Walt Disney Studios Expansion Announced – What to Expect

Yesterday, out of the blue, Disneyland Paris announced a 2€ Billion multi-year expansion rolling out from 2021. The announcement included three new lands and a lake at Walt Disney Studios. The three lands will be Frozen, Star Wars and Marvel, with the lake being used for entertainment experiences. The wording of the announcement suggests this is only part of the resorts expansion.

“The new development will include a transformation of the Walt Disney Studios Park”.

With the announcement came concept art for WDS. There are two ways to view this image, either it is a solid true representation of what the park will look like or it is a high level suggestion with most of the real detail still to be shown or decided upon. I’ll look at both views to give an idea of what we can expect. It’s worth remembering the early concept art for the park when it was still called MGM Europe. This was quite radically different to the final park that opened. You can see below that the Chinese Theatre form Hollywood Studios never made it into the final park despite being a major focal point in early renderings. Bob Iger confirmed yesterday that construction starts next year “and the openings will be spread between 2020 and 2025”; much can change in that time.

MGM Europe Concept

Walt Disney Studios at Opening

Taking the concept as fact
What we can see in the image appears to be in line with concept art already in existence for other parks. The three new lands have already been announced for either Magic Kingdom (Star Wars), Disneyland (Star Wars), Epcot (Marvel Guardians of the Galaxy), Hong Kong Disneyland (Marvel & Frozen) and Tokyo Disneyland (Frozen). Most of these are almost exact copies with just a few question marks over Stitch Live/Playhouse Disney, restaurants and replacements for Moteurs Action stunt show and inside of Art of Animation.

Simple Assumptions
There are some straight forward things we can assume from the concept art. Tower of Terror will not become Mission Breakout, the entrance way to Studio 1 will increase in size, the Tram Tour and Moteurs Action will be demolished and a large lake will be built on land not currently in use at all and an extended path will join the current entrance to the Tram Tour to and around the lake. All other buildings we be rethemed, repurposed or reimagined if changed at all.

Toon Studios will stay it is apart from the addition of Alien Spinning Saucers from Hollywood Studios Toy Story Land. We also already know that Rockin’ Rollercoaster will be getting a Marvel retheme with Iron Man part of the queueing area; rumours suggest this could be complete by Marvel Summer of Hero’s year 2 in 2019.

Learning from other Parks
As I’ve already mention, many other Disney Parks already have lands using the WDS expansion lands themes announced with more advanced concept art. So let’s have a look at some of those. First up are the Asian parks where Hong Kong especially has required significant improve in a similar way to WDS. They have a $1.5 Billion multi-year expansion announced which includes Marvel and Frozen lands. Tokyo Disneyland also has a Frozen land announced.

Frozen Land
While both Tokyo and Hong Kong have Frozen lands announced, the concept art for Hong Kong looks to be almost identical to that of the one in the WDS rendering. This is also due to open in 2020, before any of these lands open in Paris. In recent years Disney has seemed to abandon the idea of different rides in each park to attract guests to each one and instead looked to copy as much as possible. This makes it much cheaper to develop. Once ride that has been shown off is the kid friendly Oaken’s Dancing Sleigh. With Cars Quatre Roues Rallye already built and Alien Spinning Saucers on the plans, another ride quite so similar looks likely though it maybe Aliens that gets cut in the end.

What we can see is a better idea of what Arendelle will look like. There is clearly a large show building in the Hong Kong plans which will be Frozen Ever After from Epcot. This part of the concept art is most similar to Paris. With the ride already being open we can see ride on videos from Epcot though I would expect some changes. Epcot’s version was a retheming of Maelstrom which would have caused some limitations.

Frozen at Hong Kong Disneyland

Marvel Expansion
Hong Kong has two open or announced Marvel rides and a third with external concept art. The Iron Man experience is already open with the same ride system as Star Tours. The Stitch Live/Playhouse Disney building is the most obvious for this but with Iron Man already replacing Rockin’ Rollercoaster don’t expect it at WDS.

What has been spotted by some is the similarity of the Ant-Man ride currently in construction in Hong Kong and the new exterior to Armageddon. Building wise, the size seems to be large enough to take the ride and with the same ride system as, the very popular, Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters this would most likely work well. It could also be reviewed that two rides so similar wouldn’t be a good use of space; it didn’t stop them with Dumbo/Orbitron/Carpets in Paris or Cars/Tea Cups also in Paris.

There is a large Marvel expansion area in Paris replacing Moteurs Action Stunt Show. It is not clear what is going in here. Hong Kong has a large Avengers ride being built to open in 2023, that could line up with a Paris opening but I would guess that maybe too far away.

The other major new Marvel ride in development is Guardians of the Galaxy in Epcot which should open around 2021 and 2022. This is a huge structure but if the ship in the Paris art is related to the large build this looks to be an Avengers ship rather than the Milano from Guardians. It could be linked to the new building between the current stunt show and Armageddon but building this here would also mean a second rollercoaster next door to the Iron Man one already confirmed.

Star Wars
Lastly is Star Wars. This looks to be a scaled down version of Galaxy’s Edge but will a large expansion area available around it. What is shown is where the Millennium Falcon sits in Galaxy’s Edge.

One big difference is the appearance of an X-wing, this doesn’t appear in Galaxy’s Edge but is above the Vader meet and greet in Discoveryland. Both are in their closed positions. The Millennium Falcon ride is safe to assume would be the most popular new ride at Galaxy’s Edge and would make the jump to Paris. The concept art doesn’t suggest much else.

I’ll look at how the concept art may be viewed as a guide rather than a plan and how that could shape the resort expansion in very different ways in another article.

Long closures hint at Disneyland Paris changes

Disneyland Paris is well known to not share much information about closures or changes until the last minute. It’s why fans cling to rumours and small details to find even a hint about what is to come. A combination of comments from Imagineers and rumours can suggest some ideas but when we can see closure dates they can give us an indication they may be correct.

The current closure schedule at Disneyland Paris lists 8 attractions for closure periods of two months or more. The first two are easy to pass off as standard winter closures, Casey Jr. and Le payes de contes de fees. These close from January to March. Mad Hatters Tea Cups is closed for the same length but beginning April. The central area of Fantasyland may slow the refurbishment process here. Dumbo is also closed for 2 months from January, I wouldn’t be expecting more than refurbishment here either.

Next up is Walt Disney Studios where Crushes Coaster is closing for 3 months from April. This is quite lengthy. I would expect they could be some serious work done to the track here, like Big Thunder Mountain. This closure is a lot shorted but there is no lake draining, outdoor painting or outdoor track work needed here. Given the regular breakdowns I expect the track is the only reason for needing so long.

ED92 recently shared the rumour of Art of Animation closing, possibly to be replaces by more character meet and greets. This may add fuel to the fire. It is scheduled to close on 4th June. The current calendar only runs until 30th September 2018, Art of Animation will be close at least until then. Thats four months and probably enough for an overhaul. It’s certainly too long for a simple refurbishment. Of course it could be longer which would suggest something more significant than character meets.

Phantom Manor will close in January for at least 9 months. Tony Baxterley suggested there would be a significant update to the ride. The closure could still go beyond 30th September. A new scene has long been rumoured. Given the ride is entirely enclosed and easily accessible it would make sense that a good deal of work will be done. This is longer than the recent Pirates of the Caribbean closure, it could even require movement of track or walls to fit in this new scene.

The last one is a little more unusual but its location may suggest another length closure. The Frontierland station is closing at the same time as Phantom Manor for at least 9 months. What the schedule doesn’t list is show building closures. A rumour has been that a new Lion King show will come to the Chaparral Theatre. If this is to be something along the lines of the Festival of the Lion King already in multiple parks, then this would take up significant time and maybe a theatre redesign. Frontierland station usually closes for work at the theatre, especially to provide access to it.

Cinemagique isn’t listed on the closures. Much like the Chaparral Theatre, this is quite common. It leaves us will little idea about when we might see the rumoured Marvel stunt show. A separate Schedule currently lists the closure ending on 31st August, with no announcements about is reopening this seems likely to be extended.

The Nala Building

For many the Nala building may mean absolutely nothing. This building is part of the changes going on at Disneyland Paris (DLP) right now. Though leaked several weeks ago, even pictures of them breaking ground, today the Euro Disney Group actually made a formal announcement about it.

It’s importance

While a building which will be backstage doesn’t sound very exciting it is important for several reasons. The first is that it is money visibly being spent on the resort and, as highlighted in their article, it is the first new backstage building since 2002. That is the year the Walt Disney Studios park opened. It’s the clearest indication that there is some money to spend and a long term game plan. It isn’t some quick fix. This building is huge and will even house Parade floats. It is being built behind Its a small world.

Show Expansion

In the last year DLP has changed and increased its show lineup, the Nala building is essential in keeping this going. The shows in Paris seem to close at times for no other reason than a change of cast; I have to wonder if this is due to limited rehearsal space which this building will hopefully solve. Will the rumoured Marvel stunt show, due to replace the now empty Cinemagique, on the way, this space could be very important for it. We still seem to be a year away from it reopening so it seems likely stunt rehearsals are currently required in the Cinemagique building.

Park Expansion

For those that visited WDS prior to the Ratatouille expansion, you may remember that the Tram Tour took a slightly different route. After returning past the Dinotopia scene you would drive past the costume building. This was demolished and then replaced with the Ratatouille ride and restaurant. Since then a temporary structure had been in place behind the Tram Tour entrance. It would appear everything here will be moving to the Nala building. That doesn’t mean we will suddenly see expansion behind the Tram Tour but it is one of the steps required for any expansion in that area.

Timeframe

The Nala building will take less than a year to build and open in November 2018 once testing has been completed. This will be just 6 months prior to the next D23. That’s important as they will also need time to clear the area behind the Tram Tour and file any expansion paper work. If they want to announce anything for Paris at D23 this would fit nicely into the schedule. As expected it would mean no new ride construction before the next D23 which could well be why nothing was announced in 2017.

Pandora the world of Avatar

One rumour that has been doing the rounds is the Walt Disney Company (TWDC) wanting to recreate Pandora the world of Avatar in Paris. They’ve spent $500m designing and building it at Animal Kingdom in the hope of making it a full day park, something they are trying to do at WDS too. It would be expected to be built behind the Tram Tour. If fact, the first announcement about Pandora  back in 2011, confirmed it would be coming to Disney Parks (plural) and that Animal Kingdom would be the first, but not the only.

Disney Parks Blog

There are very few other options for where they could build this around the world. Star Wars land will take up most of the potential expansion space is California, where space is very limited. Hong Kong and Tokyo already have expansions announced. There would also be question marks around building a non Disney IP land inside a main Disneyland Park. Hong Kong’s second park seems on the back burner with possible investment being redirected to the current park. Pandora doesn’t seem like it would fit with the current Disney Sea style without some reworking. WDS seems to be looking to create some very distinct areas, Pandora could be one with the added benefit of not needing to build around existing rides. This could be a straight copy and paste making it cheaper to build. There are numerous Avatar sequels scheduled to start releasing from December 2020 which would allow Paris to open the land off the back of the film releases.

It’s easy to run away with ideas from one announcement but though this in itself doesn’t confirm any sort of expansion, it a required step for it in the future.

D23 Disneyland Paris Aftermath

It’s been just over a week since D23 and the Walt Disney Parks and Resorts Conference. There was a lot of anticipation, a lot of hope and a heightened amount of expectancy from fans of Disneyland Paris, me included. Much of this was due to the very recent buyout of the remaining shares of the Euro Disney Company, meaning it is now solely owned by the Walt Disney Company (TWDC). Every loss the park makes now impacts it’s bottom line.

The Disappointment

After all the build up there was just one announcement. Much like all the others this had already been leaked, the refurbishment of the Hotel New York into the Hotel New York Art of Marvel. No new rides and no new shows, despite Cinemagique closing, that was it. Unless you want to include the Park losing it’s exclusivity of the Ratatouille ride, now announced for Epcot.

D23 Conclusions

D23 has never offered much in the way of announcements for parks outside of America. In 2015 the Hong Kong and Tokyo expansions were given some time but these had already been announced. The one difference here though is that TWDC owns less than 50% of Hong Kong and none of Tokyo. What we can probably take from this is that Paris won’t see much time at D23 for the foreseeable future. The fact that this conference wasn’t available to stream online, where the video game one was, suggests the focus is very much on the locals attending rather than worldwide followers.

Construction

Everything announced this year looks set to start construction before the next D23 in 2019, this includes Paris. Hotel New York’s work is rumoured to have been delayed but only until January 2019. That all the announced construction work appears to have leaked weeks or months before D23 also indicates that TWDC have announced everything they had to announce. It’s one thing for rumours to be around but once walls go up around parks and cranes start appearing the game is up and the eventual announcements become disappointing. What this probably means for Paris is that no new construction will start before summer 2019. That also lines up with rumours over the last few years.

AT D23 EXPO 2017, DISNEY PARKS CHAIRMAN BOB CHAPEK UNVEILS MARVEL-THEMED HOTEL COMING TO DISNEYLAND PARIS — DisneyÕs Hotel New York Ð The Art of Marvel at Disneyland Paris will transport guests to the action-packed world of Super Heroes, including Iron Man, The Avengers, Spider-Man and more.

Disneyland Paris Announcements

Disneyland Paris doesn’t have a great history with its announcements. Permanent closures are announced very last minute with little fanfare, like Cinemagique. Project Sparkle, which has seen refurbishments and updates to rides, seemed to feed out through fan sites and blogs rather than anything official. Pirates of the Caribbean has now reopened with new character effects and animatronics, this made it on to the official Parks Blog but the cynic in me thinks this was only because of the red-head scene has been changed. A change the post announced will come to Orlando and California.

While posts keep appearing around Halloween and Christmas plans for the American parks, details for Paris are non-existent. The official website still sends you to look back at 2016 yet last week we were seeing Christmas projections being tested on the Tower of Terror.

Paris seems to want to keep announcements until as late as possible. Maybe this is an impacted of the changes to the Tram Tour which were due for the 25th but now appear to be on hiatus. They could also have seen what happen with Rivers of Light at Animal Kingdom in Florida last year. It was announced and had previews but in the end was delayed by a year despite all official sites saying 2016.

2017 – 2019

What can we expect to see? A Marvel stunt show is still rumoured to come to Cinemagique. Phantom Manor is closing for 9 months (that’s longer than Pirates of the Caribbean was closed for) next year with rumours of a new scene being added. A Lion King show has been rumoured for Chaparral Theatre in time for the new live action film. The current Season of the Force page references Rogue One which could suggest an update to the shows. As with Disney Dreams we can most likely expect scenes to be replaced in Disney Illuminations, Moana being the most likely to be added.

What follows will most likely be hinted at by what they don’t do. The more they leave something untouched, the more likely it will be replaced post 2019. Armageddon is the most likely but the regular filler used in the Discoveryland Theatre also suggests it can expect a complete change of use.

A lack of news at D23 can almost be news in itself, just not what most of us would have hoped for. There is reason for hope (which I will cover soon) as shareholder documents, conferences and other rumours suggest what we can expect overt the next 10 years.

What expansion are we likely to see at Disneyland Paris?

D23 announcement

D23 came and went last weekend which left many Disneyland Paris (DLRP) fans disappointed. This was due to its only announcements being the Marvel retheme of Hotel New York and the loss of its exclusivity of its newest ride Ratatouille. While the fact the Walt Disney Company (TWDC) recently bought the remaining shares of DLRP and removed it from the stockmarket it reason to get excited this in itself wasn’t going to suddenly cause instant park expansion. It also doesn’t mean there weren’t things to announce. DLRP is also left with two of the 3 Disney Parks without any expansion announced. The other is Animal Kingdom which opened Pandora the world of Avatar in May at a cost of $500 million.

What we know

Though announcements regarding DLRP are fairly rare and late in the day, leaks and shareholder meetings and documents have proved useful and accurate. The share buyout also released some small but key information.

10 year plans

DLRP was required to submit a 10 year business plan as part of the buyout. The shareholder document mentions a few a small but key bits of information about the current business plan. Firstly there will be $2.1 billion invested in the next 10 years which will cover renovations to Hotel New York and the Disneyland Hotel, continued ride refurbishment and Marvel attractions and entertainment in the Studios park (WDS). It also mentions the average yearly spend will be inline with the last couple of years. That covered the park renovations, New Port Bay and Cheyenne hotel renovations, ride updates and 25th Anniversary additions including new shows known as Project Sparkle. Some caution is required as the plan does say that they will go over their current $350m lending fund from TWDC in 2023 by $300m with no way to pay the initial $350m due in 2024 or the $1billion lent due in 2025. On the plus side TWDC now owns DLRP and mentions in the buyout proposal it will keep to the current business plan. 10 years is a long time and things can change.

But there is another…

There is another 10 year plan. This one doesn’t come from official documents but from trusted blogs with “reliable” sources. Why even look at this? This plan started around 2012 and 2013 and leads up to the 30th anniversary, it has also been very accurate. Considering we’re 5 years in to it, that gives it some weight. This plan reported that Ratatouille would be the last new ride for some time (most likely 2022), the focus would be on bringing the whole park back up to scratch. There would be replacement scenes for Disney Dreams which did happen. This plan wasn’t a Paris plan but a Disney Parks plan. With the recent announcements, Disney Parks has a fairly full roster of new attractions around the world until 2021 with the Walt Disney World 50th anniversary. Hong Kong’s expansion could run until 2023 but it requires government approval for funding. Paris would fit quite nicely into a fairly vacant 2022/2023 window. This 10 year plan also mentions a Marvel land in 2023 for the studios park. This lines up with the confirmed  business plan and the rumours of a Marvel stunt show moving into the recent closed Cinemagique building. The plan also includes a smaller Star Wars land expansion with a D ticket attraction addition. A D ticket is something along the lines of a Little Mermaid ride (from WDW new fantasyland) in popularity rather than a Ratatouille which is seen a a top level E ticket attraction.

What does this actually mean

At a recent shareholder event it was mentioned  by current DLRP president, that what was included in ride expansion hadn’t been decided. So while there will be expansion they may be waiting on how popular other new rides are to guarantee some success. It’s also cheaper to copy an existing ride.

Though some see $210 million a year spend as low this will be the average spend. If this is the average spend for the last two years it has bought this for $420 million:

Pirates of the Caribbean update and refurbishment

Peter Pans flight refurbishment

Big Thunder Mountain refurbishment and update with Geysers fixed

Star Tours refurbishment and update

Star traders update with addition of a Vader meet and greet

Space Mountain refurbishment, replacement trains and harness design with Hyperspace Mountain overlay

Robinson Tree House refurbishment

It’s a small world refurbishment

Star Wars a Galactic Spectacular night show

A new Parade

Five new shows, Frozen sing a long, Forest of Enchantment, Mickey and the Magician, Happy Birthday Disneyland Paris, Princess Waltz

Disney Illuminations adaptation front Shanghai to replace Disney Dreams

Cheyenne hotel refurbishment

New Port Bay refurbishment

That’s a fair amount and also doesn’t include the general refurbishment around the parks like replacing bridges, new lighting throughout the park as well as other things.

Confirmed spending

We know commitments are already in place for some of the expenditure. Hotel refurbishments are meant to finish in 2021 with Hotel New York next on the list. We can expect the retheme Marvel hotel to be open by the end of 2019 at the latest. New Port Bay is the largest hotel in France and possibly Europe so this work shouldn’t even wipe out two years spend.

The other major known spend is the Nala building. This is quite important for the long term plans. This will be the new Cast Member building and will open in September 2018. It will house parades, costuming and rehearsal areas. Currently costuming has been in a temporary tent building (similar to the one housing Pizza Planet) behind the entrance to the Tram Tour. The previous building was knocked down to build Ratatouille. It sits on the main expansion area for the WDS park. The Tram Tour itself was due for an update as part of Project Sparkle for the 25th Anniversary and should have received three new scenes. It wasn’t clear if this was a retheme of the current scenes or three additional ones. This appears to have been put on indefinite hiatus. That could suggest the Tram Tours future is in jeopardy or at least needs changes. Rumours of the entrance being moved have been around for years and would be essential for major expansion.

There also further ride updates. Phantom Manor closes in January for 9 months which 2 months longer than Pirates of Caribbean. Rumours have suggested a new scene being added, at the very least this seems more than a simple refurbishment. Cinemagique is also closed until at least September next year which the longest of all the temporary closures at well over a year. A Marvel stunt show is rumoured for here. The length of time is most likely due to a lack of rehearsal space for a show like this and and required changes needed for this type of show.

There are increased transport updates which are required to cope with the new hotels and increased attendence over the years. The Village Nature complex built with Centre Parcs will also obsorb cost as well as the new roads and changes to Davy Crockett Range to accommodate the new hotel resort.

What about the rides?

Of the $2.1 billion I’ve seen it suggested that $735 million is directly for attractions and entertainment but I’m yet to find confirmation of that. Let’s assume that is correct, what will it buy you? Find ride costs is tricky and inflation should be factored in but below are some figures I’ve found. Development and research costs would be included in the first iteration of a ride, for example Ratatouille had a brand ride system designed for it. Tower of Terror also cost far more in Paris due to different regulations due to its height causing issues.

Ratatouille – 2014 – $150m
Iron Man experience – 2017 – $100m
Grizzly mountain + mystic Manor – 2012/13 – $500m
Cars land (radiator springs racer) – 2012 – $206m
Toy Story playland – 2010 – €79
Tower of terror – 1994 – $140m (WDW)
– 2006 – $191m (Tokyo)
– 2004 – $100m (DCA)
– 2007 – $240m (Paris)
Mission Space – 2003 – $100m
Expedition Everest – 2006 – $100m
Pooh honey hunt – 2000 – $135m
Toy Story Mania – 2008 – $80m
Pandora – 2017 – $500m

The Iron Man experience and Pandora are two items rumoured for Paris in the future, without the development costs these combined would come in way below the suggested $735 million. Adjusted for inflation Toy Story Mania would cost $100 million but that cost covered both builds in Florida and California.

With the announced Superheros land at Disney California Adventure (DCA), Guardians of the Galaxy in Epcot and the Tony Stark Expo in Hong Kong there are already plans for future Marvel rides which could be copied in Paris for less. What doesn’t appear possible is a copy of anything from the Star Wars lands, Paris would most likely need a bespoke ride. Given the potential smaller scale of a Star Wars land in Paris that is probably a good thing.

Future for Walt Disney Studios

There has been a small list of Marvel rumours for the park for a number of years, they do still leave a lot of questions. Starting with the Marvel stunt show there is an expectation of the Iron Man experience replacing Armageddon and the Rock n Rollercoaster being rethemed for Spiderman. Additional rumours suggest a Marvel attraction being built over the Motor Action stunt show but I don’t believe the park is in the position to reduce the attraction count. Although it’s 10 rides is one more than Hollywood Studios will have after all it’s announced expansions open, it will still have less than half the show count.

With the successful rethemeing of Tower of Terror to Guardians of the Galaxy: Mission Breakout in DCA, this will most likely come to Paris. It took under 6 months to do and should be fairly cost effective for a new Superheros season to launch off. Though many would be unhappy about it, I’ve been impressed watching the on ride videos.

If the rumours are true

If all of this was done there would still some major themeing issues. In middle of this new Marvel area would Stitch Live, Playhouse Disney, Star Wars projection show during Season of the force and Restaurant des Stars. A restaurant retheme would be greatly welcomed but I can’t see them ditching the projection show which has required decent cost to build and set up and is vastly superior to the Florida version. There are also question marks over how well it would work if the Mission Breakout theme was added to Tower of Terror. This puts the retheme in doubt, it seems key to the Disney Parks plans that each park has a location to project on to. The current Tower is about as perfect as they’re likely to get. Licensing could be the deciding factor, Disney as whole is pulling away from paying licence fees out to non Disney entities. The Twilight Zone is CBS, not Disney. Even with it’s potential new film the twilight zone theme will most likely be dropped.

Replacing Armageddon

Armageddon is almost universally disliked and surely will be high on the list to replace. It also has a low rider per hour count I would expect they would want to increase. The Iron Man Experience is a Star Tours type ride which would need a significantly bigger building than Armageddon uses. The similarities to Star Tours and the heavy criticism of the over use of simulators at Universal would suggest this wouldn’t be used either.

One option is a retheme of an existing ride from elsewhere. Due to open in Hong Kong in 2018 is an Ant Man ride based on the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters ride. The Buzz version is already in Discoveryland in Paris but with those types of ideas already being used, a rethemed Toy Story Mania would be a good option. It also has a small enough footprint to fit with the option of building extra tracks behind it on the future. Some form of Captain America or Avengers training facility could be an option, or even a Spiderman based version. Not all rethemeing works, Dumbo has proved popular in parks around the world, various clones based around Magic Carpets and space rockets (not just in Paris) have never come close.

Rock n Rollercoaster

This ride only survives in its current form if the Marvel land isn’t destined for left hand side of the park. That can’t be ruled out as it could be built from Tower of Terror and Armageddon backwards with the potential of reusing elements of the Reign of Fire Tram Tour section as a Marvel back drop. This would probably require a more ambitious initial expansion. More likely option is a combination of rethemeing, reusing and new builds. There hasn’t been any justification around why a Spiderman theme is most likely, it maybe an assumption as it sits so close to the Spiderman meet and greet.

Disney Infinity in Paris

I’ve always been a fan of games that give you the tools to create things yourself, for me it started way back on the BBC Micro with Repton. I remember my dad making a teenage Hero turtles game from it. The diamonds became Pizza slices, the walls became sewer pipes and Repton become a turtle. I’ve tried making games before with point and click creators, levels in LittleBigPlanet and now Disney Infinity.

What every good creation needs is a good idea. I’ve seen creations of Disneyland that have been made, the problem for me is I’ve never been to California and even Florida, I’ve only done twice. Paris, however, is probably in the region of 30+ visits. The rides are also a bit different in Paris, Pirates of the Carribean, Space Mpuntain and Big Thunder Mountain especially.

So I’ve set myself the challenge of rebuilding Disneyland Paris with Disney Infinitys Toy Box mode with fully working rides. Hopefully a parade too. I’ll then work on the Studios Park. Depending on the success of them in then hoping to create two further versions. One will be my ultimate Disney park, the other would be my “fixed” version of Paris.

There are a number of challenges making these. Disney Infinity is very blocky in design which means curved creations are tricky. Certain options don’t exist so creating Dumbo properly where the user can choose when he goes up and down is again a problem. Themeing is the final big one as some things just don’t exist in Disney Infinity which will make Phantom Manor and Ratatouille very tricking.

There is also my skill. Having built very little in Disney Infinity before there will be a lot of trial and error. I may also miss out the best way to do something. My plan is to work on simpler rides first and build up. I’ve got a map of Paris already split into squares to be as accurate as possible. Not knowing the limitations on size, some rides may require being loaded separately.

The plan
I’m starting with Fantasyland. The first ride being the Mad Hatters Tea Cups. This had some issues. The tea cups should spin within a group and the group should then spin in a larger group. To create this I’ve had to map one path that includes both spins. Locking the tea cup to the path means the user can’t rotate the tea cup themselves and there is no option to trigger a rotation change. Circular items are rare in Disney Infinity which means the roof isn’t as round as I’d like.

Behind the tea cups is the labyrinth. The scale I’ve used (based on the actual tea cup scale) makes exactly replicating the labyrinth difficult within the main park build. If I can’t get it close enough the the will just be the outer walls and the castle rise up from Inside. The entrance will load a separate labyrinth.

The carousel is round which has similar issues to the tea cups but overall is more straightforward.

How to fix Disneyland Paris: Final Part

Disneyland Park

Overview

The park would be pretty large by this point. Any future changes would mean Disney World New Fantasyland style changes, with the studios park so close this doesn’t seem necessary especially when they could built a third park.

How long would this all take? The current, recently announced, plan of refurbishments and updates at Paris runs from February 2015 to April 2017, approximately 2 years. It’s unlikely 2 new rides would open at the same time unless they were linked of a new film was being released (Disney synergy). Below is my approximate time scale, each phase would probably alternate between each park.

Take Florida as an example, it appears the Star Wars land won’t be built into 2017 when Avatar land (Pandora) opens. That didn’t really start until New Fantasyland was opened in the Magic Kingdom. There can be some overlapping to enable a new attraction each year. Frozen opens in 2016 replacing Maelstrom to fill the gap. The Toy Story land will probably open between Avatar and Star Wars in late 2017 early 2018. You also can’t really any to remove rides to build new lands without adding other new rides first as a park can become too small and empty.

Phase 1: 2 years
“It’s a small world” becomes “It’s a small Disney world”
“Autopia” becomes “Sugar Rush”
“Le Pays des Contes de Fées” adds Frozen in place of Peter and the Wolf
“Lucky Nugget” becomes “Snuggly Duckling”

Phase 2: 2 years
“Discoveryland Theatre” becomes “Death Star Assault”
“Pizza Planet” becomes the “Cantina”
“Magic Carpets” moves in at Adventureland
“Frozen: as told by the Stone Trolls” comes to Adventureland

Phase 3: 2 years
“Stitch Live” & “Baymax Live” comes to Videopolis
“Beauty and the Beast” comes to Fantasyland
“Gaston’s Tavern” moves in next to “Bella Notte”
“Jungle Trek” comes to Adventureland

Phase 4: 2 years
“Halloween Town” comes to Frontierland
“Just around the river bend” comes to Adventureland
“Grand Mother Willows” restaurant comes to Adventureland

Phase 5: 2 years
“Little Mermaid Voyage” comes to Fantasyland
“Big Hero 6” comes to Discoveryland

Walt Disney Studios

Overview

The will be a number of new Pixar films which would lead to more ride opportunities, expansion space still remains. With the large amount of Marvel films then a third park is more likely to take a Marvel theme than populating the Production Plaza area.

Phase 1: 1 year
“Animagique” gets Pixar Update
“Tram Tour” becomes “Pixar Comes Alive” at Pixar Place

Phase 2: 3 years
“Disney Studio” comes to Walt’s Way
“A Mickey Mouse Tale” comes to Walt’s Way
“Armageddon” becomes “Muppets Mayhem”

Phase 3: 2 years
“Up with Mr Frederickson” come’s to Pixar Place
“Soarin’ Over the Rainbow” comes to Production Plaza

Phase 4: 2 years
“Tron Lightcycles” comes to Production Plaza
“Scream Floor Escapade” comes to Pixar Place

 

The Master Plan

Year 1: 2016 – A Sprinkling of Disney Magic
“It’s a small world” becomes “It’s a small Disney world”
“Le Pays des Contes de Fées” adds Frozen in place of Peter and the Wolf
“Lucky Nugget” becomes “Snuggly Duckling”

Year 2: 2017 – Pixar comes Alive / Live Episode VII
“Animagique” gets Pixar Update
“Tram Tour” becomes “Pixar Comes Alive” at Pixar Place
Star Tours 2 is already opening here too

Year 3: 2018 – Racing into Chaos
“Autopia” becomes “Sugar Rush”
“Armageddon” becomes “Muppets Mayhem”

Year 4: 2019 – The whole saga is here
“Discoveryland Theatre” becomes “Death Star Assault”
“Pizza Planet” becomes the “Cantina”

Year 5: 2020 – It all started with a mouse
“Disney Studio” comes to Walt’s Way
“A Mickey Mouse Tale” comes to Walt’s Way

Year 6: 2021 – Frozen Again
“Frozen: as told by the Stone Trolls” comes to Adventureland
“Magic Carpets” moves in at Adventureland

Year 7: 2022 – Soar over the earth
“Up with Mr Frederickson” come’s to Pixar Place
“Stitch Live” & “Baymax Live” comes to Videopolis

Year 8: 2023 – Soar over Oz
“Soarin’ Over the Rainbow” comes to Production Plaza

Year 9: 2024 – Be our gueat
“Beauty and the Beast” comes to Fantasyland
“Gaston’s Tavern” moves in next to “Bella Notte”

Year 10: 2025 – The Grid is waiting
“Tron Lightcycles” comes to Production Plaza

Year 11:2026 – New Adventureland
“Jungle Trek” comes to Adventureland
“Just around the river bend” comes to Adventureland
“Grand Mother Willows” restaurant comes to Adventureland

Year 12: 2027 – Season of Scares
“Scream Floor Escapade” comes to Pixar Place
“Halloween Town” comes to Frontierland

Year 13: 2028 – A Part of Our World
“Little Mermaid Voyage” comes to Fantasyland

Year 14: 2029 – Baymax is back
“Big Hero 6” comes to Discoveryland

Year 15: 2030 – The Heroes are here
Third Theme Park Opens

How to fix Disneyland Paris: Part 5

Disneyland Park

Phase 5

1 – We are now so far down the line we don’t know what “big” things Disney will have released by now but 2 new rides would be added. One behind Toad Hall, next to the Fantasyland Station, possibly the Little Mermaid which is part of New Fantasyland in Florida. Depending on success this could be Moana or something else unannounced.

2 – The other, which at the moment I would see as a Big Hero 6 ride, would be between the Cantina and Sugar Rush. This could of course be part of an expanded Star Wars area. Most importantly it would create a reason to go all the way around Space Mountain.

 

How to fix Disneyland Paris: Part 4

Disneyland Park

Phase 4

1 – Frontierland is probably the most lacking in rides and attractions in the park. What really fits in this area? I’ve only come up with one answer, Tim Burton. The geysers are popular despite not working for a long time and they may be coming back but I would do away with them. At this point I would add Halloween Town next to the graveyard of Phantom Manor bringing Nightmare Before Christmas to the park and allowing guests to see more of the lake around Big Thunder Mountain.

2 – More expansion between Jungle Trek and Pirates of the Caribbean would be next up, new ride and additional restaurant. Water rides have always been an issue for Paris, the issue seems to be around electronics freezing which is why Le Pays des Contes de Fées closes in winter and Dumbo and it’s a small world doesn’t. A re-worked Pocahontas themed Splash Mountain, Just Around the River bend, which was entirely indoors like Pirates would be placed here.

3 – A Native American restaurant and a smaller quick service place selling the famous Disney Turkey Legs would also be here.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walt Disney Studios

Phase 4

1 – The entrance and route of the renamed tram tour has left a lot of expansion space. The next two rides use a good chunk of this. The first is behind Muppets Mayhem. This will see Tron Lightcycles from the Shanghai Park rebuilt.

2 – The second goes next to RC Racer and behind the Mickey ride. This is a Monster’s Inc. ride I think everyone has imagined. A cross between Peter Pan and Nemesis from Alton Towers. Relatively high speed but hanging from the ceiling. Sat in a monster’s arms you will fly through doors into numerous areas in the “Scream Floor Escapade”. The queue will take you through Monsters Inc. before the ride takes you to the North Pole, Boo’s bedroom, into Monster’s University and other locations.

 

 

How to fix Disneyland Paris: Part 3

Disneyland Park

Phase 3

1 – The next switch would see Stitch Live within the Arcade area of Videopolis. Some small expansion may be required despite this being a very small attraction. If size allowed one half could be Stitch Live and the other half Baymax Live.

2 – Now we’re on the major expansions. The first harks back to the original opening of the park. Finally delivering a Beauty and the Beast dark ride. The space for this has been set aside since opening opposite Bella Notte.

3 – Converting the ice cream parlour by Bella Notte into a Gaston Taverns similar to that of Orlando would really complete an area which often feels separate from the rest of Fantasyland.

4 – If you’ve ever looked on Google Earth at Disneyland Paris you will have seen the train track that runs around the edge. Between it and Indiana Jones is a huge area which could probably home an entirely new land. The Animal Kingdom park is unlikely to ever be a good fit for Paris but this area could be perfect for bring some of these rides across. First though would be a brand new ride with more of a feel of Magic Kingdom’s Jungle Cruise. Instead of a boat ride it would be more like the Kilimanjaro Safari, no live animals but full of Disney animals and animatronics. A river where you see Baloo with Mowgli on his stomach, Bagheera sleeping in a tree, Grand Mother Willow, Meeko stealing from a camp site, Louis playing his trumpet, Tiana and Naveen on lily pads, Simba, Timon and Pumba walking above a pool, Tarzan and many others.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walt Disney Studios

Phase 3

1 – With Magic Carpets removed a space would now exist for a new ride. The footprint isn’t massive but the ride to go here would complete the Pixar Place without overspill from other areas. If you’ve seen a pie in the sky type ride this is the sort of ride that would be here. The difference is that this will be a house, Carl Frederickson’s. You will be able to walk round the whole house while it lifts into the sky, balloons reaching above and amazing views from the windows on all sides.

2 – Another hugely successful ride in California and Orlando is Soarin’. With the space between Cinemagique and Stitch Live a new Soarin’ attraction could be added as well as taking over the Stitch Live space. This version of Soarin’ would be a bit different, starting in Kansas, the ride would see you swept up in a storm, over the rainbow and soaring over the land of Oz. Naturally you’ll encounter a few airborne characters too.