News Disneyland Paris Updates & Features

And there we were, thinking the end of the 15th Anniversary on Saturday would be the last we’d see of any red carpets for a while… wrong! The new Central Plaza Stage has now been given its final top: a water-proof, slip-proof red carpet with Mickey Mouse shapes and outlines in golden yellow.

The stage, at least, won’t be anywhere near as brash and modern as some of the Mickey’s Magical Party advertising. Its sides — pre-formed plastic/fibreglass-type panels — are remarkably faithful to the original Imagineering designs nearby, continuing to present little medieval inlets and holes in a similar style to the lower brickwork of Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant and particularly Le Théâtre du Château nearby.

Above, a larger opening can be seen — likely the place where characters will disappear under the the stage only to reappear via the vertical lift in the centre of the main stage later in the show.

And, if they’d rather use the stairs, they’re in luck — contrary to earlier views we’ve seen, a full side-on view as above reveals these are far wider and lower than expected, making the climb up or down from the new stage far easier than the tricky old steps.

The work for the arrival of It’s Party Time… with Mickey and Friends doesn’t stop here, however. As reported previously, the pathways to the South either side of Central Plaza are being widened to allow more guests through whilst the plaza itself is filled with guests watching the show.

Particularly between Main Street, USA and Frontierland, the entire area is now surrounded by construction walls and tarpaulins, with not a single chance of a view inside.

• See Mickey’s LED-illuminated new costume for the show here!
• See a full video preview of a segment from the show here!

Pictures: PhotosMagiques.com

It seems like this final week in February has become an annual time to see the latest marketing campaigns and TV commercials of Disneyland Resort Paris being premiered. Exactly one year ago today, we saw The Celebration Continues… Big Time! unwrapped on our TV screens, whilst two years ago, the ever-beautiful advertisements for the 15th Anniversary itself unravelled.

This year, the TV spot is… floating onto our screens, naturally filled with hundreds upon hundreds of colourful balloons to advertise Mickey’s Magical Party.

The lively spot begins with a stunning shot of balloons flying above the clouds, mountains in the background, with a strong yellow tint. As the second shot appears, of balloons flying around the side of a bushy, clearly sun-drenched hill toward a noticeably distant city from most of North West Europe, it looks like those balloons have reached further than any of us could have predicted…

Indeed, to film this new commercial, production was taken all the way to… South Africa! According to admin Kristof on magicforum, even the It’s Dance Time DJ podium and a replica of one corner of the new Central Plaza stage were taken, along with all the characters and costumes you see, to then only be filmed in front of green-screen with the real Disneyland Resort Paris backdrops inserted later!

This practice isn’t uncommon though, as member experiment627 adds, “a lot of commercials are being shot in South Africa, for there are landscapes that resemble Europe quite a bit and you pretty much got sun and blue skies most of the year.”

As the balloons reach the city streets, one bumps right into a young boy running home from school.

He grabs hold of it, pulls the invitation from its string…

And opens up the envelope to reveal a Mickey shape and the Mickey’s Magical Party logo.

Miraculously, he’s then transported immediately to Disneyland Resort Paris!

The voiceover of the TV spot is different again to previous years, with a clearer and more placid voice beginning “This year, it’s Mickey’s Magical Party, and Disneyland is expecting an extraordinary hero… you!”.

“Discover DJ Stitch’s first fantastic show,” he continues, as shots of the new Dance Time podium and its blue and pink-dressed cast in front of Space Mountain play, with several other guests dancing on the multi-coloured dance mats.

“…The new attraction, Playhouse Disney – Live on Stage!,” continues the announcer, with shots of the Playhouse Disney puppets…

…the young boy laughing along, and a full depication of the stage (though likely not the real thing), as if set up for the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse scene…

The advert reaches its conclusion as another balloon sweeps across the screen to reveal a lively Mickey Mouse running across the new Central Plaza stage — another green-screen creation.

The voiceover adds “…and Mickey and friends’ exciting new show, and many more surprises”.

Here we see Mickey and Goofy dancing on a recreation of the stage, with brightly-dressed dancers behind, mostly in white and red colours, with the men wearing orange shirts.

Notice also that the Castle has been touched-up with its recently-revealed overlay of new decorations. Here, though, the “Mickey & Friends” plaque covering the main window appears to match its oval shape, rather than the uncomfortable circle seen in the concept.

Mickey shows us some moves, then we suddenly cut to the generic Disney Parks endboard…

As with the commercials of the previous two years, it seems Disneyland Resort Paris are required to use this generic branding to end their TV advertisements, featuring a bizarre mélange of all the Disney castles but now with added ballons.

The endboard is clear and the colours do work well with the red of Mickey’s Magical Party, but the overall effect is probably slightly jarring to the viewer, being so different to the footage just seen — and featuring a Castle that, as anyone knows, doesn’t exist anywhere — especially not Disneyland Resort Paris.

Please, Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, can’t we have the real Castle for each resort?

Click here to watch the full advert.

It’s a lively, colourful, sunny and very well-produced TV spot, though, and it’s certainly brilliant to see real Disneyland Resort Paris locations used for once, if only via green-screen. You’ll probably notice two large elements of the party are entirely absent, however. Well, one major element and one not-so-major: Disney’s Stars ‘n’ Cars and Minnie’s Party Train.

To skip the Party Train is obviously no surprise, but many fans would agree they’d have expected to see something of the Studios’ large new parade event in the TV spot. Looks like the resort’s old fear, of mentioning the existance of Walt Disney Studios Park in a TV commercial, lives on…!

The TV spot is playing now in the UK, international versions will appear from next month.

Screencaps © Disney.

The original commercials for the 15th Anniversary Celebration saw a red carpet flying through neighbourhoods to bring children to Disneyland, passing by the new attractions and new parade along the way. As already seen in various promotional materials, the advertising campaign for “The Celebration Continues” year moves to wrapping paper and classic party decorations, with a brand new commercial produced especially for the event.

Reaching the end of the red carpet, Mickey Mouse stands again with the two children, looking along a Main Street, U.S.A. wrapped entirely in colourful wrapping paper and ribbons, Sleeping Beauty Castle wrapped in pink with a bow forming a “hidden mickey” above the “15″ emblem.

As Mickey Mouse stretches out a ribbon with a little pixie dust, children and characters run into Main Street, pulling giant ribbons and robes to unwrap all the buildings along the street.

We cut to a view from the castle for a spectacular shot of the children “unwrapping Main Street” as fireworks shoot into the sky. Finally, the pink wrapping and ribbons fly off Sleeping Beauty Castle, revealing its 15th Anniversary overlay.

Stepping through the Castle to a courtyard filled with characters old and new and Princesses atop a parade float, the two children set in motion the unwrapping of the most important presents of all — The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, in deep purple paper against a stormy sky, and Stitch Live! in green paper, which sees growls exchanged between Stitch to the younger boy.

We’re reminded of the ongoing Kids Under 7 Stay & Play FREE offer before the camera zooms out of a final scene to reveal the Disney VIPs and Pixar characters dancing under the illuminated “Candleabration” castle, a beautiful twilight sky glowing above them.

The Pixar characters, such as Sulley, Mr. Incredible and Buzz Lightyear, feature heavily throughout — Paris’ very own Rémy can even be spotted hiding in the final shot.

The commercial launched on major UK television networks today, and should make its way, in translated form, to other countries very soon.

Bearing similarities in style to both the previous red carpet commercials and the current “Year of a Million Dreams” advertisements for Walt Disney World which play in the UK and US, it probably doesn’t come as a surprise to hear that they were all produced by the same people — over at Walt Disney World in Florida! This will perhaps explain the use of Florida’s Tower of Terror and a Princess parade float from across the Atlantic, rather than those in Paris.

Well, what a great little present from the creative teams of Walt Disney World! We’re getting out some DLRP Today stationary to write a thank you letter already…

The trailer has been published online by Parisian post-production company nightshift, labelled ‘Disney Big Time’ and running for around 2 minutes, it comprises a series of footage and graphics introducing the extended celebration and its main attractions, set largely to the gospel choir song “Oh Happy Day”.

You can watch the trailer in Flash format here, before we take a shot-by-shot look at what they’ve created…

“The 15th anniversary celebrations… Extended by popular demand” reads the first graphics sequence, against a deep red background of ’15’ logos and the words ‘Big Time’, which is used throughout the trailer.

The the familiar 15th Anniversary anthem music of “Flying”, we’re reminded of the launch campaign for the 15th and its events so far through footage and, later, still images cut together at split-second overlaps, building to the grand finale…

…of the original television campaign, where a family watched the illumination of the Castle’s decorations. The music here suddenly dips, the footage seeming entirely separate to the new publicity campaign which follows.

A round of slow clapping, illuminating more stars againt the red background each time, eventually builds to a full applause and the full, sparkling ’15’ symbol seen on Disneyland Park’s LED banners.

As pre-recorded applause continues, the words “The party continues… big time” and “Ready for even more… Happy Days?” appear on screen.

As the title song fades in, the screen dissolves to black…

…And we’re introduced to a young girl, squinting in the sunlight on the Central Plaza stage, swaying her head from side to side and tightening her face as she reaches for the first notes of the song. Mickey clicks his fingers next to her…

…Before a man appears on screen to sing the opening “Oh Happy Day!”, shaking pixie dust from his fingers.

The same man then appears in a rather barren shot stood before The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, still shaking his fingers, with the first of three large letter effects used to introduce this “New Attraction”. The construction walls are painted over digitally with a plain yellow wall, whilst a neat effect of thunder and lightning fills the sky above The Hollywood Tower Hotel.

The shot is soon filled with the other members of the “family” who appear from behind him, as a “bellhop” leans in to give a menacing stare to the camera. The costume used here is actually that seen in the video introductions of Disneyland15.com — the actual bellhops have much darker outfits with plentiful ‘HTH’ branding.

The logo for The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror appears on-screen with a starry black background.

Then, still to the words of “Oh Happy Days”, we’re shown a selection of footage from the terrifying, faster-than-gravity freefall of the Tower of Terror…

Continued on Page 2.

…And this time, it really is being rolled out to us. Not only will the press come in smaller numbers (700 compared to 1700 for 31st March) and one week after the opening (16th June), but the organisers of the resort’s Shareholders Club and Annual Passport Dream privileges have finally mailed invites and organised events to celebrate the 15th.

First, the Shareholders Club. Announced via email, on the official website and now through a mailed invite (below), shareholders of Euro Disney SCA have the exclusive opportunity to ride Crush’s Coaster and Cars Race Rally as many times as they wish between 12pm and 3pm on 2nd June 2007.

Places at the event are strictly limited to a first-come first-served basis, and you must apply online no later than 25th May 2007. Your Shareholders Club card must also have been valid at 1st May 2007.

Shareholders will be able to receive up to 2 free Passe-Partout park hopper tickets for the day and up to 4 wristbands to gain access to the attractions – meaning up to 3 friends or family can join you for the rush to Crush! In addition to Salon Mickey, the mezzanine of Restaurant En Coulisse will offer a similar service of complimentary refreshments from 9:30am to 11:30am.

More details can be seen in the flyer above, and don’t forget to register now if you’d like to attend!

Not a shareholder? Well, grab your Passeport Annuel Dream and you too can join the rush – a few hours earlier than those Shareholders, infact! By simply showing up at Walt Disney Studios Park and presenting your Annual Passport Dream, you can get exclusive access to the two new attractions at the following times:

Saturday 2nd June 2007 – 9am to 12pm
Sunday 3rd June 2007 – 4pm to 7pm
Wednesday 6th June 2007 – 10am to 12pm

Dream passholders can also invite one friend (with a valid park passport) to join them in the rush. As with the Shareholders event, the attractions can be closed at any time during these final test runs, to troubleshoot or tweak at the Imagineers’ discretion.

It’s important to note that, whilst all of these events are being labelled as “Avant-Première” previews, guests will by no means be the “first” to ride the two new attractions. Like all new Disney attractions, they will be opened to the public for select periods in the fortnight before their official opening to test the systems, train the Cast Members and respond to the guest reaction. These events simply help loyal guests get an extended preview before the “rush” truly begins.

The “Soft Openings” themselves are scheduled to run most days from the end of May to the 9th June grand opening, so Shareholder, Dream passholder or regular guest – the avant-premières will continue for some time, and the “red carpet” finally available for all.

Finally, impressive proof that the Red Carpet has returned after his success in early April. Making a dazzling comeback last night on French TV network M6 (think E4 if you’re in the UK), he flew through the sky once again before diving down into the depths of the ocean and spiralling around to help launch the first piece of advertising directly aimed at Crush’s Coaster and a competition to win your own avant-première visit.

You can download the brief TV spot (around 18 seconds) here, uploaded by Mouetto on Disney Central Plaza forum.

The ceremony on Main Street began with the letters of the new Alpha Bet You Are street performers wandering and interweaving down the street, before forming the word “Disneyland” at Town Square. The mayor from the morning opening ceremony returned to introduce the spectacle, introducing each letter as it twirled and bowed for the frantic cameras on the press platform.

As the 15th Anniversary Pre-Parade, with its marching band, special anniversary float and hundreds of volunteers rolled into view, the letters moved to one side and the entire cavalcade came to a highly choreographed stop, providing the press with a perfect view along Main Street. With everyone in place, the mayor next introduced the host of the event – Arnauld Gayet, one of the two Disneyland Resort Paris ambassadors for 2007.

Stepping up onto Mickey’s special anniversary float (the redecorated Snow White float from Disney Princess Parade), Arnauld announced in both French and English, “Hello everyone! I am very happy to welcome you all here today to celebrate our 15th anniversary. Please, give a very warm welcome to our special guest – Miss Andie MacDowell!”

Andie MacDowell, famous American actress from such early nineties blockbuster hits as Groundhog Day and Four Weddings and a Funeral then joined Arnauld on the float as the marching band played, to launch the anniversary and introduce the new parade premiering in just a few minutes. “I am very happy to be here,” she announced in French and English, before apologising for her language skills – “Please forgive me, because my French is horrible and it’s such a beautiful, beautiful language. I’m really happy to be here and I’m going to try with some really bad French, but I want to tell you that my kids and I love Disney and we’re going to be here with you enjoying the park – so if you run into me please say hello, I’m not afraid of being spoken to! So if you see me, say hello!”

Andie continued, “Ok, so here’s my bad French,” before describing how being at the park was a dream come true and that “it’s a small world” was the favourite attraction of her and her children, with several pauses to apologise for language and a final apology of “Sorry it’s not sunny!”

The choice of Andie to host the launch was interesting – not just because of her rather hestitant French, but also since she almost appears as a symbol of the early 1990s – just when Euro Disney first opened its gates. As the “godmother” of our anniversary, she could almost be to Paris what the 1950s/60s-associated image of Julie Andrews was to Disneyland California’s 50th.

Arnauld next handed over to Mickey Mouse himself, “As Walt Disney once said, it all started with a mouse… so Mickey, what’s next?”. Mickey began in his usual lively tone “Hi everybody! Bonjour! Gee, I just love a celebration! And look who’s with me today, a very special guest – Ashley!”. The special guest, a young girl wearing a white fairytale dress similar to that of the girl in the resort’s TV commercials for the anniversary, then climbed up to the top of the float and slid down its special red carpet slide to join Arnauld, Mickey and Andie. Mickey announced “And now, who better than a child to tell us all about dreams, wishes and storytelling?” with Arnauld translating in French.

Andie stepped forward and asked, “Bonjour Ashley, now I’m going to ask you a very important question – how does every fairytale begin?”, then in much improved French (the actress had obviously practiced this line), “Quelle est la phrase qui commence tous les fées?”. With a confident and punchy answer, Ashley replied – “Il était un fois, once upon a time – or – once upon a dream!” as Arnauld continued “Yes Ashley, it’s just like you dreamed it!” before reminding Mickey that it was time for him and his Disney friends around the float to get ready for their big entrance in Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade.

With Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald, Goofy and Chip n Dale running off to the Discovery Arcade exit, the marching band played a final medley of “Zip-a-dee-doo-dah” and everything was ready for the final countdown to the big fifteen. As a sense of anticipation filled the air, Andie and Arnauld kicked off the countdown, as the 500 volunteers and Cast Members in blue and yellow coats let off their balloons year-by-year with Ashley counting up the numbers from one to fifteen.

As the count hit fifteen and the sky was filled with balloons, the soaring music of the television commercials and Candleabration – from Universal’s Peter Pan live-action film – filled Main Street and the giant balloons atop the roofs of the turn-of-the-century buildings exploded one-by-one, launching a mist of golden confetti across the street.

Then, once again led by perfect showman Arnauld, the cast and crowd joined together for a rousing rendition of “Joyeux Anniversaire / Happy birthday to you”, sung in perfect Disneyland Resort Paris style – French and English combined. Arnauld announced “And now, on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of Disneyland Resort Paris, we are proud to present in just a few minutes… Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade!”, and the opening lyrics of “Just Like We Dreamed It” began.

The blue and yellow-dressed volunteers walked around to their reserved spot outside Main Street Transportation, continuing to smile and wave to the crowds in a jubilant atmosphere, whilst a special second pre-parade of colourful characters filled the street, as everyone waited in anticipation of the brand new parade…

Photos by Photos Magiques or © Disney.

In the UK, the eye-catching red carpet scene leads with the tagline “You’re Invited”, calling out to the audience and attempting to highlight that this is a truly special, VIP event. The text at the bottom reads “Dream like you’ve never dreamt before, with all the characters, a new parade and new attractions”, whilst the “hook” of the advertisement is – as with all the 15th promotion so far – the fairly substantial “Kids Under 7 Stay and Play Free” offer.

High Quality (900Kb) Download

The double-page magazine advertisement has already been spotted in this week’s Radio Times, a very widely circulated tv listings guide, along with several of the Sunday newspaper magazines. Single page versions have already even been seen in such obscure publications as the Cineworld/UGC free film preview magazine, “Unlimited”.

In France, the advertisement leads with “C’est l’année de tous les rêves” (roughly “It’s the year of every dream”), with a longer piece of text at the bottom describing package prices and room rates. The “Séjour gratuit pour les moins de 7 ans” text is also silver, and more “sparkly”, compared to its British cousin.

Photo by mickey3101, DCP forum.

It’s this same key advertising visual that will soon be appearing not just in magazine advertisements but all over Paris and beyond. Disneyland Resort Paris plan to fill the billboards of Paris with over 6000 of these posters, including one in particular which will allow a child’s photo to be uploaded to it, appearing for a select period of time with a phrase such as “Charlotte dreams of becoming Cinderella”. A unique “first” and a great bit of fun for the children lucky enough to receive their 15 minutes of fame.

Other “red carpet” billboards will interact with their surroundings, showing the red carpet continue beyond the poster to wrap itself around the entire building. There will also be advertisements on 22 buses, and in particular 4 completely decorated Paris sightseeing coaches, plus special, full “red carpet” makeovers of selected Métro stations.

The size and scope of this campaign and the entire year has exploded beyond anything that could have been expected one year, or even six months, ago. After such a successful and widespread launch, it all looks good for the effect of that sparkling red carpet on the resort’s most important year.