WDW1974 does DLP ... the saga continues

[WDW1974]

One of the best features of DLP is the ability to simply crossover from one park to another, much like DCA.

While I used to love WDW when you had to take the monorail to get from the MK to EPCOT Center, things have gotten so overdeveloped that it can take forever to get between two points at WDW.

So this new model of two parks in walking distance really is appealing. That may be the best thing I can say about DSP ... nah, it's not THAT bad. But close!

The one thing I have to mention here is that despite it being DLP's 15th B-Day and DSP's 5th, most of the 'new stuff' is coming to the Studios. DLP has a great new parade with an incredibly catchy theme (more on both later) and a character castle lighting that is completely useless until the summer season starts on July 13th. And it is also marketing the year-old Buzz Lightyear as a 'new' attraction. But that's about it.

It's the Studios that are getting the lion's share of the money and attention in this 15th Anniversary. Now, while that may be smart, I would also point out that DLP hasn't added an E-Ticket since 1995 either. And there are none on the horizon right now.

Anyway, DSP should have its name changed to DPA right now ... DPA=Disney's Plywood Adventure for those keeping score on the home game.

You can't miss the construction because it envelops you before you even pass under the arches and go thru the turnstyles.

I couldn't help but notice a 'Only in France' moment when we were heading in as there were a group of 4-5 workers doing some excavating of the walkway in front of the park. One dude was driving a bulldozer. No CMs were around anywhere. All of a sudden, and without any warning to guests, the driver floors it in reverse (I've never seen a bulldozer go that fast) and BACKS all the way across the pedestrian entrance to DSP until he finally backs thru a fence and into a backstage area. He could have easily run people down ... you just had to be there.

Upon entering DSP, we noticed characters out, signing autographs and Pluto running away from kids ... that was fun but in a 'that wouldn't fly in Orlando' kind of way.

Also, would someone please explain why there's a 20-year-old, beat up, Cadillac limo parked outside the studio store. The emblems have been ripped off. The car has more dents then the typical 90210 plastic surgery patient.

Walked through Studio 1 ... not that you have any choice really. It's nicely done, but in 'small, regional, indoor park' kind of way. There should have been one full-serve restaurant put in this facility. Of course, this wasn't a park built as a park, but as a way for Disney to spend very little (thank Jay Rasulo, kids) and keep hold of the very valuable real estate before it had to go back to the French government.

The first thing you notice upon exiting Studio 1 is the fact everything looks a whole lot bluer than before. That's because Disney's 'placemaking' folks apparently determined that having a studio park that actually looks like a real studio with nondescript tan soundstages might depress visitors, especially when the weather was cold and unpleasant. On one hand it makes sense, on the other ... let's just say I have my doubts about the staying power of Dutch Boy Blue.

It's a very good thing that hardly anyone visits this park because right now it would be damn near impossible to handle any sort of crowd due to all the walls that surround the massive construction. Think of DSP (for those who've never been) as about the size of Hollywood Blvd at Disney-MGM with the area over to the Indy Stunt show too. That's the extent of DSP right now.

I was hoping beyond hope that Toon Studios (featuring Crush's Coaster and Cars Race Rally) would be in soft-opening, but it wasn't to be. They were safely hidden (mostly) behind blue fences. And I was also hoping a friend might be able to take me back behind the scenes, but they weren't in town that week. Next time, I guess. Crush's show building looks quite large and the buzz I've heard on the attraction is quite good. The fact that 98% of it is enclosed with dark ride features is promising. The Cars area also appears (in photos) to be highly themed. And they even have a Toontown painted backdrop like at DL and TDL. But the whole area looks tiny to me, so this isn't going to add much capacity to the park.

ToT construction continues to plod along. It really doesn't look like a great deal has been done since my '06 visit. I know they want to soft open by the December holiday period. Also, if anyone thinks DCA's tower was poorly placed, you ain't see nothing. You walk out of Studio 1 and it's just right there, right in front ... no build up, no nothing.

After walking around the construction zones, we headed to see Cinemagique as one of my friends hadn't seen it yet. It also was the highlight of my very brief time here last year. It's still a great show. It's wonderful to see a movie-based attraction that doesn't focus on Disney and/or Pixar. It won a major THEA award a few years ago and is quite deserving. Even if I admit to being a huge Martin Short fan. But this is another one of those deals where you say 'This would never fly in Orlando' ... you actually have a piece of the Exorcist scene where Linda Blair's head does a 360 and begins spewing green vomit. Would that fly with all the repressed American mommies and daddies ... the ones who were horrified by Alien Encounter? I don't think so.

All in all, this is a great attraction and the one 'can't miss' in DSP.

Also, want to toss out here that it's great to also hear the soundtrack of this park. It features all kinds of famous movie scores, again most that are NOT Disney. I recall when Disney-MGM did this many, many moons ago ... and even DCA's Hollywood Pictures Backlot had movie and TV themes for a few years before being replaced by more Disney music.

A quick break for some really bad Nescafe coffee (the only bad coffee I had in France, Belgium and the Netherlands) and we went to see Anamagique, something I had wanted to see because I missed out on it last year. And because it was another unique attraction.

Think of it as a black-lit, puppet show with a (very) loose theme of Mickey and Donald working as animators at the Disney Studios (and speaking both French and English). Mickey goes home. Leaves the magic key. Donald opens the Disney Vault and chaos and music spring forth. I enjoyed the show ... especially the Pink Elephants on Parade, Jungle Book and Little Mermaid portions ... one of my pals enjoyed it a lot, the other said it was amateurish 'something a high school would perform' ... I guess it all comes down to taste.

Next it was the Armageddon Special Effects Show, something else I hadn't seen last time opting for a (very) slightly better version of RnRC instead. You don't hear much about this show, which was supposed to be added to DCA where the empty Millionaire building sits in the original plans. Now, I enjoy Backdraft (although very dated) at Uni. Hollywood and Twister at Uni. Orlando so these shows generally appeal to me. Frankly, this one surprised me a lot. I thought it was very well done. Money was clearly spent. (But apparently not on talent, hence Michael Clarke Duncan doing the pre-show instead of Bruce 'Yes, He is Doing Another DieHard film' Willis. Just a lot of very kewl effects, but well done.

So that makes three unique attractions worth seeing at DSP. Hey, it's something.

By this point it was 5:30 and DSP closed at 6. So we headed back to DLP to ride BTM with our FastPasses. When here in 2006 I had remarked about horrible Six Flags-like graffiti that had literally covered the entire queue and mildew that had covered the entire mountain. I'm pleased to report the mildew is all gone and the graffiti was removed and wood resurfaced, but new stuff is already appearing. I know this is partially cultural as there's barely a surface on any building, wall, train, historical object, etc., in France that isn't tagged. At the same time, if Disney had CMs in the queues and cameras and removed people from the park when they damaged property, word would get out and it would stop.

BTRR at DLP is simply a whole lot of fun. It's the longest, fastest, best version of the ride going. Placing it on an island in the center of the Rivers of America was a great design move by Tony Baxter's team at WDI. It necessitated the addition of two looooong pitch-black tunnels to get you from the load area across to the island and back. Just a great ride all around and easily my fave coaster in any MK-type park.

After BTRR we decided to tempt fate and ride Space Mountain. Now SM happens to be a great ride. With a cannon launching you into a mountain of pitched darkness, followed by numerous inversions, twists, turns and drops ... and kewl special effects. But it also is the kind of head-banger (hey Karl, would it kill you to do some maintenance?) that can give you a headache or even worse. So I debated skipping it. I didn't. And it wasn't as rough as I remembered, but still plenty of banging ... but it took me about 40 seconds into the ride to realize 'something's missing,' ... sure enough, the soundtrack was out and (like with DL's pair of soundtrack coasters) you really miss it when it's gone.

By the time we got off, it was almost 7 (closing time ... despite the fact there is light in Paris skies until about 9:40 this time of year). Did some quick shopping on Main Street (more later).

Walked through an absolutely packed Disney Village ... which makes sense as Disney does have a captive audience that is afraid and/or doesn't want to get on a train and be in downtown Paris in 30 minutes.

Huge potholes are all over the walkways of both Disney Village and the promenade around Lake Disney. You could lose a mini Cooper in some of them. Again, this wouldn't fly in the states because legal wouldn't allow it. They'd be afraid of liability. Apparently, things are different in France.

Stopped into the Sequoia Lodge, which I think is my fave DLP resort as it has a very peaceful, laid-back feeling. It was quite busy.

Then it was a stop at Newport Bay where you can tell how shoddy their 15th makeover was by the fact the old paint is already showing through the new stuff and looks terrible. The entrance staircase area and lobby also show lots of sign of wear and tear, especially anything wooden. Do NOT stay here.

We then hightailed it to the RER as it was almost 8. 30 minutes later we were picking up food in Paris. In another 30 minutes we were setting up a picnic under the Eiffel Tower, which does an amazing light show on the hour that lasts about 8 minutes and features hundreds (thousands?) of twinkling lights ... just an amazing sight. Not amazing ... paying 4 Euros for a tiny Coke (with no ice, the French are afraid of the stuff) from a vendor at the Tower because we forgot to get drinks at the market.

All in all, one magical day ...

Day 2 ... and general observations to follow ... Comments and compliments welcome. Complaints are not!

[BlueSkyDriveBy]

Thanks for the TR posts!

[seenoevil]

I'm really enjoying your TR! Is it difficult to enjoy DLP if you don't speak French? Also, is the train system fairly easy?

[SpectroMan]

It's not necessary to know French at DLP at all.
Can't wait for Day 2! Thanks for writing all this!

[TDLFAN]

The only thing that annoys the heck out of me at DLP is the voice announcer... "Madames et monsieurs, et vouz les enfants...!"

ARGH! Screw les enfants! Why do they have to include the clueless enfants in the mix???

[Mathius]

Originally Posted by SpectroMan

It's not necessary to know French at DLP at all.
Can't wait for Day 2! Thanks for writing all this!

It isn't necessary but it's still good to know a little bit.

[WDW1974]

Originally Posted by BlueSkyDriveBy

Thanks for the TR posts!

Yeah, sure.

You're just buttering me up for some of those trinkets I brought back!

BTW, I'll be emailing this weekend.

[WDW1974]

Originally Posted by seenoevil

I'm really enjoying your TR! Is it difficult to enjoy DLP if you don't speak French? Also, is the train system fairly easy?

You absolutely can have a great time at DLP with no knowledge of French.
Almost every CM I dealt with this trip, which was different than my two visits in 2006, spoke at least some English and the 2-3 we ran into that didn't were still able to communicate some how.

The train system is VERY easy ... although at first glance can look quite complicated.

I'd advise anyone staying in Paris to buy the Carte Orange and add zone 5 on the RER, which is what takes you from downtown Paris to DLP in 35 minutes. I think for a week's use (from Monday to Sunday) we paid 31 Euros a person.

[WDW1974]

Originally Posted by SpectroMan

It's not necessary to know French at DLP at all.
Can't wait for Day 2! Thanks for writing all this!

You're very welcome.

Glad to know folks are appreciating it.

Think I may start Day 2 before bed tonight!

[TDLFAN]

...and where are my trinkets?

[mikeland]

Thanks for the report. No photos?

[BlueSkyDriveBy]

Originally Posted by WDW1974

Yeah, sure.

You're just buttering me up for some of those trinkets I brought back!

Not anymore. I just read your third installment:

I wound up spending somewhere around $150, which should tell you all you need to know about how the DLP merchandise situation is quickly becoming as bad as it is stateside.


What it tells me, is that I'm wasting my precious kiss *** behavior.

But do keep writing those TRs, please. If only for the schadenfreude moments involving Rasulo's flying monkeys.




BTW... wasn't JR supposed to be gone by now?

[tcsnwhite]

^seriously, what happened with that?

[WDW1974]

I don't make Bob Iger's decisions for him ... not saying I couldn't though!

But I'll go out on a very short limb and say Jay won't make it to 2008.
His puppets are starting to fall. Losing Brad Rex, who owes his career to JR, was a serious blow. Another few execs lose their jobs at WDW, maybe 1-2 in Paris ... who knows?

I do know his power base is being attacked from the inside and people are simply going over and around him for what they want.

[figment1986]

interesting observations, some studio attractions do work there and nowhere else. (i'm amazed the lma came from there)

great "WDW1974 News Report" so far.

-note to self, get bobzat to get a coke with ice...-