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.

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.

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.

 

How to fix Disneyland Paris: Part 2

Disneyland Park

Phase 2

1 – What the park would need next is actual new rides. The cheapest way is to make use of pre-built buildings. With the new Star Wars films on their way the park can’t wait too long to make the most of the films. Stars Tours 2 is already coming but with Discoveryland Theatre just showing 10 minute Ant-Man previews this building needs to be used better. A new Star Wars ride would be an easy choice. With Star Wars lands just be announced there are already rides being developed, what they will be exactly we don’t know. My idea would be a dual track ride will similar technology to the new Tron ride destined for Shanghai but with light guns being added and the two tracks battling around the Death Star. Letting the queue use guns to fire at the cars would also add an interactively that’s being seen in other Disney Park’s queues.

2 – Creating a Star Wars bank of attractions along the back of Discoveryland would leave Pizza Planet out of place, a relocation to the Studios Park could work but for the Phase 2 this would be turned into the Cantina famously shown in the original film.

3 – The studios park needs changing, to facilitate that the main park would benefit from some transfers. Switching to the other side of the park, there would be one initial change. This would be the addition of a slightly re-themed Magic Carpets ride removed from the Studios Park. This would now be placed between the Hakuna Matata restaurant and Agrabah Café with the exit going into the shops opposite Agrabah Café.

4 – The last part of Phase 2 would be to make the most of a film we already know will be on the way, Frozen 2. With a small Arendelle area already built by the Chaparral Theatre, behind Arendelle would be a Frozen dark ride. Based on the stories of the two films and told by the rock trolls and the addition of some amusing brief songs. Imagine brief chunks from “A bit of a fixer upper” from the original film. 3D glasses merged with animatronics could bring some variety to the troll’s movement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walt Disney Studios

Phase 2

1 – In the centre of the park a new land would include the Art of Animation, Walt’s Way. Outside Tower of Terror would be a reimagining of the soon to be closed One Man’s Dream from Florida. A video would show the history of Disney parks, another room would be a recreation of Walt’s original office, a third would be the test studio where actors playing the Sherman brothers would show creating songs. Imagine live scenes from Saving Mr Banks and you’d have the right idea.

2 – The final part of Walt’s Way would sit on the current Tram Tour loading site. Walt Disney would say “remember it all started with a mouse”, strangely there is a lack of Mickey rides. Here would be a Mickey ride, using a combination of 3D and animatronics, this dark water ride would be a cross over between the classic “Steamboat Willie” and recent short “Get a horse”.

3 – The other half of the park is the least themed of all, changes over the years have made this even less themed. This half will now focus solely on live action. With Cinemagique remaining and covering a lot of films, and a Tower of Terror film on the horizon this area is already started. Armageddon has needed replacing for a while and Toy Story Mania has been extremely popular in the states but a fifth Toy Story ride would really be a step too far. What do appear to be rejuvenated is the Muppets, two recent films and a new TV Show. Muppets Mayhem would be a re-themed version of Toy Story Mania.

 

How to fix Disneyland Paris: Part 1

The title of this article may seem like I’m about to slag off Disneyland Paris but that’s not what I want to do. I’ve been to the park for what must for 30+ holidays now and keep going back. There is a lot to love about Paris and it’s version of the Magic Kingdom and castle are the best designed in the world. With the recent cash injection and refurbishments it should soon be back to its best. Financial problems have caused the parks problems and led to missteps in the overall progress of the park. There was no doubt a master plan before anything was built but it’s clear that it hasn’t been possible for it to be followed. Space Mountain is an obvious example as well as the announced Beauty and the Beast and Little Mermaid rides which have never appeared. So with some of the financial issues on hold or in the past how do the parks get back on track.

Disneyland Park

Since opening 4 rides have been added to the park and 2 others have been replaced. Coming up to its 25^th year, that is an incredibly small amount. Indiana Jones was added to Adventureland. The dual combo of Casey Jr and a small boat ride come to Fantasyland which also lost the Old Mill. Space Mountain came to Discoveryland while Buzz replaced Visionarium. Captain EO and Honey I shrunk the audience traded places with both now gone. The Aladdin and Nautilus walkthroughs were also added. Since its 1992 opening that is all. One look at the park on Google Earth and the space for expansion becomes quite clear yet all that is currently announced is Star Tours becoming Star Tours 2, some extract characters to Pirates of the Caribbean and a refresh of Peter Pan, Big Thunder Mountain and It’s a Small World.

So here’s what I would do.

Phase 1

Reimagining older rides is a cheap way to give a new life to an ageing ride. Star Tours is a prime example, Big Thunder Mountain’s doesn’t appear to go far enough but you could argue these are already rides that draw the crowds. I’m assuming all the announced changes still happen.

1 – Its a small world is already getting new dolls and a paint job and “some Disney magic”. In Phase 1 I would see a new name, the reason will become clear. Inside most of the dolls would be removed and replaced by Disney characters set in their homeland. Imagine London with Peter Pan and 101 Dalmatians merging into the country side with Alice in Wonderland before finding Robin Hood in the Forest. You’d find Baymax between the USA and Japan, Oliver in the USA, Pinocchio in Italy, Snow White in Germany, Stitch in Hawaii etc… Forgotten and well used characters all coming together, always something new to spot and a ride that can constantly add new characters with the new film slate. This would be under the new name of It’s a Small Disney World.

2 – Next up would be Discoveryland. Autopia has been getting a bit tired for a while and looking very dated, the cars don’t feel futuristic or have the stunning Steampunk style of Space Mountain. It’s also in a land lacking in Disney. Only Buzz exists which I still view as Pixar not true Disney. It’s not a hard guess for what would be a good makeover for Autopia. Wreck-it-Ralph. A slight re-theme of the queue into Game Central Station and the rest of the ride into Sugar Rush. Adding Venelope’s home to drive through would be a great extra touch too.

3 – Third would be a restaurant change. I loved Lucky Nugget Saloon and its shows when I was younger. It now feels like a lost gem of days gone by. A film massive underused is Tangled. The Snuggly Duckling pub shown early in the film would be used to bring music back to the bar too with classic Disney pub songs. Think “I have a dream” from Tangled as the big number but being in France you couldn’t leave out “Gaston” and even “Everybody wants to be a cat” could work too.

4 – The final Phase 1 change is to Le Pays des Contes de Fées and probably the cheapest of all. The removal of Peter and the Wolf which seems a bit out of place with the other bit Disney hits in this ride. That leaves a large snow covered area which obviously would have Frozen added to it. Elsa’s ice castle, Marshmallow and models of the main characters.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Walt Disney Studios

The Disneyland Park had a lot going for it when it opened, the Studios Park has had issues from day.  Criticised for a lack of rides and doing things on the cheap but this park arguably has two of the best rest in any Disney park, Crush’s Coaster and Ratatouille. Aerosmith and Tower of Terror are also right up there. What the park has lacked most of all is a really identity; where the main park as well defined lands and clear themes, even with the odd misstep, this park feels a bit cobbled together.

Phase 1

1 – Let’s get the lands sorted. The right hand side of the park has become almost a Pixar land already with more Pixar films covered in this park than any other single park. The first two phases solidify this area as Pixar Place. First is Animagique, already scheduled for changes anyway, an update to focus on Pixar would fit right in. Inside out seems a great fit with Animagique’s styling.

2 – The Tram Tour is also scheduled for updates, three new scenes. I don’t believe it’s clear if these are replacements or additions. I’m assuming replacements. First up is Reign if Fire in London, this would be updated to be a Syndrome attack on the city with the Incredibles also added. Next is the Catastrophe Canyon, this is already expected to get a Cars overhaul. The final one is Dinotopia. To complete my trio this would become rubbish towers will an actual Wall-e roaming around. The entrance would be moved to between the Ratatouille restaurant and RC Racer. You would board the redecorated “Thought Train” to see “Pixar Comes Alive”.