Laaaast call for the Disneyland Paris From Sketch to Reality book , signed edition !

As a lot of my D&M readers asked me if my "Disneyland Paris, From Sketch to Reality" book is still available, here is everything you need to know if you want to order one of the last signed copy of this beautiful book. Please note that NO re-printing of the book is scheduled, and these last available copies may be the REAL last one!

Even at the park where i was two weeks ago, it was impossible to find a copy of the english edition. When i asked at the Storybook store if they had the english edition, i was told that they were out of stock.

So, if you don't have it yet and don't want to miss this 320 pages and 750 pictures book - including 250 renderings from Walt Disney Imagineering, i'm afraid to say that it's may be now or never...

As i am one of the two authors of the book, I will personally sign EACH copy with a special dedication to you or anyone you wish if your purchase of the book is for a gift.


I HAVE FEW COPIES OF THE ENGLISH EDITION. IF YOU'RE LOOKING FOR THE ENGLISH EDITION OF THE BOOK WITH THE TEXT IN ENGLISH:

Price for one copy of the english updated edition is 87 Euros + 15 Euros for shipping.

If you have a Paypal account you can proceed to the payment by paypal - paypal payment must be sent to the email adress: lawrence55@wanadoo.fr

Important: Note that the price is in Euros, not in U.S $, so you have to choose the "euro" currency when you do the paypal payment.

If you don't have a Paypal account, a bank wire transfert is possible, just let me know.

And, of course, thanks to confirm me your order and payment AND the shipping adress by email at the email adress: lawrence55@wanadoo.fr



PLEASE NOTE THAT FOR NOW I DON'T HAVE ANY MORE COPIES OF THE FRENCH EDITION, SORRY.

As i am the one who designed the book, i'm not really at the good place to send compliments about it, but if you are a reader who already own the book, please leave a comment at the end of the article to let other readers know what you think about it.
Previous comments can be read at the bottom of this page where the article below was previously posted.

So, here is a little description of the book, now - See below some pictures of the book pages - click on each of them to see the photo-montage pictures in big size.



The book is a gorgeous "coffee table book" with 320 pages and 750 pictures - of which 500 are park and attractions photos and 250 are Walt Disney Imagineering renderings!

The size is 9 x 12 inches, all pages are in color and it's hardbound with a glossy dust jacket. The text (by Disney historian Didier Ghez), was written after more than 75 interviews he conducted with all the Imagineers who created the park. He goes into just about everything you wanted to know about this unique place that many describe as the best "Magic Kingdom" ever created by WDI.

It took five years to create the book, but it was worth all the time we spent on it, and the book looks just as good as we had hoped for at the beginning - in fact Imagineer Bruce Gordon told us that it was "probably the best book ever done on a Disney theme park". Coming from Bruce who did with David Mumford the great "Disneyland, The Nickel Tour" book, it was more than a compliment.

The first chapter about Main Street has 52 pages and introduces the reader to the "legend" of Main Street, USA. You'll learn all about the Disneyland Paris Railroad, the unique "Discovery" and "Liberty" Arcades; find out about the architecture, the restaurants (like "Walt's," a tribute to Walt Disney, but also inspired by Club 33 in Anaheim) and the shops; with dozens of photos, renderings, models, and reproduced for the first time here, all the "cities of the future" posters located in "Discovery Arcade."



The second chapter on Frontierland discusses the park's western side with extensive sections about its major attractions, "Big Thunder Mountain" and "Phantom Manor." In fact the book has the longest sections ever put together in a book on all the major attractions. The Pirates of Caribbean section in the Adventureland chapter is 26 pages, Phantom Manor has 16 pages devoted to it, as does Space Mountain, it's a small world, etc. The photo material was so great that we kept adding more pages to the book, which was supposed to have only 240 pages when we started... we ended up with 320 upon completion!



The Frontierland chapter also covers the Mark Twain, the River Rogue Keelboats, Fort Comstock, all the restaurants, the shops and Cottonwood Creek Ranch.and featuring stunning photos of Disneyland Paris from the air by Yann Arthus Bertrand, author of The Earth from Above that make spectacular "double-pages," and allow the reader to discover the park from a whole different angle.



The Adventureland chapter is even more interesting, as many elements of the land exist only in Paris - such as the Bazaar and Aladdin to Africa and the ex-"Explorer's Club." Plus there's a long section about "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril," "Adventure Isle" and "The Swiss Robinson Treehouse" and, of course, "Pirates of Caribbean" the land's major attraction and featuring its amazing Audio-Animatronics! All in all there are 56 full pages about Adventureland, and as in the previous chapters, there are dozens of photos, lots of concept art, and many shots of Imagineers at work. There's even a great bonus here, with the Marc Davis artwork for "Pirates" also included.



56 full pages are also dedicated to Fantasyland. There's an extensive look at Sleeping Beauty Castle, sections on all the dark rides (Snow White, Peter Pan and Pinocchio), as well as a look at "Alice's Curious Labyrinth," the "Mad Hatter's Tea Cups," "Storybookland," and "Casey Jr." There are even 14 pages about "it's a small world" with stunning photos of nearly all the scenes in it. Here the reader can discover a new attraction that exists only at Disneyland Paris, with a great view from above of Alice's Labyrinth.

Discoveryland also gets 52 pages of special treatment, with sections on the Visionarium, the Nautilus, Star Tours, Space Mountain, and everything you wanted to know about the other attractions in this land – Autopia and Orbitron. In fact the Nautilus chapter takes you on a visit with photos of every room of this detailed walk-through and two double page photo spreads, one which makes you feel you're inside Captain Nemo's grand salon, and the other showing you a unique view of Discoveyland featuring the Nautilus and Space Mountain in a kind of "CinemaScope" view.



When the book was released in early 2002, the Walt Disney Studios didn't exist, so you won't see them in the book. But there's still one last chapter about the hotels of the park, and Disney Village too, with the great Buffalo Bill Wild West show that entertains hundreds each evening.

And because every day in a Magic Kingdom should end with a parade and fireworks, we have the Main Street Electrical Parade that close the book, with an Herb Ryman gorgeous painting!



Photos: copyright Disney

First five minutes of Princess and the Frog !

The first five minutes of Princess and the Frog were released on Youtube today. Apparently it was not released by Disney as the Youtube video was removed, but i found the same one on Daily Motion Actually only the half of these five minutes are totally finished, the other half is an interesting "work in progress". Have a look, enjoy and let us know what you think about it!

La Princesse Et La Grenouille : Extrait / Making Of (VO/HD)
envoyé par LeBlogDuCinema. - Court métrage, documentaire et bande annonce.

Picture and video: copyright Disney

Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy Video

Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy seems to be very popular but due to the darkness inside the attraction it's hard to find a good video showing the ghosts.

Thanks god - or hell? - Disneyland released a 30" short video where you'll be able to see the ghosts. Have a look!





Video: copyright disney

Disneyland Paris Update : Frontierland's Last Chance Cafe Terrace - Pictures and Video by Mouetto

We will have a Disneyland Paris update today as Frontierland's Last Chance Cafe has had an expansion. Thanks to Mouetto from Disney Central Plaza forum we have pictures and videos of this new addition, which open last Saturday.

So, the park built a big terrace just in front of the small Last Chance Cafe, and from what I've heard, it's because they've realized that guests like to sit and have their meals outside, just like they do on spring and summer days at the Cowboy Cookout Barbecue. Of course, as the cold months of winter will soon arrive at DLP, they needed to have a terrace and, if possible, a heated one, which will be the case for this new one.



Now, why in front of the Last Chance Cafe? Well, it's not because the Last Chance Cafe is the most popular restaurant in the area - actually until now it was closed most of the time. So why not in front of the Lucky Nugget Saloon or the Silver Spur Steakhouse? Well, those two restaurants are table service restaurants, and even if they were not it wouldn't be possible to build a terrace in front of them simply because there is no space available. Actually there is some space available but if you build a terrace in front of them it will create a traffic problem as guests won't have enough space to walk. So, the best place was indeed in front of the Last Chance Cafe which is a fast food counter where guests come to buy food and get out immediately to eat outside. So far there is a logic in this new terrace, at least in the choice of the location. As you will see in a few seconds, things are going to get worse.



The main problem is coming from the architecture of the terrace. The Thunder Mesa buildings all around have the architecture of a Western town at the end of the 19th century. Maybe you don't realize it, but every detail is true to the time period. But if you look well at this new terrace - and although they put props inside - it doesn't look like a building which would have grown "organically" out of the buildings right behind it. There is a story with each Thunder Mesa building whether it's an attraction or a restaurant or a shop. Thunder Mesa is supposed to be a real town and although most of the guests don't know the stories (unfortunately) they can feel the "logic behind".



And I'm sorry to say that the architecture of this new terrace is not right. It LOOKS like a western architecture, but not the one that the Last Chance Cafe's owner would have used if he'd wanted to expand his little cafe 120 years ago because he became successful. I don't know if I'm perfectly clear but believe me, it is important as it is the essence of Imagineering. When WDI Imagineers create a new park the story line is highly important because it's what will give a meaning to everything else: the decors, the colors, the props, everything.



In the case of this new Last Chance Cafe's terrace, the architecture they did would have fit much better near the Cowboy Cookout Barbecue than in this part of Thunder Mesa. Not to mention that the terrace is now "breaking" the lovely curve of buildings between the Lucky Nugget and Phantom Manor entrance.





Many "western" props are also displayed on the shelves of the terrace and it gives the feeling of details, but there, too, you can feel that there was not enough thought behind their choice, with regard to the Last Chance Cafe storyline. Again, it's very subtle: if you look, there are mine lamps, horse saddles, rifles, etc...all kind of props which can be easily identified as "western" props by anyone, but bad luck, it wouldn't have been the kind of props that Last Chance Cafe's owner would have displayed if he had built this terrace 120 years ago. It's very strange, because at first sight it looks right, western style, etc...but you can't stop thinking that there is something wrong somewhere. Guests won't identify exactly what the problem is, but they will probably feel it.





Which leads us to the question: why isn't it perfect? After all, in each Disney theme park there is a division called SQS - "Show Quality Standard". SQS, in fact, is an Imagineering division. They're here to make sure that each new thing built in the park, small or big, is in agreement with the theming all around, the storyline, etc... Now, what generally happens for the kind of building like this terrace is that a manager at the park's food division go to see another one at park's operations division and explain the problem. In this case, something like "we need a terrace in front of the Last Chance Cafe because people like to eat outside, etc...". Then, normally, park operations go to see SQS for the theming part, etc... Alas, SQS have a cost, and from what I've been told it seems that the park is trying to avoid having SQS involved in "small" projects, at least as much as possible. The logic behind this is to save money, in this case the SQS-Imagineering cost. I'm not saying that this is what happened with this new terrace, but if SQS was not involved in its building and theming not only it would explain some of the mistakes i've just told you, but it's also unfortunate as nothing can replace the Imagineers experience. But we know how executives are thinking: they always think that "guests won't see the difference". Which is not only wrong, but almost an insult to the guests intelligence. People are more sophisticated than they think and they DO see the "difference". Let's just hope that in the case of the Last Chance Cafe's terrace they won't see it too much.



Please note that the above pictures were shoot last friday before the opening. This is why the tables and chairs were not in place yet. Let's have a look to the videos now: Mouetto's first short video below was filmed from the Molly Brown and will give you a good view of the whole terrace.




The next video is a travelling inside - i should say "under" - the terrace.




All pictures and videos: copyright Mouetto, whom i thanks a lot.

Many thanks to Nate Walz for the text editing.

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

What about a little visit of the Walt Disney Family Museum ?

What about a little visit of the Walt Disney Family Museum? Are you ready? Thanks to the these Youtube videos coming from different U.S TV channels you'll be able to see more - and it looks absolutely awesome!

Let's begin by the beginning, i.e the Ribbon Cutting Ceremony by Diane Disney Miller on October 1st.



You'll see much more of the museum inside in this next video with also an interview of Richard Benefield, executive director of the WDFM.



This other short video include different shots of the inside...



And this last one include many shots of the inside and an interview of Diane Disney Miller, Walt's daughter.



I will add these videos to the previous long WDFM article i did this week, so in the future you'll be able to find them here.

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

Picture: copyright Walt Disney Family Museum

The future Microsoft Tablet could be great, even for Disney fans !

As it sometimes is the case during the weekend, here is a "tech" article. Last week it was about this cute NAO robot, but this time it's all about an incredible new device, an "infinite diary" where you could collect any theme park pictures you'd like when you surf the web, or even shoot pictures with it when you're at Disneyland and share them, etc... all this with an incredible interface. So don't go away, as you'll see how this new device could be great, even for a Disney fan.

Normally, I'm a Mac addict, the kind of Mac addict who doesn't even want to hear the word "Microsoft"! But it seems that this time Microsoft has designed a product that I would be pleased to order! You may have heard that Apple will launch a highly awaited 10" "Tablet" using the IPhone OS, as well as the multi-touch interface early next year, but Microsoft, too, is preparing its own Tablet!

It's called "Courier," and it looks great. Here is a little description from Engadget:
"Courier is a real device, and we've heard that it's in the "late prototype" stage of development. It's not a tablet, it's a booklet. The dual 7-inch (or so) screens are multitouch, and designed for writing, flicking and drawing with a stylus, in addition to fingers. They're connected by a hinge that holds a single iPhone-esque home button. Statuses, like wireless signal and battery life, are displayed along the rim of one of the screens. On the back cover is a camera, and it might charge through an inductive pad, like the Palm Touchstone charging dock for Pre.

The Courier user experience presented here is almost the exact opposite of what everyone expects the Apple tablet to be, a kung fu eagle claw to Apple's tiger style. It's complex: Two screens, a mashup of a pen-dominated interface with several types of multitouch finger gestures, and multiple graphically complex themes, modes and applications. (Our favorite UI bit? The hinge doubles as a "pocket" to hold items you want move from one page to another.) Microsoft's tablet heritage is digital ink-oriented, and this interface, while unlike anything we've seen before, clearly draws from that, its work with the Surface touch computer and even the Zune HD."

It's probably best to have a look at the real thing - not totally "real", though, as what you will see is CGI animation, not the final product which should be released next year. But if they succeed in creating a Tablet which works as shown on the video - and also a bit thinner - I predict a big success for this new device. Let us know what you think about it in the comments!

Microsoft "Courier" tablet from Nacer B on Vimeo.

Many thanks to Nate Walz for the text editing.

Videos: copyright Microsoft

Part of the text; copyright Gizmodo

Tokyo Disney Sea Halloween 2009 Report By Yumiko Murata - Part Two

Here is Yumiko Murata's second part of her Tokyo Disney Sea's Halloween report. This time it's all night shots and the first pictures shows Port Mediterranean. As usual, click on each picture to see it in big size. If you've missed the part one of this report you can see it HERE.

















The next shots, always shoot at night, shows some of the Halloween merchandise in TDS shops, some of them always with a Venitian style.















Pictures: copyright Yumiko Murata and Disney and more

Have a look to Yumiko Murata and Paul Hsu web site about Entertainment called Premiereport !

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