Saturday, March 10, 2018

Discover the Stunning "Ultimate" Disney Princess Bedroom - and Learn How it Was Done to Do It Yourself if You Wish!



Lyle Coram has a 7 years old daughter, named Shelby, who is a big Disney fan. So Lyle, who works at Paris and Bally’s hotels in Las Vegas, Nevada, decided to bring some of Disney magic to her daughter's room and those of you who follow the D&M Facebook page may have seen recently a video of the stunning visuals effects created on the room ceiling. His daughter Shelby now sleeps each night under her very own fireworks display that mimics the one at Disneyland park and can play in her own castle which even include a magic mirror!




In an interview with ABC Lyle said: "We didn’t really plan the room it just came together, Every time we would go to Disneyland we would get new ideas and add it to the room. The first time Shelby saw the fireworks in her room she just laid on the floor for hours watching it. We even added different scenes like snow, floating lanterns, lightning and a 'Star Wars' battle."

Below, the first video posted by Lyle on Youtube with the fireworks effect on the ceiling.




Below, a new video showing the "storm lightning" effect on the ceiling.




The first video was so popular and so many Disney fans wanted to know how he did it that Lyle Coram created an easy to follow tutorial for the ones who want to do the same in their home! You have the tutorial video below in which he reveal the names of the gear he used. It took three months to Lyle and his wife, Shannon, to do the whole thing: "The ceiling effect is done with a projector, fiber optics for the stars, LED cove lights around the ceiling and the ceiling is painted like the sky. All together it gives the ceiling dimension and makes it hard to figure out how it works. Our next project in her room is going to be an interactive floor done with projectors in the ceiling shooting down on the floor."




Videos: copyright Lyle Coram



More Stunning Trailers and TV Spots For Steven Spielberg's "Ready Player One" - Released on March 29 !


I've said it before and i say it again: Steven Spielberg's new movie "Ready Player One" could very well be the "film of the year", and the more we saw teasers, trailers, TV spots, showing scenes of it, the biggest is the "Wow". The last ones released shows that a LOT of pop culture characters - from the Iron Giant to Batman, from Superman to Jurassic Park T-Rex and hundred more ( literally ) will appear in Ready Player One as in virtual reality any player can choose the character he wants to be in this virtual world named "the Oasis".

Don't miss the different trailers and TV Spots below and the good news is that you won't have too long to wait to see Ready Player One as it will be released on March 29!













Picture and video: copyright Warner Bros

Friday, March 9, 2018

All About Disneyland Paris Festival of Pirates and Princesses Starting March 31 !


I have one more update for you this week about Disneyland Paris! And this one is all about the new season of the "Festival Pirates and Princesses" which will start on March 31 and will end on May 31!  Max, D&M contributor and DLP Welcome webmaster was at DLP presentation of the season and tell you all about what will happen. First, here is the "Festival Pirates and Princesses" trailer released a few weeks ago by DLP.

The season is based on a simple principle, everyone - girls or boys - can join one of two teams, the one of pirates or princesses! And for that the whole season is organized around one show: "Pirates and Princesses: at the crossroads". This show will have 100 performers - dancers, acrobats and characters - and will play 4 times a day and 7 days a week.






The structure of the show is simple: 2 units one for pirates - artwork above, one for princesses - artwork below. Each of them starts from both ends of the parade route. One will leave from the parade entrance near It's a Small World with a first stop at the "Castle Stage", while the second will leave from the other parade entrance at Town Square and will make a stop at the center of Main Street. After the first stop which will last around 4 to 5 minutes the two units will move again up to Central Plaza.


On Central Plaza, 4 scenes on the 4 flower beds, will allow during this last "Show Stop" of 4 to 6 minutes, to offer a new interactive dance with the guests. Then, the two units will continue their paths.



Interactivity will be the central element of the show. The visitors will be involved with a specific dance for each of the two teams. For this, two dance tutorials have been released by Disney and here they are below, in french with english subtitles.







Il est par ailleurs Disney garanti que les visiteurs ne participant pas à l'interaction, ne se sentiront pas étranger au spectacle grâce aux acrobates, danses, personnages et ambiances.
Heureusement, car il est difficile de faire interagir le publique européen et il est même étonnant que Disney s'obstine dans cette voie dans les spectacles de Disneyland Paris.

To make sure that guests who wouldn't participate in the interaction won't find the show boring the addition of acrobats, dancers, characters and more will be there to entertain everyone. Which is a good idea as it is always a bit difficult to make the European public interact and it is even surprising that Disney still keep up in this way in Disneyland Paris shows.

Finally, on the Princesses side, guests will find Mickey Mouse with 9 Disney Princesses and Vaiana!

On the Pirates side guests will find Minnie Mouse with Captain Hook, Mr. Smee, Jack Sparrow, Peter Pan or Wendy along with 21 pirates acrobats. All our heroes will have for the show a new costume. This should satisfy a large number of guests all day. Below, the trailer for the festival of Pirates and Princesses season.



In addition to this show, two other animations have been created. The first one is with Jack Sparrow who wants to recruit young pirates and the second will be a princesses parade including Princess Sofia or Elena Avalor.







Guests who came on the park during previous spring events between 2015 and 2017 will notice that most of the decorations of flowers used to symbolize the team of princesses during this first season of "Pirates and Princesses" are coming from the previous Spring seasons. More generally, the decorations will be discrete for this first edition.

This first edition of the Pirates and Princesses season promises to be a good omen for Disneyland Paris, but we can not help to think that since the first edition of the spring season in 2015, the number of shows and especially performers in the shows at this time of the year apparently continues to decrease each year. That said, the pirates and princesses theme has so much appeal for young boys and girls that this new season should be popular!

Yesterday March 9 at Paris Opera Palais Garnier, Disneyland Paris previews its new season for the Festival of Pirates and Princesses and our friends of ED92 shared the video of it!





One more important thing, and this one is about my Disneyland Paris book. A recent check made me realize  with horror that, after the French collector edition being totally out of stock - except three copies that you can order to me, see below how to do - the ENGLISH edition will also be soon out of stock forever as 40 copies only are still available. As said before, once out of stock the book will NOT be reprinted, so i urge anyone who don't own the book and don't want to miss this fantastic book to place your order as soon as possible!

Lecteurs Français: Etant donné que l'édition française est épuisée, un fichier du texte complet original en Français sera envoyé aux acheteurs Français de l'édition anglaise ne comprenant pas l'anglais. Il me reste également trois exemplaires de l'édition collector française, état neufs et dédicacés, 300€ pièce, si intéressé me contacter à l'adresse email: amplittaye@gmail.com

To place your order for the DLP book, please send me an email at: amplittaye@gmail.com with your shipping address. The price currently is 75€ ( instead of 100€ ) and shipping worldwide is 22€ ( except Belgium and Italy for which it is 29€ ). Just like for the French edition the price will go up when we will reach the very last copies of the English edition, so order it now to enjoy the discount price.

You can pay with Paypal, credit card or bank transfer. For Paypal payments please send directly the full amount  including shipping ( 97€ worldwide, except for Belgium and Italy for which it is 104€ ) at: nme4@wanadoo.fr  If you wish to pay by credit card and bank transfer, let me know in your email and i'll tell you how to do.

Also, each order will receive two surprise gifts - actually there is more than two - and these are GREAT gifts that each DLP fan love!



Here is all you need to know about the "Disneyland Paris From Sketch to Reality" book for those who have never seen the book. First, it's a gorgeous 320 pages coffee table book with 750 pictures of the park including 250 WDI artworks, all DLP attraction posters, and dozens more of gorgeous artworks! The text by Disney historian Didier Ghez tell the story of the creation of the park from dozens of interviews of WDI Imagineers who built the park. It's also probably the best gift you can find for a Disney Parks fan - and it is true! Have a look below to the mosaic pictures showing a selection of pages of the book.








If you've never seen the book before, don't miss the video below showing the full 320 pages of the book!




Pictures : copyright Disney

Videos: copyright Disney

Thursday, March 8, 2018

Amazing Flyover Drone Video of the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Construction Site at Disneyland !



While the highly anticipated Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge lands won’t debut to Disneyland and Walt Disney World Resort guests until 2019, eager fans can take a voyage over the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge construction site - right now thanks to this stunning fly over drone video just posted by Disney Parks after it was shown Bob Iger during Disney's Annual shareholder's meeting this morning!





At Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, guests will be transported to the planet of Batuu, a remote outpost on the galaxy’s edge that was once a busy crossroads along the old sub-lightspeed trade routes. Here, guests will find themselves in the middle of the action at two attractions that take detail and immersion to the next level: one that lets guests take the controls of Millennium Falcon on a customized secret mission, and an epic Star Wars adventure that puts guests in the middle of a climactic battle between the First Order and the Resistance.




Picture and video: copyright Disney

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

BREAKING NEWS: Disneyland Paris Reveal Plans for a Major Overhaul of Disney Village Shopping and Dining Complex



BREAKING NEWS: Francis Borezée, Euro Disney’s vice president of resort and real estate development reveal that Disneyland Paris is planning a major overhaul and expansion of the Disney Village shopping and dining area. We're not talking here about something of the size of WDW Disney Springs but it will be very welcome anyway.

Excerpts from the Forbes article HERE: "Last month Disney’s chief executive Bob Iger announced a $2.4 billion (€2 billion) expansion of the movie-themed Studios park which will see the addition of lands inspired by Star Wars, Marvel Comics and hit animated film Frozen. It is one of Euro Disney’s biggest-ever expansion projects and will be launched in phases from 2021.

It doesn’t stop there as Disney has now revealed that it is also giving a sprinkle of pixie dust to its 44,000m2 Disney Village, the largest entertainment center in greater Paris.

“We have renewed a number of attractions in the parks so the next step will be to renew the Disney Village,” says Francis Borezée, Euro Disney’s vice president of resort and real estate development. The huge complex next to the parks was designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry and has an industrial style which was popular when it opened in the 1990s. It is packed with shops, restaurants and even a rodeo. It could get even bigger.

“We will start with the renovation but then we have an opportunity to expand where today we have tents which are used for business events,” says Borezée. “If we do that we could develop a new convention center.” Given that the rodeo has been there since day one it is hard to imagine it staying in a renovation so one suggestion would be to switch it for a show based on a renowned Disney brand.

Disney is still deciding on the style of the Disney Village renovation according to Robert Earl, the owner of celebrity restaurant chain Planet Hollywood which has an outlet there. “There is a plan to renovate the restaurant in Paris but Disney are evaluating what they are doing first,” says Earl. “We are discussing with them about Planet Hollywood there but corporate in California haven’t yet decided.”

Borezée says that the expansion of the Studios park could trigger the development of more hotels to add to the seven which are on-site.

“There are locations which are already dedicated for future hotels but there is no decision to go ahead with them until we have the need.” Euro Disney’s latest results show that occupancy in the six months to 31 March 2017 hit 81% so that may not be far off."

Don't miss too below or HERE today's D&M long article about DLP future with more details about the announced coming lands at the WDS.

MORE About Disneyland Paris Two Billion Euros Announcement And Walt Disney Studios Expansion


Last Tuesday announcement of a Two Billion investment plan to build new lands and attractions at Disneyland Paris Walt Disney Studios stunned all DLP fans and we'll have today a closer look at it with more infos and answers to some of your questions.

Let's start first by what is probably the most important as i know that many of you had a very close look at the artwork released last week and some have even complain about this or that. So, let's say it directly: this rendering is NOT the final rendering and was done mostly to show where will be what, with different elements copy and pasted - a bit like they did many years ago for the first bird eye view rendering of Shanghaî Disneyland - as Disney needed to have something to show for the big announcement. So, save your energy and no need to complain as the final artworks for each land will come later. For instance, looking at the new artwork some of you said that Star Wars land looks smaller than the ones in the U.S. Actually i can tell you that it won't be really smaller, may be a little bit but not as smaller as some of you might think.

Also, DLP Imagineering is still in "blue sky mode" on all these new additions for the Walt Disney Studios, meaning that some of the attractions or restaurants, shops, etc... that will be in each new lands are not totally decided yet - except of course for the Iron Man ride officially announced last month. Final artworks will be released in a near future so take the artwork released last Tuesday with a pinch of salt as there WILL be changes, even if the global look of the lands and their locations will remain the same.

However, obviously some of the additions will have similarities with others already built or opening in a near future in others Disney theme parks. For instance, the Frozen land obviously will look quite similar to the one which will be open at HKDL, even if the different elements ( the Arendelle village, the castle, the mountain with Elsa ice palace ) will be placed differently. So, a look to the HKDL renderings below is probably the best way to have an idea of how the Frozen land will look once it will be built at Walt Disney Studios.





Also, although not announced officially last Tuesday, everyone has noticed ( picture on the top left below ) that DLP WDS Toy Story Playland will get a new addition with the Alien Swirling Saucers attraction, similar to the one opening next month at WDW DHS Toy Story Land. I can confirm that indeed Alien Swirling Saucers will be added to WDS Toy Story Playland and the artwork released for the WDW DHS version give you a perfect idea of how it will look. By the way, some think that this attraction will be too similar to the little Cars ride in front of Crush Coaster but, although it may look similar, it will be in fact a different ride.

One more thing: on the new WDS artwork some have also noticed a giant Woody near the attraction. Logically, to fit with the little green aliens ride it should be a giant Buzz Lightyear like the one they will put at WDW DHS but, as there is already a giant Buzz at the entrance of WDS TSL, of course they are not going to put a second one. That said, a giant Woody near Alien Swirling Saucers don't look to me to fit perfectly thematically, so may be they will move the giant Buzz near Alien Swirling Saucers and put the giant Woody instead at the entrance of Toy Story Playland which would be much better, in my opinion. Or may be the giant Woody will simply be cancelled, we'll see what happen.


Let's have a look now at both the rendering and a Google Earth screen capture shot more or less on the same angle than the official bird eye view artwork. As you will see on the picture below ( click to enlarge the picture ), once built - in addition to the new lake at the center - the Frozen and Star Wars land will take a lot of room and probably will - or almost - reach the regular road in the back of the WDS or the road on the left. DLP Imagineers will still have room for a new land on the right in what was previously DLP backstage offices and they'll be able to use the land as most of the people who were working there have now moved in new buildings built nearby at Val d'Europe.



First, obviously you can say goodbye to the Tram Tour as well as Catastrophe Canyon and the London scene. Some will regret Catastrophe Canyon ( i will ) but most won't regret the rest of the tour, and anyway there is no other choice, so...

In Marvel land in addition to the Iron Man ride the "Moteurs, Action" stunt show will become a Marvel stunt show. Although you can't see it clearly on the artwork it's no big secret as it it was rumored since months, and it will be a brand new stunt show, not just a change of background sets! Also, and always in the Marvel land, everyone knows that the first attraction to get the axe will be the Armageddon attraction and it remain to be known which kind of ride will replace it. Rumors that the area will be used for a Marvel characters meet and greet may be right, but it should be temporary.


The new stunt show should stay however for a few years and, no, contrary to what some of you think - or may have think by seeing on the artwork the Avengers jet plane at the entrance of the stunt show, the big E-Ticket Avengers attraction that will open in five years at HKDL ( artwork below ) will not be built at WDS Marvel land, at least for now. The completion date announced by Bob Iger for all the new lands is 2025, and the Avengers ride will not be built for that date. As i know that some will be furious, let's put it like this: there is limits to everything, including to a 2 Billion euros investment. At one point you need to make choices to make sure that you can have the best possible expansion plan. Again, it doesn't mean that this highly awaited Avengers ride will not be added in the future, and my guess is that it probably will be, but the good point is that they'll have the room for it when it will be decided as the Stunt Show takes a huge space so they'll have the needed land to build the Avengers ride.



One more thing, about the Iron Man ride: the good folks of ED92 indicates that it will be an “Augmented Reality coaster". Actually, this might not be quite the case but i can't tell you more for now, so i'll keep more details about this for a future article specially dedicated to the Iron Man ride.

Let's have a look now at Star Wars land which, as i've said above, should not be much smaller than the versions at DL and WDW, even if it look smaller on the artwork. Will the land include a big E-ticket ride like they'll have in the U.S? Yes, it will and for now i can't tell you more about it. Also, some have been quick to notice that the Millennium Falcon is not on the artwork on the platform where it will be in the U.S versions. Does that mean that the Millenium Falcon ride in which DL or WDW guests will enjoy a simulated mission in the Falcon cockpit won't be included in WDS Star Wars land? The truth is that no final decision has been taken yet and my guess is that they might wait for DL and WDW Star Wars lands opening next year to see how popular the ride will be and if the capacity per hour is satisfying. So, you'll have to wait a bit more for this one to know if it will be at WDS SWL, or not.

However there is something interesting to notice, and it's the fact that Star Wars land will be located on the left of Frozen land, and not on the right, placing it not far from the road with Val d'Europe on the other side and a big piece of land in between. It has long been rumored that DLP envision to build a hotel near the WDS and, considering the proximity of Star Wars land, i'm wondering if they intend to build a Star Wars hotel on this land just like they will do at WDW near DHS Star Wars land. I don't know yet if it will be the case - i really don't - but i suggest that we'll keep a look at this area to see how they will use it in the future.



Let's move to Frozen land which, as you saw, will certainly have a lot of similarities with the one to be build at HKDL. Among the questions that you had about it was if there will be a ride inside the mountain - a kind of "Matterhorn" coaster" with a Frozen theme and with the Marshmallow character instead of the abominable snowman. It sure would be an exciting ride and as you can guess you are not the only ones to have think about it. And the truth is that no decision have been taken yet, for a lot of different reasons, not necessarily financial ones. So, for that one too, you'll have to wait that DLP Imagineers end their Blue Sky period and announce the final attractions projects. One thing is sure: there will be at least an E-Ticket attraction in the Frozen land, one way or another.



There was also a question about the preserved little forest located on the right of the Ratatouille area - where i've put a white question mark ( point d'interrogation ). What is sure for now is that none of the three new lands announced will be build in the forest area, so so far the forest area is preserved.

Another question was about the long avenue going from the exit of the Studio 1 to the central lake where it seems to have no building left and right of the avenue but just vegetation. Although i think they don't intend to extend the Hollywood Blvd up to the lake that part is among the ones which could see changes. But there will be probably vegetation one way or another, at least to hide show buildings nearby.

One last thing, and it's about the lake at the center as all of you have noticed the fountains on it and suspect that there will be an evening fountains show like World of Color. So, yes, an evening fountains show is planned and, no, it will NOT be World of Color but a brand new show, and a spectacular one!

Also, the announced investment budget is 2 Billion Euros and the cost for the three new lands including the Toy Story Playland addition is probably between 1 and 1.3 Billion. Meaning that on the 2 Billion will remain around 1 Billion or 700 Million Euros to be spent on others attractions. I was not alone to do the maths and of course many of you have listed their favorite attractions that they wish to have at DLP Magic Kingdom or the WDS, wondering if they are in the plans. Although i'm not allowed to tell you how will be spent the remaining amount or what attractions will be build i can tell you what will be NOT build. So, in the list of the attractions that were wished i can confirm that there won't be a Cars Land, as well as no Toy Story Mania, no Soaring, no Mysterious Island, no TRON Lightcycles ride, and no Discovery Bay. None of them are envisioned for now whether for the WDS or DLP "Magic Kingdom". And no Avatar land too, at least for now, we'll see what the future will bring if the upcoming sequels filmed by James Cameron happen to be as successful as the first Avatar film.

There was also questions about the long rumored third gate/park: i know every DLP fan is dreaming of a third park but the truth is, if you read well the convention signed between EuroDisney and the French state, that there is no mention explicitly of a "third park" but only of an entertainment area, or so. In two words, i'll be you i'll forget about a third park, at least for the near future, except if the plans will be changed.

Is there anything more? Of course there is more, there is always more coming in Disney theme parks, but sorry, that will be for another day. In the meantime, have some sweet dreams as for once DLP future looks bright!

Pictures: copyright Disney

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

Disney Parks Launches First-Ever 360-Degree Panoramas on Google Street View


Great news! Beginning today, you can now explore Disney Parks like never before – right from your phone or computer – on Google Street View. We’ve just launched a series of 360-degree panoramas featuring Disneyland Resort and Walt Disney World Resort locations you’ll want to check out to help plan your next vacation.

 The new Disney Parks imagery on Google Street View includes our theme parks, water parks as well as a variety of areas at Downtown Disney and Disney Springs. As you explore our Disney parks and destinations, you may run across some of your favorite Disney characters. We spotted Goofy at Disneyland – Can you find Donald or Pluto?



 To create the 360-degree imagery at Disney Parks, Google used Street View Trekker, a wearable backpack with a camera system on top. The Trekker is worn by an operator and is moved through walkways and structures, automatically gathering images. Imagery is then stitched together to create the 360-degree panoramas you see today.

To have the list of the locations that the Trekker’s captured with direct links jump HERE.

Pictures: copyright Disney

The First Official Teaser Trailer for Disney's "Christopher Robin" is Here !



The Hundred Acre Wood is opening up to our world. Watch the brand-new teaser trailer for Disney’s Christopher Robin!

Coming soon to theatres non Disney’s “Christopher Robin” is directed by Marc Forster from a screenplay by Alex Ross Perry and Allison Schroeder and a story by Perry based on characters created by A.A. Milne. The producers are Brigham Taylor and Kristin Burr with Renée Wolfe and Jeremy Johns serving as executive producers. The film stars Ewan McGregor as Christopher Robin; Hayley Atwell as his wife Evelyn; Bronte Carmichael as his daughter Madeline; and Mark Gatiss as Keith Winslow, Robin’s boss. The film also features the voices of: Jim Cummings as Winnie the Pooh; Chris O’Dowd as Tigger; Brad Garrett as Eeyore; Toby Jones as Owl; Nick Mohammed as Piglet; Peter Capaldi as Rabbit; and Sophie Okonedo as Kanga.




Picture and video: copyright Disney

New Hong Kong Disneyland Castle Blueprints !



I have some great articles for you this week and we'll start by one about Hong Kong Disneyland, and more specifically HKDL Castle which, as you know, will change totally in the next two years. It happen that the latest blueprints of the new castle are now displayed in a window of HKDL Main Street shop and Disney Magical Kingdom Blog has posted on Youtube a video of them.




Unfortunately, as you saw on the video, it's poorly filmed and it's hard to see the blueprints well as the camera zoomed too close to the blueprints and is moving at the same time. So, i did a series of screen captures for you and you have them below, just make sure to click on each of them to enlarge the pictures.


Let's have a closer look to these blueprints!






On the picture above it's almost impossible to count how many different architectural styles there is for the turrets, and i still wonder if this mix is a good idea... On the picture below, note on the turret on the right the Dragon Mushu standing on the top of it.



















Note on the top right the mention saying that fiber optics will be embedded in the castle new ceiling, like they did inside Disneyland Paris Castle. Good idea.




And if you want to know how all this should look in real environment once completed, Octavius @ Mint Crocodile has posted on Twitter the picture below and did a pretty good job in including the rendering in a real picture.



I'll have for you tomorrow a great article about Disneyland Paris future, so don't miss it!

Blueprints: copyright Disney

Video: copyright Magical Kingdom Blog

Sunday, March 4, 2018

Three New Teasers and New Website for WDW DHS Toy Story Land



During the 90th Academy Awards, Disney also released three 30-second teasers for DHS Toy Story Land, here they are! A new website for Toy Story land which include little games is also available now HERE.









Picture and video: copyright Disney

90th Academy Awards Ceremony : And The Winners Are...



The Academy Awards ceremony happening tonight at Hollywood is now over and the Winners Are... "The Shape of Water" won the "Best Movie" award and its director Guillermo Del Toro also won the "Best Director" Award. Gary Oldman won the "Best Actor" Award for playing Winston Churchill in "Darkest Hours" in which he is truly incredible. Frances McDormand won the "Best Actress" Award for "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri". Dunkirk and The Shape of Water also won several technical awards and Disney Pixar two for Best Song and Best Animated Film ( see post below ). You have the full list of winners on the Oscars website HERE.

Did you missed Jimmy Kimmel great opening monologue of the Academy Awards ceremony? Here it is!




If you wonder how the heavy Oscars statues are made and the two videos below, including a tour inside the Chicago company which is making them, will tell you all about this.








Once the Oscars statues are made they'll go to a winner in each category and the next video will tell you how the oscars voting works.




I have a "one more thing" for you which are these nine great illustrations - one for each movie nominee in the "Best Picture" category, and these were done by artist Olly Gibbs.


















Videos: copyright The Oscars, CNN

Pictures: copyright The Oscars, ABC, Olly Gibbs