Welcome to a new edition of the DLPReport! We’ve got a packed agenda this week with the closure of Studio 1, plenty of food updates, pre-parades galore and more. So let’s get into it!
Goodbye, Studio 1
Love it or hate it, Studio 1 has been an unavoidable part of everyone’s experience at Walt Disney Studios Park. This week the “active sound stage” closed for good as plans for Disney Adventure World get in motion. Of course the building itself is (maybe sadly) not going anywhere – and technically a lot of the sets inside are also staying but getting a complete retheme that will take about a year.
On Wednesday we took the opportunity to capture this iconic location for the last time.
The closure of course includes Restaurant En Coulisse, often subject to mockery for the shocking quality of the food. The always cheerful kitchen team took one last group photo before the curtain went down. The location will be reborn as the Hollywood Gardens Restaurant, and some of the team members may therefore return.. in a year.
Goodbye Studio 1, you were certainly.. something.
But how will Guests enter the park for a whole year, you may ask? First you need to ask yourself if you REALLY want to visit this park during the year ahead but if you do, fear not, operations has setup this mini highway loosely themed with Cars signage. Permanent paving couldn’t unfortunately be done in time so we’ve got some good ol’asphalt, a staple of Walt Disney Studios Park as I’m sure you know.
In Front Lot, the Studio 1 construction walls have received digital art versions of some of the Disney Adventure World concept art that include faces of Disneyland Pass and Cast Members:
It’s a fun idea! Another page has turned in the Walt Disney Studios Park history book. See you in a year for the World Premiere of “World Premiere”.
With all these changes, the Walt Disney Studios Park Map has been updated in some hard copy materials: the Studio 1 logo and Partners Statue have disappeared, Hollywood Blvd. is shorter, no cardboard buildings, and the Theaters of the Stars logo has been added as well as the “Alice and the Queen of Hearts: Back to Wonderland” stage (flipped).
Seasoning
It’s that time a year when we get seasons dates do grab your calendars!
The Disney Halloween Festival will return to Disneyland Paris from October 1 to November 3, 2024.
And Disney Enchanted Christmas will return to Disneyland Paris from November 9, 2024 to January 6, 2025.
Nothing new has been announced or is expected again this year for these seasons.
World Wish Day
April 29 is World Wish Day and Disneyland Paris decided to celebrate early with a pre parade on Saturday.
The event celebrates efforts by the Make a Wish Foundation and featured Disney Friends and some of the Disney VoluntEARS Guests involved in the program.
World Safety Day
This week was also World Safety Day, as Disneyland Paris just keeps cranking up pre-parades. The event celebrates all the Cast Members who watch after our safety each and everyday from the Fire Rescue Dept to nurses, security and more.
It’s a chance to see all sorts of cool “modern” safety vehicles on Main Street for a quick moment.
The parade was attended by a nice group of Disney Friends each supporting their own category of safety Cast Members.
The working pups from the K-9 units!
Thank you to all these everyday heroes who watch after us.
Food
Lots of arrivals and changes this week in the food dept. First we’ve got these vegetable fritters at Cafe de la Brousse which are quite nice.
A Lion King paw ice cream sandwich at Hakuna Matata – it’s not good don’t buy it.
Nothing new at Hyperion except that they jacked up the Grogu cookie by €2 because #MayThe4th is coming. Nice.
And the big news of the week is that Asian inspired food has arrived at Disneyland Paris – it’s in Frontierland at Last Chance Cafe.
In Fantasyland the food chalets have returned with a new color scheme – they are super cute and colorful.
The food is pretty much the same stuff as usual- here are all the menus and prices.
With En Coulisse closed, Stark Factory and relentless on the ultra basic breakfast duties. At least you’ve got a better view here.
Stark Factory has also introduced new dessert options with these “sweet pizza” made with fresh dough on site, in various flavors: hazelnuts, cranberries, Kumquat. they’re pretty good although not revolutionary, and very bready as you’d expect.
Pop Up Deception
After two acclaimed editions of the Disneyland Pass Pop Up Surprises, anticipation was at its peak for the third edition that opened on Friday. Passholders were not shy in voicing their disappointment when they learned that Clarice and Max would be greeting them this time around. Of course they are both fun characters and Clarice is wearing her Pride outfit, but the bar had been set high and it’s understandable that everyone was expecting more effort. It was not immediately clear what caused the team in charge to drop the ball.
This edition is loosely themed to “A Million Splashes of Colour” so at least the location has received some nice backdrops. However with the hub show itself not particularly capturing the attention of fans, this did not help salvaging the overall concept.
Hopefully better luck next time, and thank you to Clarice, Max and the location’s Cast Members for their always lovely welcome!
Construction and Refurbishments
We start we Disney Adventure World where sh*t is really starting to get real for the Rapunzel Attraction with the roof structure now almost in place. Place making is also finally happening for Adventure Way, and the show control building is coming together.
At World Of Frozen they’re moving mountains or rather building them, as the rock work for the North Mountain is growing by the day. We’re going to save this photo to compare with the finished product!
Trees are also started to get put in place for Adventure Way – trees at Walt Disney Studios Park what a time to be alive.
On Hollywood Blvd the cardboard cutout buildings have now been completely removed and another page of history is turned for this park!
Feels empty but also feels like we are moving in the right direction creatively.
At Ratatouille the film has been switched again to a 2D version. The debate has been non stop (but please stop) as to if this is permanent or not. Disney has not announced anything.
At Disneyland Park another North Mountain is peeking through – in Pays des Contes de Fées. It’ll be part of the new Frozen scene to be unveiled later this summer.
At Disney Village another stretch of nice pavement has been unveiled by World of Disney. If anything we will at least get some lovely coherent paving for this project!
Down the road it’s a chainsaw massacre for the legacy roof and awnings that are slowly but surely being literally sliced off. More metallic towers are also starting to get dismantled.
This and That..
Disney Imagineer and Art Director Sylvie Massara, who is retiring, has received a “Window on Main Street” above Ribbons & Bows. Sylvie joined the company in 1988 and worked on numerous projects from Fantasyland shops to Disney Hotels, most recently the re-imagining of the Disneyland Hotel. Thank you for everything, Sylvie!
