Disney and more

All aboard Disneyland Paris Nautilus ! High-res pictures and Videos

2012-01-31T09:13:00.000-08:00

After yesterday's article about the bad condition of the Nautilus - the exterior part - i thought you might be pleased to have a look at the inside of the submarine with great high-res pictures. All the pictures are high-res wallpaper pictures, which mean they will do great wallpaper for your computer. Double-click on each of them to see and get them in high-res. However, please note that pictures of the inside may be a little bit less sharp than the one of the exterior, as no tripod was used. You will also find at the end of the article a walk-through video filmed inside the sub as well as three others videos showing amazing models replicas of the Nautilus including one going under water like the real one!

Opened in 1994 thanks to the beautiful work of Discoveryland show-producer Tim Delaney and Nautilus specialist Tom Scherman along with dozens of WDI artists and sculptors. The attraction is a delight for any Nautilus fan. Some of you, dear readers, never had the luck to visit DLP, and you should like today's visit of the Nautilus walk-through.

Here we go, and let's begin by some exterior views.

Before the entrance, guests can have a look to this Nautilus map.

Here is a picture of the entrance hallway where you can hear the voice of Captain Nemo welcoming you.

The entrance of the submarine, with the treasure room in the back.

The first room is Captain Nemo's bedroom. Here is different views of it.

The next one is the beautiful map room...

....where guests can also see a map of Vulcania Island.

Next room is the diving room - the diving suits were made by Tom Scherman himself.

We arrive then, in the famous Grand Salon of Captain Nemo where guests can watch a giant squid attack...

...and hear the sound of the organ...

...where Captain Nemo appear regularly.

Right behind is the Machine room...

And then the exit...

Guests go back to the surface by walking through this hallway.

Beautiful view of Discoveryland await them as soon as they go out.

Let's end with more pictures of the Nautilus outside.

I did recently a video showing you the whole Nautilus and you can watch it either below or also in larger size on my Tom Scherman site where you'll find also some panoramic pictures HERE.

Now, as we're talking about the Nautilus here is a video of what is probably the best Nautilus model i've ever seen, with mechanical parts, etc...done by a great modeler named Bob Martin, don't miss it!

Bob has already received the fantastic Nautilus replica released by EFX collectibles, and he's even doing some enhancements on it! Since two years i've let you know about this EFX Nautilus replica, the production took quite a while but it looks like a great collectible piece!

And guess what, he also did a Nautilus which is not only floating and moving in the water but also diving under water like the real one! Check this on this next video. Bob Martin also have a web site that you can check HERE.

Hope you've enjoyed this Nautilus visit and, by the way, there is dozens more of even more beautiful pictures of the Nautilus in the Disneyland Paris book that will be reprint for sure next month, and that's one more good reason to pre-order your collector copy right now, specially considering that during the pre-order period which will end in a few weeks you also have a 20% discount on what will be the final price of the book. I repost below the video showing you each page of the book and to know how to order and send your payment please go HERE. Paypal or bank wire transfer payments are accepted.

Photos: copyright Daniel

Giant squid attack picture: copyright Disney

Nautilus and DLP book Video: copyright Alain Littaye

DLP Update - Discoveryland Nautilus : " Vulcania, We Have a Problem... "

2012-01-30T11:18:00.000-08:00

I hate to have to do this kind of article but sometime it's the right thing to do and for sure an alert is needed about the terrible condition of the Nautilus at DLP Discoveryland as the submarine is almost falling apart - no kidding, folks. If Captain Nemo was still - and for real - aboard the Nautilus he would probably send a message to his home base Vulcania Island and ask for some urgent help...

As you will see on the pictures below the Nautilus is in really bad condition, not as bad as was Captain Hook ship in Adventureland, but not far. I'm talking here only about the exterior part, the one in the middle of Discoveryland lagoon, as the inside of the Nautilus had regular maintenance and is in good condition if we except some light effects which are missing.

Now, for the defense of Disneyland Paris maintenance it's true that the maintenance of the exterior part of the submarine is not easy as it needs to empty the lagoon, etc... But as we're going to see on the pictures below now is the time to do it - not in one or two years, right now, before it'll be too late!

Let's have a look at all the problems. First, some parts of the hull and painting are no longer there, from the bow to the stern...

Don't think that this is happening only on one side of the sub as it's the same on the other side...

Then there is also a huge problem of moss all along the ship...

And if all this was not enough there is also another problem which will be harder to resolve: seagulls! There is more and more seagulls who are coming from the sea at 200 km from Paris and it seems that these seagulls have found home on the Nautilus. After all, it looks like a ship, it's surrounded by water and no one can catch them as it is in the middle of a lagoon! Note that the seagulls could work fine with the theming....but the problem is not that they stand on the submarine and that they've obviously declared that the Nautilus is their own territory but also that they spend a big part of their time to defecate on it!

So, what can DLP maintenance do? To restore the Nautilus is perfectly technically possible, that's for the good news. But to do it they have to empty the lagoon, probably put fences all around it to avoid guests to "see the trick" as many DLP guests still think that they're really entering the submarine that they saw outside when they go inside. Then, they probably have no other choice than to strip all the painting, restore the missing parts, paint it all over again, refill the lagoon, etc... It's not a refurbishment, it's a full restoration that we're talking about here and they can't do it in two weeks.

And here comes the bad news. Because of the needed time and although i've heard that a maintenance is scheduled anytime soon - but this would be probably the usual maintenance of the inside of the submarine - DLP maintenance will probably not have the time to do it before DLP 20th Anniversary. Eventually they could have the time to do it before April 1st if they begin tomorrow but i'm afraid this is not going to happen. Which means that the Nautilus will stay in this condition - and probably getting worse - during all the 20th Anniversary as i don't see DLP putting fences all around the lagoon during two months during this anniversary year.

Is it a shame? For a DLP fan probably, but to take the defense of DLP maintenance they had a lot of work this year all around parks and hotels and they did a great job. They also had to do a new Captain Hook ship and this was even more urgent as guests can go on it and there was a real security problem. They probably had to make a choice and they did the right one by doing Captain Hook ship first. That said, the Nautilus must really be the next one to be restored, don't you think so?

Edited: Last news about the Nautilus: Apparently DLP maintenance has confirmed that the lagoon should be emptied in March, and we can suppose that this will be done for a rehab of the Nautilus exterior. Because why should they empty the
lagoon, if not for that? Let's cross the fingers that it's going to happen for real and that we'll have a fresh and new Nautilus for the 20th!

Tomorrow i'll be back with great shots of the inside of the sub, and these should put you in a better mood!

Pictures: copyright disney and more

Disneyland Main Street U.S.A New Music Loop

2012-01-29T10:14:00.000-08:00

You may have heard that a new music loop was done for Main Street USA at Disneyland Anaheim and if you wish you can hear the whole new music loop below, thanks to a recording of revelers' apprentice. Among the new music being added you'll hear the theme from Pixar UP! at 7.01 min!

By the way, the picture on the top is coming from the Tours Departing Daily web site where Michaela, Matthew and Kevin are posting daily beautiful HDR pictures of Disneyland and DCA. They're extremely talented and you can find their stunning shots HERE.

Go ahead, click on play and while you listen to this new Main Stree music loop you'll be able to read the others articles on this page, isn't it great?

Main Street, U.S.A. - 2012 Area Music Loop by revelers'apprentice

Picture: copyright Tours Departing Daily

Main Street music loop: copyright Disney

Disneyland Paris That Never Was !

2012-01-28T12:46:00.000-08:00

As you know we are planning to reprint the great Disneyland Paris "From Sketch to Reality" book and we are now entering in the production of the book, the printing itself should happen in a few weeks. There is 750 pictures in the book including 250 renderings from Walt Disney Imagineering but those of you who don't already own the book might not know that you'll find also in the book many artworks showing the "Disneyland Paris that never was"! I will show you today some of them, beginning by the one above showing a winter scene of DLP entrance as envisioned by WDI Imagineers.

The next one below is part of the concept-arts for the very first concept of Main street, and we were at two fingers to have at DLP a really different Main Street than the one which exist now. Instead to have a “turn of the century” theming, Eddie Sotto, Main Street show-producer, had designed a Main Street set up at the 1920’s-30’s, at an era which was ruled by gangsters but also the golden era of jazz and cinema, and it would have been a totally different design as you can see on the Colin Campbell artwork below.

Another artwork, this one by Eddie Sotto himself, is showing the elevated tramway concept, going all along Main Street and inside the MS arcades. The idea of the elevated tramway was finally realized at Tokyo Disney Sea in the American Waterfront area.

Always in that 1930’s theming, a luxurious art-deco restaurant - a kind of private“club 33” -located behind the Main Street Transportation Co. building was envisioned and would have give you the feeling that you’re dining on a train.

One of the most amazing concepts for DLP castle was the one looking like a futuristic castle designed by Tim Delaney.

In Adventureland the Temple du Peril had several exciting ideas, unfortunately never realized like the one below...

In Discoveryland Star Tours almost had an AT - T at the entrance instead of the X-Wing fighter...

...but one of the greatest concept ever envisioned for DLP, the one that would have stunned all DLP fans, was the first concept of Space Mountain at that time called Discovery Mountain...

...in which you would have found not only the Space Mountain coaster but also the Nautilus submarine as well as a Journey to the Center of the Earth drop ride - the vulcano that you can see in the background of this Tim Delaney artwork.

Mind you, the DLP concepts that never were were also envisioned for the outside of the park, like this incredible restaurant concept supposed to be build in what is now the Disney Village...

...or this amazing concept for one of the hotels of the park which was designed with the shape of an aircraft carrier by austrian architect Hans Hollein.

There is dozens more of these "DLP that never was" artworks in the Disneyland Paris book, all fascinating, and that's one more good reason to pre-order your collector copy right now, specially considering that during the pre-order period which will end in a few weeks you also have a 20% discount on what will be the final price of the book. I repost below the video showing you each page of the book and to know how to order and send your payment please go HERE. Paypal or bank wire transfer payments are accepted.

Artwork: copyright Disney

Video: copyright Alain Littaye 2012

Universal Orlando Announces New Cinematic Spectacular Fountain Show to rival World of Color

2012-01-28T11:57:00.000-08:00

Although it hasn't been announced yet officially we know that Universal Orlando has the project to expand the Harry Potter land at Universal Orlando park, and not Islands of Adventure where the "part one" of the land has been built. We also know how damaging it has been for WDW and apparently Disney consider that because of the Harry Potter land guests are staying one day less at WDW.

Obviously the part two of the Potter land, if it's build at UNI instead than IOA, is going to be a nightmare for WDW executives as it'll mean that UNI guests coming for Harry Potter will probably stay two days instead of one, as they'll need a two parks tickets - and it will be hard for them to see the whole two parks in one day. Until now the only good news for WDW was not only the opening of the new Fantasyland later this year but also that their Potter part two won't open before 2014 or 2015.

But apparently Universal was not decided to wait 2 or 3 more years to have their guests staying longer in the parks and they announced a new nighttime show at Universal Orlando lagoon, called "Cinematic Spectacular". And guess what? It's a fountain show with projections on waterfall screens, and yes, it's the counter-attack of Universal to Disney's World of Color! Universal know that Disney have no plans to bring World of Color at WDW in a near future and apparently they decided to build their own "World of color" based on Universal phenomenal movie library. And the new show - as well as a new parade - will open...this spring!

Here is Universal official statement about this Cinematic Spectacular lagoon show: "Narrated by award-winning actor and recent Golden Globe - Cecil B. DeMille honoree, Morgan Freeman, Universal Orlando’s brand-new nighttime show, Universal’s Cinematic Spectacular, will celebrate the most powerful and emotional moments from Universal Pictures’ most iconic films – all on cutting-edge waterfall screens within the Universal Studios lagoon and surrounded by colorful fountains and pyrotechnics. The experience will take guests on a journey through epic cinematic moments filled with heroes, horror, laughter, good vs. evil and triumph. The new show opens this spring, runs all summer and then on select nights through the end of the year".

And here is the video announcement by Universal.

Now, as if this was not enough, Universal Orlando also announced a new "Superstar Parade which will feature familiar animated characters with all-new floats through the streets of Universal Studios Florida"...

...and a new 3D attraction called "Despicable Me Minion Mayhem", "which will take guests on an unforgettable 3-D adventure with their favorite characters from the hit film – Gru, Margo, Edith, Agnes and the mischievous minions. The experience begins when guests enter Gru’s home, where they learn that they’re being recruited to become minions and undergo “minion training.” Things don’t go as planned, and guests find themselves on a wildly hysterical journey with Gru and his daughters. Once guests make it through training, they join an interactive, minion-inspired dance party where they can show off their best moves.here is the video announcement". here is the video announcement...

...AND they also announced a major upgrade of the beloved Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man ride at Islands of Adventure: "Universal Orlando is transforming what is already one of the most amazing attraction experiences ever created into what will feel like an all-new adventure. The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man will soon feature all-new, 4K digital high-definition animation, new high tech 3-D glasses and upgrades to the set, audio and lighting systems. The re-animation of the ride film will include an entirely new level of detail for guests to discover, including a cameo by legendary comic book icon and Spider-Man co-creator, Stan Lee". Here is the video announcement as well as an example of the new animation of one scene of the ride.

All of these are opening this year and obviously Universal intend to be ready for 2012 to face WDW New Fantasyland opening...

With Disneyland Paris 20th Ann Disney Dreams! show in front of Sleeping Beauty castle it will be the second major fountain show to open in 2012. By the way, talking about the DLP show, although i have no doubt that Disney Dreams! will be great there is a good news and a bad one coming with it: the good news is that the Disney Dreams! show is here to stay, even after the 20th anniversary. Now for the bad one: as i told you quite a while ago DLP had the project to build a small lake at the Walt Disney Studios to install the World of Color show. It would have been a night time show, but now that they will have the Disney Dreams fountain show at DLP i think we can say bye-bye to have a World of Color at the WDS as it will be very surprising that they decide to have two fountains show using more or less the same technology in both parks. Not to mention that WOC would have been probably more expensive to build than the upcoming Disney Dreams show...

To come back to Florida we'll see what the next round will be between WDW and UNI - and from who it will come - but it promise to be interesting!

Pictures and videos: copyright Universal Studios

First Composite Cars Land Picture !

2012-01-28T08:27:00.000-08:00

Disney has released a first picture of Cars Land Radiator Springs Racer, a composite picture that is, meaning that there is a lot of photoshoping on it! That said the picture looks great and will remind to those of you who may have forgotten that two cars will race side by side during the last part of the ride. Click on it to see it in larger size!

Picture: copyright Disney

Tokyo Disneyland : Perfect Cast-Member or Audio-Animatronic ?

2012-01-27T05:00:00.000-08:00

Wr already knew that Tokyo Disney resort have a perfect park maintenance but now we know they also have amazingly perfect cast-members as you will see on this short and definitely hilarious video filmed at the exit of the Snow White dark ride at Tokyo Disneyland.

As you know there is always a cast-member to greet the guests when the Snow White vehicle arrive at the end of the ride. Now at TDL they have a cast-member who is greeting the guests on each vehicle arrival, again and again, with an incredible perfection that normally only Audio-Animatronics are able to do when they repeat programmed movements. Here, of course, it is not an audio-animatronic but just a real human being doing an amazing job!

Video: copyright nextfive

Disneyland Paris Update !

2012-01-25T11:02:00.000-08:00

Here is a new Disneyland Paris update thanks to pictures shot recently by a good friend of mine and we begin by the fountains installation all around Sleeping Beauty castle for the awaited 20th anniversary Disney Dreams! fountain show. Little by little the fountains mechanism are being installed in the castle ditches and, as the show is supposed to have its premiere at the beginning of April or the very last days of March, rehearsals should begin anytime soon. Below, pictures of some of the already installed fountains.

The World of Disney store located at the entrance of the Disney Village area is also part of what will be new at DLP this year. The scaffoldings that were still all around the building last month are down and we can now have a better look at the World of Disney art-deco sculptures and architecture. Note that the art-deco style will fit well with the backside of the Gaumont movie theaters but not the front side which will be partly hidden by the WOD store as you can see on the first picture below.

In the Disneyland Paris park, a small refurbishment can be seen on the Mark Twain - Molly Brown pier in Frontierland...

...but what each DLP fans is waiting for are the beginning of the works on the Ratatouille attraction at the Walt Disney Studios. On a picture shot by Theme Park Zone you can see the area located behind the Costuming building where DLPI Imagineers will build the ride. All trees of the land have been removed so the land is clear and works should begin anytime soon. Talking about its construction it's more official than ever now as we can see on all official notice boards like the one below. But if you have a closer look at it you'll note that is written "construction of an attraction AND a restaurant.." as it is now also official, thanks to a new construction permit, that a restaurant will be build in the Ratatouille area. Its name will be "La Ratatouille" and it's supposed to be a table service restaurant which will be more than logical if they want to stay in the theme of the movie.

Finally, as you might know we're preparing the re-print of the beloved Disneyland Paris book "From Sketch to Reality" - the printing should happen next march - and if you didn't came on Disney and more last week you might have missed a great video showing you each page of the book. You can watch it below and, as it is not too late to place your pre-order and have a 20% discount on the final price, please go HERE to learn how to pre-order and send your payment for a collector's edition copy! Note that the pre-order period will stop in February so don't wait too much to order your collector's copy to make sure you'll get it at the pre-order special price.

Pictures and video: copyright Disney and more, Disney Central Plaza

2012-01-23T22:10:00.000-08:00

Editor's Note: The Year of the Dragon began yesterday and i have a double report for you on the celebration, at HKDL or Bangkok Chinatown with an exclusive video!

D&M Special Report : Year of the Dragon Celebration in Bangkok Chinatown

2012-01-23T11:07:00.000-08:00

The Year of the Dragon began yesterday and the chinese new year was celebrated all around the world, and of course especially in Asia. I have a special report for you of the celebration in Bangkok, and even a short movie!

I recommend to those of you who would like to know more about the meaning and symbolism of the chinese new year - Asia biggest event of the year to have a look at this Wikipedia page HERE. That said, let's fly to Bangkok, Thailand in Bangkok Chinatown, and more specially Yaowarat road, Chinatown main avenue where happened yesterday the celebration. You'll see below a pictorial report and a video which i hope will give you an idea of how Bangkok inhabitants celebrated the Year of the Dragon yesterday evening.

Everyone was waiting for the arrival of the Queen Sirikit and her daughter who opened the celebrations - you'll see the Queen in her Rolls passing by in the video. To those of you who don't know Thailand King Bhumibol and Queen Sirikit they're almost considered as gods, and i must say that personally, just like the Thais, i consider King Bhumibol as the greatest king on Earth.

Here is the video of this memorable evening of the Year of the Dragon celebration, and below some colorful pictures!

Yes, the Dragon was there!

People were praying in all Chinatown temples, hoping that the gods will bring luck and protection all along the new year...

Pictures and video: copyright Disney and more

Hong Kong Disneyland Celebrates the Year of the Dragon !

2012-01-21T10:22:00.000-08:00

The Year of the Dragon is beginning today and as each year the chinese new year is the biggest event of the year in whole Asia! From January 13 till February 5th Hong Kong Disneyland is celebrating the Year of the Dragon and of course they do it with Mushu the little dragon from the Mulan animated movie. Lot of decors have been added in Main Street U.S.A and Central Plaza, and twice a day HKDL guests can watch the Dragon Procession in Main Street U.S.A as well as new "year of the dragon" merchandise products in Main Street shops.

If you can't come to HKDL for the Year of the Dragon celebration at hKDL, here is a video of the Dragon Procession!

Let's begin this Year of the Dragon with new infos about HKDL future: in my last HKDL update i told you that the park would like to open new hotels at HKDL and asked Hong Kong government its agreement. This was announced by The Standard, a generally reliable media, but i've learned from my own source that they did a mistake as what Andrew Kam told in fact in the press interview is that HKDL had planned to have 4 hotels in phase 1, including the two existing hotels, the Hong Kong Disneyland Hotel and the Hollywood Hotel. Which means that they are planning to build two more hotels and not four. As you can see on the picture below there is a land between the HKDL Hotel and the Hollywood Hotel which apparently is big enough to build two more hotels, while Hollywood Hotel can also be expanded. The Hong Kong Government seems to support HKDL for these new hotels, also probably because of the lack of hotels in the HK city. Talking about hotels, HKDL is now refurbishing the rooms of the Hollywood hotel and Hong Kong Disneyland hotel, and 20 new princess-themed rooms will open soon. And the "Bibbidi Bobbidi boutique" which has been renamed "My Little Princess" will be expanded too.

You might remember that in the HKDL project was also planned to build a kind of "Downtown Disney", and the last news that i had is that this Downtown Disney will be determined later, probably around 2015 as HKDL is in fact waiting to know how many visitors will be brought by the new bridge linking Lantau Island to Macau. This is a huge bridge project that would link two of the major destinations in Asia. It involves both a 29km bridge and submerged tunnel section and artificial islands. There is no doubt that this monumental bridge will bring new guests to HKDL when it will be build, if it is for real.

AND, talking about HKDL future here is the latest video update from michael20183 which will show you that Grizzly Gulch is well on its way for an opening later this year as well as the works on Mystic Point Manor, opening in 2013. Also, i told you in my previous update that Star Tours 2 should come to Tomorrowland, and here is a bit more about an opening date: 2015 will be HKDL 10th anniversary celebration but they will leave 2015 to the entertainment division. So if Star Tours 2 cannot open in 2014, then it should be in 2016... or eventually for the finale of the 10th anniversary.

See you soon for a new HKDL update and in the meantime, don't miss my HKDL Wallpapers Application, you'll find it on the iTunes Appstore! See article here
Direct iTunes link HERE!

Video of the Full Disneyland Paris Book and Update on the Book Production

2012-01-20T14:10:00.000-08:00

As you know we are planning to reprint the great Disneyland Paris book "From Sketch to Reality", and the reprint will happen in march. We currently have around 170 pre-orders and we need more or less 100 more pre-orders to have the needed amount to pay the book printing. Considering that we already have 170 pre-orders in less than a month and that the pre-order period is still running until late february we are totally confident now that we will have enough pre-orders to print the book.

But for those of you who haven't pre-order the book yet it's the right time to do it as placing a pre-order also give you a 20% discount on the book final price! You can pay either by Paypal or bank wire transfer if you're living in a foreign country or by bank check, Paypal or bank wire transfer if you're living in France. To place a pre-order send me an email at: neverlandeditions@gmail.com with your shipping address and please also tell me what will be your kind of payment. The book price is 110 Euros including shipping if you're living in France and 115 Euros including shipping for all others countries. Paypal payments must be send in euros currency and at my Paypal account: lawrence55@wanadoo.fr and you can find more infos on the book HERE in english or HERE in french.

Now, although you've probably heard about this magnificent book, many of you may have never seen a copy of it. So we've done a video presentation of the full book which will show you each of the 320 pages of the book! The book includes 750 pictures of the park, including 250 gorgeous renderings of Walt Disney Imagineering and stunning pictures of the park seen from above. The book is so big that it took us seven and a half minutes to show you the full book, and that's without stopping turning each pages! So, if you want to have a closer look at a page don't hesitate to stop the video. Finally, because we didn't had any more a collector edition copy the video is showing the regular edition of the book, not the collector's edition that you will receive if you place your order, but the inside pages are exactly the same.

Video: copyright Alain Littaye 2012

The Disneyland Paris Frontierland Stunt Show that never was

2012-01-20T14:05:00.000-08:00

Quite a while ago i found on the excellent Mark Taft Insights and Sounds web site the above rendering. It's labelled "EDL - for Euro Disneyland which means that this concept-art was done in the early 90's when the park was still called by this name. And it shows the facade of a stunt show arena envisioned for DLP's Frontierland - a "western" stunt show, of course.

In his article Mark was wondering "How seriously was a stunt show for Frontierland considered?" and hoped that i may have the answer as i am the one who wrote the book about the park.

But, i as i didn't had the answer, i asked Jeff Burke who was Frontierland's show-producer if he ever heard about this project. And here is his answer:

"I don't recognize this specific illustration, but there were discussions, after the Park had opened in 1992, to build a stunt show arena where the Chapparal Stage now stands. The discussions of Frontierland's own stunt showplace ended when operations said it would be too much of a repetition of the "Buffalo Bill Wild West Show" in Downtown Disney."

Another former imagineer friend sent to me these additionnal infos: "There were a number of discussions concerning a live western show in Frontierland, including a small rodeo which was not done due to the strict animal protection laws in France. This is why the animals in the original petting zoo were moved behind a fence after opening so that the guests could only pet an animal when it approached the guest on its own.

As to the stunt show, this was developed under the Entertainment department on their own rather than Imagineering which was probably why it was not well known. An outside consultant was brought in and I seem to remember a model might also have been done. It was essentially a comic gun fight with exploding buildings and such but, as Jeff said, it was cancelled because of the clash with the Buffalo Bill show.

After that, the Chaparral stage came into existence to house any number of live entertainment shows."

So, there we have the answer about this mysterious rendering. The park DID envisioned a stunt show in Frontierland, but they finally cancelled it because of the Disney Village dinner show - translate: if we have a stunt show in Frontierland, people won't come - and pay - for the Buffalo Bill Wild West Show.

Although i must admit there is a kind of logic in their decision, i think it's a pity that a "western" stunt show don't exist in Frontierland instead of the Chapparal Stage. A western stunt show is a classic in theme parks - think about the Universal's Wild Wild West stunt show - and it probably would have give additional life in the back of Frontierland...

And you, what do you think about this Frontierland stunt show that never was?

Artwork: copyright Disney

Many thanks to Mark Taft for this interesting rendering. I strongly suggest you to have a look on Mark's site Insights and Sounds, it's always interesting with rare pictures or renderings and Mark is posting new articles almost every day!

Don't forget to pre-order a collector's copy of the Disneyland Paris book, on its way for reprinting. Anyone pre-ordering the book has a 20% discount on what will be the final price when the book will be released, so it's better to place your order now. The book is absolutely gorgeous, Just go HERE to learn more about the book and how to place your order.

Pictures: copyright Disney

Barack Obama Speech at Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom

2012-01-20T13:17:00.000-08:00

President Barack Obama was at Walt Disney World Magic Kingdom last thursday and he did a speech in front of Cinderella Castle.

As the Disney Parks blog reports "Tourism was the topic of this official visit, and the President said the natural place to discuss efforts to make it easier for more international guests to visit the United States was Walt Disney World Resort. While the President’s remarks were for an invited audience and necessitated closing a portion of Main Street, U.S.A., for a few hours, guests at Magic Kingdom Park enjoyed a unique day of their own, with special entertainment throughout the park to keep things magical... A capacity crowd of guests who wanted to hear the President’s speech even watched a live broadcast of his remarks in the most appropriate of settings – The Hall of Presidents attraction in Liberty Square".

Picture and video: copyright Disney - White House.gov

Guess Where Bangkok Dream World Stunt Show Found Part of its Inspiration ?

2012-01-19T11:31:00.000-08:00

If you're looking for a theme park during a visit in Thailand, chances are that you will end at Dream World, near Bangkok. It's the most popular one, of course not as sophisticated as Disneyland is, but not that bad, specially in their new attractions. There is also so many "tributes" to Disneyland (to say it elegantly) that you will feel almost at home. After all, they have a Space Mountain, a Haunted Mansion (real names of their rides), a castle, a seven dwarfs cottage, a Cinderella carriage, etc...

I will come back soon on the whole park in another article but today i invite you to have a look at Dream World stunt show called "Hollywood Action". The story line to put it simply is the story of special forces fighting terrorists, but that's not the point. What is the point is how this stunt show took part of its inspiration from the Indiana Jones Epic Stunt Spectacular stunt show at Disney Hollywood Studios. You like the start of the Indy show with the spikes and the giant rolling ball? You'll find them here. And that's just two elements in this stunt show that were "borrowed" to the Indy show. Others elements are present, a little bit less obvious, but i'm sure that the plane which appear in the final sequence will remind you something.

Of course the Indy stunt show is better, there is no doubt about that, but you can see the full "Hollywood Action" show in the videos below, so have a look and let me know what you think in the comments!

ictures and videos: copyright Disney and more

You will never believe the real origin of Phantom Canyon's inhabitants !

2012-01-18T07:54:00.000-08:00

All of you, Disneyland Paris fans, who ride Phantom Manor again and again might think - thanks to excellent "Phantom Manor" websites - that you know all about this DLP beloved attraction. But, today, you will learn amazing secrets you've never heard before.

In Phantom Manor "Phantom Canyon" is the last scene of the ride, after the doom buggy went through the graveyard and skeletons section. In a way, it's the grand finale of the ride. It's a totally different finale than the one you generally experience in the others Haunted Mansions. In Phantom Manor WDI Imagineers designed a surreal ghost town, and this ghost town have some rather unique Audio-Animatronics inhabitants. It is their story that I will tell you now.

In the early 1990's, while WDI Imagineers were building Phantom Manor's structure the Audio-Animatronics figures were made in WDI workshop, at Walt Disney World. At that time, Jeff Burke, DLP Frontierland's show producer, had to choose the "faces and bodies" of Phantom Canyon's future inhabitants. For the skeletons that guests meet in the previous scene, WDI purchased plastic skeletons from a company that normally supplies these "bony creations" to medical schools and colleges. For the "underworld" of Phantom Manor the skeletons were purchased in bulk and in different dimensions - larger for the men "crypt characters", smaller for the women.

And the largest skeleton acquired, used for the infamous Phantom character, was 6' 3" tall.

But for the "human" characters of Phantom Canyon it was a totally different challenge.
It's not well known but sometime - to avoid the expense of sculpting new heads and bodies for new kind of Audio-Animatronics characters - Imagineers can do a selection from masks and molds designed for AA characters of previous attractions. Then, with the magic of WDI designers and new costumes a whole new cast appear. For instance,some of the ghosts of Disneyland's Haunted Mansion previously showed up in Pirates of the Caribbean. Not only it's easier and less expensive, but the budget savings can be used to enhance lighting, special effects and other production values of the attraction.

Now, let's get back to Jeff Burke, WDW workshop, and the folks of Phantom Canyon. If you did the ride at DLP, you probably remember the bank robber and his donkey. Well, his face and body are from a mask and mold previously used for a character of EPCOT's World of Motion... as well as the donkey!

And the face and body of the scared sheriff hiding behind the lampost, is also featured as a skinny pirate in the auction scene of WDW Pirates of the Caribbean.

Mind you, Jeff's first choice was to used the terrified groundskeeper standing at the cemetary gates in Haunted Mansion's final scene. By the way, from that same scene, a howling dog among the tombstones has been turned into a snarling "hound from hell" lunging toward your doom buggy when you exit the Bride's bedroom.

Edited : Richard, a faithful D&M reader sent to me the pictures below of the DL Haunted Mansion organist. As i mention in my text that the scared sheriff's head was used previously for a Pirates of Caribbean character, Richard thought that it might be instead the head used for the organist in the Haunted Mansion, and looking at these pictures i must admit that the scared sheriff and the organist faces looks very similar.

The best was to ask my good friend Jeff Burke who was DLP's Frontierland show-producer and Jeff answered to me that "the AA head used for the organist and the scared sheriff in Phantom Manor is indeed from the same sculpture with some distinctive makeup variations. However, he was not sculpted originally with Phantom Manor in mind but rather was fashioned as one of the extra figures for "Pirates of the Caribbean"."

In two words, the same sculpted head was sculpted first for a Disneyland POTC character first, then used for the HM organist at Disneyland and then for the scared sheriff at DLP's Phantom Manor! Amazing, isn't it?

Other Phantom Canyon inhabitants includes the piano player...

...the bartender, the saloon girl...

...and the druggist. All of them began their AA "career" in various scenes of the now extinct World of Motion attraction.

But the biggest surprise probably comes from the Mayor character who welcomes us to Phantom Canyon. He's the one who greets you not only by removing his hat, but his head as well! You're not going to believe who he is really or should i say who "he" was in a previous "life": Believe it or not, but the mayor of Phantom Canyon is DREAMFINDER, the main character from the beloved Journey into Imagination attraction!

Quite frankly, I've ride Phantom Manor dozens of time and never noticed it before but indeed Phantom Canyon's mayor is/was the Dreamfinder character of EPCOT's Journey into Imagination! And the voice of this macabre mayor wishing you a "Welcome, foolish mortals..." is none less than the talented Paul Frees, who is the voice of the "Ghost Host" in Disneyland's Haunted Mansion.

So, next time you will ride through Phantom Manor and when your doom buggy will go down to enter Phantom Canyon, don't forget to say a warm "Hello!" to the "Dreamfinder" mayor and all the other characters who are versatile enough to scare you at DLP after they entertained guests in a previous "life" at others Disney theme parks.

Note: Progress City USA has posted today an interesting article about Dreamfinder and you can read it HERE !

Don't forget to pre-order a collector's copy of the Disneyland Paris book, on its way for reprinting. Anyone pre-ordering the book has a 20% discount on what will be the final price when the book will be released, so it's better to place your order now. The book is absolutely gorgeous, Just go HERE to learn more about the book and how to place your order. And if you have never seen the book here is a brand new video that we did, and which will show you EACH page of the book!

Pictures: copyright Alain Littaye or Disney

DLP 20th Anniversary Preview Video Introduces New Parade and Disney Dreams show !

2012-01-16T12:13:00.000-08:00

Disneyland Paris has released an interesting 20th Anniversary preview video which shows more of the awaited Disney Dreams show as well as the new floats in the Disney Magic on Parade!. Let's have a closer look at it.

The new "Disney Magic on Parade!" will cast Disney Characters "in a fantastic new carnival especially for our 20th anniversary. Flying out from their unforgettable stories trailing light, colour, music and magic, they glide through the park’s party atmosphere, before Mickey and friends shine in a spectacular finale". Below, you'll see renderings of the new floats as well as the one for the final scene and the new Cinderella and Sleeping Beauty horse carriages.

Then the video talk about the Disney Dreams! show and Steven Davison and others WDI Imagineers are introducing the show. One of the interesting part as you will see on the video below is the 3D renderings showing where the fountains - on which will be projected animated sequences - will be installed around the castle.

You'll see also some short animated scenes, including what should be Disney Dreams! beginning with Peter Pan shadow supposedly starting the show.

We can also see a selection of the lighting - projection effects on Sleeping Beauty Castle, including fire effects and all this sounds very promising.

My feeling is that Steven Davison and his team once again have designed a fantastic show which will be played each day during DLP 20th Anniversary and, good news, which is also here to stay in the future! As i suppose that by now you're dying to watch the video, here it is, and see you soon for more news about the Disney Dreams! show!

Don't forget to pre-order a collector's copy of the Disneyland Paris book, on its way for reprinting. The book is absolutely gorgeous, Just go HERE to learn more about the book and how to place your order.

Pictures and video: copyright Disney

Tangled Ever After "The Ring" and "The Pursuit" Clips

2012-01-16T10:24:00.000-08:00

Beauty and the Beast 3D, released last friday in the U.S, did $18,490,000 in three days and there is little doubts that it will be a successful new release. In addition, the audience can discover a new short from Disney Animation Studios which is the wedding sequence that supposedly happen where the story ends in the long animated feature.

There is a real fun idea in the script, and you'll see what happen when you ask the horse Maximus to keep the wedding rings. Have a look at the two clips below!

Picture and videos: copyright Disney

Star Tours 2 coming to Hong Kong Disneyland Tomorrowland !

2012-01-13T15:03:00.000-08:00

Although it's not totally official yet, i have a great news for all Hong Kong Disneyland fans: Star Tours 2 is coming to HKDL Tomorrowland! You can expect it probably the year after Mystic Manor opening, i.e in 2014 or 2015 the latest, and certainly before Shanghaî Disneyland opening. Although it's not official yet there has been recently some leaks and The Standard.com in its report last week said that "The park reportedly plans to build an artificial lake and another amusement facility with a theme similar to Star Wars".

Personally i knew it since a while from my personal source and i think that Star Tours 2 will be a major addition to HKDL Tomorrowland. With the opening of four major attractions/land between now and 2015 Hong Kong Disneyland will be ready to face Shanghaî Disneyland opening. By the way, there is also a kind of logic in all this: If you follow the expansion plan of Hong Kong Disneyland, Autopia was opened in Tomorrowland in 2006, Animation Academy opened in Main Street in 2007, It's a Small World and Toy Story Land were the expansion for Fantasyland in 2008 and 2011, and Grizzly Gulch and Mystic Manor will be the expansion for Adventureland in 2012 and 2013. If you trace HKDL move, you'll understand that their next expansion plan should be back to Tomorrowland, and that's exactly what it's gonna be.

Now, where exactly will they put ST2 in Tomorrowland? Jump to my Star Tours 2 site to discover the exact location where Star Tours 2 will be build at HKDL Tomorrowland, and more details!

Picture: copyright Disney - Lucas Film

Don't miss the HKDL Wallpapers application for iPhone and iPad with gorgeous pictures of the park, you'll find it on the iTunes Appstore! See article here
Direct iTunes link HERE!

WDS Ratatouille Dark Ride Construction Will Begin Anytime Soon !

2012-01-13T04:05:00.000-08:00

Okay, this time this is it, we can say that the construction of the awaited Ratatouille dark ride at DLP Walt Disney Studios will begin anytime soon! Not only as it was announced this week DLP now have an additional 150M € credit line from the WDC which is more or less the price of the ride and land - but, before they begin to build it, the french law request to display on site a construction announcement. That's what happened this week and generally when this is done construction begin anytime soon. You have a picture of it above, posted on the Disney Central Plaza forum by the always excellent Mouetto.

We also have new infos about the ride which is supposed to be called "Ratatouille Kitchen Calamity"! Note that this is the project title and that the final attraction title might change as it was the case on Toon Studio's Crush's Coaster previously called "Crush's Turtle Twister". Anyway, the project title bring some infos about the ride and it means that a big part of the ride should happen inside Gusteau's kitchen.

Some infos i had a few years ago - so the final script might have changed - were saying that guests will have the feeling to be reduced at the size of a rat and i agree that this could be fun. As far as i remember, after a start in Gusteau's kitchen guests will be "trapped" and throw in the sewers - which, if it's still in the storyline, could give a great visual scene and a reference to the sewers sequence at the opening of the movie. Then we will go out and all the goal would be to comeback to Gusteau's kitchen... Again, considering that these infos are two years old the script might have changed but it seems that's how it was envisioned originally.

Technically speaking we know that the ride will use a trackless vehicle system, that there will be 3D projections effects and it's also indicated on the construction permit that the ride will use 36 vehicles with 6 people inside each vehicle, including one vehicle for wheel chairs. Each vehicle is separated (not attached with others), have wheels, and energy is provided by electric batteries. The trackless technology should be close to the one used in Pooh's Honey Hunt at Tokyo Disneyland and the whole thing, technically speaking, might be close to how is done the famous Spiderman ride at IOA or the new Transformers ride at USS which also use a trackless vehicle and 3D projection effects.

You'll note that the picture on the top provides also interesting infos about the Ratatouille land. First, we can note that it's not written explicitly "Ratatouille attraction" but "Creation of attraction Toon Studio D", which is the code name of it, simply because it is located in the Toon Studio land. Then, we can see that the buildings construction is supposed to be almost 18 meters high which is as high as a six floor building in Paris! You can see above a rendering showing the Paris themed area, and i remind you that a restaurant will also open in the land, which is more than logical considering the Ratatouille original story.

We also see on the top picture the size of the land, in square meters, and i think that the "250796 sam" is referring to the total area of Toon Studio. The others 5719 sqm might refer to the Ratatouille land area, which makes an area of 57m x 100m, more or less. Logistically speaking the area is located close to the new Toy Story Playland and behind the Costuming building and as this is a kind of cul de sac let's hope that it won't create any guest flow problem - not sure, though, specially if the attraction is as popular as expected...

This next picture is a montage done by DCP Forum with the current WDS map, and although it shows precisely the location of the Ratatouille land we might not expect an Eiffel Tower small replica as it is shown on it.

The ride and Ratatouille area are supposed to need two years to be build, so don't expect an opening before fall 2013 at the earliest. But at least we know that the project is now a "go" and all we have to do is to wait, something that DLP fans are used to do (!).

In the meantime, i remind you to don't forget to pre-order a collector's copy of the Disneyland Paris book, on its way for reprinting. The book is absolutely gorgeous, Just go HERE to learn more about the book and how to place your order.

Attraction Pictures: copyright Disney, with all my thanks to Disney Central Plaza

Disney California Adventure: Say Goodbye to ElecTRONica and Hello to Mad T Party !

2012-01-13T03:51:00.000-08:00

After the very popular ElecTRONica, Disney California Adventure will bring to the guests a new nighttime celebration with the Mad T Party starting summer 2012. According to the Disney Parks Blog "This psychedelic soiree will be filled with surprises and new takes on some familiar characters from the world of Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland.” Join us for a party like no other as you fall into the rabbit hole and land in a wild and whimsical world where up is down, this is that and nothing is what it seems. A live band, unique entertainment, fun-filled games and plenty of dancing all await guests seeking an escape into a bright and vivid alternate reality.

Throughout the Mad T Party, we will “tip our hats” to the world of Tim Burton’s “Alice in Wonderland” with wild and fabulous imagery and imagination. Familiar faces will be re-imagined in fresh, new ways, all combining to immerse guests in a captivating world that’s filled with exclusive signature foods, beverages and merchandise offerings".

The TRON End Of Line Club will also be replaced with the House of Cards lounge, as you can see on the artwork below.

That sounds good, doesn't it? The DCA Mad T Party are coming next summer 2012 and for sure i will let you know when it will begin!

Picture: copyright Disney

Disney launch new Cars Land site - High-Res WDI Artwork

2012-01-12T10:53:00.000-08:00

Cars Land will open this summer at Disney's California Adventure and Disney launched a new Cars Land site yesterday. You won't learn or see anything more than what you already know but, even if we already know them, the site provide some Cars Land artwork in big size and in better quality than ever, so click on each pic below to see them in big size!

Among them, the Cars Land map and bird eye view of the land...

A great night view of Radiators Springs main street...

Mater's Junkyard Jamboree....

Luigi's Flying Tires

Radiators Springs Racer...

There is also a short video with interesting shots on the Cars Land model...

All this looks great and i think you should put in your bookmarks this new Cars Land site as more pictures will probably appear on it in a near future!

Pictures: copyright Disney

John Carter International Poster Released !

2012-01-11T13:33:00.000-08:00

An international poster for John Carter was released today and it is the one that you can see above. In addition, Disney also released recently other posters - the ones below - and they're all in wallpaper size, so click on each to get them in high-res!

You know that we love the renderings here at Disney and more, so here is some concept-arts done for this awaited movie.

Finally, Disney released last month a new trailer that i didn't posted on D&M and you can watch it below. Personally i have a very good feeling with this John Carter, released early March world wide. Partly because it is former Pixar animator Andrew Stanton - Wall-E director - who did it. I am confident he will find the right emotion for the film and that his creation of Mars will be memorable. Let's hope i'm right!

Pictures and video: copyright Disney

Looking for a job at Shanghaî Disneyland ?

2012-01-11T12:39:00.000-08:00

If you're in China or anywhere else and are interested to have a job at Shanghaî Disneyland, be ready for next year as Shanghaî Daily revealed today that: "Shanghaî Disneyland, scheduled to open in 2015, will kick off a global recruitment campaign next year.

Park officials will put little emphasis on applicants' educational background, instead focusing on their abilities and qualities, said Shanghai Shendi Group Co Ltd, which represents the city government's stake in the project. Thus, officials said, college graduates can apply for jobs as waiters and waitresses while people holding lower diplomas will have the opportunity to become administrative staff for the park.

Hu Jingjun, director of Shendi, said the park will need thousands of employees. Mark Hall, a British human resources expert, forecast that about 40 percent of Disneyland's employees will be maintenance or low-skilled workers, such as security guards and cleaners, half will be employed in services, and 10 percent will take high-level management posts.

The theme park will be located in Chuansha of the Pudong New Area, where most of the population has a relatively low educational background. But the recruitment information will be promoted to Chuansha residents, and the Pudong government will hold training classes for applicants to improve their competitive chances".

You got the message?

Text: copyright Shanghaî Daily

Was EuroDisney Cursed from the Start ?

2012-01-11T10:46:00.000-08:00

In Europe, when you sign an important agreement, you generally come with some gift to celebrate. It's probably the same anywhere in the world but i wouldn't be surprised if in Asia they were also making sure that the event happens a "good" day, or they will ask monks to come to ask the protection of gods, etc...

But, anyway, in Occident we just bring gifts. And so did Michael Eisner to french official - who became later french president - Jacques Chirac, on March 24 1987 when Disney signed the final contract for what will become EuroDisney, then Disneyland Paris. And what did Eisner give to Chirac, you ask? He gives him an original cel from Snow White. Wow, that's a pretty cool gift, you think. Well, uh, yes and no. Have a closer look at the above picture and you'll see that this cel shows the witch giving to Snow White the POISONED APPLE!!

Although it's one of Snow White most famous sequence, you'll probably admit that Eisner could have found a better symbolism at a time he was signing a major contract to bring to France a Disney Magic Kingdom... A bit like if it was going to be a poisoned gift... And, although for the french state DLP has always been a good operation in terms of revenues that the state is getting from VAT, other taxes, and of course tourism, almost since the start DLP had these financial problems that we all know.

So, i'm asking the question: was Disneyland Paris cursed from the start thanks to Eisner more "Goofy" than ever? Of course not - well, probably not - but if one day you're signing this kind of major contract, you better choose as a gift something with a more appropriate symbolism!

Picture: copyright Reuters

2012-01-10T10:26:00.000-08:00

Editor's Note : What a day, big news coming from both sides of the planet! Disneyland Paris has now the money to build the awaited Ratatouille dark ride at the WDS - see below - and Hong Kong Disneyland is planning to build four more hotels - see article after the one about DLP or click HERE.

Disneyland Paris obtains a 150M € revolving credit facility from WDC - Ratatouille Dark Ride now on its way at WDS

2012-01-10T07:30:00.000-08:00

The sky is brighter over Disneyland Paris today, and especially over the Walt Disney Studios. I've told you recently that we'll have early January an announcement about DLP future, and here it is, as DLP officially announced today that "Euro Disney obtains a 150M € additional standby revolving credit facility from The Walt Disney Company in connection with an approval from its lenders to increase its investments." Here is the official release:

"(Marne-la-Vallée, January 10, 2012) Euro Disney S.C.A. (the "Company"), parent company of Euro Disney Associés S.C.A., operator of Disneyland® Paris (together the "Group"), announces that, on January 6, 2012, it has obtained an additional standby revolving credit facility (the "Additional Facility") of € 150 million from The Walt Disney Company. This Additional Facility expires on September 30, 2018 and was advanced in connection with the approval from its lenders to increase the Group’s investments by up to € 250 million. These investments correspond to the annual recurring investment budget for fiscal year 2012 and a multi-year expansion of the Walt Disney Studios® Park, which includes a new attraction. The Additional Facility is separate from the € 100 million existing standby revolving credit facility (the "Existing Facility"), which expires on September 30, 2014 and is still undrawn. The other terms and conditions of the Additional Facility are substantially the same as the Existing Facility.

Although no assurances can be given, the Group believes it has sufficient funds to finance these and other necessary investments and repay its borrowings consistent with the scheduled maturities, based on its existing cash position, liquidity from the Existing Facility and the benefit of certain conditional deferrals permitted under the Group’s existing debt agreements."

What does this mean, in clear? In clear, it means that DLP now have the money to build the Ratatouille dark ride as well as the mini land around the ride. It also means that the banks probably refused to deliver the cash without a kind of guarantee from the WDC. Now that the park have it works should begin anytime soon as they need two years to build the ride and land. You probably won't be surprised to learn that 150M € is more or less the cost of the Ratatouille ride, so basically what is happening is that the WDC provides to DLP the needed amount to build the ride ...money which will go back for a big part in the pocket of Disney as DLP is of course buying the new attractions to WDI, i.e Disney. Are not they smart at Burbank?

That said, even after paying for the Ratatouille ride the park will still have a credit facility of 100M €, that they had before today's announcement and that they can "use" until 2014. For sure you can build other rides with 100M € and we will know soon what the park expect to do with it. Although their priority is to expand the WDS chafes are that they will use a small part of this money to enhance some DLP ride - hello Jack Sparrow AAs in POTC - or a new placemaking in another part of the WDS, and why not another ride. In the meantime, today is a happy day for DLP fans as this time, this is it, a major E-Ticket ride is on its way!

Picture: copyright Disney

Don't forget to pre-order a collector's copy of the Disneyland Paris book, on its way for reprinting.Just go HERE to learn how.

Hong Kong Disneyland Planning to Build Four More Hotels !

2012-01-09T09:51:00.000-08:00

Hong Kong Disneyland said Tuesday its net loss narrowed in its sixth year of operations due in part to a 13% increase in visitors to the theme park and i will tell you more about this below but there is much more interesting news from HKDL today as HKDL has asked the Hong Kong government for four more hotels.

Hong Kong Disneyland proposal will include building one large hotel and three smaller vacation-style hotels which will be connected by a tram and the park, which saw a record 5.9 million visitors last year - also aims to build an artificial lake. If the new plans looks too big for the HK government which owns 57 percent of the park, HKDL is apparently willing to compromise, saying that all four hotels do not have to be built at the same time.

Disneyland managing director Andrew Kam Min-ho had earlier said the park wanted to build one large and one small hotel. A government source said Disneyland submitted different proposals including the feasibility of expanding within the existing area and we know they have room for this as you can see on the aerial shot below. But a HK source noted that HKDL wants to expand its rides first before building the hotels which means that the new hotels won't open before 2014 probably, if everything goes fine.

Hong Kong Disneyland also officially revealed its 2011 performance results this afternoon and as i've said the attendance during the period was up 13% to 5.9 million from 5.2 million. Separately, the theme park said it welcomed more than 31 million visitors from its opening in September 2005 to the end of December 2011. HKDL said it had a net loss of HK$237 million (US$30.5 million) for the 12 months ended Oct. 1 last year, improving from a net loss of HK$718 million in the previous fiscal year.

As we know new attractions are being added to Hong Kong Disneyland, Grizzly Gulch will open next summer and Mystic Point next year and there is no doubt that the new lands will attract many more guests.

Finally, another news that may interest you, always about Disney in China: Disney English, the teaching arm at Orlando is in search of foreign trainers to teach English to children ages two through 12. Disney has been advertising the jobs in the New York Times and online. Of course, Disney’s push coincides with its plan to open Shanghai Disneyland. Foreign trainers hired for the China program will be given a contract of between 12 and 15 months. Trainers are given a monthly salary and a monthly housing allowance. Disney provides trainers with three weeks temporary housing until they can find apartments.

Finally, the great HDR picture at the top of this article is coming from my HKDL Wallpapers application and if you don't have it yet, don't miss it, you'll find it on the iTunes Appstore! See article here
Direct iTunes link HERE!

Steven Spielberg "Master Class" LIVE on Disney and more today at 6.45 pm Paris Time (9.45 am L.A Time)

2012-01-09T05:22:00.000-08:00

Steven Spielberg is at Paris Cinématheque today for his last movie "War Horse", which is released by Disney Buena Vista. Now, Steven won't do the classic promo of his movie but will give a rare "master class" which will be broadcast live today at 6.45 pm, Paris time. If you're in New York that should make 12.45 pm in N.Y and 9.45 AM in L.A. If you're in London that will make 5.45pm and if you're in Asia, that should make 1.45 am Hong Kong time.

Steven will of course speak in english, and as the master class happen from Paris Cinematheque i suppose there will be a french translation, so whether you speak english or french it should be fine. As Spielberg master class are pretty rare i've embedded below the link for the Live broadcast so you'll be able to watch it "live"! Right now there is nothing which appear which is normal as it is not yet the time of Steven master class. Join us later today for this special event, and i hope that everything, technically speaking, will work fine (!).

Edited: Steven Spielberg's Live master class is now over. The video of it is now available and i've embedded it below for those who've missed this event.

Picture: copyright

ThemeParkGPS, the first iPhone App that will guide you by GPS inside WDW Magic Kingdom !

2012-01-08T09:28:00.000-08:00

Here is a great idea, specially for WDW guests coming for the first time at the Magic Kingdom... or for those of you who definitely don't have the sense of orientation. ThemeParkGPS is, simply, the first ever GPS iPhone App that actually helps you to navigate throughout the Magic Kingdom effortlessly and enjoyably. All you have to do is to follow the icon "Guide Guy" as he shows and tells you how to get from where you are in the Magic Kingdom to anywhere you want to go in the Park.

You know how works GPS for cars? This app works the same way, and the voice-guided, turn-by-turn GPS directions is only one of the many features that are offer in this ThemeParkGPS App. Here is a description of the others features, coming from the App description.

FAMILY & FRIEND TRACKER: Want to keep track of the kids while letting them explore the Park by themselves? With ThemeParkGPS you will have peace of mind, always knowing where the kids are in the Park while still giving them their independence. Note that each person you are tracking needs this App downloaded to their iPhone.

IN-APP MESSAGING: Want to meet your friends for lunch in the Magic Kingdom? Need to remind them of your next FASTPASS time? Use this convenient App feature to send and receive messages...especially time-sensitive messages!

REAL-TIME MAP VIEW: Johnny needs to go to the bathroom...now! You are out of cash and you need to find the closest ATM. No worries! GUIDE GUY will locate you on the GPS Map, pinpointing everything that is around you, and lead you to your destination quickly and directly.

FUN FOODFINDER: Craving something special to eat? Want to find a restaurant in the Magic Kingdom that serves Chicken Tenders, Pizza, Carrot Cake or Baked Ziti, for example? With this unique feature, you can search for a place to eat based on any combination of 5 categories!

GPS VEHICLE LOCATOR: Ok, you've had a long, tiring day. Both you and the kids are getting cranky. Its dark and all you want to do is get the kids back to the hotel...and fast! Suddenly you find yourself wandering aimlessly in the parking lot looking for your vehicle. No worries. Follow our dependable GUIDE GUY and he will lead you directly to your vehicle!

In addition ThemeParkGPS gives you much more: You also get the latest information on Magic Kingdom's Attractions, Dining, Shopping, Special Events and Entertainment.

Sounds like a good app for someone who don't know well the park, isn't it? And the good news is that this GPS app cost $0.99 only on the iTunes Appstore! If you have an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, go ahead, you can download the App HERE.

AND, talking about iPhone Apps, i remind you the two great Tokyo Disney Sea and Hong Kong Disneyland Apps which include hundred of gorgeous pictures of the parks and that you can download HERE and HERE.

An Important Message from Walt Disney

2012-01-06T15:12:00.001-08:00

50 years ago, at a time where the word environmental was barely known by anyone, Walt Disney, for a natural wildlife week was already warning us to take care of the planet and to don't spoil its natural resources. Have a look at this short video and follow Walt advice!

Video: copyright Disney

WDS Crush Coaster Making-Of Video

2012-01-06T14:59:00.000-08:00

A little bit of Imagineering for this week-end with this Crush Coaster making-of. Personally i've never been a big fan of the ride as i think that the dark ride part is either too short or not sophisticated enough, technically speaking, but the ride is very popular at DLP Walt Disney Studios and you might enjoy it next time you'll visit the park!

Picture and video: copyright Disney

The Sword in the Stone and Aladdin Virtual Rides

2012-01-06T13:52:00.000-08:00

Someone has posted early this week on Youtube a video showing the presentation of Radiator Springs Racer. The video is now removed from Youtube but this virtual ride through of the ride was interesting, even if the whole thing was a huge spoiler for any Disney fan. However, this gives me the idea to have a look at others virtual rides, this time not done by WDI but by Disney fans who create with their computer the ride they would love to see.

Here is two of them, the first one is an idea of a Sword in the Stone ride, and it was done by RockyProductions.

The second one, created by AmIKillingU is an Aladdin ride and it's true that Disney should have done a ride based on Aladdin, others than the one which exist at WDW or DLP WDS. None of these virtual creations are perfect but they are enjoyable to watch, just like a dream that will probably never exist in the real world!

Videos: copyright RockyProductions or AmIKillingU

A Video Presentation of the Disneyland Paris, "From Sketch to Reality" Book

2012-01-05T04:49:00.000-08:00

SInce i've announced 10 days ago that the Disneyland Paris book "From Sketch to Reality" was going to be reprint i had tremendous answers from a lot of DLP fans who were desperately searching a copy of the book. I've decided to let you know regularly at which point of the pr-orders we are so here are the last news about this, AND in addition i have a great video which was filmed and put online by the Dedicated to DLP website and which will help you to have a look inside the book and to hear another opinion about it.

First, about the pre-orders: We had the last ten days around 80 pre-orders, which is not that bad at all , but we still need at least 200 more orders to have the needed amount to print the book. And we need to have them in the next six weeks. So, if you haven't pre-order a collector's edition copy please don't wait too long as if we can't have around 300 orders this great book will not be able to be reprint and may die forever. No kidding. Also, if you have friends who, just like you, are DLP or Disney Parks fans, please let them know about this collector's edition offer, thanks!

One last word about the pre-orders to answer a question that some of you have asked me by email, i.e : "what is happening of the payments if we don't have the necessary pre-orders to reprint the book?". Well, here is the answer: All Paypal payments will stay on the Paypal account and will NOT be transfered on our bank account until we have enough orders for the printing amount, this way it will be easier to do a refund if we have to, as we will send you back your Paypal payment directly from Paypal. I'm confident that we will succeed to have enough pre-orders but please, don't wait the last minute to place your order, thanks!

And now, ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, here is the video that steve Riley of Dedicated to DLP.com did to present the book on his website. As you will see, Steve is very enthusiastic about the book, but the truth is that everyone who owns the book love it! No, really, it's true, and i promise you that you will be as enthusiastic as Steve when you will receive your collector's copy!

To learn more about the book and how to order a collector's copy please go HERE.

Video: copyright Dedicated to DLP.com

Disneyland Paris Update : DLP Best Wishes Introduces 20th Ann Show Disney Dreams!

2012-01-03T06:42:00.000-08:00

Disneyland Paris sent its best wishes yesterday and they did it with this new animated short showing Mickey directing the awaited 20th Anniversary Disney Dreams! fountain show, with Sleeping Beauty castle in the background. I've said it before and i say it again: although most of the marketing material released by DLP about the Disney Dreams! show - including this video - show it as something as big as World of Color don't expect the show to have as many fountains as WOC. That said, i'm sure that DLP 20th anniversary show which is designed by Steven Davidson - a man who know what the words "fountains show" mean as he designed Fantasmic and World of Color - will be spectacular and very good and it will definitely worth your visit at the park during this 20th anniversary year.

In the meantime the Christmas season is still running at DLP until this sunday, January 8, and a new float with Duffy the bear was added in the parade, as you can check on the video below.

Also, until this sunday a new "magical moment" awaits DLP visitors in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle: "As the Royal Court opens the ball, the three godmothers accompany Princess Aurora and Prince Philip as they enter, passing through a guard of honour. The princely couple waltz in the courtyard while the godmothers, distracted as ever, argue about the colour of the castle. They end up deciding to combine their power, and with a wave of their wands, transform the castle roofs into a shining myriad of lights".

I remind you that you can now pre-order a copy of the Disneyland Paris book in its rare collector's edition! All infos to order a copy are HERE, or click on the link at the top of the right column.

Picture and Videos: copyright Disneyland Paris

Universal Studios Singapore Launches Hollywood Dreams Parade - Full Video

2012-01-02T08:53:00.000-08:00

On new Year's Eve, Universal Studios Singapore has launched its brand new Hollywood Dreams Parade, and i've found for you a full video of it, filmed by tabihito7. It's a great parade with animated floats and almost each float refers to Universal Studio Singapore attractions.

Among others themes there is floats dedicated to Shreck, Madagascar, the Mummy and Jurassic Park. And you better don't miss the Jurassic Park floats as they succeed to have on one of them an Audio-Animatronic T-Rex as big a sthe one which is in the ride. With the opening of the Transformers ride on Dec 3 this is the second major addition to Universal Singapore and the park now really worth a visit. However you might want to wait until next february when the Jurassic Park rafts ride will re-open after some months of refurbishment, then the park will be fully operational.

The pictures in this article are coming from Dejiki web site who posted last sunday a long pictorial update about the new parade.

Pictures: copyright Dejiki

Video: copyright tabihito7

Universal Studios Orlando : Farewell to Jaws!, Hello Harry Potter Phase Two!

2012-01-02T08:06:00.000-08:00

I know it's sad to say, but the Jaws attraction at Universal Orlando has closed forever yesterday and for those of you who, just like me, will miss the ride or those who never had the chance to ride the attraction, here is a great video filmed December 17. Abord are those who were the former "skippers" from the early years of Universal Studios Florida's JAWS! attraction and who take one last trip on Captain Jake's Amity Boat Tours. This skippers reunion was organized by ex-skipper Tom Croom and as you will see the farewell voyage was pretty hysterical, in the good meaning of the word (if there is one!).

I also include below two 1990's artwork for the ride.

As you can see on the aerial shot below the Jaws land was pretty big and now that the Jaws ride is closed what will take its place? Well, as i told you last month in a previous article the expansion of the Harry Potter land is expected to be build at Universal Orlando and not at IOA. And guess what? I think we can say this is now confirmed, although not officially, since last saturday and the great post on Theme Park Insider who had access to Universal secret plans and revealed virtually almost everything of this Potter expansion.

And when i mean everything it's really everything as TPI details scene by scene what will be the big E-Ticket , i.e the Gringotts coaster ride which according to TPI will not be a traditional coaster but "appears to be a hybrid roller coaster and motion-base ride, a la Spider-Man and Transformers with 3D projection screens throughout the ride, embedded in the rockwork of the tunnel walls, creating an illusion of open space, within which we'll watch battles taking place".

He has also posted two CGI artwork showing the Victorian design of the coaster train, that you can see below, slightly enhanced here.

So, jump to the Theme Park Insider article as you better don't miss this fantastic description of the Harry Potter expansion!

Pictures: copyright Universal Studios

Cracking the Shanghaî Disneyland Case

2012-01-01T14:40:00.000-08:00

Sam Wilson is a huge Imagineering fan and a faithful Disney and more reader since i've started the site. Recently he has created his own site and yesterday he did a great article about Shanghaî Disneyland.

For the reasons we know WDI don't disclose any infos about SDL rides - mostly because Disney want to avoid SDL ideas to be stolen by other chinese theme parks - but this lack of infos didn't stopped Sam Wilson to try to crack the Shanghai Disneyland case. So, after analyzing all the infos available on different sites like Screamscape or Blue Sky Disney as well as official renderings or the SDL model displayed at D23 he did this very first Shanghaî Disneyland map that you can see below - click on it to see it in larger size.

You will read in Sam article how he did to create this map. Is he right? He probably is for some of the rides and may be not on others but that's not the problem as SDL won't open before three or four years and some of WDI choices might change. Also, in his article Sam is saying that SDL Tomorrowland might have a People Mover. It would be a good idea and we'll see if it will be the case or not but recently i've found this picture shot during an Imagineering presentation at the last D23 Expo. This rendering was apparently done for a new People Mover ride at Disneyland Anaheim, so there is no relation with SDL. Still, it's an interesting artwork as if you have a closer look to it you'll see that this new People Mover had a totally new ride system. In fact you can see that riders are sit on a platform attached to a robotic arm which obviously have the ability to move in all directions while also moving all around Tomorrowland.

What was probably envision here was to use the Kuka robot arm technology, the one that Universal used in the Harry Potter land E-Ticket ride. Universal succeeded to have an exclusivity on the use of the Kuka robot arm technology in theme park rides for the next ten years, but if i remember it well they only have this exclusivity for the U.S. Which means that Disney might be free to use this People Mover / Kuka arm idea for other theme parks, and why not at Shanghaî Disneyland? To be honest i don't think they will use it at SDL as they probably wouldn't have shown the artwork at D23 if they were planning to include this ride at Shanghaî Disneyland.

Now, to come back to SDL and Sam's map i suppose that you're interested to learn how Sam did it and how he put all the infos together to create this great map, so it's time to jump to Sam Wilson's article on his site to learn more about Shanghaî Disneyland secrets! It's right HERE.

Picture: copyright Disney

Map: copyright Sam Wilson

Download the great Tokyo Disney Sea Wallpapers app!
Click HERE for a direct access to the TDS Wallpapers HD iTunes page or READ my article first HERE.

WDW Magic Kingdom and Disneyland Anaheim will be open for 24 Hours on Feb 29

2012-01-01T08:10:00.000-08:00

Disney did his awaited announcement yesterday evening and this "one more Disney day" was all about the "leap day", i.e February 29 as 2012 is a year with one more day. So, on Feb 29 WDW Magic Kingdom and Disneyland Anaheim will be open for 24 Hours starting at 6 a.m. until 6a.m March 1st. According to Orlando Attractions "Disney will also be giving away a vacation package each day until then. The available attractions, dining and entertainment is still being determined for the 24 hour Leap Day."

Starting Jan. 1 there will be a daily contest open only to those who are U.S or Canada residents, and if that's your case you can enter to win one of the 60 vacation packages for four to either Walt Disney World Resort or Disneyland Resort. More at: disney.go.com/memories

Tom Staggs, chairman of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts said: “To celebrate, for the first time ever, the Magic Kingdom and Disneyland Parks will remain open for 24 hours on Leap Day, so that our guests can take advantage of every minute of their extra day to make memories with friends and family.” Below the promo video released by Disney.

Picture and video: copyright Disney

Happy New Year 2012 !

2011-12-31T06:40:00.000-08:00

All my best wishes and a Happy New Year to all of you! I wish you a great New Year's Eve and i'll see you next week with new great updates!

Have some New Year's Eve Magic with 10 Magic Acts in 5 Minutes by Hans Klok & The Divas of Magic

2011-12-30T22:29:00.000-08:00

I don't know how it is in your country but not so long ago on French TV there was always a magic show on New Year's Eve. I don't know if there will be one tonight or not but as there shouldn't be a New Year's Eve without a good magic act, i have a good one for you!

And when i mean "one" it's in fact "ten" as a Dutch TV-show challenged magician Hans Klok and the "Divas of Magic" to do as many illusions as possible in 5 minutes. So, Hans Klok came with ten magic acts, all done in less than five minutes, and all the beauty of the performance is not only coming from the magic acts themselves - these are classic but perfectly performed - but from the speed with which Hans Klok is doing them.

Magicians often need to go fast as the speed is part of the beauty of the act and help to hide the trick but it's not as easy as it looks. So, when you have to go really fast on ten magic acts, and that you have less than five minutes, it means a perfect timing and probably quite a lot of prayers that nothing goes wrong! Here, everything worked perfectly and i hope you will enjoy these five minutes of magic!

Want more? What about some magic with a sexy touch - hey, it's New Year's Eve, right? So, here is a bonus video in which Hans Klok "slices"...Pamela Anderson!

Picture and Video: copyright Hans Klok

Disney Planning New Year's Eve Announcement

2011-12-30T10:39:00.000-08:00

Apparently, if i can judge by all these clocks ticking in this video, Disney is planning an announcement for today Dec 31. Something big? Probably not, but just like me you'll be curious to know what mean this "one more Disney day". Of course i will let you know, so come back later today!

Video: copyright Disney

Pre-Order now a copy of the Disneyland Paris book collector's edition! All infos to order a copy are HERE, or click on the link at the top of the right column.

Shanghaî Disneyland project moving to the next stage

2011-12-30T07:32:00.000-08:00

Good news from Shanghaî Disneyland to end this year as Shanghaî Daily announced today that the SDL project is moving to the next stage:

Disneyland will start taking shape in the spring, with work set to begin on attractions, government officials said yesterday. Preparatory work on the first Disneyland on the Chinese mainland began in April, with the theme park scheduled to open in 2015.

The core facilities of Shanghai Disneyland will be under construction next April, said the Shanghai Construction Commission at a news conference this afternoon. Infrastructural construction of roads and pipelines for the Disneyland began in April this year and will be completed next March, said Jiang Shujie, a commission official.

Jiang Shujie, deputy director with the Shanghai Construction Commission, said nearly 3 billion yuan has been spent on preparatory construction. This includes building roads and drainage systems, as well as sightseeing and traffic structures. Preparatory work should be finished by the spring, after which builders can move on to Disneyland attractions, Jiang said.

Work has begun on a 10-kilometer waterway attraction that will enclose the site. A 5-kilometer stretch is currently being dug at the northwest of the site, Jiang said. He added that two elevated roads connecting the site to the S1 and S2 highways are under construction and could open next April. A Metro link will also be built.

Authorities have already revealed a rough plan indicating how Shanghai Disneyland could look, attracting great interest. The first phase of the park will cost 24.5 billion yuan (US$3.7 billion) and an additional 4.5 billion yuan will be spent to build supporting facilities such as hotels, shops, restaurants and entertainment venues.

Shanghai regards the project part of its efforts to become a world-class tourist destination. The first phase of Shanghai Disneyland is expected to attract 7.3 million visitors a year, Jiang said."

It's also interesting to note that Shanghaî Disneyland will be at just 21 kilometers from Shanghaî central People's Square and only 12 kilometers from the Pudong International Airport! SDL will be connected from the airport by highways and a Metro line.

Talking about Asia, i remind you that the Christmas sale on my two iPhone - iPad applications about Hong Kong Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea is ending in two days! Until Sunday evening you can download the apps on the Appstore for $0.99 or 0.79€ only, so don't miss them! The HKDL app is HERE and the TDS app is HERE.

Marvel Super-Heroes Attractions Coming to Disneyland Paris ?

2011-12-28T05:37:00.000-08:00

Something interesting happened during a dinner between DLP fans and DLPI Imagineers. This dinner happened as a contest was organized recently and the big prize was a dinner with two DLP Imagineers. Although no real infos were released about new attractions, the lucky fans had the pleasure to hear some inside stories about the making of DLP parks.

BUT, during this dinner, one of the imagineers asked the fans "By the way, i have a question and i will be interested to have the feeling of fans about this: what do you think of the arrival of the Marvel super-heroes at Disney?". It's important to note that the imagineer did not say "What do you think about Marvel super-heroes attractions coming in the parks?" as the question was more about the arrival of the Marvel "catalog" at Disney, after WDC bought Marvel.

However, why the imagineers would ask such a question to DLP fans if they had no plans at all to develop attractions inspired by Marvel super-heroes? It doesn't mean that a Marvel ride will open soon at DLP, but it probably means that they are thinking about it and if you want my feeling, i think that, yes, they are probably working on Marvel rides concepts for DLP.

Why? Well, first because it's not the first time that we hear about this. Some months ago, DLP CEO Philippe Gas said in a Telegraph interview that DLP's third park "could be a Marvel super-heroes theme park". Recently Philippe Gas also said that DLP is thinking to open this third park in 2020 - so in eight years from now. And, considering that WDI Imagineers always need time to prepare a new project, it would be logical that they begin to design this future park right now...

Now, they could also include a Marvel land at DLP Walt Disney Studios. After all it is supposed to be a park about movies and considering all the movies released with Marvel super-heroes a Marvel land could find perfectly its place at the WDS, and it surely will be successful if the rides are good. Because, to answer the Imagineer question, that's all the problem: if WDI design Marvel attractions as good, for instance, as Universal has done with the Spiderman ride then fans will love them. My only concern, personally, is that they don't put a Marvel attraction inside DLP Magic Kingdom. If they put them at the WDS or in a third park, it's okay for me.

We may have to wait a bit to know the answer but in the meantime, let me know in the comments what is your feeling about Marvel rides coming to DLP?

Picture: copyright Marvel - Disney

Pre-Order now a copy of the Disneyland Paris book collector's edition! All infos to order a copy are HERE, or click on the link at the top of the right column.

Cars Land Update : John Lasseter Tests Luigi's Flying Tires

2011-12-27T09:56:00.000-08:00

After the Mater Junkyard Jamboree ride video posted recently, Disney has posted today another video this time showing the Luigi Flying Tires ride with no one else than John Lasseter testing it!

As you know, the ride is inspired by the technology of the famous Disneyland Flying Saucers who had so many problems in the 1960's. I've been confirmed that this time it should work fine, and it looks working fine on the video below!

Picture and video: copyright Disney

Disneyland Paris Update: Return of the Dragon !

2011-12-26T06:11:00.000-08:00

The Dragon under DLP Sleeping Beauty Castle is back and the whole place looks more beautiful than ever! DLP Imagineers did major enhancements on the lighting and the timing between each cycle of the Audio-Animatronic is also now shorter. Before, DLP guests had to wait a minute or two to see the dragon "wake up" again, and it seems that now the timing between the moment he goes asleep and the one where he wake up has been reduced.

I have beautiful pictures of the dragon with the new lighting for you and because it's Christmas time i have a little gift as all the pictures above and below shot with a Canon 5D Mark II are in "wallpaper" size and will do great wallpapers for your computer! Enjoy!

I remind you that my Disneyland Paris book is going to be reprint in its collector's edition and you can find all infos to order a copy HERE, or on the article below.

Pictures: copyright Disney and more

Cars Land Update : Mater Junkyard Jamboree Ride Video

2011-12-26T05:59:00.000-08:00

Considering that 23.000 Disney fans have already watched this video on Youtube since Disney posted it last week, chances are that you saw it already. But, never mind, i post it on D&M because, hey, this is the very first video showing a Cars Land ride!

Note that the music you'll hear is not the one which will be played during the ride and also that the ride is still in text mode, so the vehicles eventually will go a bit faster when the ride will open next year.

By the way, my Christmas sale on the two iPhone - iPad applications about HKDL and TDS is ending in five days! They are now at $0.99 or 0.79€ only until January 1st , so download them now!

Picture and video: copyright Disney

D&M Wish a Merry Christmas to all Disney and more readers, and with a little gift!

2011-12-24T09:14:00.000-08:00

It's Christmas today and i wanted to wish to all of you a very Merry Christmas! Great updates are coming next week but, as there shouldn't be any Christmas without a gift, here is a little one. This is the famous Adventureland map which is displayed in Adventureland - click on it to see it in bigger size. It's the original high-res scan we did ten years ago for my Disneyland Paris book which, as you know, is on its way to be reprint and the article below will tell you all you need to know to own a rare collector's copy of the acclaimed Disneyland Paris book which is on its way to be reprint!

Artwork: copyright Disney

The Disneyland Paris Book "From Sketch to Reality" is Back, and in the Limited Collector's Edition !

2011-12-21T15:24:00.000-08:00

Important Note: For the french version of this article click HERE. Pour la version française de cet article cliquez ICI.
Also, please note that copies in english of french edition are always available. As long as this message stays here it means that copies are available, so you can place your order directly.

I have a great news for all of you who are looking desperately to find a copy of the acclaimed "Disneyland Paris, From Sketch to Reality" book, out of stock since more than a year. The book is going to be reprint, and not only it will be republished but it will be reprint in its very rare collector's edition, the one impossible to find since eight years, so rare that it is sold on Amazon Market Place or eBay for prices between 500 and 1300 U.S $ !

Thanks to read all the lines below to well understand how to order a copy of this limited collector's edition of the book.

First, a few words to explain you how this re-publishing is happening. As you know the book was impossible to find whether it was in the park or anywhere else at a reasonable price, and obviously the publisher who had the rights wasn't planning to reprint the book. As this publisher wanted to sell the rights after long negotiations i've succeeded to find him someone interested by republishing the book. A new publishing company has been specially created for this and is called Neverland Editions.

In my talks with the new publisher he asked me if, at the first printing, the book had different editions. I told him that we did a collector's edition, and when i looked back in my 2002 files - the year the book was first published - i realized that at that time we've printed only 550 copies of the french collector's edition and 1270 copies of the english collector's edition. This collector's edition being limited at 2000 copies in french and 2000 in english there is still 1450 copies in french and 730 copies in english which are allowed to be reprint and commercialized. These are the one which will be reprint and only these collector's edition will be reprint, not the "regular" edition.

For those of you who don't know what is the collector's edition here is more details: the collector's edition is printed on a luxury glossy paper, it has a gold printing on the cover and dust jacket, is limited at 2000 copies in english ( and 2000 in french ), each copy has a number, AND each copy include four beautiful "lithographs" of WDI artwork for the Walt Disney Studios. Each of these lithographs can be put under frame. Also, the contents of the book will be exactly the same than the first collector's copies printed ten years ago.

But, as there is always a "but" as the reality always try to don't make things simple, the printer who will print the book is asking us - as all printers are doing - what is called a "bank guarantee", which means to have the printing amount blocked on the company bank account before the printer begin to print the book. And this is why we begin to take pre-orders on the book right now. This not only will allow you to pre-order a valuable collector's edition copy but also to help this legendary book to be reprint and have a new life. It's a big book with 320 pages and 750 pictures in it and the printing of such a book is of course expensive but, globally speaking, we need to pre-sell 300 copies of the book to cover the printing cost. That's for instance 150 copies in french and 150 copies in english which is not that many considering that a lot of people are looking to find the book at reasonable price ( i.e not the eBay or Amazon Market Place prices! ). So, we're pretty confident that we can achieve to have the needed amount for the printing.

UPDATE January 23: We currently have around 170 pre-orders and we need more or less 100 more pre-orders to have the needed amount to pay the book printing. Considering that we already have 170 pre-orders in less than a month and that the pre-order period is still running until late february we are totally confident now that we will have enough pre-orders to print the book. But for those of you who haven't pre-order the book yet it's the right time to do it as placing a pre-order also give you a 20% discount on the book final price! (end of update)

Here is how to do to order the book, and first a real good news: although the printing costs are not anymore what they were ten years ago ( the cost for the paper is specially higher ) i have convinced the new publisher to keep the collectors's edition at the same price that it was sold ten years ago for each one who will pre-order the book. In two words, each one of you placing a pre-order for a collector's edition copy will pay it exactly the same price that it cost ten years ago, in 2002, i.e 100 euros. When the pre-orders will be over and the book issued this collector's edition will be sold at a price between 120 and 130 euros, which means that pre-ordering the book help you to have more or less a 20% discount on it.

The book is expected to be released late April 2012 as of course we wish to have this collector's edition released during DLP 20th Anniversary, and everyone who will place a pre-order will be kept informed of the printing and the release date, as well, of course, of the shipping date. Please note that the book will NOT be sold at Disneyland Paris. The merchandise department, for reasons which are difficult to understand has decided to don't order copies of the book. We'll be happy if there is any changes but apparently the merchandise products plan for 2012 is now finalized and it's too late to change it.

So, how to pre-order a copy of this collector's edition? First, send an email at: neverlandeditions@gmail.com ( with as subject: "dip book order" ) to let us know that you want to pre-order a copy, how many copies you want, in which language ( english or french edition? ) , and your shipping address. Please also note that a pre-order needs to be paid to be consider as an order.

The price for a pre-order of a collector's edition copy is 100 euros, plus 15 euros only for shipping to any country, including U.S. If you live in France, shipping is 10 euros (only for France).

How to proceed for your payment: We prefer a Paypal payment. Paypal is a very safe way to pay without giving your credit card number. For a payment with Paypal the total amount ( 115€ including shipping or 110€ if you live in France ) must be sent through Paypal at the email adress: lawrence55@wanadoo.fr

If you don't have a Paypal account: either you know someone who have one and through whom you can send the payment, or you can pay with a bank wire transfer ( no foreign checks, sorry ). If you want to do a wire transfer please let us know in your email and we will send you the bank infos.

Finally, the quickest we'll be able to have the needed amount for the printing, the quickest the book will be reprint. So, thanks to don't wait for the last minute to place your pre-order and also because the number of copies of this collector's edition are limited. Also, if you have friends or DLP fans who are desperately trying to find the book, thanks to let them know about this reprinting.

Thanks to all of you for your help and below you'll find a description of the book as well as visuals of the inside pages ( click on the mosaic pictures to see them in larger scale ).

UPDATE January 23: Although you've probably heard about this beautiful book, many of you may have never seen a copy of it. So we've done a video presentation of the full book which will show you each of the 320 pages of the book! The book includes 750 pictures of the park, including 250 gorgeous renderings of Walt Disney Imagineering and stunning pictures of the park seen from above. The book is so big that it took us seven and a half minutes to show you the full book, and that's without stopping turning each pages! So, if you want to have a closer look at a page don't hesitate to stop the video. Finally, because we didn't had any more a collector edition copy the video is showing the regular edition of the book, not the collector's edition that you will receive if you place your order, but the inside pages are exactly the same.

Alain Littaye

Description of the book:

The book is a gorgeous "coffee table book" with 320 pages and 750 pictures - of which 500 are park and attractions photos and 250 are Walt Disney Imagineering renderings!

The size is 9 x 12 inches, all pages are in color and it's hardbound with a glossy dust jacket. The text (by Disney historian Didier Ghez), was written after more than 75 interviews he conducted with all the Imagineers who created the park. He goes into just about everything you wanted to know about this unique place that many describe as the best "Magic Kingdom" ever created by WDI.

It took five years to create the book, but it was worth all the time we spent on it, and the book looks just as good as we had hoped for at the beginning - in fact Imagineer Bruce Gordon told us that it was "probably the best book ever done on a Disney theme park". Coming from Bruce who did with David Mumford the great "Disneyland, The Nickel Tour" book, it was more than a compliment.

The first chapter about Main Street has 52 pages and introduces the reader to the "legend" of Main Street, USA. You'll learn all about the Disneyland Paris Railroad, the unique "Discovery" and "Liberty" Arcades; find out about the architecture, the restaurants (like "Walt's," a tribute to Walt Disney, but also inspired by Club 33 in Anaheim) and the shops; with dozens of photos, renderings, models, and reproduced for the first time here, all the "cities of the future" posters located in "Discovery Arcade."

The second chapter on Frontierland discusses the park's western side with extensive sections about its major attractions, "Big Thunder Mountain" and "Phantom Manor." In fact the book has the longest sections ever put together in a book on all the major attractions. The Pirates of Caribbean section in the Adventureland chapter is 26 pages, Phantom Manor has 16 pages devoted to it, as does Space Mountain, it's a small world, etc. The photo material was so great that we kept adding more pages to the book, which was supposed to have only 240 pages when we started... we ended up with 320 upon completion!

The Frontierland chapter also covers the Mark Twain, the River Rogue Keelboats, Fort Comstock, all the restaurants, the shops and Cottonwood Creek Ranch.and featuring stunning photos of Disneyland Paris from the air by Yann Arthus Bertrand, author of The Earth from Above that make spectacular "double-pages," and allow the reader to discover the park from a whole different angle.

The Adventureland chapter is even more interesting, as many elements of the land exist only in Paris - such as the Bazaar and Aladdin to Africa and the ex-"Explorer's Club." Plus there's a long section about "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril," "Adventure Isle" and "The Swiss Robinson Treehouse" and, of course, "Pirates of Caribbean" the land's major attraction and featuring its amazing Audio-Animatronics! All in all there are 56 full pages about Adventureland, and as in the previous chapters, there are dozens of photos, lots of concept art, and many shots of Imagineers at work. There's even a great bonus here, with the Marc Davis artwork for "Pirates" also included.

56 full pages are also dedicated to Fantasyland. There's an extensive look at Sleeping Beauty Castle, sections on all the dark rides (Snow White, Peter Pan and Pinocchio), as well as a look at "Alice's Curious Labyrinth," the "Mad Hatter's Tea Cups," "Storybookland," and "Casey Jr." There are even 14 pages about "it's a small world" with stunning photos of nearly all the scenes in it. Here the reader can discover a new attraction that exists only at Disneyland Paris, with a great view from above of Alice's Labyrinth.

Discoveryland also gets 52 pages of special treatment, with sections on the Visionarium, the Nautilus, Star Tours, Space Mountain, and everything you wanted to know about the other attractions in this land – Autopia and Orbitron. In fact the Nautilus chapter takes you on a visit with photos of every room of this detailed walk-through and two double page photo spreads, one which makes you feel you're inside Captain Nemo's grand salon, and the other showing you a unique view of Discoveyland featuring the Nautilus and Space Mountain in a kind of "CinemaScope" view.

When the book was released in early 2002, the Walt Disney Studios didn't exist, so you won't see them in the book. But there's still one last chapter about the hotels of the park, and Disney Village too, with the great Buffalo Bill Wild West show that entertains hundreds each evening.

And because every day in a Magic Kingdom should end with a parade and fireworks, we have the Main Street Electrical Parade that close the book, with also an Herb Ryman gorgeous painting in the very last pages!

Pictures: copyright Disney

Video: copyright Alain Littaye 2012

Disneyland Paris, De l'Esquisse à la Création Réédité, et en Edition Limitée Collector !

2011-12-21T15:18:00.000-08:00

Note: For the English version of this article click HERE. Pour la version anglaise de cet article cliquez ICI.
Des exemplaires de l'édition française - ou anglaise - sont toujours disponibles, et aussi longtemps que ce message apparait ici cela veut dire que des exemplaires sont disponibles, donc vous pouvez en commander un directement si vous le souhaitez.

J'ai une nouvelle qui je pense devrait ravir tous ceux d'entre vous qui recherchent désespérément le livre "Disneyland Paris, De l'esquisse à la création", épuisé depuis maintenant plus d'un an. Non seulement le livre va être réédité, mais il y a mieux : la réédition sera exclusivement celle de l'édition collector, celle qui est épuisée depuis huit ans et qui est tellement rare qu'elle se négociait récemment plus de 500 euros sur Amazon.

Merci de lire attentivement les lignes qui suivent pour bien comprendre le mode opératoire afin de commander un exemplaire de cette édition collector. qui sera en quantité limitée.

Quelques mots tout d'abord pour vous expliquer le comment du pourquoi de cette réédition. Comme vous le savez le livre était devenu introuvable que ce soit dans le parc ou en librairie et de toute évidence l'éditeur qui détenait les droits n'avait pas franchement l'intention de le rééditer. Comme celui-ci cherchait à vendre les droits, après de longs mois de négociations j'ai réussi à lui trouver quelqu'un intéressé de rééditer le livre et une maison d'édition qui s'appelle Neverland Editions a été créée spécialement à l'intention de cette réédition du livre.

Dans mes conversations avec le nouvel éditeur celui-ci m'a demandé si le livre avait originellement fait l'objet de différentes éditions. Je lui ai donc parlé de l'édition collector et en recherchant dans les documents datant de la première impression je me suis rendu compte que lors de la première impression il n'avait été tiré de cette édition collector que 550 exemplaires en français et 1270 exemplaires en anglais. L'édition collector étant limitée à 2000 exemplaires en français et 2000 exemplaires en anglais il reste donc 1450 exemplaires en français et 730 exemplaires en anglais en droit d'être imprimés et commercialisés et c'est ceux-ci qui vont donc faire l'objet de la nouvelle impression. Seule l'édition collector sera rééditée, pas l'édition dite "normale".

Pour ceux qui ne connaissent pas l'édition collector voici ses caractéristiques: l'édition collector est imprimée sur un papier encore plus luxueux que l'était l'édition normale, a une impression couleur or sur la jaquette et la couverture, est limitée à 2000 exemplaires en français ( et 2000 en anglais ), chaque exemplaire est numéroté, ET chaque exemplaire contient quatre "tirés à part" de magnifiques concept-arts réalisés pour la conception des Walt Disney Studios, chacun d'entre-eux étant encadrables. De sucroit, le contenu du livre de cette nouvelle impression sera strictement identique aux exemplaires de l'édition collector imprimés il y a 10 ans.

Mais, car il y a toujours un "mais", la réalité se chargeant comme d'habitude de compliquer les choses, l'imprimeur qui se chargera de l'impression nous demande - comme le font maintenant tous les imprimeurs - d'avoir le montant nécessaire à l'impression bloqué sur un compte en banque avant de démarrer l'impression. Et c'est pour cette raison que nous lançons dés maintenant une souscription qui va vous permettre de pré-commander le livre et par la même occasion de permettre la réimpression de ce livre si recherché. Le livre fait 23 x 31 cm, a 320 pages et 750 illustrations et a donc un cout d'impression assez élevé mais nous avons calculé qu'il nous faut vendre environ 300 exemplaires pour avoir la somme nécessaire à l'impression et compte tenu du nombre de personnes qui recherchent le livre a un prix raisonnable ( c'est à dire pas ceux pratiqués sur eBay ou Amazon! ) nous pensons avoir sans problème un nombre de commandes suffisantes pour permettre la réimpression.

UPDATE Janvier 23: Actuellement, 4 semaines après l'annonce que le livre allait être réimprimé nous en sommes à 170 commandes, ce qui très bien compte tenu de le conjoncture économique et du prix du livre, même si son prix pour les pré-commandes reste identique à celui qu'il était il y a 10 ans. Il nous faut encore au minimum entre 80 et 100 commandes (que ce soit pour l'édition française ou anglaise) pour avoir le budget pour réimprimer le livre, et ces commandes doivent être trouvées d'ici le 15 février au plus tard. Donc, si vous souhaitez commander un exemplaire du livre, merci de le faire au plus tôt et de ne pas attendre l'échéance du 15 février pour le faire afin de bénéficier du prix spécial pendant la période de pré-commandes. (fin de l'update)

Voici maintenant comment faire pour commander le livre et tout d'abord une bonne nouvelle: malgré les couts d'impression qui ont considérablement augmentés depuis dix ans - notamment le prix du papier - j'ai convaincu l'éditeur de ne pas augmenter le prix du livre pour tous ceux qui participeront à la pré-commande. En deux mots, chacun d'entre vous paiera l'exemplaire de l'édition collector exactement au même prix que celle-ci était vendue il y a dix ans, à savoir 100 euros. Lorsque les pré-commandes seront terminées, à la parution du livre, l'édition collector sera vendue à un prix entre 120 et 130 euros. La pré-commande du livre vous permet donc de surcroit de bénéficier d'une réduction d'environ 20% sur celui-ci.

Date de sortie du livre: fin Avril 2012, car nous souhaitons évidemment qu'il soit disponible durant le 20ème anniversaire et toute personne qui pré-commandera le livre sera tenu informée de l'avancée dans la réimpression et de la date de parution et d'envoi du livre. Notez que dans l'état actuel le livre ne sera PAS en vente dans le parc. Le service merchandise, pour des raisons que pour être franc j'ai un peu de mal à comprendre a décidé de ne pas commander le livre. Nous ne désespérons pas de les faire changer d'avis mais visiblement leur plan merchandise pour 2012 est arrêté, et il est trop tard pour le changer.

Comment faire pour pré-commander un exemplaire de cette édition collector? Tout d'abord, envoyez un email à: neverlandeditions@gmail.com ( avec en intitulé "commande livre dlp" ) pour m'indiquer votre commande, le nombre d'exemplaire que vous souhaitez commander, en quelle langue ( édition française ou anglaise? ) , votre mode de règlement (voir ci-dessous) et l'adresse d'expédition. Pour qu'une commande soit prise en compte il faut nous faire parvenir votre règlement.

Pour effectuer le règlement: Le prix par exemplaire pour les pré-commandes est donc de 100 euros plus 10 euros de frais d'envoi pour la France en colissimo suivi. Pour tout envoi à l'étranger les frais d'envois sont de 15 euros.

Comment régler? Notre préférence va à un règlement effectué par Paypal. Paypal est un moyen extrêmement sur pour effectuer un règlement sans communiquer le numéro de sa carte de crédit. Pour un règlement par Paypal, le montant total incluant les frais d'envois ( soit 110€ pour la France ou 115€ pour l'étranger ) doit être envoyé à l'adresse email suivante: lawrence55@wanadoo.fr

Si vous n'avez pas un compte Paypal: soit vous connaissez éventuellement quelqu'un possédant un compte Paypal par l'intermédiaire duquel vous pouvez effectuer le règlement, soit vous pouvez régler par chèque ou virement. Merci de m'indiquer dans votre email si vous souhaitez régler par chèque ou virement bancaire ( pas de chèque sur un compte étranger, merci ). Les coordonnées bancaire, RIB, etc… ou l'adresse ou envoyer votre chèque vous seront communiquées. Un point important: veuillez noter qu'en cas de règlement par chèque celui-ci ne sera pas encaissé avant le début de l'impression du livre.

Enfin, plus vite nous réunirons la somme nécessaire à l'impression, plus vite le livre sera réimprimé, donc merci de ne pas attendre la dernière minute pour pré-commander le livre d'autant plus que le nombre d'exemplaires disponibles de cette édition collector est limité. Merci également, si vous connaissez des amis qui recherchent le livre de les tenir au courant de cette réédition.

Merci d'avance infiniment à tous et ci-dessous quelques photos montrant l'intérieur du livre ( cliquez sur les images mosaïques pour les voir en grand). Et pour ceux qui n'ont jamais vu le livre voici une vidéo de présentation qui vous montrera TOUTES les pages du livre - navré, le commentaire est en anglais car la vidéo sera postée sur mon site Disney and more, mais, comme je le dis toujours, les images sont en langage "international"! La vidéo montre l'édition "normale" du livre (pas l'édition collector que ceux qui commandent le livre recevrons) mais le contenu intérieur est strictement identique que celui présenté dans la vidéo ci-dessous. N'hésitez pas à stopper la vidéo pour vous arrêter sur une page si besoin.

Alain Littaye

Pictures: copyright Disney

Video: copyright Alain Littaye 2012

HKDL Grizzly Gulch and Mystic Manor Update !

2011-12-20T14:05:00.000-08:00

Here it is, my long promised HKDL Mystic Manor update! It took a little time and i'm sorry about that but you will have below fresh news on this awaited HKDL attraction.

But first, let's start by some news about Grizzly Gulch, the next land to be open at HKDL. As you'll see on these screen captures from Michael30183 latest video that i have embedded below Grizzly Gulch is appearing little by little and some of the tunnels as well as the mountain with its grizzly head are almost finished. Grizzly gulch little town is also on its way to be ready for painting.

Now, you might have read on forums that "Grizzly Mountain Coaster has been changed to "Woody's Western Railroad". Guests will join Woody, Jessy, Bullseye, and other characters on an exciting western adventure...". Well, according to my sources this is all wrong and definitely nothing has been changed to the story line of Grizzly Gulch coaster. Considering that Toy Story Land is just a few yards from Grizzly Gulch i have to say that these changes introducing Toy Story characters would have been extremely surprising, but no, nothing is changed and the Audio-Animatronic bears will still be part of the ride. And before we talk about Mystic Manor here is the full HKDL video update of Michael30183.

Don't miss my Christmas sale on the two iPhone - iPad applications now at $0.99 or 0.79€ only until January 1st !

Talking about rumors, one about Mystic Manor appeared recently: the look of the two main Mystic Manor characters - Henry and Albert the monkey - would be "toonified". Well, this one is true, and not only it is but concept arts of how they will look - and even a sculpture of the monkey - are now displayed in HKDL Art of Animation gallery on Main Street, right behind Mystic Manor model as you can see on the pictures above and below. So, basically, the look of Albert the monkey has changed from a realistic one as seen on the renderings displayed at D23 Expo two years ago...

...to this new "toonified" look below.

Except the toonified style of Henry and Albert, some of the figures will have changes in their appearance, such as the Lava God in the tribal room, and apparently this is done to avoid a look too "human"...

Sometime ago I've also been told that cuts have been done on the original Mystic Manor concept, which would mean that there might be changes on the ride itself. I thought that may be they won't use anymore the always expensive trackless vehicle system - see above Mystic Manor vehicle model - or that the cuts were done on something else...

Well, i've been confirmed that WDI had planned to cut the Solarium scene of the ride due to the inflation in China which affected the cost of the project. But luckily the contract was signed before the inflation got too serious so all the scenes should eventually stay together, including the trackless ride system. In the renderings of Mystic Manor displayed at D23 Expo the Solarium scene was missing, and the totally different appearance of Albert in the solarium later-released rendering show that this scene was not drawn together with the rest of the renderings shown at D23.

In fact, except the toonified Albert and Henry, everything remain the same as announced. Mystic Manor is not a ghost story like the Haunted Mansion and you can expect more an eerie atmosphere than a creepy one. So, it does not have to be too realistic and HKDL guests could have fun with the supernatural power from the magic music box, Henry and Albert are assisting to smoothen the story and the ride system and show special effects should be the main focus of the ride.

And when Mystic Manor will open you ask? Well, Grizzly Gulch is planned to open next summer in 2012 and so far Mystic Manor opening date would be spring 2013. Actually, the ride system not only has been kept but it's installation is almost done. Some figures would be placed into the ride before the end of the year and all the works could be finished before next fall. And, talking about Mystic Manor works, let's have a look at a selection of recent pictures which will show you that HKDL Imagineers are working hard to have Mystic Manor facade painted as soon as possible. There is a reason for that as i will tell you in a few seconds.

Now, as i've told you Grizzly Gulch and Mystic Point will open in summer 2012 and spring 2013. Because Mystic Manor is located right between Grizzly Gulch and Toy Story Land before Mystic Manor open there will be two dead ends in Toy Story Land and Grizzly Gulch. And HKDL operations is aware that it might be a problem for the guests which wouldn't be able to move directly from TSL to Grizzly Gulch.

As HKDL does not want this to happen, that's why the facade of Mystic Manor is painted now to be finished when Grizzly Gulch will open next summer. A path between TSL and Grizzly Gulch going though Mystic Point will be created so HKDL guests will be able to use this path to go from these two lands to each other. And i think this is an excellent idea specially when you see how many people are daily in TSL as the recent picture below will show you.

Although Mystic Manor will be the E-Ticket ride there will be much more to see at Mystic Point. HKDL guests will enter the Garden of Wonders, a garden full of relics and statues that hide a hidden world of illusions. Recently new artwork was released, showing more of this mysterious "Garden of Wonders".

One more picture about Mystic Manor with this photo of the Mystic Manor wallpaper. Yes, it has some reminiscences of Haunted Mansion famous wallpaper, and if you download the pic it also will make a nice screen wallpaper on your iPhone - or any other smart phone!

Grizzly Gulch and Mystic Manor should be a big hit when they will open, and they better be as the Hong Kong Government has said that they will no longer inject capital for HKDL after Mystic Manor, meaning that HKDL will have to find the money by itself to build anything new. That said, it doesn't mean that there won't be new attractions at HKDL in the near future, and in fact there even might be a new one before Shanghaî Disneyland open, as there is still some land available in Adventureland or other areas of the park... But it's too soon to talk about this one so, sorry, i keep it secret for now until it will be confirmed!

Don't miss my Christmas sale on the two iPhone - iPad applications now at $0.99 or 0.79€ only until January 1st !

Pictures: copyright Disney, Keith Lee, Michael30183

Video: copyright Michael30183

New Batman "The Dark Knight Rises" Trailer !

2011-12-19T16:59:00.000-08:00

If you're a fan not only of Batman but also of Christopher Nolan movies you'll be pleased to know that the trailer of The Dark Knight Rises - which will be released in July 2012 is now available.

You can watch it below and guess what, i even have a great wallpaper picture for you!

A teaser was also released and you can watch it HERE.

Pictures and video: copyright Warner Bros

Guess where you'll find a ride that doesn't exist in any Disney theme park ?

2011-12-19T11:57:00.000-08:00

You've probably heard that Kim Jong Il, the north Korean dictator died today - well, actually he died last saturday but it was announced officially today. North Korea is the last stalinist regime in the world and frankly i think it'll be hard to find something to envy in the hard lives of poor north korean people, except may be the lack of traffic jams in cities which always look deserted.

You might want to know if they have theme parks in North Korea? Well, the best you'll find is in Pyongyang and we can't call them theme parks because they're not. These are more funfairs with rides which looks 50 years old like the one above and below...

However, they do have rides more recent in Kaeson funfair, of course all manufactured in occidental countries. Now, believe it or not but they even have a ride system that doesn't exist in any Disney theme park! It's a coaster ride, and it's a "flying coaster"! The people below are "ready for launch" and look "happy happy" in Pyongyang favorite ride.

Of course this flying coaster is the exception that confirms the rule and North Korean amusement parks mostly look exactly as you think: incredibly old, no ride refurbishment seems to have been done since 30 years, and most of all, the parks are deserted. You'll find an interesting report on all this on Stefan's Theme Park Guy website from the picture above is coming. Also, there is on the iTunes Appstore an excellent Fotopedia application with hundred of pictures shot by excellent photographer Eric Lafforgue - who shot the two first pictures above - that will show you more about North Korea, undoubtedly the most secret country in the world, and also the most unpredictable...

Pictures: copyright Eric Lafforgue, Theme Park Guy

Special Christmas Sale for the HKDL and Tokyo Disney Sea Applications now at $0.99 or 0.79€ only until January 1 !

2011-12-18T10:26:00.000-08:00

It's the Christmas week, and to celebrate Christmas the iTunes Appstore price of the HKDL and TDS Wallpapers applications are now at $0.99 or 0.79€ only! If you haven't download them yet that's the best time to do it as you will have both apps for the price of one!

For those of you who haven't seen my previous articles which introduced the apps, here they are below, beginning by the TDS application.

Since the TDS Wallpapers application was released it seems that everyone love the Tokyo Disney Sea high-res pictures include in the app! Here is some reviews from other web sites:

"Tokyo DisneySea may very well be the most beautiful
and well designed Disney theme park of all time, and now iPhone
and iPad users can take a piece of its beauty wherever they go"
Screamscape

"APPsolutely Beautiful..."
Blue Sky Disney

"These TDS images are stunning. We recommend getting this great
app soon while it is still at the introductory price of just $0.99!"
Mice Chat

"Breathtaking...The TDS Wallpapers iPhone app captures the beauty
of Tokyo DisneySea!"
Disney Report

If you own an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch and have not downloaded the app yet, the app is at $1.99 only on the Appstore. Here is a presentation of the TDS Wallpaper app:

Since i've done the Disneyland Paris "From sketch to Reality" book i don't count all the people who asked me to do the same kind of book about Tokyo Disney Sea. I would love to do it and may be it will happen someday, but for now i've designed this great application which is a tribute to TDS which is largely considered as "the most beautiful theme park in the world".

The application works great on all iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch, it includes hundreds of gorgeous high-res pictures of TDS and and is available now on the iTunes Appstore for the very low price of $0.99 or 0.79€, which should be a very affordable price for everyone.

The app is called in the Appstore "TDS Wallpapers HD" and the app features include:
1. NEW user interface. Categorized Wallpapers. Ability to sort the wallpapers by land.
2. Optimized wallpapers for each iOS devices. Fast wallpaper download.
3. HD Pictures designed to take full advantage of the new iPhone 4 and iPod Touch retina screen! Looks gorgeous on the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch screens!
4. Ability to save each picture to enjoy them offline
5. Save your favorite pictures in the favorite section
6. Caption for each picture and Wikipedia link for each land or attraction for full infos about each site
7. Ability to zoom in each picture. Simple swipe to advance / revisit the pictures
8. Share with your friends on Facebook!

You will find in the app fantastic pictures of each land and here are some examples: First, on the menu page - picture above - you'll have the choice between ten buttons designed as scrolls and depending of your choice you'll access to "all pictures" or pictures of each land. If you choose this last option then the first land will be Mediterranean Harbor with either pictures of the Renaissance Fortress and Galleon...

...or the great Venitian area, and many more...

The app includes day and night pictures and the night pictures are awesome! Here is two night shots of Mysterious Island, one with Mysterious Island volcano in the background...

...and the other one, a close shot of the Nautilus.

Approximately half of the photos were shot by me when i was invited at the press event, one week before the park opened, which means that the park was absolutely brand new, and the other half by a good friend of mine who is a brilliant photographer and a big TDS fan, too. Next examples pics are about the Arabian Coast with great view of the land...

...or closer shot on the Arabian decor. I remind you that these are just examples and that there is many pics for each land.

Considering that it is a wallpaper app we did the best possible picture choice so whatever the picture you'll choose to put on your device front page they will look great. Next land is Lost River Delta and you'll find many outside pictures of the land but also great pics of the unique Indiana Jones ride queue decor.

Some examples of the pictures you'll find in the Port Discovery section with this large view of the land...

...or the TDS elevated tramway arriving at Port Discovery station.

The Cape Cod part of the park is also present in the app with day or night pictures like the one below.

No need to say that American Waterfront and its gorgeous decor have dozens of pictures in the app whether it is the S.S Columbia...

...the amazing architecture of TDS Tower of Terror...

...or the great American Waterfront elevated tramway.

In addition to the day pictures the section also include fantastic pics of the land at night like this one...

...or this one of the S.S Columbia.

Depending of your computer screen the pictures above will look probably good but i can assure you that it's nothing in comparison of how they look on an iPhone or an iPad screen thanks to the screen devices technology. And for each picture you'll find a Wikipedia link for more details on each land or attractions, not to mention the other features listed above.

TDS Wallpapers HD is also a GREAT app for those of you who are planning to visit the park and there is links to the TDS site for your reservations, if needed.

TDS Wallpapers HD is now available on the iTunes Appstore for $O.99 or 0.79€ until January 1st and you will find it HERE.

And now, all about the HKDL Wallpaper app:

Here is something great today for all of you who own an iPhone, an iPad or an iPod Touch. After the success of the TDS Wallpapers application - that you still can find on the iTunes Appstore HERE - here is a new wallpaper app and this one is all about Hong Kong Disneyland! It is called HKDL Wallpapers HD, it is now available for download on the iTunes Appstore, and each picture will look gorgeous on your iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch as they have been enhanced for the Retina Display screen.

And, double good news, there is almost twice the number of pictures that was in the TDS Wallpapers app! There is 206 stunning pictures in the new HKDL app - instead of 117 in the TDS app - and the HKDL app is at the same price than the TDS app on the Appstore. The app is available whatever is the country you are living but the direct iTunes link if you live in Hong Kong is HERE, if you live in the U.S is HERE and if you live in France is HERE. If your iTunes account is in another country just enter as keyword "HKDL Wallpapers HD" in the iTunes Store search box and you'll find it instantly. Although there is 206 high-def wallpapers pictures in the HKDL app the price is at 0.79€ or $0.99 only until Jan 1st.

So, what will you find in this HKDL app? Well, as indicated on the application menu page above you'll find gorgeous pictures of each land of the park and half of the pictures are beautiful HDR pictures! Not to mention dozens of fantastic night shots of each land, a special "How to go" section, the possibility to choose your favorites, a direct link to Facebook, and more... all this with a very friendly user interface!

Main Street U.S.A is beautiful whether it is day or night and you'll find plenty of great Main Street shots by daylight in the app but as we know it's at sunset that Main street becomes magical and here is two examples of night shots.

Adventureland at HKDL is probably the biggest Adventureland ever built in a Magic Kingdom and the app pays tribute to the Imagineers wonderful work. Below two examples of pictures of the Tarzan Treehouse and Jungle Cruise Boarding.

The Fantasyland section includes of course great shots of HKDL Sleeping Beauty castle, whether it is by day - picture below - or by night like the picture on the top, but also closer shots on beautiful details of the land. Any of them will make a great wallpaper on your iDevice.

There is even a special section of HKDL fantastic and new It's a Small World ride as it is the best version i've seen of the ride with the one, totally different, at DLP. In fact, i never thought it was possible to create a such different version of this ride!

Tomorrowland fans will be in heaven with the Tomorrowland section of the app. Not only it includes fantastic day shots but also incredible night shots of the land - and we know that Tomorrowland is always gorgeous at night, don't we?

These are small examples of the 206 pictures include in the app and here is the app Features:

1. NEW user interface. Categorized Wallpapers. Ability to sort the wallpapers by land.
2. Optimized wallpapers for each iOS devices. Fast wallpaper download.
3. HD Pictures designed to take full advantage of the new iPhone 4 and iPod Touch retina screen! Looks gorgeous on the iPhone and iPad screen!
4. Ability to save each picture to enjoy them offline
5. Save your favorite pictures in the favorite section
6. Ability to zoom in each picture. Simple swipe to advance / revisit the pictures
7. Share with your friends on Facebook!

HKDL Wallpapers HD is also a GREAT app for those who are planning to visit the park!

The app is now available on the iTunes Appstore, just enter as keyword "HKDL Wallpapers HD" in the iTunes Store search box to find it instantly. Hope you will enjoy the app!

One last important thing: after you've downloaded the apps thanks to leave a comment on iTunes, as we know good comments are always needed and welcome. Thanks by advance, and enjoy the apps!

Pictures: copyright Park Lane Editions

D&M Archives : When WDI Legendary Imagineers designed Landmark Entertainment projects

2011-12-17T10:59:00.004-08:00

This article have some good surprises for you with never seen before artwork created not for WDI but for Landmark Entertainment projects by former Disney Imagineers like Herb Ryman, Marc Davis, Jim Michaelson and many others! And it's not everyday that we can discover new Herb Ryman or Marc Davis artwork, so click on each to see them in big size!

Let's begin by this painting above from legendary Imagineer Herb Ryman showing a “Boat Overview Exterior” of the "S.S ADMIRAL", the "largest inland steamer ever built in America". Located in St. Louis, it once toured the Mississippi daily.

Back twenty four years ago, Landmark Entertainment worked on a Six Flags theme park project called "Phineas T. Flagg's Power Plant", located at Baltimore, Maryland. It was called Phineas T. Flagg's Power Plant as the theme park location was a historic power plant, near the the waterfront. Marc Davis - who retired from Walt Disney Imagineering in 1978 - and Herb Ryman worked on the project design. The main character, Phineas T. Flagg, was a fictitious magician and Herb Ryman did his design, the one you can see below.

Marc Davis worked on different attraction projects for this Phineas T. Flagg's Power Plant. Among them a great "Home of the Future Show""...

...including the design of a great spinning robot...

...a Power House show "tribute to the all american girl"...

...and a great Toy Circus Parade also planned for the same Power Plant park.

As told you the main character of this park, Phineas T. Flagg, was a magician and the park had a "magic" show. The artist who did this next rendering is unknown but i add it as this Crystal Ball "magic" Show concept looks interesting. I only wish i could tell you more about it...

Herb Ryman worked also on other Landmark Entertainment concepts. He did this bird's eye view painting below for what was - believe it or not - a "Monopoly" theme park project!

Marc Davis too worked on another Landmark concept. This "Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" project was supposed to be build at Valencia, California, near the Six Flags park but unfortunately the project was never realised. The model below still exist and who knows, may be it will be realised one day...

The "Jumping Frog" designed by Marc Davis would have been the main "character" of the park and Disney fans will recognize in the drawings below Marc's distinctive style.

Another artist - who did beautiful renderings for DLP Main Stret U.S.A - and also worked on a Landmark project is Jim Michaelson. Jim did this artwork for the "Dixie Landings" project, "the good time of the riverboat showplace" and below you will see his exterior view and the theatre entrance concepts.

Dan Goozee another artist who did some spectacular artwork for WDI - like the first and famous Expedition Everest official rendering - did this Sands hotel "Casino Lodge interior" artwork. Hmmm, it reminds be a bit of the Wilderness Lodge lobby at WDW, but it's true that the Wilderness Lodge was itself inspired by the Old Faithful Inn at Yellowstone Park, Wyoming as we saw in a previous Disney and more article.

Dan worked also a long time ago on "Dream Home" a Science Fiction Fantasy simulator attraction for an Asian theme park...

Good ideas may never die at WDI, but also may inspire other projects...This last artwork by Claudio Mazzoli was done in 1981 for the Haunted Graveyard of Niagara attraction at Niagara Falls and is called "Spirits Emerge From Crystal Ball in Haunted Mansion"!

All artwork: copyright Landmark Entertainment. Many thanks to Landmark for the high-res files of the artwork you saw in this article.

Disney's "It's A Small World" iPhone - iPad App is a Charming Tribute to Disneyland Beloved Attraction

2011-12-16T13:34:00.000-08:00

Disney released recently on the iTunes Appstore a new iPhone - iPad application called "It's a Small World", and this new app is a lovely, charming tribute to Disneyland beloved attraction.

Let's be clear from the start: this is an application designed as an interactive app for very young children. Still, all of you who love Mary Blair's attraction and who are always young at heart - and own an iPhone or iPad or iPod Touch - should enjoy the app. Why? Because they've succeed, i think, to find back the original childhood spirit of the ride. It's not perfect, but you can feel that the guys who developed the application tried their best to find back this "original spirit".

One of the great things is all the interactive part: almost wherever you "touch" elements of each image something is happening, the characters are moving, a crocodile goes out of the water, a dragon breath fire, etc... until the final where you launch your own fireworks by taps in the night sky. So, basically, the app is as much animated as the ride is!

There is 15 "chapters" in the app, and each one transport you, just like in the ride, in a different country or continent. In most of them you'll find Mary Blair famous color tones, and even reminiscences of her style. Here is screen captures of some of them, and although they don't pay totally justice to how it looks when you're experiencing the app, i'm sure you will identify which country / continent they are showing.

As i've told you the interactive part is charming... for instance in this chapter inspired by the jungle scene of the ride the page will look like this when it appears...

But if you tap on the crocodile or in the black area where you see the glowing eyes then the jungle animals appear, the hippo goes out of water, etc...

Each image is also slowly moving, almost as the same pace than the boat in the ride, giving you the feeling to discover each scene like you do when you're in the ride!

Again, it's a read along / sing along app for young children, but if you download it you'll be surprised how charming it is. The app cost $3.99 or 2.99€ on the Appstore, and knowing all the work it is to develop an app as i create applications also myself as you know, i can tell you that it's a fair price. And no need to say that if you have young children they will love it! Here is the iTunes direct link for those who are interested. There is an iPhone version of the app but of course if you own an iPad it looks even better on it. Finally, Disney also released a promotional video that you can see below.

Pictures and video: copyright Disney

Disneyland Paris Update - Part Two

2011-12-15T11:31:00.000-08:00

Here is the part two of my Disneyland Paris update. You'll find the part one is below or HERE. And thanks to D&M readers i have new infos: first, the dragon cavern which was closed last week is now reopen and apparently it's a wonder. Happy to know about this. Then, he works in front of Casey's Corner are apparently not a refurbishment but more in preparation of the upcoming 20th anniversary nighttime show "Dreams". Someone else told me that "a brand new building with a victorian style has been erected and from what I could see from above the plywood barriers it is really well done (lots of details, etc.)". This building is also here because of the upcoming show "Dreams!".

Let's move today to Adventureland where the Captain Hook ship is currently being rebuilt. It's not even a refurbishment as the former ship was in such bad condition that they had no other choice to find back the original blueprints and rebuid a brand new one, at least for a big part of it. However, as the works take quite a long time they had what i think is a very good idea to put some canvas with the shadows of Peter Pan characters, the pirates, as well as the ship shadow on it.

Near Swiss Robinson Tree we also can see fences. As i'm not currently in Paris does anyone know what is happening behind them? Simple refurbishment or something else?

Fantasyland is just next door so let's move to it and what was once the Fantasyland Festival Stage is also covered, but here for a totally different reason as they are currently transforming the place in what will be the Meet Mickey area next year. Another thing new for the 20th anniversary as i've told you previously.

Just like previous christmas seasons the christmas village located near the old mill is back this year.

Not that far is also the new Princess Pavilion. Well, as a matter of fact the Princess Pavilion doesn't even exist "officially" as the park hasn't done yet any marketing on it, mostly because they "keep" it for the 20th anniversary as a "new" attraction. I already did an update on it but on these new pictures i am surprised by the look of the doors. I thought they were painted or "aged" to look old and they look a bit old, but not that old. May be i'm wrong, but if by chance anyone knows why the doors have this look, please let me know.

Last week the waiting time was 45 minutes...

The friend who shot the pictures had a short look inside but didn't wait till the end so we have pictures only showing the beginning of the inside decor.

Let's end with just a few pictures of the christmas decor at the Walt Disney Studios, a nice sunset pic of the giant Buzz Lightyear at the entrance of Toy Story Playland, and two night pictures of the small christmas village inside Disney Village.

See you soon for a new DLP update!

Pictures: copyright Disney and more

Disneyland Paris Update - Part One

2011-12-14T10:58:00.000-08:00

I have a long Disneyland Paris Update for you today, with many pictures shot last week by a friend of mine. So many that the update will be divided in two parts, today is the first part and the second one will come later tomorrow.

Those who arrive to the resort going through the Disney Village will see some Christmas decorations as DLP put some christmas trees, big christmas gift boxes as well as a small christmas stage. There is also a little christmas village as we will see later in the part two of this update. But for an unknown reason the trees seems to be concentrated in the middle of the DV, which is quite odd.

More interesting is to have a look at the huge World of Disney Store which will open next year - and be part of "what will be new" during DLP 20th anniversary. The works are well advanced now and if everything goes fine they should be ready to open the WOD store on time.

At the entrance of the park guests will always find the welcome sign placed on Main Street Station, and yes, the Mickey's Winter Wonderland show is back this year at Frontierland Chaparral Stage.

The giant Christmas tree on Town Square is back too, as well as christmas decorations on Main Street buildings.

Talking about Main Street shops and merchandise what is really new is the arrival of Duffy the bear, who began its merchandise career at Tokyo Disney Sea and then to DCA. Guests will find quite a lot of Duffy merchandise and, strangely, also inside Story Book Shop which is normally a shop dedicated to books and CD's merchandise as well as stationery. Whether you'll be outside or inside the shop, you can't miss Duffy!

Duffy even stands now where Tiger was at the entrance of the store...

On Central Plaza, the freshly repainted castle looks great and around the center of the plaza you'll find other christmas trees. However, as the giant stage is not yet removed - it should be next year - it's hard for DLP to put more decorations on the plaza as they used to do a long time ago... You'll note also some fences around the area located in front of Casey's Corner, some refurbishment for sure...and also that the Dragon Grotto under the castle is closed for now, probably for the same reasons. The day these pictures were shot Big Thunder Mountain, Space Mountain and Autopia were also closed, which, considering that BTM and SM are two of the most popular coaster rides, is may be a little bit too much at the same time.

We will end this first part with a great picture of the glass sculptor inside the castle shop, and don't miss the part two, as i have interesting pics for you!

All Pictures: copyright Disney and more

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