Welcome back to a new edition! This week was Bastille Day and as with previous years, it didn’t disappoint! We’re also discussing Olympics, Pop-Up and of course construction. Let’s go!
Bastille Day
Bastille Day has become in recent year the window into the Resort’s creative and technical innovation and this year was no exception! While a lot of the scene were similar to last year’s the Dronisos and Disneyland Paris entertainment teams have outdone themselves once again with an incredible “3 Fairies” scene where the drone versions of the beloved characters shoot fireworks at Sleeping Beauty Castle to make it change color – it was quite a sight and what a wonderful use of technology for storytelling.
Check out this scene and our full video of the show right here on YouTube:
To top things off, Disneyland Paris earned an entry in the World Guinness Book Of Records for the “largest aerial display of a fictional character formed by multirotors/drones” during the Bastille Day show.
The impressive display saw 1,571 drones illuminating the sky over the Resort.
Olymp-ish
This week Disneyland Paris launched a new “Sports” merchandise collection which is definitely NOT for the Olympics and definitely NOT Olympics colors.
Obviously Disneyland Paris isn’t an official sponsor and as such is playing in the grey area around the use of Olympics assets. While that’s totally fine and a cool idea, sadly the collection came out quite basic and cheaply made.
On the topic, as expected, the Olympic Games in Paris are turning out to be a headache for the Resort: the usual summer crowd of families and fans are skipping the region in fear of crowds and expensive travel costs. While this may be offset by a few extra day Guests, it’s not really expected to dent attendance and as a result the parks are already very – VERY quiet and discounts have been launched. It’s the quietest we’ve seen them in years outside of pandemic restrictions. Good for people who are actually visiting but probably not great for Francine in Accounting.
Also in Olympics news, Disneyland Paris President Natacha Rafalski took part in the torch relay.
The weirdest moment of the year to date happened just after her appearance on tv channel France 2 when a man claimed to know her and was very excited to say “she was a good person”.
Lion King 30
It’s the 30th Anniversary of the Lion King! For the occasion snacks were launched. The cupcake at Hakuna Matata is okay but the icing is buttercream and because it comes out the fridge or freezer it’s like biting into a stick of butter and really who wants this.
At Victoria’s things are better. The “Simba” cake was delicious – if a bit dense and filling but at least that’s that. The milkshake was good too in a sugar bomb way. Do all the milkshakes need an entire cake on top these days ?
At Walt’s we totally get the reference to the film. The inside is a little hard but it was nice overall. Note that this is a €4 extra cost to the main menu.
To top things off there’s a few logos in lights at the Frontierland theater. Obviously this is an interesting time to celebrate the Lion King.
Construction and Refurbishments
We start with this Disney Adventure World mega dump – DAW! So much progress everywhere from the mountain range to Arendelle Town, the show control building (which received the first themed roofs around the lake), and of course “Raiponce Tangled Spin”. Progress is also being made on the landscape avenue and new entrance to Toy Story Playland.
Over at Disneyland Park progress is being made at “Pays des Contes de Fées” which has been posted as reopening on August 30b Casey Jr. will also reopen with it and was in testing to is week! Welcome back Casey!
Refurbishment has completed at Toad Hall aka Minecraft.
And scaffolding continues to grow at Space Mountain for the show building and lighting package refurbishment.
This and That..
The Disneyland Pass “Pop Up Surprises” will return from July 19 to August 11! Bronze members blackout dates will be canceled on July 26, 27, and 28 to allow them to visit the parks and experience this offering. Reservations are open.
Tickets are also on sale for the September 13 “Back to the 2000‘s” night.
And we learned more about what to expect.
“Horizons” is the name of the Disney Parks Panel on August 10 at D23. And we will be there with coverage of the announcements and all the fun from D23!
