Monday, September 24, 2018

Matt Cyrus Fantastic Disneyland Paris "Fantasy" Map !



Matt Cyrus did this fantastic Disneyland Paris "fantasy" map which not only include existing attractions but also others who "should" exist according to Matt, and i think he did a great job, really! Click on the map above to enlarge it and make sure to check everything on the map above as each number tells the title of the attractions added by Mark. Here is Matt presentation, from his Facebook page HERE:

"I've never had this much fun drawing! I'm bringing back its original park name, some cancelled attractions, as well as long rumored projects and some personal ideas. It is my own way of thanking the incredible people who designed this place for inspiring me to become an artist. Visiting the preview center “Espace EuroDisney” in 1991 was a life changing experience and I set to become a designer on that day. Then I spent most of my teenage years drawing countless maps and eagerly waiting for those attractions that never got built. If not just for the fun of it, this drawing is also meant to make up for the long wait: if they don't build it, I can draw it!"

Matt also posted on his Tumblr page some pictures of his work-in-progress...



The line only version of the map.


The final version...


...as well as some zooms on each area of Matt's Disneyland Paris fantasy map. From top: Frontierland, Adventureland, Adventure Isle, Fantasyland, Discoveryland...













...and the new "Shadow land" added by Mark. By the way, "Shadowland" was an old rumor for WDW ( a concept for a fifth park ) so that's Mark take on it.



Again, big congrats to Matt for this great "fantasy" map and make sure to follow him on his Facebook page HERE.

Pictures: copyright Matt Cyrus Sachezchi

Disneyland Paris Update Part 3 : Walt Disney Studios Renovations, New "Value" Hotel for DLP, and more



Here is the part three of the big Disneyland Paris update, and this one is all about what's happening at DLP Walt Disney Studios, and more, thanks to Max, D&M contributor and DLP Welcome webmaster. Let's start by WDS « Studio 1 » building, which currently have its facade in renovation.








The Tower of terror continues to be covered with scaffolding for its long renovation.














And, yes, there will be plenty of renovation works to do!










Works to double the road network near the « Santa Fe » Hotel and the « Disney’s Sequoia Lodge » continues. This work carried out by the state were planned with Disney in a development plan signed in 2014. The origin of the works is simple, it is the coordination between the road works and the opening of a new « All-Stars » value hotel like the ones at Walt Disney World in Florida. We know it's most certainly is a value resort because in the docs between Disney and the state it is written that this zone is made for a "value" ( hotel cut off of everything and surrounded by roads ). Not to mention its characteristic shape of the All Stars hotels. The deduction is done. But, as you know, there is no work zone and even less announcement from Disney regarding this hotel. It is in these moments that we clearly see the delays and shortcomings of the company even it had commit to a development with the government. The State thus finds itself to have to invest in new, and for now useless, infrastructures, for today and at least the next two years, only to respect its part of the contract.










Disney Hotel "All Stars" : Waiting since more than 2 years: The plan below comes from the phase 4 signed between Disney and the state ( public document ) which rules the development of this area. Thus, the state being responsible for the road network it builds the network according to the projected development negotiated between Disney and the state with different deadlines. Road works to adapt the road traffic to a building is usually the last to be done.  So the road under construction today means that it's been 2 years since the works for this hotel should have started to open at the same time, at the end of the road works done by the state.


Disneyland Paris :
Rose/Pink : Disneyland Park
Bleu/Blue : Walt Disney Studios Park
Rouge/Red : Disney Village
Orange/Orange : Disney Hotels
Blanc/White : Extensions Zone (Parks/Hotels/Village)


From November 2018 to April 2019, the swimming pool of the « Disney’s Sequoia Lodge » and its fitness room will be closed to visitors for renovation. A reconfiguration of the changing rooms, the reception and the fitness room will be done to optimize the space and fit better to guests practices. Here are the blueprints.












A new Disneyland Paris update will come soon, in the meantime for those who have missed the Summer special offer on the Disneyland Paris "From Sketch to Reality" book this is a last chance to get one of the last copies of the book at a reasonable price, in fact at the best price ever, so don't miss it!


Note: The French edition is totally out of stock but if you're French, and wish to purchase the book in its English edition i will send you a PDF file of the full French text of the French edition. The other option for French readers is to pre-order the eBook edition, see HERE. Note that the eBook edition exist for now in French language only.

Here is all you need to know to order a copy of the "Disneyland Paris From Sketch to Reality" book with the special offer. First, it's a 320 pages book with 750 pictures of the park including 250 WDI artworks! 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.

To place your order for the DLP book, please send me an email at: amplittaye@gmail.com with your shipping address. The price during the special offer is 60€ ( instead of 85€ ) and shipping worldwide is 22€ ( except Belgium and Italy for which it is 29€ ).

For French readers a PDF file of the full French text of the French edition will be sent.
Lecteurs Français: Etant donné que l'édition française est épuisée, un fichier du texte complet original en Français sera envoyé aux acheteurs Français ne comprenant pas l'anglais. Ou commandez la version eBook en Français ICI.

Also, each order will receive GREAT surprise gifts!

You can pay with Paypal, credit card or bank transfer. For Paypal payments please send directly the full amount  including shipping, i.e 82€ worldwide, except for Belgium and Italy for which it is 89€ at: nme4@wanadoo.fr  If you wish to pay by credit card and bank transfer, send me an email at: amplittaye@gmail.com   and i'll tell you how to do.







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



Pictures: copyright DLP Welcome, Disney

Saturday, September 22, 2018

Comcast Outbids Fox and Disney in a $39 billion Takeover of Sky



So, Comcast has won tonight the battle against FOX ( and so, Disney ) to own SKY, and here is why it's good news probably for everyone, Comcast, Disney AND Disney fans:

Why it's a good news for Comcast: Comcast wanted SKY almost at any price as it will give it an immediate access in 23 million homes outside the U.S, mainly in five European countries. It has cost Comcast $39 Billion to get it but now it's done. Sky’s independent board members still must approve the winning bid of $22.75 a share, and shareholders must ratify the deal before the sale will be complete, but considering the amount per share which is the double than it was one year ago, they most probably will. And do i have to remind you that Comcast also owns Universal theme parks? Who knows, if someday they finally decide to build a Universal Studios in Europe ( we can dream ) they'll now have a way to do a heavy marketing campaign to European audience for nothing...

Why it's a good news for Disney: Disney bought FOX for the huge amount of $71 Billion, $19 Billion more than its first offer and all this because Comcast wanted FOX too and raised the price in a win-win situation, i.e either Comcast was winning FOX or it wasn't ( what happened ) and it would have pushed its main competitor to pay such amount that it will increase its debt and will require to put on hold others projects or investments. Sure, Disney must now continue its strategy of controlling distribution platforms without SKY, a TV operator that would have given Disney an immediate presence in more than 23 million homes, and not winning SKY will make things a bit more difficult but it also would have increased the total amount of $35 Billion, and i suspect that Bob Iger thought, even if he said that SKY was the "crown jewel" of the FOX acquisition, that there is a moment when you need to be reasonable. Disney, thanks to Comcast strategy already paid FOX $19 Billion more than it wished ( so the equivalent of the amounts that Disney paid for Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm AND Shanghaî Disneyland all together! ) and increasing the $71 Billion amount of $35 Billion probably was not reasonable and would have effects on Disney strategy in others divisions. And anyway, thanks to the FOX purchase Disney don't lose everything as it owns already 39% of SKY shares.

Why it's a good news for Disney fans: Remember when Shanghaî Disneyland was built, when SDL cost got higher than expected and when Disney had to put on hold all others expansions projects in all Disney theme parks? Well, you can't spent huge amount of money everywhere without reaching the point where you have to make choices, right? I already doubt that the $71 billion FOX purchase won't have any effects on others Disney divisions, but if Disney would have paid $35 Billion more for SKY - and in cash! - you can be sure that we would have reached the point of no return for quantities of others projects, including theme parks additions, and this for years.

So, for all these reasons, it's probably better that Comcast won the battle, and Disney had even a sweet revenge as thanks to the last minute auction Comcast had to pay for SKY many more billions than expected - just like Comcast did with Disney for FOX. And by the way, the story is may be not over yet as "a CNBC source familiar with Comcast's thinking told CNBC they expect Comcast to begin talks regarding Disney potentially selling its Sky 39% stake to Comcast. Comcast could also sell its 30 percent stake in Hulu, the American online entertainment service, the source added."

BREAKING: DLP WDS Beloved CinéMagique Show Returns to Walt Disney Studios Park Starting December 1st, 2018 Until February 3rd, 2019 !


BREAKING: DLP WDS beloved CinéMagique show is returning to Walt Disney Studios Park for a limited time starting December 1st, 2018 until February 3rd, 2019, DLP promises that the revisited show will be “more immersive than ever”! 

When the Walt Disney studios open in Paris in 2002, the Cinemagique" attraction was one of the best one of the park. For those of you who have never seen it, the attraction is a tribute to cinema history. Here is the story line: The movie begin by a black and white 1920's sequence until somebody from the audience is magically transported inside the movie - just like in Woody Allen's Purple rose of Cairo. Then, the man - played by Martin Short - goes from one famous movie sequence to another - digitally included in the original shots, and funny and emotional scenes happen between him, the characters of the original sequences and a girl played by Julie Delpy. That's, basically, how the storyline goes.






The Cinemagique attraction at DLP Walt disney Studios is one of my favorite. It is a brilliant tribute to Movies and Cinema in general and the show even have a lot of emotion thanks to Martin Short and Julie Delpy, as well as brilliant editing and visual effects. Cinémagique is an attraction unique to the WDS so if you've never visited the park chances are that you don't know it. Now, Cinémagique is back for a limited time from December 1st, 2018 until February 3rd, 2019, and you have one mor chance to see the attraction.




But some of you might not be able to come to the park before Cinémagique is gone again so, thanks to JordiFun who filmed the entire Cinémagique show, you'll be able to discover right now this great attraction movie with the two parts videos below, and this is the original version of the movie before it was slightly updated some years ago. So, go ahead, choose the 1080p definition and watch it full screen as usual! 







Now, there is more as sometime ago i was reading an article on the excellent Cartoon Brew web site, talking about something called "Balloon movies" done by a mysterious director...just to discover that what they were talking about was one of the first and abandoned concept for Cinemagique!

In this other concept, we always had the famous movie sequences, but a facetious balloon - digitally included in the original shots with After Effects - was going from a sequence to another. Not only it's perfectly done, but also funny or poetic. Here is what the director said in his own words about it:

“The main through line was a romance between a guy in the audience and a woman in the movie. The “every man” goes into the movie (right through the screen) and meets a beautiful woman there. There is a spark of romance. He is then chased by villains out of her movie and stumbles through many other classic films, lost and alone. The woman leaves her movie to go on a quest to find him. 

So — now you’re probably wondering where the balloon shots come in. Well they don’t. Not in the final show. However, just before we committed to film the project, we decided to go through a kind of wild card period. Float some totally different ideas. I thought it might be fun to do a nod to “The Red Balloon”. I did a few of these balloon shots at home and took them into the studio. Everybody enjoyed them. So we explored a possible version centered on that idea. I did more and more shots, took them in, hunkered down with the editor and stitched together a draft. We all got a kick out of it, but utimately decided that we missed the romantic comedy of Plan A. So after the diversion, we returned to our original course.

So I had all these shots at home that I’d done on spec. I figured that since I did them and they contain no material from the studio, and I don’t reference the context we used when toying with them, they’re safe to post.”

Please note that he didn't say that it was in relation with "Cinemagique", I did, but it's pretty obvious that it was.

Of course you certainly would like to see more about this, and here is a youtube video where you will see the 18 different sequences he is talking about all together, plus a new one on "Lord of the Rings".

And remember to look for the arrival of the balloon!

Here are the name of the famous movies :

Harold Lloyd
King Kong
Casablanca
The Wizard of Oz
Singing in the rain
African Queen
Buthch Cassidy and the Sundance kid
Once upon a time in the west
North by northwest
The Empire strikes back
Nikita
A" musical"
Gentlemen prefer blondes
Mary Poppins

Lord of the Rings





Youtube videos by Jordifun, Cybershire

Picture and video: copyright Disney, Photos Magique

Friday, September 21, 2018

Disney's Animal Kingdom Rafiki's Planet Watch to Close on October 21st ...to be Replaced by What? A Zootopia Land? Black Panther Wakanda?

At Disney's Animal Kingdom Rafiki's Planet Watch will close on October 21st, though Disney didn't announced it yet officially. With it it's all the great exhibits, meet and greets and apparently too the Wildlife Express Train ride which will close and it's pretty strange that this happen now, at the moment when the question of animals conservation on the planet has never been so important. Of course all the veterinary facilities will stay to take care of all DAK animals, so no worries about that.



DAK cast-members are saying that some experiences from Planet Watch will be back elsewhere in the park in the future but i would take this with a grain of salt until announced officially. I will be really sad if the Wildlife Express train closes forever because i always loved its theming, i think that it is the best themed train in a Disney theme park with the Disneyland Paris Railroad, in a different way, of course.



That said, the question of course is: why are they closing Rafiki's Planet Watch? It could be a budgetary reason but you also have probably read rumors that either a Zootopia land or a Black Panther Wakanda land would come to Disney's Animal Kingdom. We won't know for sure until Disney announces it officially but, for Zootopia, i remember reading that Joe Rohde was against the idea of a Zootopia land at Animal Kingdom and personally i agree with him. It's not because Zootopia is an animated films with all kind of animals in it that it necessarily can find its place at DAK. Considering the cartoonish style of Zootopia i think that a mini land at Disney's Hollywood Studios would be better there, with 3D and painted backdrops for the skyline buildings of Zootopia. On the other hand, when Zootopia hero Judy Hopps arrive at Zootopia she does it by train - but a bullet train - and the railroad trip from DAK Harambe station could give this feeling to Animal Kingdom guests. Will that be enough to give it a go? Not sure, we'll see.


Do you really want to see something like this at Disney's Animal Kingdom? Mmmmh... probably not.


May be a more stylized version of Zootopia like this early artwork for the animated film, then?

And then there is the other rumor about a Black Panther Wakanda land. For now there is also lots of speculations that Epcot Wonders of Life pavilion could possibly be used as a Wakanda exhibit and, as it would be close to the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy coaster it will allows Disney to create a kind of Marvel area there. The other problem with creating a Wakanda land at DAK is about Black Panther and the inhabitants of Wakanda, which as we know is located in Africa. Okay, the Africa land is next door but Disney's Animal Kingdom is a park dedicated to animals and having a land about an African country with Africans people - even a mythical country - in an animal park will for sure raise protests instantly. I'm sure that WDI Imagineers are aware of that and even if i'm certain that they could find a way to introduce a Wakanda land in a sensitive way, i'm not sure it's a good idea.



And do you want a Wakanda at DAK? Mmmh, not sure it will be a good idea, too...

We'll see what will be announced officially but you might have to wait until the next 2019 D23 Expo to learn more... In the meantime and, as apparently there is plenty of you who've never been to Rafiki's Planet Watch and even done the train ride here is a great 4K video showing all of it, including the ride aboard the Wildlife Express Train from Harambe Station to Conservation Station!