" Disney's Imagineers " , The Documentary Which Takes You Behind the Scenes of Imagineering !

Here is a great video of a TV Special done by Travel Channel all about Walt Disney Imagineering wizards! It's called " Disney's Imagineers" and you'll go behind the scenes with famous WDI Imagineers! The picture above is not from the video but i thought you would enjoy this great picture of Imagineer Ken O'Brien adding finishing touches on one of the pirates Audio-Animatronic!

Enjoy the show!





Video: copyright Travel Channel, Disney

Gorgeous Mondo Disney Posters Part Two !

I've got new Mondo Disney Posters Artwork for you! You've seen the part one a few days ago HERE and here is more gorgeous posters by Mondo artists in tribute to finding Nemo, The Jungle Book, The Black Cauldron, Ratatouille, Nightmare before Christmas, and many more!

Pictures: copyright Mondo, Disney

Disneyland Big Thunder Mountain will reopen on March 17! Edited with new video !

It's official! Disneyland Big Thunder Mountain, the wildest ride in the wilderness will reopen on March 17,  and new dazzling efffects are expected in the third lift! In the meantime check this video that Disney Parks put on line tonight!




Edited: That's it, thanks to Mouse Planet we have the first full ride video of the refurbished Big Thunder Mountain at Disneyland. It shows the new effects and i'll be curious to have your opinion about them... I like the flying bats projection effect ( at the start ) and in the final lift the moving dynamite spark effect is pretty cool too but i'm not sure the falling rocks projection effect is better than the previous real shaking rocks... There is for me something which is missing in that final scene, at least from what i can see in this video...  But someone said that the video skips the final explosion and also that it's better to seat between row 10 and 12 to enjoy the full effects of the final lift... Anyway, have a look!




Video: copyright Disney, Mouse Planet

DLP WDS Ratatouille Ride Opening on July 15 ?

The Belgium press group Sud Presse has published a full page article about the highly awaited WDS Ratatouille ride, saying that the attraction will open on July 15! Although no official announcement has been done yet, chances are that the date is right. July 15 is just one day after July 14, France national day and there was a rumor recently saying it will open on July 14. And considering that Ratatouille will be the most "french" of all DLP attractions there will be a certain logic that they open the ride at that time. But of course, if they have technical issues during the tests the opening date could change. But this July 15 date could be the date for the "official grand opening", meaning that we'll have probably soft-openings before and a recent rumor announced them for the last week of June!

Picture: copyright Diney, Sud Presse, DLRP Express

New Clip For Pixar Short Animated "Party Central" !

Pixar released a new clip for the upcoming Monsters University short "Party Central"! If you've not watched the first clip released some weeks ago, you'll find it too below!







Picture and videos: copyright Disney - Pixar

Captain America : The Winter Soldier 4 Min Clip Preview !

A 4 min preview of Captain America : The Winter Soldier has been released, with plenty of new footage you haven't seen before, and you have it below. It's strange that they choose this clip which is okay but with nothing especially exciting. And if you're french it's even worse as the bad guys are obviously french - or at least they speak french - and what they're saying is... how could i say... flat? lame? They would have wanted to destroy the excitement about this movie they couldn't have done it better...The Black Widow poster above is more exciting than these 4 minute clip - no kidding, folks...

By the way, talking about Scarlett Johansson, i don't know if you've read the post of Mark Hickson  but she's pregnant and her surprise pregnancy might delay the filming of Avengers : Age of Ultron in which she plays, of course... more about this on Disney by Mark HERE.

Anyway, have a look at this clip!




Picture and video: copyright Marvel

Amazingly Realistic Artwork of Elsa in Frozen !

No, the artwork above is not a photo, and it's not a cosplayer too, this amazingly realistic and impressive illustration was done by Deviant Art artist Jiyu-Kaze and you can see below how he did this digital creation step by step!

Artwork: copyright Jiyu-Kaze

Pepsi Co - Shanghaî Disneyland Beverage Deal Official

The Pepsi - Shanghaî Disneyland deal is now 100% official and there is even a picture and SDL released a statement for it! 

Shanghai Disney Resort has announced a multi-year strategic alliance with PepsiCo and Tingyi Holding as the primary beverage suppliers to the resort. Under the agreement PepsiCo and Tingyi Holding will have an ‘integrated brand presence’ in key locations and attractions around the resort and develop joint marketing campaigns.  

PepsiCo also plans to develop ‘innovative beverage equipment’ and ‘unique menus’ for visitors to Shanghai Disney Resort through its Asia R&D Center in Shanghai

Mike Crawford, General Manager of Shanghai Disney Resort, said, "We are pleased to announce this new alliance with PepsiCo and Tingyi Holding.  Pepsi and Master Kong are a great fit for Shanghai Disney Resort. This alliance ensures that our Guests can enjoy their favorite beverages during their visit, and it complements our efforts to provide high-quality, memorable vacation experiences for our Guests."

Picture: copyright Shendi

Universal Studios Will Build a $2 Billion theme Park and Resort in Beijing, Opening in 2018 !

The Hollywood Reporter reveal that Universal Studios will build a $2 Billion Hollywood-Themed Resort in Beijing, scheduled to open in 2018! This third Universal Studios in Asia - after the ones in Osaka and Singapore -  will be located in a suburb of China's capital city.

Excerpts from the Hollywood Reporter: "Universal Studios is planning to open a Hollywood movie theme park, Universal Studios Beijing, in the suburbs of the Chinese capital in collaboration with a local state tourism company.
The news was released on the website Sina's property pages, and spread quickly online, with much excited chatter on China's Twitter, Weibo.
The facility will cover a 51-acre site and the total budget will be 12 billion yuan ($1.95 billion). Construction is due to start in the fourth quarter of 2014, according to the local media report.
A report in Shanghai Securities News, cited by the Shanghai Landscape Architecture Design Institute website, said officials from the National Development and Reform Commission had filed an application to begin construction, and the demolition of existing buildings was ongoing, with the aim of opening the park in January 2018.
The Universal Creative division of Universal Parks and Resorts has also been advertising for Mandarin Chinese-speaking staff.
When contacted by The Hollywood Reporter, Universal declined to comment on the various reports.

The Chinese partners, Beijing Tourism Group, which is part of the capital's municipal government, will provide the land and an unspecified part of the investment, while Universal Studios will be responsible for branding, intellectual property, technology and management of the park, Sina reported.
In a separate report, the Global Times daily reported that municipal authorities are planning to build a monorail in Beijing, with the terminus in the new Universal Studios in the southeastern suburb of Tongzhou."

As THR reports there is currently many theme parks projects in China, starting of course by the $4.4 billion Disneyland Shanghai project due to open at the end of 2015, 
"DreamWorks Animation's China unit, Oriental DreamWorks, is also developing a $3.1 billion cultural and "entertainment destination" in Shanghai, The Chinese real estate group, Dalian Wanda, is building a theme park project called Wuxi Wanda City, while Chinese production company Huayi Brothers has been building a resort on the holiday island of Hainan, which takes the films of top director Feng Xiaogang as the theme."

Now, the question is: is the choice of Beijing a good one. In terms of population there is no doubt that there is millions of people in and out Beijing but if you've followed the news recently Beijing has a pollution smog problem which is even more serious than in Shanghaî. As a matter of fact the pollution problem is so big now in China that yesterday the government has declared "the war against pollution". Good news, but considering that most of this deadly smog is coming from cars, factories and coal plants i'll be interested to learn how they will do it. But they have to do it, and to do it quickly as last year an estimated 1.2 Million people are supposed to have died because of the pollution.

Anyway, a new Universal Studios is always welcome, even in Beijing, all you need to remember is to don't forget your pollution mask the day you'll go there!

Picture: copyright Universal Studios

"Nothing's Impossible" , Mondo First Disney-Themed Art Show Open Friday March 7 in Austin, TX!

Mondo has revealed some of the stunning artwork that will be part of their first Disney-themed art show, called "Nothing's Impossible". The show will open at the Mondo Gallery in Austin, TX this Friday, March 7th, and the artwork will remain on display until March 11th.

The artworks were done by artists Tom Whalen, Dave Perillo, Ken Taylor, Billy Baumann, Jay Shaw, David Petersen, Killian Eng, Kevin Tong, Jeff Soto, and many more, and inspired by Disney or Pixar animated films such as The Incredibles, Sleeping Beauty, Fantasia, Aladdin, 101 Dalmatians, The Rescuers, Alice in Wonderland, Wall-E, Up, and also by Disney movies like The Black Hole or The Cat from outer Space.

All are fantastic artwork, so i'm sure you will enjoy them, and for more infos jump HERE!

Pictures: copyright Mondo, Disney

Editor's Note: Don't miss the new Mice Age update as it's full of good news about Disneyland Anaheim and DCA's future. And a great news awaits those of you who missed the "death of Ursula" scene which was deleted from the original concept in the Little Mermaid ride... Go ahead, do the jump HERE once you're done with the three new D&M posts!

Will Disneyland Star Wars Land Be Built At Disney's California Adventure ?

An interesting comment was posted "anonymously" to the "Visualize Disneyland Star Wars Land with this S.W Wilson Map" article posted ten days ago.  The anonymous reader, who apparently got the info from a friend working at LucasFilm, said: 
"Interesting to think about Star Wars in Anaheim... Heard from a friend at Lucasfilm that they're thinking about and discussing with Imagineering a Star Wars land in the parking lot west of DCA in order to drive more traffic to DCA, and that construction will begin in early 2016".

Although i give the benefit of the doubt to any comment, even posted anonymously, this must be considered only as a rumor until we get an official confirmation. But it's an interesting one because so far the rumors were saying that Disneyland's Star Wars Land will come in DL Tomorrowland and with a E-Ticket ride using the land where Autopia is now. 

To be honest, if i was the one choosing i would prefer to have it at DCA instead than Disneyland Tomorrowland. Not that it's impossible to do, but i've never been convinced that it was the perfect location, that a Star Wars Land would be better out of DL and even that they should put it in the long rumored third Anaheim gate. 

However, if you look at the Google Earth screen captures above, i think they will have enough space to create a land in this parking lot - in red above - if the infos are right. What? There is the South West St / Disneyland Drive between the parking lot and DCA? Sure, but this could be a minor issue which can be resolved with works to have the road going beneath the path that would be created between DCA and the parking lot, or the contrary. My main concern is the Disney's Paradise Pier hotel nearby, too close to don't be a visual intrusion if WDI Imagineers were building the Star Wars land on this parking lot... 

But i agree that the idea to build it at DCA, in order to bring more guests inside DCA rather than at Disneyland is a good one, and makes sense. Disneyland is regularly over packed and i can't imagine how packed it would be with a Star Wars Land at DL during the Holiday season... So, yes, keep this rumor in mind and we'll see in 2016 if it was the right one as the construction, according to this comment, is supposed to start this year, which would lead probably to an opening in 2018... which was the date a Star Wars Land was scheduled to open at Disneyland as written in the Disney Parks 10 years plan released internally last April. 

Pictures: copyright Google Earth

As usual, more exciting posts every day on the Disney and more Facebook page that you can access even if you don't have a Facebook account!

Stunning Views From the top of WDW MK Seven Dwarfs Mine Train

Walt Disney Imagineering released the two pictures below showing what kind of view Seven Dwarfs Mine Train riders can expect when the attraction will open. The shot above was taken in the direction of the castle wall, Cinderella Castle, Prince Charming Regal Carrousel and Pinocchio’s Village Haus - with still a bit of the construction going on as you can see.

The next picture below overlooks Beast’s Castle and the Belle’s Village section of New Fantasyland. Although not announced officially yet, the ride is expected to open around the end of April as the press event is scheduled for April 30. Soft-openings might happen before that date, too.

Pictures: copyright Disney

Transformers : Age of Extinction First Trailer !

Well, the trailer for Michael Bay's Transformers : Age of Extinction has been released and it looks pretty awesome. When i watched Transformers 3 i thought that i'll never see a Michael Bay movie again, but finally, may be i'll see this one (!)

Picture and video: copyright Paramount Pictures

Disneyland Paris Indiana Jones Temple and WDS Ratatouille Ride Update !

Here we go for the promised part two of the Disneyland Paris update in which we'll have a look only at the works on the Indiana Jones Temple and at the WDS construction site of the Ratatouille ride, thanks to pictures of Max Fan, D&M contributor and DLPWelcome webmaster. As usual Max went in the park at opening hour, that's why you won't see anyone on the pics.

On the Indiana Jones temple the replacement of the old temple by a new one all sculpted in real stone is going on and works are supposed to be over in May. However, for those of you who wondered if at the same time they will add new show elements, i'm sorry to say that nothing new should be added as they only rebuild the temple and change the 360 degrees loop track, and that's all. Yes, i know, it's a pity and just like you i'm disappointed they didn't took the chance to add anything new during those works but that's how it goes at DLP in difficult economy times...

That said, the new parts are really in stone and it shows, you can see it, and see the difference.

Okay, let's move to the WDS to have a look at the Ratatouille site... where most of the works now happen inside the show building, so invisible to our eyes. But there is still some works going on on the facades and the small fountain in the center of the plaza is still awaiting to be finished.

O-Kay, that should do it for today and see you soon for a new DLP update! In the meantime, i remind you that it's never too late to order the gorgeous Disneyland Paris From Sketch to Reality book still available in both ENGLISH or FRENCH editions - and the special offer thanks to which you can save $50 on the normal price is still valid, so if you don't own the book yet i'm sure you don't want to miss it! Paypal and credit card payment are accepted, so make sure you to place your order now! 

You can use the Paypal button below for the english edition, and for the french edition or for credit card payment please send me an email at: neverlandeditions@gmail.com

Disneyland Paris From Sketch to Reality - Include shipping

1 Copy English NORMAL Edition Disneyland Paris book inc shipping €75.00 EUR 1 Copy English COLLECTOR Ed Disneyland Paris book inc shipping €115.00 EUR 1 Ex Signé Collector Français Livre Disneyland Paris + envoi €100.00 EUR 1 Ex Collector Français Livre Disneyland Paris + envoi €75.00 EUR

 

Don't know yet the Disneyland Paris book. Have a look at the video below or on the book website HERE.



Article Pictures: copyright Max Fan - DLPWelcome