Paris' Walt Disney Studios Park - Part 2,

Paris' Walt Disney Studios Park - Part 2
Page 4 of 4

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The Animagique attraction is due to open in March 2002.
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Animagique
This is the third attraction in the Animation Courtyard and is presently not accepting guests. The movie filmstrip arrived late from Burbank and rehearsals are still in the experimental stage, as it is essential to ensure that the timing between the film and the characters on stage is accurate before allowing guests into the auditorium. Cast members were suggesting that the attraction is unlikely to preview to guests and will debut for invited V.I.P.s and the media on March 15. However, advance word is excellent and if the show is as professional and entertaining as the WDSP’s “dark horse”, Cinemagique (an outstanding attraction that will be covered in the next update). I hope to be able to report on the show after the press event next month.

Future Development
This area is already subject to construction for future projects. The performance corridor begins in this section and a substantial number of tiles have been inserted into the ground to mark the width limits for the parade corridor. The parade is not due to debut at the park until June at the earliest as the Entertainment team were unsure if the budget would be made available for a daytime parade. The corridor has already been equipped with a substantial number of lighting rigs that litter the route and the control sensors to ensure synchrony in the music and to control the distance between the floats have been inserted into the walkways.

Rumours continue to persist that the Main Street Electrical Parade that has run at the Disneyland park for nearly ten years will transfer to the second gate this year. These rumours are false and there is no evidence to suggest that this will be the case in the future. Only part of the Disney’s Fantillusion parade that declared “Sayonara” last year at Tokyo Disneyland has arrived from Maihama as the remainder are still in shipment. In addition, the Japanese use a battery network on the floats that is entirely different in voltage and design to that utilised by DLRP for the Electrical Parade and therefore engineers are continuing to adapt the parade floats to the conditions required in Marne-la-Vallee to ensure that the parade can run on a nightly basis. Cast members close to the Entertainment team have alleged that Fantillusion is unlikely to debut before Easter 2003.

However, one white tent is visible from the Animation Courtyard that does represent a “green-lighted” attraction. The area between the Art of Disney Animation and the Flying Carpets Over Agrabah is the future site of Mermaid Lagoon, a similar project to that created by Imagineer David Mumford at Tokyo DisneySea. Imagineers were conscious from the outset of a lack of attractions that children would enjoy and that the entire family could participate in. It is unclear whether the new mini-section will be entirely enclosed like the Tokyo counterpart or if the imagineers have followed the example set by WDI at the Bug’s Land expansion at DCA to create an outdoor thematic experience. An announcement is expected next month for this exciting project. Currently there is a meet and greet caravan for Mickey and Minnie with a small “Hollywood” hill, and one of the Studio Catering Co’s many Food trucks occupying the land in front of the fence.

Another future project is the park’s first table-service restaurant. When the Disneyland Park first opened to guests, visitors had five different table-service restaurants to choose from, but apathy towards the cost and lack of fixed price menus saw the demise of the Explorers Club and its Tiki Bird residents within the first year and substantial changes were enforced at the remaining restaurants including seasonal closures and reduced cost menus. This encouraged WDI to keep a table-service restaurant for the second phase at WDSP. Exact details have not yet leaked from WDI at DLRP, but rumours suggest that the restaurant could have two potential themes, both cloned from the Disney Cruise Line. The first suggestion is that the fantastic Animator’s Palate restaurant is to arrive at WDSP early in 2003 with its infamous ever-changing colour scheme. The second is that the Disney Wonder’s Tritons is to be placed within Mermaid Lagoon to continue the theme and offer the park guests an underwater experience with a seafood menu.

Next time, we will see how the Production Courtyard offers the stunning Cinemagique experience and a mouth-watering teaser to another second phase project, announced by just three letters.......

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-- Posted February 26, 2002
-- Story and pictures by Lee MacDonald

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