Proposed Concept Art: Newport Bay Re-Do

[lentesta]

These images were included in a new unsolicited DLP survey to the general public asking about re-doing Newport Bay to include Disney characters.

Some of the images have the word 'confidential' in watermark, which is why I highlighted the words unsolicited and general public above.

 

[lentesta]

And these:

 

[grayhouser]

Can't say I'm a huge fan of either option. Why must IP be in everything?

 

[Gusey]

I know it was disussed a bit on the Magical DLP thread, with the two options being either Mickey and the gang vs Ocean characters. One is more in line with what they're doing at Seqouia with Bambi now, and the other is more like what they did with Art of Marvel and a complete takeover

Post in thread 'MAGICal DLP News, Rumours & Thoughts'

Feb 18, 2026

Unsure whether this warranted a new thread, but...
Completed a Disneyland Paris Survey this evening regarding themes for a refurbishment of Newport Bay Club Hotel.
2 main themes on offer:

• Mickey & the Gang - Seaside Promenade
  • A 'day at the beach' colour palette in a sort of 1900 beach style - light blues & sandy yellows - with a very nautical look to furniture / carpets / fittings.
  • Mickey, Minnie & the classic characters (in appropriate era beachwear) are the IP
  • Bar theme - dark woods, 'ships cabin' look - upmarket feel
• 'Ocean Explorers'
  • 'Ocean Depths'...

• jgrant.med

• 
• 
• 

 

[marni1971]

To be honest I’m glad we’re staying there before any of this might happen.

 

[nickys]

To be honest I’m glad we’re staying there before any of this might happen.

Yeah, neither is inspiring me to stay there now that I’ve seen the pictures.

 

[lentesta]

I mean, Robert AM Stern has been dead for what ... 70 or 80 days? His body is probably cold by now. Time to move on, people.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I mean, Robert AM Stern has been dead for what ... 70 or 80 days? His body is probably cold by now. Time to move on, people.

Made a similar comment in the other thread

The hotel already has Disney character references. Adding more does nothing to fix or improve what's already a nice 4-star hotel. It just needs a general refurbishment and some minor room upgrades.

 

[cjkeating]

Yes. As I said in the other thread they seem to have decent rooms and bad commons areas in one and bad rooms and decent commons areas in the other. Hopefully they find some middle ground of Mickey and Pals theme with good rooms and common areas.

I do wish I would like Newport Bay more but it's not the current theme that's bad... it's that everything feels a bit cheap? If they could elevate the Mickey and Pals nautical theme to a higher quality this would be a home run.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

I do wish I would like Newport Bay more but it's not the current theme that's bad... it's that everything feels a bit cheap?

It was built as a 3-star moderate hotel and then upscaled/upsold as a 4-star beginning in 2016

But it's still not quite up to WDW deluxe standards. Some places it is, other less so.

 

[jgrant.med]

I'll add my opinions on the above are based on their merit alone - I haven't stayed at the Newport Bay Club as an adult (and a childhood memory is hazy at best). I'll admit that I am somewhat taken aback by the opposition to the retheme - it's current theme has never really piqued my interest when planning to stay at Disneyland Paris - though it clearly does to some.

I guess that the lobby / room in the first images in the thread (option 2 that I commented on in my post) remind me a little of the Hotel Bell Rock at Europa Park, which I think is a lovely hotel. I'm less a fan of the bar / restaurant in that iteration - prefer the presentation of restaurant / bar in the other choice.

 

[HauntedPirate]

My only comment (and we did stay at Newport in 2018):

Keep
The
Frickin'
IP
OUT!!!

 

[The Empress Lilly]

I mean, Robert AM Stern has been dead for what ... 70 or 80 days? His body is probably cold by now. Time to move on, people.

But Disney isn’t about individual creative talent. This is a themed environment, there is a story being told. The creative talent behind it remains nameless and faceless, because they are not the story.

In independent cinema, it is crucial to know who the director is, in a Disney animated movie, it's not. Likewise, one can not, say, thirty years later edit in completely new scenes in a Stanley Kubrick movie without rendering the product creatively meaningless. But you can add in new rides in a Disney park without diminishing its artistic value.

 

[nickys]

But Disney isn’t about individual creative talent. This is a themed environment, there is a story being told. The creative talent behind it remains nameless and faceless, because they are not the story.

In independent cinema, it is crucial to know who the director is, in a Disney animated movie, it's not. Likewise, one can not, say, thirty years later edit in completely new scenes in a Stanley Kubrick movie without rendering the product creatively meaningless. But you can add in new rides in a Disney park without diminishing its artistic value.

You are talking about two diametrically opposed audiences though.

As far as Disney parks and resorts are concerned, the creative talent behind them remains nameless to the general public. To fans of Disney imagineering it does not.

Take the Contemporary mural or IASW and Mary Blair , or AK and Joe Rohde. Indeed, imagineers are honoured in the parks.

For cinema, the idea that is is “essential to know who the director is of an independent movie” is only true for aficionados. Certainly not true for the general public.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

You are talking about two diametrically opposed audiences though.

As far as Disney parks and resorts are concerned, the creative talent behind them remains nameless to the general public. To fans of Disney imagineering it does not.

Take the Contemporary mural or IASW and Mary Blair , or AK and Joe Rohde. Indeed, imagineers are honoured in the parks.

For cinema, the idea that is is “essential to know who the director is of an independent movie” is only true for aficionados. Certainly not true for the general public.

Hmmm....you've got me thinking. In many ways, the DLP hotel and village area very much *is* author driven. Part of their story, of their Americana theme, very much is to be a showcase of US architecture and starchitects. Gehry, Graves, Stern...
Being able to discern their hand is (rather, by now: was) important.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

Hmmm....you've got me thinking. In many ways, the DLP hotel and village area very much *is* author driven. Part of their story, of their Americana theme, very much is to be a showcase of US architecture and starchitects. Gehry, Graves, Stern...
Being able to discern their hand is (rather, by now: was) important.

As it was with Sawn and Dolphin at WDW. A hotel that is a work of its star architect and would not be the same if modified to be more conventional or "Disney" in appearence

 

[mrflo]

In that context, there is/was a book called Building a Dream: The Art of Disney Architecture. Despite being dated now, it is about "the extraordinary buildings designed by the world's most distinguished architects" for and at Disney - with a full section dedicated to Disneyland Paris including its current hotels and some concepts that never made it.

I even got my copy from the Book Store on DLP's Main Street in the late 90s. Not sure if it is still available.

PS: Maybe we should start a DLP Books thread - if people are interested.

 

[marni1971]

PS: Maybe we should start a DLP Books thread - if people are interested.

There was one years ago! Well, a general parks book one. Go for it.

Yes it’s a great book

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Looks like it was designed by the same person who did Pixar Place, another change we weren’t fans of.

We’ve stayed at all 3 DLP moderates and this would be a huge downgrade to us. We disliked the changes at Hotel New York also so our on site options are getting smaller worldwide as time passes, we feel they’re gradually taking nicely done concept/place hotels and dumbing them all down to Pop level theming. We felt the marvel characters at Hotel New York made it feel like a cheap hotel, the photos above make me think Newport Bay will soon feel like a cheap hotel also.

I love Disney but I’ll take a tranquil New Orleans resort, tranquil seaside Newport resort, tranquil Caribbean resort every time over a brightly colored, character overloaded resort… we go to the parks to be enveloped in “Disney”, we go to the resorts to relax. A touch of Disney here and there is fun but when it’s shouting at you the whole time nothing about it feels luxurious.

If I was a little kid I think I’d love the bold colors and characters everywhere, as an adult nothing about this appeals to me though.