A Disneyland Picture That You Will Never See Again

Here is a B&W picture showing the back of the Disneyland Railroad shortly after park opening, and you won't see today ANYTHING which is on this picture. No way that Disney will shoot and release today a picture with kids holding themselves at the back of the train with the body over the safety bar, and certainly not surrounded by sexy saloon girls also themselves in dangerous positions over the track. But in 1955 shooting a picture like this was no problem and no one would have thought to complain or sue Disney for that, and it was not even a bad PR shot.

So, what has changed? More politically correctness certainly, but also much more stupidity from people. Back in 1955 everybody would have take the pictures for what it is and not for what it is not - Disney was not promoting dangerous behavior aboard the train, neither anything between young boys and saloon girls but just fun at Disneyland. But today, the era is not the same and you can be sure that you'll find quickly some people who would find the picture outrageous and "promoting blah blah blah"... when there is nothing else that this picture wanted to promote except Disneyland and its railroad.

Picture: copyright Disney

More About Epcot World Showcase Brazil Pavilion Rumor

Among the big rumors for WDW there is the one about a supposedly coming Brazil pavilion at Epcot World Showcase, to be built between the Germany pavilion and the Italy pavilion which is a bit strange as there is much more space on the right of the Germany pavilion. Anyway, there is a lot of good reasons to think that it will be natural to have a Brazil pavilion at Epcot - Brazil is the biggest country of South America and there is no pavilion yet for South American countries, in addition to the fact that a lot of Brazilians also visit Walt Disney World - but it doesn't mean that it's necessarily enough reasons for Disney to build a new World Showcase pavilion, especially if the country is not ready to finance it.

However, it doesn't mean that Disney never thought about a Brazil pavilion - hey, Disney years ago was even thinking to build a Disney theme park in Rio de Janeiro, and they probably will do it someday - as some concept-arts supposedly for a Brazil pavilion have surfaced and been posted on the WDWMagic forum some months ago.



You have them above and below and it looks to me that more than a final concept for the pavilion it was some presentation artworks to show people in Brazil government what the pavilion will pay tribute to. No surprise we find various landmarks of the country, including the famous Christ Redeemer at the top of Rio Corcovado, the famous design of Copacabana sidewalk, as well as a typical Brazilian village from last century, of course the famous Iguaçu Falls, Rio Carnaval scenes, colored birds from Brazil tropical forest, football scenes, and more about Brazil technology. Something even seems to be the title of an attraction which would be named eventually "Flying over Brazil" but i'm not sure that when these renderings were done flying theaters like Soarin' already existed.






Insights and Sounds even posted yesterday HERE a picture of what is supposed to be the original WDI model for a Brazil pavilion, and it sure looks to be it, but most probably a model done 20 years ago or more. Mark Taft note that an attraction with the Three Caballeros ( currently in the Mexico pavilion ) could find naturally its place in a Brazil pavilion with the current ride in the Mexico pavilion rethemed with a Coco theme, which will fit even better for Mexico, and i agree with him.



Future will tell, and probably soon, if the Brazil pavilion rumor is right or not, in the meantime just cross the fingers that it becomes reality!

Pictures: copyright Disney

Breaking News: 'Star Wars: Episode IX' Cast Will Include Carrie Fisher!

Breaking News: 'Star Wars: Episode IX' cast will include Carrie Fisher! LucasFilm has announced the cast for the next chapter from the galaxy far, far away -- and it will include the late Carrie Fisher:

Fisher will reprise her role as Princess Leia Organa, using "previously unreleased footage shot for 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens,'" director J.J. Abrams announced Friday. "We desperately loved Carrie Fisher. Finding a truly satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga without her eluded us," Abrams said in a statement. "We were never going to recast, or use a CG character."

Abrams added that with "the support and blessing" from Fisher's daughter, Billie Lourd, the film found a way "to honor Carrie's legacy and role as Leia in 'Episode IX' by using unseen footage we shot together in Episode VII."

From StarWars.com:

""Star Wars: Episode IX will begin filming at London’s Pinewood Studios on August 1, 2018. J.J. Abrams returns to direct the final installment of the Skywalker saga. Abrams co-wrote the screenplay with Chris Terrio.

Returning cast members include Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, and Billie Lourd. Joining the cast of Episode IX are Naomi Ackie and Richard E. Grant, who will be joined by veteran Star Wars actors Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams, who will reprise his role as Lando Calrissian.

The role of Leia Organa will once again be played by Carrie Fisher, using previously unreleased footage shot for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. “We desperately loved Carrie Fisher,” says Abrams. “Finding a truly satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga without her eluded us. We were never going to recast, or use a CG character. With the support and blessing from her daughter, Billie, we have found a way to honor Carrie’s legacy and role as Leia in Episode IX by using unseen footage we shot together in Episode VII.”

Composer John Williams, who has scored every chapter in the Star Wars saga since 1977’s A New Hope, will return to a galaxy far, far away with Episode IX.

Star Wars: Episode IX will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Michelle Rejwan, and executive produced by Callum Greene and Jason McGatlin. The crew includes Dan Mindel (Director of Photography), Rick Carter and Kevin Jenkins (Co-Production Designers), Michael Kaplan (Costume Designer), Neal Scanlan (Creature and Droid FX), Maryann Brandon and Stefan Grube (Editors), Roger Guyett (VFX Supervisor), Tommy Gormley (1st AD), and Victoria Mahoney (2nd Unit Director).

Star Wars Episode IX release is scheduled for December 2019.

Picture: copyright LucasFilm

Breaking : Disney, 21st Century Fox Shareholders Vote to Approve $71.3 Billion Merger!

Breaking News! Disney, 21st Century Fox Shareholders have voted and approved the $71.3 Billion Merger. In two words: Disney now own 21th Century Fox!
Check the reports on Variety HERE, on the New Yourk Times HERE and on the Los Angeles Times HERE!
Also, don't miss the new Disneyland Paris update below AND the report on the great Warner Bros World indoor theme park opening HERE, or on the next page.

Last Disneyland Paris Update Before D&M August Break !

Hello everyone, here we go for a new Disneyland Paris update, thanks to Max, D&M contributor and DLP Welcome webmaster, and it will be the last one on D&M before my break all August.  It's very hot currently in France with temperatures over 30°C so if you plan to visit DLP anytime soon make sure to have always water to refresh yourself.

Before we go further i want to also let you know that it is the last three days to pre-order the gorgeous Disneyland Paris book in its FRENCH eBook edition. If you own an Apple product, iPhone,iPad or iMac you can pre-order it to me at 19,90€ and proceed tot he payment with Paypal or credit card. The English eBook edition will come later, but this end French eBook edition include more than 60 video links with a selection of the best videos of the park attractions, shows or hotels as well as making-of videos, and this is an exclusive for this eBook special edition!

Version française: Ce sont les trois derniers Jours Pour Pré-Commander le Livre Disneyland Paris de l’Esquisse à la Création en Edition Française Digitale eBook à 19,90€! DATE LIMITE pour passer commande: 30 Juillet!

Le livre en version eBook sera une "special edition" car il inclura des liens vers plus de 60 vidéos des attractions du parc, des spectacles et hotels, et des vidéos making-of! Le livre promet déjà des heures de lectures et avec les vidéos additionnelles c'est plus de cinq heures supplémentaires de lecture et visionnage. Voir à la fin de cet article pour savoir comment effectuer la pré-commande.

Pour pré-commander le livre en version eBook envoyez moi un email le 30 Juillet au plus tard à: amplittaye@gmail.com


Let's move in the park now, would we? The end of the 25th anniversary festivities are in September and fortunately because the decorations are in a bad condition or discolored.


On Main Street USA, the Victoria Home Style Cooking now offers a whole new restaurant offer, say goodbye to the hot sandwich and soda and hello to the « homemade »  milkshake and iced tea . The idea is great, the location with a view of DLP castle is ideal. But at €10 ($12) per Milkshake it is very expensive for 30cl of milk. Fortunately the flavor is there, but not the texture a bit too liquid. Overall what is disappointing is the lack of training of the team after several weeks of opening. We wait 10minutes to be placed, 10minutes to take the order and as much to serve us a single Milkshake… really?!? Because of such a prohibitive price , we took only one glass and also note that the Annual Passport discounts are not applicable there...



















Let's move to Frontierland where, good news, the scaffoldings are gradually removed while the gardens with the queue decor are still in the works. The reopening of the attraction initially planned for October has been delayed to January 2019.






At Fantasyland Le chalet de la Marionnette now has on its Adventureland side a canvas to attract visitors walking nearby this other hard to see entrance.


At last Disneyland Paris castle gradually get back its golden arrows, so far only a third of them are back.




















At the Walt Disney Studios Park, the facade of the Studio 1 building is in renovation, on the Tower of Terror side.


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The Tower of Terror facades is also in renovation and the scaffolding now cover the entire back of the tower and the side of the Hollywood Tower hotel. The total refurbishment of the facades of the Tower of Terror started on May 3, 2018. A themed canvas will eventually cover the entire tower. It's possible to see the metal brackets positioned on the back of the tower for the upcoming themed canvas. Nevertheless, we have some thoughts for DisneyAdventure when they changed the ride for Guardians of the Galaxy Mission: Breakout and changed completely the ToT facade.





























The renovation works on of the Tower of Terror is visible from all of the park, including Toy Story Playland which also has some renovation in particular for REX who is now behind fences.






Next door in the Parisian quarter, the chalets are ready for the new edition of the « Rendez-vous Gourmand » (the french version of the U.S parks « food and wine festival ») from July 27 until September 30.  Everything is ready for the return of the delicious tastings of our french regions!












Here is Max video showing the 2017 edition of the Rendez-Vous Gourmands.




Finally this summer is the moment to discover the Marvel Super-Heroes season at the Walt Disney Studios Park! Do not look for meet and greet points, there are none, the characters are only visible in the three different shows offered daily in front of the Tower of Terror, but the giant statues of Hulk, Iron Man and Black Panther are good photo locations.






Marvel: The Alliance of Super Heroes is the show of the season, it is built in two parts, the story of the Avengers and then the final fight against Thanos. If the first part is very well staged, the second part without its special effects and drones can quickly look long and even a bit ridiculous with its never ending fights. Unfortunately since several weeks the main drones are no longer used since the flying saucer has slowly fallen on the visitors during one performance, without hurting anyone. It's still a good show allowing to see many of our super heroes with great visual effects and projections ...if we close our eyes on the wires holding Iron Man when he's flying.

Here is the video of the first Show of the season.




Stark Expo is the show to see, with the famous character, Loki. Although the show lasts only 10 minutes, the 5 minutes of fighting are dense and well staged. It is the perfect show to see during the day if you are in a hurry and if Marvel is not the reason of your visit in the park.




Finally we can see Star Lord and Damora from the Guardians of the Galaxy, in a show where guests are invited to dance with their heroes.






Disneyland Paris has announced something new for the parks from 24 July to September 30, the « Access One ». For €15/per day/ per people/ AND per ride with FastPass, you have unlimited access to this attraction. The purchase comes with a small surprise (a black bracelet « Access one « ). What to say about this new product? Even the American parks didn't dared to make such a product at such price! Here again we see the need for Disneyland Paris to offer a product, not to propose a real offer for its visitors, but simply with the hope to make money with a low interesting product.

It is strange that Disneyland Paris did not create the same MaxPass of Disneyland Resort in California. The MaxPass allows for $10 (€9) per person to benefit from all the attractions with FastPass at will and also from the PhotoPass system for the pictures shot in the attractions, the meet and greet characters, but also by the twenty photographers in the different points « Postcard » all day, by park. MaxPass is a real offer, a plus during a day for a reasonable price allowing Disney to make additional money while being attractive. MaxPass allows during days of very high attendance to have a FastPass attraction per hour and more if the park has less visitors. You've understood, with €15 per person and especially by attractions that have a FastPass system…. even with a « little surprise » (the black bracelet) we are very far from the affordable service and new experience of MaxPass. It's difficult to understand the reason why DLP did this, except Disneyland Paris is technically not ready for the same system than in the U.S.

The feeling that this new product give is the will of a life-size test, to see the price that visitors would be willing to pay and eventually it will end with a MaxPass offer. But it’s pretty obvious that having a MaxPass at Disneyland Paris would be something great. Either a simple service at 10 €($12) per person for unlimited FastPass attractions, or €15 ($18) for FastPass and PhotoPass in unlimited mode per person. This would allow, despite a more expensive price than in California, to offer an experience accessible to visitors and therefore profitable considering the number of passes which would be sold per day.

And now a final note again for D&M French readers: ce sont les trois derniers Jours Pour Pré-Commander le Livre Disneyland Paris de l’Esquisse à la Création en Edition Française Digitale eBook à 19,90€! DATE LIMITE pour passer commande: 30 Juillet!

Le livre en version eBook sera une "special edition" car il inclura des liens vers plus de 60 vidéos des attractions du parc, des spectacles et hotels, et des vidéos making-of! Le livre promet déjà des heures de lectures et avec les vidéos additionnelles c'est plus de cinq heures supplémentaires de lecture et visionnage.

Pour ceux qui n'ont toujours pas le livre et qui rêvent de l’avoir, et pour les plus jeunes fans pour lesquels le prix du livre était trop élevé, le livre Disneyland Paris, de l’Esquisse à la Création sera disponible en version digitale eBook - uniquement l’édition française - dés le 31 Juillet, et vous pourrez ainsi avoir le livre tout le temps avec vous et le lire sur votre mobile, tablette ou ordinateur, y compris dans le parc! Et il n’y a pas de frais d’envois puisque la version eBook sera en téléchargement!

Le livre sera ensuite vendu sur l’Apple iBook store entre 30 et 35 euros - et un peu plus cher sur Google Books et Amazon - soit le tiers du prix auquel était la version imprimée avec les frais d'envois.

Règlement uniquement par Paypal ou carte bancaire via Paypa mème si vous n'avez pas de compte Paypal. Attention, pour profiter de cette offre vous devez impérativement posséder un iPhone, iPad ou un ordinateur Apple!

Pour savoir comment commander le livre Disneyland Paris, de l’Esquisse à la Création en version eBook avec le prix spécial ci-dessus envoyer moi un email à: amplittaye@gmail.com avec votre nom et prénom et en précisant que vous - ou votre ami(e) ou parents possèdent bien un produit Apple.

Le livre a 320 pages, raconte toute l’histoire de la création du parc et inclus 750 photos y compris 250 concept-arts de chez Walt Disney Imagineering et 62 liens vidéos! Vous pouvez voir la vidéo qui présente chaque page du livre ci-dessous.



Photos: copyright DLP Welcome