MAGICal DLP News, Rumours & Thoughts

[Animaniac93-98]

Much like the Spirited threads, a more free flowing discussion on all things DLP to keep those threads WDW centric. I'll start with a short news/rumours round-up:

2014

Ratatouille Ride + Restaurant (now open) + shop (fall)
Indiana Jones rehab (now open)
Flora's Botique, replacement of Town Square Photography (summer)
Disney Village LEGO store (now open)
Phase 1 of Newport Bay Club's rehab (October completion date)
Spring Festival (March - June)
"Trolley Show"* concept (now in summer version)
Halloween + Christmas expanded offerings

2015

Space Mountain rehab/new version
Expanded Spring Festival
Phase 2 of Newport's rehab (2016 completion date)
Hotel New York Rehab

2016

Big Thunder Mountain rehab
Star Tours 2
Hotel Chyenne Rehab (?)

2017

25th Anniversary Celebration
Disneyland Hotel rehab

No Clear Rumoured Date:

Toy Story Midway Mania
Soarin' Over the World (in Adventureland)
Star Wars expansion in Discoveryland
Avengers Ride + Marvel Makeover of Backlot
WDS "placemaking"
New Shops/Restaurants at Disney Village
Other holiday versions of Dreams! besides Christmas

*has no trolley, but serves same purpose as WDW counterpart

Not sure if they'll do all of that, they keep putting off Star Tours 2 because they don't think it'll increase attendence (are they wrong based on DLR/WDW?) and I doubt any placemaking of WDS will happen without a new ride like ToT or Rat attached to it. Just updating/prettying things up alone is seen as not worth it to Paris management unfortunately. They are however, open to more new attractions and things built from scratch so I guess that's how these things will get done.

OK so...discuss!

[also, @DonaldDoleWhip, I didn't mean to pounce on you back in the other thread, I just wanted to show what else is going on at DLP. Yes, it hit rock bottom (I'd say before the 20th when even the castle was rotting), but news of improvement should be shared alongside the issues, pictures and all. If it seems like supporting DLP has become my morale crusade, it's because I've already forked over the credit card to stay at that rotting hotel with the hope that the most important stuff will be fixed by the time I get there! ]

 

[Crazydisneyfanluke]

Not sure if they'll do all of that, they keep putting off Star Tours 2 because they don't think it'll increase attendence (are they wrong based on DLR/WDW?) and I doubt any placemaking of WDS will happen without a new ride like ToT or Rat attached to it. Just updating/prettying things up alone is seen as not worth it to Paris management unfortunately. They are however, open to more new attractions and things built from scratch so I guess that's how these things will get done.

I believe Star Wars may not have a large demographic in Europe like the states.

Hopefully they continue to add great attractions, and maintain their pace with refurbishments for their 25th anniversary (even though its 3 years away). The next year would be great to get a new attraction started to open with the 25th anniversary.

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

[also, @DonaldDoleWhip, I didn't mean to pounce on you back in the other thread, I just wanted to show what else is going on at DLP. Yes, it hit rock bottom (I'd say before the 20th when even the castle was rotting), but news of improvement should be shared alongside the issues, pictures and all. If it seems like supporting DLP has become my morale crusade, it's because I've already forked over the credit card to stay at that rotting hotel with the hope that the most important stuff will be fixed by the time I get there! ]

And as much as it may seem like I'm hating on DLP, I have to admit there was a lot that I seriously liked at the parks: the castle, Phantom Manor, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, the aesthetics of Disneyland Park, the arcades that bypass Main Street, Walt's Restaurant, Crush's Coaster (minus the waits), CinéMagique, Ratatouille (to a lesser extent), and Disney Dreams.

I don't know if/when I'll return to DLP, but it makes me happy if things are turning around for the resort. In fact, this recent article makes it sound like DLP's finances are in a much better position than before, which increases the likelihood of these projects moving forward. It's a shame though that they don't take placemaking too seriously - that's largely what saved DCA, and I don't think multiple Ratatouille-style projects would fix this fundamental issue with the park.

Also, I hope the Newport Bay Club's refurbished half will be ready for your trip (and hopefully they don't let this happen again before the next refurb).

 

[croboy82]

I've been there the last time 3,5 years ago and I do think it has gotten better since then from what I've seen on the internet.

I think Star Tours 2 might happen when a whole Starwars land opens. I think when that opens, Toy Story Mania in the studios and hopefully some Avengers ride there too then the park will become much better.

I hope the ratatouille ride proves to them that it's worth opening new rides

 

[Kman101]

Would really love to get to DLP at some point. It will happen .... first on the agenda is Disneyland again next year for their 60th.

Good idea for a thread.

 

[marni1971]

All the resorts are getting a multi year, multi million euro makeover to finally address a lot of issues.

Newport Bay is underway now, including replacing all the exterior cladding (no mean feat for the largest single site hotel structure in Europe)

Sequoia finished last year after a three year overhaul and the results were worth waiting for.

 

[Bolna]

Indiana Jones is done already??? They just started taking it down in early January and this was supposed to be a full rebuilt of the ride! I know it is just an off the shelf coaster with some theming, but that's very fast!

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Indiana Jones is done already??? They just started taking it down in early January and this was supposed to be a full rebuilt of the ride! I know it is just an off the shelf coaster with some theming, but that's very fast!

It was closed for 5 months and that included rebuilding the temple structure and replacing the loop portion of the track.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Spider-Man meet 'n greet has been extended until Aug 31 and it wouldn't surprise me if it gets extended again due to its popularity (regular hour-long waits).

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

Indiana Jones is done already??? They just started taking it down in early January and this was supposed to be a full rebuilt of the ride! I know it is just an off the shelf coaster with some theming, but that's very fast!

It was closed for 5 months and that included rebuilding the temple structure and replacing the loop portion of the track.

I have to say, the ride still felt terrible to me when I tried it earlier this month. It has no interesting theming beyond the temple exterior, and it rattled my head so much that I was worried about being concussed. Would they ever consider removing it, or is it too sentimental as Disney's first (and worst) loop?

 

[Bolna]

I have to say, the ride still felt terrible to me when I tried it earlier this month. It has no interesting theming beyond the temple exterior, and it rattled my head so much that I was worried about being concussed. Would they ever consider removing it, or is it too sentimental as Disney's first (and worst) loop?

there is certainly nothing sentimental about it as it was a very quick short term solution to DLPs lack of coasters in the early years (1992-1995). That's why the tempel was not a very well built structure. With that recent refurb the temple was made more permanent. So one would assume that there are no plans at all to remove it. At least not in the near future.

I also think the last thing they want to do is to remove any attraction. They need to add attractions to increase capacity and there are still plenty expansion pads left for such new attractions before they would have to start removing old ones. Even though Indiana Jones is sitting on one that was meant for a much more immersive Indiana Jones attraction originally.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I have to say, the ride still felt terrible to me when I tried it earlier this month. It has no interesting theming beyond the temple exterior, and it rattled my head so much that I was worried about being concussed. Would they ever consider removing it, or is it too sentimental as Disney's first (and worst) loop?

It's a low cost thrill ride to operate, so I don't think they'd ever get rid of it. I waited 5 minutes to ride it last year and afterwords felt I didn't have to go on again for the rest of the trip. It's super short, and as you say has little to no theme.

Like Space Mountain I suspect the rattling has more to do with the trains than anything else.

 

[Bolna]

Oh - and I was on it this past Christmas season, so just before the rehab and was totally fine with it. Not sure why it was so rough for you now after the refurb...

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Even though Indiana Jones is sitting on one that was meant for a much more immersive Indiana Jones attraction originally.

I thought the plot of land next to it had space for both rides to sit together?

Would make for a cool Indiana Jones sub-land.

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

That's disappointing - even Space Mountain had extremely short lines during my visit (while Big Thunder was packed), so I don't feel like the park needs two rough, 'intense' coasters. One of them is clearly superior anyway.

Oh - and I was on it this past Christmas season, so just before the rehab and was totally fine with it. Not sure why it was so rough for you now after the refurb...

It rattled my head more than any ride I've been on, including Hulk, both sides of Dragon Challenge, Hollywood RRR, major coasters at Six Flags Great Adventure, etc. I actually leaned forward before the loop because I was afraid of the impact it would cause - that ride seriously hurt. The terrible theming was just the icing on the cake for me - I see no reason to ride it again.

 

[Bolna]

Interesting that the rough coasters had short lines...

I remember my visits in the 90s when we never got on Indiana Jones because it had two hour waits! But Space Mountain was always a little shorter wait than BTM. But more like a 45 minute wait for SM, 60 minute for BTM. I guess the coaster being so rough makes them less desirable. I personally find SM much more rough than IJ. But then I am still mad about the whole Mission 2 thing....

 

[Bolna]

I thought the plot of land next to it had space for both rides to sit together?

Would make for a cool Indiana Jones sub-land.

I think @marni1971 would be the expert to ask there... I think one of his videos shows it quite well (if I remember correctly?).

 

[DonaldDoleWhip]

Interesting that the rough coasters had short lines...

I remember my visits in the 90s when we never got on Indiana Jones because it had two hour waits! But Space Mountain was always a little shorter wait than BTM. But more like a 45 minute wait for SM, 60 minute for BTM. I guess the coaster being so rough makes them less desirable. I personally find SM much more rough than IJ. But then I am still mad about the whole Mission 2 thing....

Yep, Indiana Jones was a walk-on and I never waited longer than 15 minutes for Space (and this was around July 8-10). Big Thunder's wait time was usually 45-75 minutes whenever I passed it.

And I've heard the original SM was much better than Mission 2, so I hope it gets the updates (and return to the original theming) that have been rumored.

 

[Ralphlaw]

I don't know if/when I'll return to DLP, but it makes me happy if things are turning around for the resort. In fact, this recent article makes it sound like DLP's finances are in a much better position than before, which increases the likelihood of these projects moving forward.

What jumped out to me about the article were some of the numbers: 14,244 cast members. Yearly payroll of $784,900,000. 14,900,000 visitors per year.

That's $55,100 per employee per year, (about $27 per hour on average) which I imagine is far higher than the average wages per employee in Florida and California. No wonder they're so quick to close restaurants toward the end of the day. That also means that each visitor paid an average of $52.67 for the employees who man the place.

Having DLP in France, which is one of one of the most employee friendly/crusading/pro-union countries in the world, makes DLP a very expensive place to run. I too am very happy that things are turning around financially, but I believe that true profits may be elusive until Studios really gears up the attractions.

 

[marni1971]

I thought the plot of land next to it had space for both rides to sit together?

Would make for a cool Indiana Jones sub-land.

The original plan was a Disneyland duplicate to have the original version of the EMV ride interwoven with an indoor coaster. Minus Jungle Cruise.

Next was Indy Peril as-is along with the EMV ride cloned from Tokyo. They would indeed fit together.

Maybe if WDSP wasn't executed so cheaply by Burbank in 2002 something would have happened by now. Such a shame.