has just passed and to give thanks for it.
And so, to everyone who has supported DLP Town Square since July 4th 2013, a massive Thank You. When I signed up for the twitter account, I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. Now, I have over 600 followers on Twitter, thousands of website views and a great deal of new friends. You've taken this ride with me, and I thank you for that.

So what's next with DLP Town Square? Well, since July I've been working on a new website for the blog. In a few days the migration will begin in earnest and I'll be entering a private test phase. Hopefully, by the middle of the month the new site will be online. Until then, it's business as usual.


So once again, I wish you a Happy and Healthy New Year. - Thanks for all your support, it means a lot to me.

DLP Town Square

www.dlptownsquare.com
@dlptownsquare

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L'Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy Press Release

It's January 1st, and so we are officially in the year that Ratatouille opens! And so, Disneyland Paris have released this press release (that is currently on every Disneyland Paris fansite out there).
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The world of Ratatouille comes to Disneyland Paris in 2014
Next summer, Disneyland Paris will unveil a major new attraction and mini-land inspired by the Oscar-winning Disney•Pixar film Ratatouille. The film, directed by Brad Bird, tells the tale of Rémy, a young rat who has amazing talents in the kitchen and dreams of one day becoming a great chef. This leads to a fun but perilous journey that eventually lands him as the head chef of one of the most famous restaurants in Paris. Now Rémy has arrived at Walt Disney Studios Park to share his culinary delights and crazy adventures with the entire family. 
On the attraction Ratatouille: L’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy*, guests will shrink down to the size of a rat and join Rémy and his friends as they scurry through the kitchen, dining room, and walls of Gusteau’s famous Parisian restaurant, all the while trying to avoid the nemesis from the film, Chef Skinner. This first of its kind Disney attraction will immerse guests into an animated world like never before as they experience what it’s like to be a rat in a human sized world.
The attraction is located in a new corner of Toon Studio that’s been transformed into a Ratatouille-inspired version of the City of Light. In addition to the attraction, this mini-land also features a shop, Chez Marianne Souvenirs de Paris**, and a rat-scale themed table service restaurant, Bistrot Chez Rémy*. The restaurant, which is the only one of its kind across Disney Parks worldwide, is directly adjacent to the attraction and serves the “little chef’s” famous dish, ratatouille. 
After Crush’s Coaster, Cars Race Rally and Toy Story Playland, Ratatouille will be the fourth attraction at the Walt Disney Studios Park inspired by a Disney•Pixar film. Disneyland Paris will once again combine its narration skills with state-of-the-art technology to offer the best possible experience. 
Next summer, join us for Ratatouille: L’Aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy, only at Walt Disney Studios Park, Disneyland Paris.
 
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This year, you can experience the ride and restaurant THIS SUMMER and the shop, a little later THIS AUTUMN. And there is even more to look forward to that will continue to be unveiled over time. So this summer, you'll be able to stroll a Parisian street just metres away from being shrunk to the size of a toy, and a few more metres away from riding the East Australian Current. Not bad huh?

All that remains to say in this, the first post of 2014, is a huge Happy New Year!

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Pins heading your way in 2014. (Picutres included)

A couple of weeks ago, Disneyland Paris hosted their end of year pin trading event, as usual it was a chance to preview some of the fantastic new pins on the way in 2014. (Unlike at the Summer event, where the art work said 2014, but they were mostly released in the Autumn). Thanks to Disneyland Paris pin trading facebook pin trading pages, we can show you a few of these pins. Overall, the pins this coming year are very promising, and have two very clear themes: Dreams! and Paris. Paris is going to be everywhere in Disneyland Paris this year, and why not? Not every Disney Park can celebrate being that close to one of the world's most beautiful cities.

 Let's begin with what is, for me, the stars of the show. The wonderful attractions pins from 2013 return and get even better. We've already seen the release of the Rock 'n' Roller Coaster pin in December, January sees the release of the Pirates of the Caribbean, Tower of Terror and Crush's Coaster pin. Coming up are some even more amazing pins, Big Thunder Mountain, Alice's Curious Labyrinth, Blanche Neige et les sept nains and Flying Carpets over Agrabah. All of these are essential to my collection, what about yours? I know these have gone down very well with Disneyland Paris fans, which means we are perhaps likely to see even more after this.

 

Next up, are the Cast Member refresh pins, these are pins given to Cast Members wearing a lanyard with the aim of giving them to guests through pin trades. A good set this year, I really like the Sheriff Woody badge and the Flynn Rider pin. 

The next set of pins are of a Minnie Mouse dots theme, these are super stylish and could even be described as 'Parisian chic' beginning a bit of a Parisian year for Disneyland Paris.

So, this is the first set of true Parisian pins which are in the style of the Paris metro, they look fantastic and keep very much in the traditional Parisian style. Characters are featured from films including Aristocats, Hunchback of Notre Dame and 101 Dalmatians.

More Parisian pins here, this time in the form of Eiffel Towers, these are Eiffel towers with a very subtle Disney twist, the tip of the tower is made out of a Mickey head. Very nice design, a wide variety of Patterns, I'm sure most people will see at least one that they like. (I'm rather fond of the Cheshire Cat and Mickey ones).

From Paris to America now (with a little Union Flag to keep the British happy?). These pins look 'ok'. The idea is nice, the execution is ok. I really don't like the big rectangle shape one featuring Mickey and the three flags. On the other hand, the Main Street USA circular pin really catches my eye.

And Disneyland Paris come out with a new set which I really must own. These look very similar in style to the Dreams pin that came out last May, so I imagine these will be ever so slightly 3D. I really like them, that Rapunzel is going to be hard to find though!

And the Disney Store set continues here with two pins that are going to be park exclusives. The crazy nature of the Disney Store sales means that I won't be buying these - but good luck to those who do.

Finally, the Valentines Day pin for this year which features the Queen of Hearts (get it? It's funny.) I really like it, it's a pin on pin. It's going to look fantastic in real life.

So, what are your opinions on the 2014 releases that we've seen? Obviously this isn't all of them, but from what we can see, 2014 is a bright year in pin trading. All of the pins have artistic merit.  I can't wait to see more and add some of these to my collection.

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Disneyland Paris November 2013 pins

As we move away from the Halloween season and ebb ever closer to Disney's Enchanted Christmas and 2014, another set of pins are due to be released in the resort. As usual, the poster has been released:

Quite honestly, whilst I like most of this months pins, I'm not blown away by any of them I'm afraid. Let's take a closer look week by week.
Saturday 2nd November sees the release of the 2014 pins, each year Disney Parks creates a new 'look' for the year, and whilst I really like 2014's look, 2013 just had that bit extra. However, that doesn't translate into pins, and I really feel like the 2014 pins are very nice to look at. I especially like the use of the Sorcerer Mickey image in the pins, and like the 2014 'Disneyland Paris' pin, perhaps this is a collectible set across all the resorts? The booster set really catches my imagination, I really like the characters in front of various Disneyland Paris landmarks. I will certainly be adding that to my collection.
Saturday 16th November sees the release of another good luck/bad luck pin, this time featuring Belle. I'd be interested to see the good luck side if the 'bad luck' side is Gaston. The Beast makes both perfect sense and no sense since Belle never wanted to be locked up. I really, really like the Mickey Mouse birthday pin and hope it is still available the weekend afterwards when I will be in the resort, however I suspect it will not be. It looks to be a lovely pin, perfect for the Disneyland Paris audience.
The final weekend releases take place on Saturday 30th November and feature yet another Princess locket, this time featuring Merida from the film Brave. The final locket should be released next month (and will be Tinkerbell). Speaking of Tinkerbell, the Christmas limited edition pin will be released this weekend as well. I find it a rather uninspiring pin for a limited edition, despite it's nice design.

The Pascal pin is a preview release for the 'Rapunzel's Christmas' pin event which will take place in Disneyland Paris on the 14th December (poster below). Whilst this event will feature Rapunzel heavily, something bugs me about the price for what seems to be a very simple pin. However, an ebay search on release day will prove that it will be a very popular pin. (Rapunzel is VERY collectible in the Disney pin world).

Overall, I'm happy with the pins, but only one jumps out as a must have. What are your thoughts?

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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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