Welcome back to a new edition of the DLP Report! Took a week off but we’re back with everything happening in recent days at the Resort. The good news is that there’s plenty of it, from new shops to a new restaurant, Women’s Day and more. Let’s take a look!
Glamour & Style
When you think Glamour and Style you think Disney Village, right? I’m just teasing! In a milestone for the Disney Village remodeling project, Disney Glamour and Disney Style, two new shops with targeted collections of Disney merchandise mostly catering to young adults and Disney fans at large have opened this weekend.
Disney Village President Bruno Chastain and Head of Merchandise Jean-David Marque made the trip for the opening so you know it’s a big deal.
The Disney Village cast members and our favorite fashionista Minnie Mouse were of course also here to celebrate the opening.
With this opening, Disney Village Cast Members are also debuting new costumes which are reminiscent of some of the Tokyo guides with some “pop” undertones, looking to match the pop-art vibe of the remodel.
Inside Disney Glamour you’ll find apparently mostly geared towards women, with some exclusive items.
Disney Style is the home of street style, collabs, vintage and customized apparel with a redesigned “Atelier”, vintage rack and more.
And here are more of the items you’ll be able to find in these new shops. More than just new shops, the spaces represent the result first unveiling of the new vision for the district – and it’s also more fresh fancy pavement! We’ll also note this awesome Incredibles art.
Reception from our readers has been lukewarm, often noting the shops seem bare and uninspired, reminiscent of outlet shopping villages. For years now, Disney has aimed to keep the intricately themed spaces for the theme parks, and districts like Downtown Disney, Disney Springs and now Disney Village have a more modern, pop-culture vibe and of course ..they are free areas. In any case, we look forward to the next unveilings: LEGO Store and Disney Deco!
La Forêt Secrète
This week we also attended another opening: La Foret Secrete by Chef Jean Imbert.
The space, formerly the Founders Club, has been completely redesigned rich tones of green and gold.
The menu is a storybook, with extracts from Snow White which is part of the inspiration for the location. When it comes to the dishes, they are all inspired by iconic Disney Stories.
For example the amuse-bouche is themed to Pixar’s Up. It’s a brioche bun with lemon and saffron and condiment “balloons”
Some of the dishes we tried from both menus:
- Fairy Godmother’s Soup
- Mrs. Potts’ Brew
- Wandering Bear’s Delight
- Caribbean Casserole
- Tony and Joe’s Spaghetti
Everything was spectacular. Tasty, refined with fantastic Disney storytelling infused into everything. You can tell the menu and recipes have been carefully thought out. Some may say the portions are small but that’s traditionally the case in French gourmet restaurants where the experience is about the taste journey and less about getting stuffed. Nevertheless we didn’t leave hungry at all.
The menu also features Ratatouille but not any Ratatouille – THE one from the movie. Where Bistrot Chez Rémy failed, Forêt Secrète excels – albeit at a different price point of course.
For dessert, we tried:
- Princess Aurora’s Gateau
- Lost Arch Shortbread served as sand in a bag
- And to finish the meal everyone is served these chocolate praline medallions and Madeleines.
After our meal, Chef Jean Imbert welcomed us in his kitchen.
These gorgeous photos of some of the dishes were also shared by the PR teams.
And here is the full menu. La Foret Secrete is open Wednesday to Sundays for dinner and reservations are by phone only (to the Disneyland Paris call center) or via Disney Hotel concierge.
International Women’s Day
Once again this year Disneyland Paris is celebrating International Women’s Day. More than a celebration in the Parks, the initiative is also a chance for the company to showcase their good track record on gender equality and the work of their business ressource group. Back to the parks, we started the day with characters on Main Street Station.
Throughout the parks, additional meet and greets surprised Guests for most of the day.
But the coolest surprise (IMO) was the “Women of the MCU” appearance at Avengers Campus!
Tower Gift 2.0
With the free paper Fastpass service now a distant memory, the Tower of Terror distribution point has sat unused for a while, raising the question of its fate with the Adventure Way development.
Wonder no more, it will be used to sell you more stuff as it get transformed into another shop, themed to the 1930’s and integrated in that little pocket of old Hollywood in/next to World Premiere. It makes sense if you don’t think about it too much but at this point it feels like even Disney has lost track of what exactly is the story of Disney Adventure World.
Also questioning what is this trend of not releasing HD concept art and instead posting a photo of people working with the concept a a screen. We will zoom, we will crop and it’ll be crap quality so please may we have the actual concept art please.
On the ground not much is happening yet. The work is set to begin in April and the shop should open by the end of the year.
While we’re here – cleaning and repainting has started in the Hollywood facades in front of Tower of Terror. It’s nice to see someone is thinking harmonizing the glaring differences between old and new theming in these areas.
Construction and Refurbishments
Let’s start at Disney Adventure World with the boat that has been installed by “Raiponce Tangled Spin” !
The Attraction has also received some of its themed stained glass.
Across the street, the Gazebo has been installed in the English Gardens.
At World Of Frozen, a lot of snow has suddenly fallen on the North Mountain.
And around Adventure Bay, we got our first look at lovely themed roofs!
Across from World Premiere, the Mickey Statue that was on top of the Toon Studio sign has been installed at the center of a planter.
At Toy Story Playland a lot of the supports for the lights and other infrastructure have been installed along and around the new entrance.
And some wider photos of the project!
Heading over to Disneyland Park, some decent progress continues to be made at Castle Stage with supports for the backstage rooms under the stage now in place. The project is really starting to take shape, but there’s still a ton of work.
Recently, a new coat of paint was being applied to the iconic metallic structures.
In Fantasyland, new bins have appeared, with markings from recent official sponsor Vittel. What they’re trying to say is “Yes we promote disposable plastics but look we have a reducing program for them”. K!
Down on Main Street, some of the tarps are down at Boardwalk Candy Palace, revealing the color scheme for the location that is now sponsored by M&M’s. It’s opening .. soon-ish.
And if you look up you’ll see – or rather no longer see the Disney Tales of Magic video projectors as a theming project is underway. Some are good, some are so-so, but all are still a work in progress.
