D23 Live : parks and resorts.

[DARTH MAUL]

Well, if you all really think that they are gonna move the princesses to Carnation to put a stage show back in the theatre, you're mistaken. When you realize that the Fantasyland Theatre pad backs right up to the Big Thunder Ranch pad, suddenly you have a large plot of land in the middle of the park, ready for development. Something big is coming. They didn't announce it, but it's coming....

Um...no. The removal of the theatre is a poorly founded/ wishful thinking rumor of people who want it removed. It's not going, nor should it. I've heard several imagineers speak of wanting the theatre back for a show and they have several ideas in the process. It's long overdue.

[Dagobert]

^I hope that all comes off. I get the feeling that there's a lot of goodwill at WDI to work on DLRP (and probably in Burbank too) but its EuroDisney that seem to mess it up somehow and fail to let it live up to its potential.

I think it's the whole financial situation and the involvement of the banks that everything is messed up in Paris. All new additions have to be improved by the banks. TWDC seems to be embarassed by the France resort, even HKDL is doing better finacially. At least Euro Disney SCA is currently refurbing the parks and DLP has never looked better in recent years.

[Vincent]

I think it's the whole financial situation and the involvement of the banks that everything is messed up in Paris. All new additions have to be improved by the banks. TWDC seems to be embarassed by the France resort, even HKDL is doing better finacially. At least Euro Disney SCA is currently refurbing the parks and DLP has never looked better in recent years.

+1 but Disney is responsible of the financial situation of Disneyland Paris and has to do something !

Thanks TreoFred ! In fact there are many refurbs all around the resort but we expected new rides for the 20th anniversary of Disneyland Paris wich was supposed to be huge...
Anyway I hope we will have a very good show... and announcements soon of course.

[DisneyMickey]

Did anyone attend the Disney Dream/Disney Fantasy seminar? I was interested to hear what they talked about...

[TreoFred]

+1 but Disney is responsible of the financial situation of Disneyland Paris and has to do something !

Thanks TreoFred ! In fact there are many refurbs all around the resort but we expected new rides for the 20th anniversary of Disneyland Paris wich was supposed to be huge...
Anyway I hope we will have a very good show... and announcements soon of course.

BTW, I finally got SOME news on France after coercing (ok, waterboarding ) the right Imagineer. Turns out the situation is eerily similar to ours. You have a great park (DL) in some level of disrepair which is being plussed up at the approach of its birthday and you've got a second gate (WDSP instead of DCA) which has been under-performing and although it has received a few new ride (like ToT, we did too) and some smaller ones (the whole Toy Story playplace like we got Monster's Inc) which triggered some 'place-making', it's still not 'winning' like Charlie Sheen would say...

... so what do you do?

... well, that's kinda why JL was visiting your WDS recently. He made the same argument about the lack of cohesive theming, the lack of character and the necessity for a large place-making project. In fact, the Imagineers already have an overall re-design similar to what they have for DCA. Yep, a big big deal

However, between the economic situation in Europe and the non finished work in the US (includiing the two major expansions on both coast), it is a matter of spreading themselves too thin. At the same time, the argument is being made for it being almost the best time for such an investment.

Bottom line: keep your fingers crossed for a major announcement from Tom Staggs closer to the end of the year, as the overall 20th of DLP gets on the way.

Or not .

But it is there RIGHT NOW, just laying on ice for a little while longer...

[yoyoflamingo]

Tom Staggs seems to have changed his thank you to everyone on the Disney Parks Blog based on the lack of announcements, especially for WDW.

The interesting part:

We have several incredible projects currently in the works and look forward to sharing more information with all of you in the weeks and months ahead, including new details regarding Downtown Disney in Florida.

The link: Special Thanks to D23 Expo Attendees « Disney Parks Blog

While it could be just throwing people a bone, it's nice to see him reacting to the comments posted in the blog.

[Coheteboy]

It is a disappointing slate of announcements and if they truly are busy with other things and not ready to announce, SAY THAT UP FRONT! Fans will appreciate that you want to give them more info but can't for whatever reason.

In 2009, they announced Star Tours... and gave EVERYONE a very cool numbered Star Tours 2 poster! This would have been a good year to give everyone something Fantasyland related.

Disney fans wouldn't mind the lack of announcements if you just give them something that nobody else can have.

[Vincent]

BTW, I finally got SOME news on France after coercing (ok, waterboarding ) the right Imagineer. Turns out the situation is eerily similar to ours. You have a great park (DL) in some level of disrepair which is being plussed up at the approach of its birthday and you've got a second gate (WDSP instead of DCA) which has been under-performing and although it has received a few new ride (like ToT, we did too) and some smaller ones (the whole Toy Story playplace like we got Monster's Inc) which triggered some 'place-making', it's still not 'winning' like Charlie Sheen would say...

... so what do you do?

... well, that's kinda why JL was visiting your WDS recently. He made the same argument about the lack of cohesive theming, the lack of character and the necessity for a large place-making project. In fact, the Imagineers already have an overall re-design similar to what they have for DCA. Yep, a big big deal

However, between the economic situation in Europe and the non finished work in the US (includiing the two major expansions on both coast), it is a matter of spreading themselves too thin. At the same time, the argument is being made for it being almost the best time for such an investment.

Bottom line: keep your fingers crossed for a major announcement from Tom Staggs closer to the end of the year, as the overall 20th of DLP gets on the way.

Or not .

But it is there RIGHT NOW, just laying on ice for a little while longer...

Once again thank you for asking and reporting !
Unfortunately, we are still waiting for the Ratatouille's ride which was supposed to open for the 20th anniversary of DLP. I have no doubt that there are a lot of projects for Disneyland Paris but I'm just kinda fed up because everything takes time here...
I hope it's gonna be like DCA wich is going to be a real Disney park !!

[Dagobert]

@ TreoFred: Thanks for the informations. I really hope WDI is doing something about DLRP. That resort deserves more attention from Disney.

[TreoFred]

Once again thank you for asking and reporting !
Unfortunately, we are still waiting for the Ratatouille's ride which was supposed to open for the 20th anniversary of DLP. I have no doubt that there are a lot of projects for Disneyland Paris but I'm just kinda fed up because everything takes time here...
I hope it's gonna be like DCA wich is going to be a real Disney park !!

The thing is that you can just drop new rides (like Tower of Terror or Ratatouille) but they don't necessarily fit in... Or you can rethink what was wrong in the first place and make tougher and more expensive decisions. The new management has been much more receptive to money spending for quality product and returning to the story telling route. If all people want are rides, they might as well go to La Foire du Trone. Doesn't matter if you put a 150 million euros ride in there, if it's just dropped there, it still looks like a fair with a bunch of rides. High end rides but not a Disney park.

So they tried to make it look better (like DCA) but it is still a somewhat jumbled mess. And Disney Studio Paris has the same problem as California Adventure did: it is very easy for people to walk a very short distance and compare to the fantastic (albeit, aging due to maintenance issues) Disneyland Paris (or EuroDisney ) next door. And when you just do some place-making improvement, the overall glue doesn't stick because the story is still not there or well realized.

However, one of DLRP most maligned asset is slowly turning into one of its biggest resource: the very very large quantity of Hotel rooms available in the resort IS bringing money and has been one of the highest increase in spending in all resorts, worldwide. Gas prices have been escalating and DLRP has both easy road, but also train and even plane (si on considere les acces RER depuis Roissy, ainsi que le TGV parfois... quand ya pas de greves SNCF... bref, passons ...). Of course, a lot of people would rather stay in Paris and commute but if you offer more compelling reason to 'stay in the magic' (again, with a more immersive story telling, a better sense of place), people would rather stay in 'Xanadu or Pandora (if you liked Avatar )' than go back to some realities.

Plans have been drawn, blueprints are all there, management is torn and timing may or may not be right... There's a lot of investment already taking place in parallel and the parks investments are some of the longest ones in terms of ROI, they also don't want to spread themselves too thin...

Bottom line: wait and see for a little while longer. DLP will be 20 next year, WDSP will be 10. Too late to do anything NOW but good timing for some announcements.

Croise les doigts, alume un cierge et garde espoir

[calsig31]

My only real gripe was that everytime they do a segment on Aulani for any kind of presentation they have to do a Hawaiian song and dance routine. I swear this is the 1000th time they've done this routine (DO SOMETHING NEW!!!!)

What would you have them do, play the Magnum PI theme and have Tom Selek drive out oun stage in his Ferari with the Robin 1 license plate?

[Vincent]

The thing is that you can just drop new rides (like Tower of Terror or Ratatouille) but they don't necessarily fit in... Or you can rethink what was wrong in the first place and make tougher and more expensive decisions. The new management has been much more receptive to money spending for quality product and returning to the story telling route. If all people want are rides, they might as well go to La Foire du Trone. Doesn't matter if you put a 150 million euros ride in there, if it's just dropped there, it still looks like a fair with a bunch of rides. High end rides but not a Disney park.

So they tried to make it look better (like DCA) but it is still a somewhat jumbled mess. And Disney Studio Paris has the same problem as California Adventure did: it is very easy for people to walk a very short distance and compare to the fantastic (albeit, aging due to maintenance issues) Disneyland Paris (or EuroDisney ) next door. And when you just do some place-making improvement, the overall glue doesn't stick because the story is still not there or well realized.

However, one of DLRP most maligned asset is slowly turning into one of its biggest resource: the very very large quantity of Hotel rooms available in the resort IS bringing money and has been one of the highest increase in spending in all resorts, worldwide. Gas prices have been escalating and DLRP has both easy road, but also train and even plane (si on considere les acces RER depuis Roissy, ainsi que le TGV parfois... quand ya pas de greves SNCF... bref, passons ...). Of course, a lot of people would rather stay in Paris and commute but if you offer more compelling reason to 'stay in the magic' (again, with a more immersive story telling, a better sense of place), people would rather stay in 'Xanadu or Pandora (if you liked Avatar )' than go back to some realities.

Plans have been drawn, blueprints are all there, management is torn and timing may or may not be right... There's a lot of investment already taking place in parallel and the parks investments are some of the longest ones in terms of ROI, they also don't want to spread themselves too thin...

Bottom line: wait and see for a little while longer. DLP will be 20 next year, WDSP will be 10. Too late to do anything NOW but good timing for some announcements.

Croise les doigts, alume un cierge et garde espoir

You're right and this is why the WDS needs a placemaking !

Your french is good !