Disneyland Resort Paris is Disney's fourth theme park resort, which opened in the 90s. Although the resort truly broke tradition in terms of introducing Discoveryland in place of Tomorrowland (fixing Disney's long struggle managing to keep the area up to date) and adding beautiful walkthroughs throughout its park as additional experiences for its Guests. However, the park was faced with challenges from its opening day, especially in how to appeal to its new European audience, consisting of groups that speak different languages as well as have cultural differences(moreover when compared to American traditions towards theme parks). Therefore the resort has not been a convincing success and unfortunately, it has been showing in its progress and development over the years. An example of this is that the last major expansion that was executed in Disneyland Park Paris has been the opening of Space Mountain, a few years after its opening. Since then, the park has been able to cover up expansions by re-theming attractions, for example adding Hyperspace Mountain and Mickey's Philharmagic to its offerings.
This is obviously a sad result, knowing that the resort is celebrating its 30th Anniversary this year, yet no major additions have been added to the offerings (with the exception of some newer experiences at Walt Disney Studios Park, which is obviously in a more dire need of extra experiences and attention over its general theming). The resort has however always had a special place in my heart, as it's been the closest to home and I've learned ways to appreciate the resort for what it is. Comparing it to other resorts though, it becomes clearer and clearer that it lacks the same attention and care in terms of potential future expansions (made even more obvious during D23 Expo this year where little to no attention was spent on the resort at all), which is worrisome considering the growth other competing parks and resorts have been making in more recent years (look at Efteling in The Netherlands, Phantasialand and Europapark in Germany etc.). For that reason, I've started to wonder what the resort could offer if Disney finally decided to give more attention to it's parks in Europe and raise the standards of its offerings. This thread will be a series of posts of potential changes, additions and refurbishments for how to meet the demands for the next generation of the theme park industry. Though these will not all be very realistic, I think it offers perspective on what could be... (DISCLAIMER: This thread will ignore the more recent announcements for the resort, including The English Gardens, The Tangled Spinner and even the Kingdom of Arendelle at Walt Disney Studios Park in favour of a more cohesive and thought-out expansion plan for the resort; it will however keep the current Avengers Campus that was recently added to the resort)
Although Peter Pan’s Flight is one of Disneyland Paris’ most popular attractions, the dark ride is showing its’ age after having received little to no love over the past decades. Even though it would be easier and probably more realistic for Disney to choose to refurbish the attraction one day, I thought it would be a fun idea to play around with the option of them moving Peter Pan over to Adventureland, where it already plays a significant role in its theming and could even help to strengthen the overall experience in that area of the park, especially with how several attractions, such as Adventure Isle and La Cabane des Robinsons are related to more outdated and unfamiliar movies in the Disney Vaults(particularly for European audiences who are mostly unfamiliar with The Swiss Family Robinson and Treasure Island movies from half a century ago). Therefore, I would like to suggest bringing in a dark ride to replace Peter Pan’s Flight in Fantasyland, while still offering a smooth transition into Adventureland.
Instead of landing us squarely in Edwardian England, we will now find the façade of Prince Eric’s castle, facing Au Chalet de la Marionette. The castle will resemble the image as it was depicted in the original The Little Mermaid film. Huge cliff rocks surround the castle and allow the illusion to hide the new show-building for the attraction and a clear transition into the rougher cliff sides closer to Pirates of the Caribbean at the park. Within the queue, Guests pass by beautiful waterfalls and shells. As you enter the castle, Guests will encounter an audio-animatronic figure of Scuttle, the friendly seagull sidekick from the movie who entertains them with stories and jokes as well as witness many references to Prince Eric’s castle as it was seen in the movie. From within the castle, we access a tunnel that leads into the rocky grotto underneath the castle. Here, they are able to join in with the interactive queue game that features crabs appearing around various areas of the queue with thingamabobs they’ve retrieved from the human world, as seen in Under the Sea ~ Journey of the Little Mermaid at Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom.
It is then time to find the loading dock of the attraction, behind which you can find a mural featuring Ariel looking out at Eric’s castle on the shore where Eric himself is looking into the distance, wondering where the mysterious voice of his unknown lover came from. Behind her, we see King Triton who suspiciously keeps her in watch. On a small rock, we see Max (Eric’s dog), Scuttle, and Sebastian joyfully waving at us. Regarding the technology used in the attraction, Guests will find that the ride system is rather similar to the former dark ride that took its place, as once planned by Tony Baxter. Giant sea shells pushed forward by seahorses and attached to an overhead track float by and allow us to take a seat in one of three rows. From here, we drift off and pass through cracked wooden doors which resemble pieces of a shipwreck. The doors slam open, and we are surprised by flashes of lightning and rumbling thunder. Fog and mist fills the room as we float by shipwrecks. A dramatic instrumental rendition of Poor Unfortunate Souls plays in the background.
After a while, the mist and the weather clears and it appears that we pass by a peaceful seaside. Here we see a figure of Ariel watching on to a ship in the distance (‘Someday I’ll be part of that world’). Flounder and Sebastian are right next to her. We float past and see that the ship belongs to Prince Eric. On the ship, his crew is singing about ‘Fathoms Below’. Eric himself and Max can be seen on the side of the ship, looking at the water. Max barks at us as the vehicle passes by. We then ‘dive down into the ocean (made real by rings of fiber optics radiating out like ripples), where another level of the attraction can be found (meaning that the two worlds in the story would be stacked on top of one another, resulting in them adding on to each other’s sets). We hear Sebastian saying ‘The Human world, it’s a mess. Life under the sea is better than anything they’ve got up there.’ We are immersed in a large undersea garden, where the undersea life joins in singing ‘Under the Sea’.
Sebastian conducts a calypso of undersea fun from a clamshell overlooking the garden. Many of the creatures seen in the attraction are also found in the film, such as a spinning octopus, a dancing turtle, a group of lobsters, twirling starfish, and a huge blowfish, among many other sea creatures playing instruments and singing and dancing along. The vehicles encircle the scene, passing by Ariel as she dances to the music. We then make our way into an underwater passage where we find Ariel in her grotto, surrounded by all of the treasures that she has collected from the human world. Throughout the scene, Ariel sings ‘Part of Your World’ while leaning on a statue of Prince Eric. The scene features a completely animated Audio-Animatronic of Ariel that has animated fins, hair, and facial expressions. Next to Ariel, Flounder floats along the walls of the grotto. Throughout the scene, Sebastian occasionally appears, secretly spying on Ariel by popping up behind a treasure box, behind a magnifying glass, or in a knight’s helmet in some instances.
The feelings of hope in this scene fade as our shell carriage passes into a dark canyon, filled with smoking geysers. On the sides of the entrance to the canyon we see Flotsam and Jetsam, Ursula’s pet eels, welcoming us into the sea witch’s lair (‘Don’t be scared, we represent someone that can help you...’). As we near a giant sea dragon skeleton, the entrance into Ursula’s lair, we hear Ursula’s voice ominously inviting us in, ‘Come in, my child'. We drift through a spinning tunnel of Ursula’s garden of polyps who desperately moan and watch the vehicles passing by with their bright yellow eyes, trying to warn us of danger ahead. Inside the lair, we see the sea witch herself standing before her cauldron, singing ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls'. In a misty orb floating above the cauldron, images of Ariel nurturing Eric and signing Ursula’s contract appear from within, as Ursula continues to sing. Ariel has made her agreement to give her voice to Ursula in exchange for legs. We then pass by a figure of Ariel who magically transforms from mermaid to human with a swirling vortex around her (an effect that will be equally as impressive to the Beast's transformation in the Enchanted Tale of Beauty and the Beast attraction at Tokyo Disneyland.
Passing out of the scene, we pass under a bayou where we hear a dark instrumental medley of ‘Poor Unfortunate Souls’ and ‘Kiss the Girl’. Flotsam and Jetsam are viciously rocking a boat that drifts above and we ‘dive’ out of the water again as projections of bubbles cover the walls, simulating the illusion of rising above the surface. The shell carriages then proceed past Scuttle who yells ‘Yo Flounder, any kissing yet?’ We then pass through a portal covered in moss and vines which is opened up by two white ibis birds and enter a tranquil, romantic lagoon, as a human Ariel and Eric are seen floating in a boat along the lagoon’s surface. Sebastian sings ‘Kiss the Girl’, accompanied by birds, frogs, and turtles, as Flounder and other fishes encircle the boat, fountains of water rising out of their mouths. Low, dangling moss is suspended throughout the scene. Scuttle is brabbling his seagull song, somewhat breaking the romantic atmosphere. Fireflies twinkle throughout the scene as the moon brightly shines on the scene in the distance. Throughout the scene, Eric and Ariel lean in to kiss each other, only to be interrupted by sudden rocking, leaving Ariel disappointed.
As we exit the scene, the atmosphere completely switches around again. The storm from the first scene seems to have returned and we find ourselves circling a whirlpool from which a giant Ursula figure emerges for our final confrontation with the ride’s villain (‘Now I have the power of all the oceans, bow to my power!’). A miniature Eric is seen on a ship struggling to navigate it in the direction of Ursula. As we turn away, the scene turns dark, but then with a flash of light, we see Ursula again in front of us being electrocuted as we seemingly crash into her, signifying her defeat. The shells pass in front of a doorway to Prince Eric’s castle. Seen within the doorway of the castle, a silhouette of Ariel and Eric are seen kissing. A golden orb glows from within Ariel’s neck, clarifying that she has now regained her voice. The orb proceeds to encircle the two, creating a heart shape as Ariel and Eric kiss.
The shells proceed into the final scene of the attraction, where the kingdom celebrates the wedding of Ariel and Eric on a wedding boat. Several sea creatures, King Triton, Ariel’s sisters, and Flounder are seen in the ocean celebrating, as the now-married Ariel and Eric wave goodbye. Fireworks explode in the sky above the scene. As we fly by, King Triton waves his arm and his trident creating a rainbow that leads us back to the unloading dock. Just before we reach the dock, we see Sebastian one last time on a rock in the water (‘And I suppose, my friends, all adventures must come to an end, but don’t worry! You’re welcome back anytime! See you soon and remember the seaweed is always greener.. Under the Sea ha ha!’). In the background, we hear a joyful instrumental rendition of ‘Under the Sea’.
Exiting the ride will lead Guests into a new shop in Fantasyland called ‘Des Couics et des Couacs a Gogo’ (Squeaks and Squeaks Galore), where you’ll find washed ashore curiosities and souvenirs related to The Little Mermaid. Replacing the nearby Toad Hall quick service option will be the new Les Poissons Restaurant, which is where Guests will be able to dine in Prince Eric’s Royal Castle Dining Room or out on the coastal terrace. Here they’ll be able to enjoy Chef Louis’ specially prepared seafood dishes, as well as vegetarian alternatives. This will offer Guests a somewhat similar experience to the Be Our Guest Restaurant at the Magic Kingdom, offering an expansion of the world of The Little Mermaid through its many references found throughout the restaurant. The inside will be inspired by the interior design of De Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam, with its many glass windows looking out over the sea. Watching out these windows, Guests will notice special animations in the landscape such as Ariel looking out of the water or Scuttle flying by. A red carpet decorates the checkered tile floors, while large paintings hang on the walls (including one that references Sleeping Beauty as a possible connection to The Little Mermaid) as well as the occasional pottery. Guests are also able to sit down in a room themed to be closer to the kitchen, where we see Chef Louis’ silhouette preparing dishes in the kitchen while humming his song. In this room, Sebastian pops up from unexpected corners around the room, supposedly hiding from being discovered and ending up on a plate himself.
Chapter 1: From Flying to Neverland to a Voyage Under the Sea
Although Peter Pan’s Flight is one of Disneyland Paris’ most popular attractions, the dark ride is showing its’ age after having received little to no love over the past decades. Even though it would be easier and probably more realistic for Disney to choose to refurbish the attraction one day, I thought it would be a fun idea to play around with the option of them moving Peter Pan over to Adventureland, where it already plays a significant role in its theming and could even help to strengthen the overall experience in that area of the park, especially with how several attractions, such as Adventure Isle and La Cabane des Robinsons are related to more outdated and unfamiliar movies in the Disney Vaults(particularly for European audiences who are mostly unfamiliar with The Swiss Family Robinson and Treasure Island movies from half a century ago). Therefore, I would like to suggest bringing in a dark ride to replace Peter Pan’s Flight in Fantasyland, while still offering a smooth transition into Adventureland.
Exiting the ride will lead Guests into a new shop in Fantasyland called ‘Des Couics et des Couacs a Gogo’ (Squeaks and Squeaks Galore), where you’ll find washed ashore curiosities and souvenirs related to The Little Mermaid. Replacing the nearby Toad Hall quick service option will be the new Les Poissons Restaurant, which is where Guests will be able to dine in Prince Eric’s Royal Castle Dining Room or out on the coastal terrace. Here they’ll be able to enjoy Chef Louis’ specially prepared seafood dishes, as well as vegetarian alternatives. This will offer Guests a somewhat similar experience to the Be Our Guest Restaurant at the Magic Kingdom, offering an expansion of the world of The Little Mermaid through its many references found throughout the restaurant. The inside will be inspired by the interior design of De Nieuwe Kerk in Amsterdam, with its many glass windows looking out over the sea. Watching out these windows, Guests will notice special animations in the landscape such as Ariel looking out of the water or Scuttle flying by. A red carpet decorates the checkered tile floors, while large paintings hang on the walls (including one that references Sleeping Beauty as a possible connection to The Little Mermaid) as well as the occasional pottery. Guests are also able to sit down in a room themed to be closer to the kitchen, where we see Chef Louis’ silhouette preparing dishes in the kitchen while humming his song. In this room, Sebastian pops up from unexpected corners around the room, supposedly hiding from being discovered and ending up on a plate himself.
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