It seems that Disneyland Paris is suffering from a spate of mechanical breakdowns recently. What was supposed to be an uneventful day for Disney and More blog reporter “Max” turned out to be a day full of ride closures. ~~Rick

Disneyland Paris Update
by Alain Littaye, Disney and more blog
Ratatouille Ride progress and more…

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Here’s a new Disneyland Paris update, thanks to Max Fan, D&M contributor and DLRP Welcome webmaster who came back with the new photos of the Ratatouille ride construction. But before we go over to the Walt Disney Studios, we have a little news about DLP Magic Kingdom.

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According to Max, when he was at the park a few days ago the Frontierland Depot train station was closed with a sign saying that all departures of the DLP Railroad were now at the Main Street Station.

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Interestingly enough, the trains were making all the stops. You could go down into Frontierland Depot but could not get on the train as apparently there were no cast members in the station. It seems unlikely that this is a budget saving move in the height of summer tourist season.

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But the station closing wasn’t the only bad news for visitors. On the day of Max’s visit, Big Thunder Mountain and Space Mountain were closed from park opening at 10 a.m until 1 p.m. Of course, guests rushed over to these two attractions when they opened, but there was soon a 90 minute wait at BTM and 100 minute wait at Space Mountain! Adding to the chaos, WDS Rock and Roller Coaster had to be evacuated at 10.20 a.m the same morning for a ride breakdown.

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Then at noon on the same day, all three of the park’s roller coasters – Space Mountain, Big Thunder and Indiana Jones Temple of Peril – broke down! And when Max checked DLP mobile App, he learned that Pirates of Caribbean had also been closed for several hours. It seems that breakdowns are happening a bit too often recently, and although it’s possible for even the best run park to have a day where everything goes wrong, I think DLP really needs to do something to prevent this kind of problem from happening. Having four major rides, including the three coasters, broken down in the middle of the vacation season is just ridiculous, isn’t it?

By the way, some DLP fans who are really upset by the situation created a petition with an open letter that they intend to send to Bob Iger once they reach 5000 signatures. They have gathered most of the needed signatures, but still need a few hundred more. You can read the letter and sign the petition  electronically by going [HERE]. I’m not sure that the petition will change much, but it’s worth a try.

In the “maintenance and refurbishing department”, some cobblestones on Main Street USA are slated for replacement…

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…and the new Armaggedon sign at the WDS is now in place.

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Here are our latest photos of the Ratatouille Ride. This year the summer in France is a real one, meaning that it’s hot, which is always good when you have some painting to do as the paint will dry quickly. For the workers, though, the heat is less agreeable. In three months the winter temperatures will be back so I suppose they are rushing to finish the facade theming before winter arrives.

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After shooting pictures from the top of the TSP Parachute Drop ride, Max shot other pics “from the ground” from what will be the entrance to the Ratatouille area for the guests coming from Toy Story Playland. What you see in the foreground under the red canvas is what will be the merchandise shop of the new Parisian area.The metallic structures on the ground will be used to support the fake facades.

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One last stop with a look at the refurb on the Disney Village entrance. If you remember my previous update, the columns at the entrance were in really bad condition. They now look brand new, or almost. Below a picture showing how they looked before…

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…and how it looks now. Still some work to do, apparently.

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The Collectors Edition of our Disneyland Paris: From Sketch to Reality book has been sold out for several months. But we have some GREAT news for you. A new Open Edition of the book is now in pre-order for just about half the price of the previous edition. If you don’t mind waiting a few months for the book to be delivered, you can order one for a song in the MiceChat Store.

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Picture: copyright Max Fan – DLRP Welcome

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Rick Wright
Rick has been a long term MiceChat author and co-founder of the Weekend Update. You will often find Rick in the position of "Greeter" at official events due to his warm and welcoming spirit. If you've got photos, news or trip reports to share, Rick would love to hear from you: [email protected]