Disneyland Paris Update: "Rendez-Vous Gourmands" at the Walt Disney Studios !

Here is a new Disneyland Paris update thanks to Max, D&M contributor and DLP Welcome webmaster! During two weeks, visitors of the Walt Disney Studios Park had the chance to have a tasting of products and dishes from French regions. This small event lasted until September 24th.

For two weeks, the « Rendez-Vous Gourmand » of Disneyland Paris was set up for its first edition at the Walt Disney Studios Park to offer a new experience at Place of Rémy. Here is the video of the opening with the cut of the ribbon!




In fact, six booths highlighted the specialties and wines of France regions. They were placed along the path and the plaza leading to WDS most delightful ride, Ratatouille!



The booths were a real opportunity for visitors and especially foreigners to discover French specialties including wines, cheeses and delicatessens labeled and certified. So you were able to discover a burgundy beef in its delicious juice for €4.50 , a sauerkraut at €3.50 or a pancake with ham cheese and mushrooms at €5. But if you preferred desserts, the Kouign-Amann was at €3, the blueberry tart at €4 or the 3 mini-Tropéziennes at €9.









As you will have understood, whether it was from the west or the east or he south of France with the plates of charcuterie and Corsican cheese, there was delicious French food available for all tastes.

The Rue de Paris, leading to the Place de Rémy, with its stands offering the best recipes of the French regions with their specialties to the visitors in a pleasant setting of village place giving a new dimension to this neighborhood. And it is the musicians, dancers and dancing at 3 pm, 4 pm and 5 pm that this market square, its stands and the attraction Ratatouille will give you a glimpse of the French provinces.








But besides tasting a multitude of flavors characteristic of these regions, the red, white, rosé wines and even champagne regions were also served to go along with the dozen of typical products that each booths offered to visitors.



Our feeling for this two-week event is that it was a very good idea from Disneyland Paris to organize at this season. The proposed products were of quality with small prices for small portions in order to offer a culinary insight of France.











This choice of « tasting » service also makes possible to stir visitors’ curiosity about French gastronomy and allow them to choose certain foods.

In addition, this offer also give the possibility to change the usual booths with popcorns which are everywhere in the parks and offer little diversity, surprise and envy in the choice of snacks. Finally, don't take this event as an opportunity to have a full meal as restaurants like the « Bistrot chez Remy » is here for that. Anyway, it was nice to see the diversity in choices, products and quality proposed in a theme park. This gourmet season, happened from September 8 to 24 from 10 am to 6 pm during the week and from 10 am to 8 pm on weekends, let's hope it will be back next year!

Let's end with his video of Max showing the whole thing!




One more thing, and it's about the Disneyland Paris book as the publishing company has ended and many of you asked me if there were still copies available. I could saved a few copies in English, perfect condition, but for the french edition there is only a few damaged copies, some with a serious hit on the cover, but the dust jackets will be changed for a new one so it will hide the damages on the cover.

The English edition are in perfect condition and will cost you 75€ + 22€ shipping worldwide, except Belgium or Italy, 29€. The damaged French collector edition copies are at 65€, always + 22€ shipping worldwide, except Belgium or Italy, 29€. Payment is possible by Paypal or credit card and if you wish to order one of these last copies you need to send me an email at: nme4@wanadoo.fr

It's a fantastic book, so if you've missed it, don't let go this last chance to get your own copy!

Pictures: copyright DLPWelcome

Disney Reimagines Retail Stores with New E-commerce Destination and Prototype Store Design

Today Disney launched shopDisney, a new e-commerce destination offering the best assortment of Disney, Pixar, Star Wars and Marvel products for fans of all ages across fashion, accessories, toys, home and more. A new prototype Disney store design was also revealed and is being tested in select locations around the world bringing the magic of Disney to retail through innovative technology, storytelling and cast member interaction.

“Our stores are destinations and gathering places for fans of our iconic brands, and are often their closest physical Disney touch point so creating an authentic brand experience is key.”

“No one creates experiences like Disney and our pilot stores will be testing grounds for interactive features that will differentiate the Disney shopping experience in the changing retail landscape,” said Jimmy Pitaro, Chairman of Disney Consumer Products and Interactive. “Online, shopDisney is the ultimate destination for the most extensive collection of curated merchandise from our stores, parks, and licensed partners. This combination creates a powerful omnichannel experience that represents the next generation of Disney retail.”

The new product assortment at shopDisney.com reflects the company’s commitment to creating products tailored for different audience demographics, from kids and families to millennials, and to innovating beyond the traditional and expected. New categories have also been added to round out the assortment including: Trend Fashion & Accessories, Toys, Home, Collectibles and Parks. Longtime fans will be thrilled to find twice the amount of authentic Disney Parks merchandise and ‘Create Your Own’ customizable products as previously available.

“We know our fans are looking for a one-stop-shop to find the most compelling product out there and with shopDisney we are uniquely positioned to curate the very best of Disney, Pixar, Star Wars and Marvel merchandise,” said Paul Gainer, Executive Vice President for Disney Retail. “We’ve also added product categories and brands that speak to new audiences following the success of our collaborations in the fashion space.”

Co-branded products and elevated collaborations will be featured from brands such as Coach, Le Creuset, Spyder, Steiff, rag & bone and more. New and exclusive capsule collections from fashion-forward brands will regularly be introduced on the site’s shop-in-shop “The IT List”, launching with denim from SIWY featuring Mickey and Minnie Mouse; and Disney Princess and Villain nail wraps from NCLA.



Disney stores around the world will also be incorporating more product for guests of all ages, beyond their traditionally child-centric assortment. The new prototype stores and site were designed with dynamic layouts that allow flexibility in featuring the different worlds of Disney, Pixar, Star Wars and Marvel as new content comes to market. The look and feel of both shopping destinations is light and contemporary, allowing product and content to shine. In store, digital elements such as giant LED screens were incorporated for custom-designed guest experiences that reflect Disney’s storytelling tradition.

“We are a storytelling company and our vision was to create a retail space that reflected our heritage,” said Gainer. “Our stores are destinations and gathering places for fans of our iconic brands, and are often their closest physical Disney touch point so creating an authentic brand experience is key.”

Cast Members and Characters engage with guests in a variety of interactive experiences such as opening the store each day with a special Welcome Celebration, learning and play activities in the stores’ Play Room as well as personalized celebrations for any guest. The most spectacular experiences take place each afternoon when guests gather to watch the parade stream ‘LIVE from Disney Parks’ and every evening before store closing when a specially created digital fireworks display is shown on the giant storefront screen.

The new Disney store prototypes are now open in Century City, Calif. and Northridge, Calif. in the US as well as in Nagoya, Japan and Shanghai, China. Two more prototypes will open in 2017: in Miami, Fla. Sept. 28 and Munich, Germany later this year.



About Disney store and shopDisney

Disney store, which debuted in 1987, is owned and operated by Disney in North America, Europe, and Japan. Disney store carries high-quality products, including exclusive product lines that support and promote Disney’s key entertainment initiatives and characters from Disney, Pixar, Star Wars and Marvel. shopDisney.com is the ecommerce destination for Guests of all ages, offering a curated selection of the best product from Disney store, Disney Consumer Products licensees, global collections and collaborations, and Disney Parks and Resorts, including trend fashion and accessories, toys, home and collectibles. Disney store and shopDisney offer magical shopping experiences that can only be delivered by Disney, one of the world’s largest and most successful entertainment companies.

There are currently more than 200 Disney store locations in North America; more than 40 Disney store locations in Japan; one flagship location in Shanghai, China; and more than 70 Disney store locations in Denmark, France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom, plus online stores www.disneystore.co.uk, www.disneystore.fr, www.disneystore.de, www.disneystore.se, www.disneystore.dk, www.disneystore.it, www.disneystore.es, and www.disneystore.co.jp. Disney store and shopDisney are the retail merchandising arms of Disney Consumer Products and Interactive Media, the business segment of The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS) and its affiliates that extend the Disney brand to merchandise. For more information, please visit dcpi.disney.com/disney-store or follow us at www.facebook.com/shopDisney, www.instagram.com/shopDisney and www.twitter.com/shopDisney.

Original 1992 Disneyland Paris Fun Map In Hyper Resolution !

I've got a great "one more thing" for you tonight! You probably know the original Disneyland Paris fun map, released in 1992 at park opening and hard to find now. Well, i've got good news for you as i've found on the web a perfect scan 10000px large (!) of this DLP fun map, simply by doing a Google Images search with "Disneyland Paris fun map" as keywords. Jump HERE to download it.

Now, interestingly the map was showing some "future attractions" which were not yet built at that time, back in 1992. In Discoveryland what was still named "Discovery Mountain" is there - but not the Nautilus outside as it was supposed to be inside Discovery Mountain. You can also see the transparent tubes linking Discovery mountain to Videopolis as well as a "future restaurant" which would have been located in front of the Constellations shop, at the entrance of Discoveryland.



In Fantasyland the two "future attractions" were "one themed on "Beauty and the Beast" and the other on "The Little Mermaid"...



But a closer look at the high-res scan of the original DLP fun map also reveal that in DLP Adventureland was already envisioned as "future attraction" something looking very much like two Indiana Jones attractions. Not only you can see a perfect "Indy" Asian temple but also a coaster with mine carts AND also some troop vehicles like the ones in Indiana Jones Adventure! Click on the pictures to see all this clearly!


Pictures: copyright Disney

Universal Hollywood Halloween Horror Night The Shining Haunted Maze Video

Universal Hollywood did for their 2017 Halloween season a fantastic haunted maze based on Stanley Kubrick's horror classic film "The Shining". Halloween Horror Night guests experience all the iconic scenes and characters that have made the film a masterpiece of modern horror.

I remind you the synopsis of The Shining and below, an excellent video filmed by Sharp Productions.

Welcome to The Overlook Hotel, a sprawling yet isolated century old hotel with a tragic history of murder and madness. Jack Torrance, a man with a troubled past, has agreed to be the caretaker for The Overlook Hotel during the harsh Colorado winter and has moved his family into the shuttered hotel. But as soon as the Torrance family takes up residence in the hotel, Jack begins to undergo a startling change...a descent into madness that will put his family in grave danger.

Unbeknownst to Jack, his young son, Danny, is imbued with a dark gift - the ability to see events and people, both past and future, that others can't see. A gift called "The Shining." Danny's nightmarish visions will help to unlock the mysteries of the haunted hotel and allow the horrifying, true nature of The Overlook to reveal itself.




Video: Sharp Productions