Captain EO back at Disneyland Paris : Exclusive Interview of WDI Imagineer Rick Rothschild

Captain EO will be back at Disneyland Paris on June 12 and to celebrate this event here is an exclusive interview with WDI Imagineer Rick Rothschild! Rick, who was part of the team who designed the original concept is of course talking about the return of the attraction at Discoveryland but also reveals that other concepts were first envisioned for a Michael Jackson attraction, back 20 years ago!

I did the interview some days ago at the Cafe Fantasia located inside the Disneyland Paris Hotel at the entrance of the park and it was a beautiful sunny day. So, i've shot some new panoramic pictures and for once - as it is not usual - before you watch the intervew i'm going to show you the place where it was filmed. Click on each panoramic to see them in larger scale.

Here is the entrance of the Disneyland Paris Hotel.



The Cafe Fantasia is located at the 2nd Floor, in the center, where the castle club is and the two main restaurants.



Here is a panoramic shot of the Cafe Fantasia...



...and another one on a different angle.



From the Cafe Fantasia you have a great view on the Fantasia Gardens located at the entrance of the park.



And on the other side of the hotel guests have a great view on Main Street USA.



Okay, now that you know where this interview was filmed it's time for the show with this two parts video of Imagineer Rick Rothschild! The videos are in HD, so watch them in full screen mode!








Let's end this article with this collection of Captain EO high-res pictures that Disneyland Paris just released. Also, if you have 3D glasses i remind you that you can watch in 3D on your computer screen the rare comic-bok 3D of Captain EO released a long time ago. It's HERE.


















Thanks to leave a comment or discuss this article on D&M english forum on Mice Chat


Video: copyright Alain Littaye - Disney and more

Pictures: copyright Disney

Editor's Note: Tomorrow wednesday will be the big article of the week on D&M with an exclusive Imagineer video interview and more!
In the meantime, don't miss the last news about Disneyland's future in the new Al Lutz update on Miceage HERE

DLP Space Mountain 15th Anniversary Tribute

15 years ago, on May 31st 1995, Space Mountain was opening at Disneyland Paris. Tim Delaney and all the Imagineers who worked on the project did a fantastic job and the Grand Opening was memorable. I remember it well as i was there and guests stars from all over Europe and the U.S were invited. Buzz Aldrin was there, lot of french actors of course, but what DLP guests were awaiting the most was the arrival of David Copperfield and Claudia Shiffer. David and Claudia had a love affair at that time and i still remember their arrival on the red carpet, walking up Main Street to Discoveryland. Boy, DLP guests just became hysterical when they appeared!

The Grand Opening show was fantastic and lucky you, you're going to be able to discover it with this very rare video that DLP just put on line this morning! In addition, the beautiful Space Mountain picture above is in full high-res. Enjoy.



Picture and video: copyright Disney

Shanghai Disneyland's project is " ahead of schedule "

According to the Digital Journal, "Shanghai Disneyland's project is ahead of schedule". Happy to learn this, but i will be even more happy when Disney will introduce to the world the final design of the park, with artwork and all the details we're all waiting for. Anyway, in the meantime, here is the article from Digital Journal :

"Disneyland is coming to the booming Chinese city of Shanghai. The central government gave its approval in November, since when preparations have been gathering pace.
Disneyland Shanghai will be in the Pudong area of the city, and the Shanghai Daily reports the Pudong New Area government has almost completed the relocation of residents from the 3.9 square kilometre area, a month ahead of schedule. Construction of apartments to receive them has begun, and they are expected to be ready for occupancy by August 2012. More than 2,000 households and 297 enterprises will be relocated in total. The new residential site is in Pudong’s Chuansha Town, and will have more than 6,500 apartments.
The land for the theme park is due to be handed over at the end of June when construction will begin.
The first phase of the theme-park project has been estimated to cost about 25 billion yuan (US$3.66 billion). The Chinese have made a habit in recent years of building large infrastructure projects at breakneck speed, but Pudong New Area Director Jiang Liang told the Shanghai Daily it may take five or six years for the park to be opened to the public.
There is already a Disneyland theme park in Hong Kong, and there has been speculation about the effect a park in Shanghai would have on the park in Hong Kong. Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Rita Lau told Chinese news agency Xinhua that the two parks should complement each other. The Chinese market was growing fast, and should be big enough to accommodate two theme parks".

From the Digital Journal