Transformative Multi-Year Expansion Announced for WDS Paris

[Robbiem]

Having just got back from what was my technically my second visit but the first since WDSP opened, I can’t help but think if they’re serious about increasing visitor numbers to the Studios then they need to resurrect the Galaxy Edge “lite” land.

Obviously Marvel has a huge following and Arendelle will appeal to the Disney Princess fandom, but Star Wars has a universal fan base of all generations that shows no sign of abating. The Lion King is popular but it’s not going to attract new visitors in the way that Star Wars will.

And the park desperately needs this expansion asap. Sad to think it should have been ready for next year. There is absolutely nothing attractive about the park at all right now IMO. It’s a mishmash of buildings and concrete. And yes, I did read the article and why it was designed like that but other than the small TSL and Remy courtyard the rest is just drab.

I agree Lion King land sounds like a strange choice and wouldn’t appear to have the marketability of star wars or avatar land.

If they don’t go with star wars then avatarland would be a good fit, especially if it had an indoor area like mexico at Epcot.

Or for a unique new IP land how about nightmare before Christmas ? - I see Jack Skeleton merch all over Europe and the IP could make for some different immersive environments with great food and merch possibilities

 

[BrianLo]

I really dislike that the parks are becoming so homogenous, and a Star Wars-themed land just feels more like something that fits a movie studio park more than a Magic Kingdom-style park.

They certainly are more homogenous. Though there is irony in your statement.

Tokyo Disney Sea is by far the most MK-adjacent of all the other gates, despite how much praise it gets and we have Galaxy's Edge meanwhile in Disneyland proper.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

They certainly are more homogenous. Though there is irony in your statement.

Tokyo Disney Sea is by far the most MK-adjacent of all the other gates, despite how much praise it gets and we have Galaxy's Edge meanwhile in Disneyland proper.

True, though I do think TDS at least initially stuck enough to the connective tissue of 'ports' and the scale and detail was distinct enough from TDL next-door. With this whole Fantasy Springs, though, that seems to have gone out the window!

Personally, I don't think Galaxy's Edge was a great fit for Disneyland, but here we are!

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

WDSP makes California Adventure look like an Imagineering masterpiece.

 

[Ripken10]

WDSP makes California Adventure look like an Imagineering masterpiece.

Certainly right to have your opinion, but I certainly would disagree. I very much enjoyed WDSP when we were there as much as California Adventure, and they have only improved WDSP since we were there.

 

[Absimilliard]

Selfishly I'm more interested in the Lion King concept as we've already done Galaxy's Edge and a lesser version, despite having Rise, doesn't really elevate the park in my eyes.

Their gutting of this parks refresh was a huge mistake, however. We're kind of getting the outlay of a much better park, without any of the pieces actually put in place. Oddly, the half failed Epcot refresh may actually have given us more.

While WEB Slingers is a good addition and Flight Force is finally living up to its potential, Avengers Campus most crucial improvement is to food. It was what the park needed to boost capacity as previously, "Rendez-Vous des Stars" was an unpopular and lousy buffet while Blockbuster Cafe was underutilized, for the longest time only serving cold sandwiches and drinks. Their replacements which is Pym and Stark Factory are much more popular, much better food wise and helps the park a lot.

What I also think Frozen and the Lake District will bring to the table: walking space. I did some rough calculations over the weekend and when looking at attraction capacity currently, both Walt Disney Studios and Disney Hollywood Studios are surprisingly close in rider per hour numbers. Difference is the Florida park can accommodate over 35000 guests, while Walt Disney Studios struggles with 20000-25000 and feel a lot more crowded due to its small guest areas.

Disney Hollywood Studios:

Rise of the Resistance: 1600
Millennium falcon Smuggler's Run: 2000?
Star Tours: 2000-2400
Mickey Minnie Runaway Railroad: 2000?
Tower Of Terror: 1200-1400
Slinky Dog Dash: 1100
Alien Swirling Saucers: 700
Toy Story Mania: 1500
Rock n Roller Coaster: 1800
13900 pph (passenger per hour) park wide

Walt Disney Studios:

Avenger's Assemble Flight Force: 1800
WEB Slingers: 1000
Tower of Terror: 1800
Crush Coaster: 700
Cars 4 Roues Rallye: 400-500
Flying Carpets: 640
RC Racer: 400
Parachute Drop: 720
Slinky: 1000
Ratatouille: 2000
Cars Road Trip: 2000 easily
12460 pph park wide

Once Frozen Ever After and Tangled open, Walt Disney Studios will have more ride capacity than the Florida park. Frozen Ever After uses a modified Intamin Spillwater ride system with 16 passenger boats and capacity is around 1600 pph. For Tangled, the plans they filed with the city for the building permit shows 18 "boats" and if each boat can accommodate 4 riders, it can easily do 1000 riders per hour.

I am quite excited for the future after, with Project "Sun" coming soon.

 

[Haymarket]

I am quite excited for the future after, with Project "Sun" coming soon.

What's Project Sun?

 

[LondonTom]

What's Project Sun?

The very odd Lion King land...in place of Galaxy's Edge, that done with learnings from the US would print money.

A ride in Adventureland or something I could get behind...but a whole land seems odd. (I love the movie don't get me wrong, I just really struggle to see it as a land.)

 

[wdrive]

I’m not sure they actually want to build this third park, I think they’d rather stick to two parks and raise ticket prices to keep attendance just below the threshold, at least for the foreseeable future

 

[nickys]

Selfishly I'm more interested in the Lion King concept as we've already done Galaxy's Edge and a lesser version, despite having Rise, doesn't really elevate the park in my eyes.

Their gutting of this parks refresh was a huge mistake, however. We're kind of getting the outlay of a much better park, without any of the pieces actually put in place. Oddly, the half failed Epcot refresh may actually have given us more.

Selfishly I’m just thinking ahead for us. In a decade or so the transatlantic trip probably won’t be feasible - for both health and financial reasons. And although the cost of DLP was expensive (by the time we’d added an overnight stay in London both before and after, plus the train down), it’s obviously less than going to Florida. So although we did Galaxy’s Edge on our last trip it would be great to be able to experience it closer to home.

Now if they give us a FoP type ride as part of the Lion King I’d love it. But I doubt that’s going to happen!

 

[nickys]

While WEB Slingers is a good addition and Flight Force is finally living up to its potential, Avengers Campus most crucial improvement is to food. It was what the park needed to boost capacity as previously, "Rendez-Vous des Stars" was an unpopular and lousy buffet while Blockbuster Cafe was underutilized, for the longest time only serving cold sandwiches and drinks. Their replacements which is Pym and Stark Factory are much more popular, much better food wise and helps the park a lot.

What I also think Frozen and the Lake District will bring to the table: walking space. I did some rough calculations over the weekend and when looking at attraction capacity currently, both Walt Disney Studios and Disney Hollywood Studios are surprisingly close in rider per hour numbers. Difference is the Florida park can accommodate over 35000 guests, while Walt Disney Studios struggles with 20000-25000 and feel a lot more crowded due to its small guest areas.

Disney Hollywood Studios:

Rise of the Resistance: 1600
Millennium falcon Smuggler's Run: 2000?
Star Tours: 2000-2400
Mickey Minnie Runaway Railroad: 2000?
Tower Of Terror: 1200-1400
Slinky Dog Dash: 1100
Alien Swirling Saucers: 700
Toy Story Mania: 1500
Rock n Roller Coaster: 1800
13900 pph (passenger per hour) park wide

Walt Disney Studios:

Avenger's Assemble Flight Force: 1800
WEB Slingers: 1000
Tower of Terror: 1800
Crush Coaster: 700
Cars 4 Roues Rallye: 400-500
Flying Carpets: 640
RC Racer: 400
Parachute Drop: 720
Slinky: 1000
Ratatouille: 2000
Cars Road Trip: 2000 easily
12460 pph park wide

Once Frozen Ever After and Tangled open, Walt Disney Studios will have more ride capacity than the Florida park. Frozen Ever After uses a modified Intamin Spillwater ride system with 16 passenger boats and capacity is around 1600 pph. For Tangled, the plans they filed with the city for the building permit shows 18 "boats" and if each boat can accommodate 4 riders, it can easily do 1000 riders per hour.

I am quite excited for the future after, with Project "Sun" coming soon.

I am so behind with the plans.

Tangled is getting a ride? I thought it was just going to be like an Epcot pavilion with some shops, a restaurant and the tower.

I am admittedly not an Avengers fan. I haven’t seen any of the movies (I liked the original Super-Man and Batman ones, wrong studio). But the Campus is just a street with rides either side. There’s nothing to explore or look at, just concrete. I think there were some plants, not sure if they were real or not. They could have added a mini play park area for pre-schoolers, they could have had an outdoor seating area, a couple of alleyways between the buildings. Why not put in a SotMK type game. Anything to add some energy to the place.

I enjoyed Web Slingers, thanks to a walk-on single rider queue. In the rest of the park I liked Remy, the Cars themed tram ride because of Catastrophe Canyon, and the Mickey and the Magician show. That’s it for me at the park at the moment. So I’m looking forward to the Lake and the lands around it because at least there will be something attractive to look at and explore. I want the theming that Imagineers are known for, not just concrete courtyards and streets.

 

[Absimilliard]

I am so behind with the plans.

Tangled is getting a ride? I thought it was just going to be like an Epcot pavilion with some shops, a restaurant and the tower.

I am admittedly not an Avengers fan. I haven’t seen any of the movies (I liked the original Super-Man and Batman ones, wrong studio). But the Campus is just a street with rides either side. There’s nothing to explore or look at, just concrete. I think there were some plants, not sure if they were real or not. They could have added a mini play park area for pre-schoolers, they could have had an outdoor seating area, a couple of alleyways between the buildings. Why not put in a SotMK type game. Anything to add some energy to the place.

I enjoyed Web Slingers, thanks to a walk-on single rider queue. In the rest of the park I liked Remy, the Cars themed tram ride because of Catastrophe Canyon, and the Mickey and the Magician show. That’s it for me at the park at the moment. So I’m looking forward to the Lake and the lands around it because at least there will be something attractive to look at and explore. I want the theming that Imagineers are known for, not just concrete courtyards and streets.

Toy Story Playland had a remaining ride pad and initial plans showed something like Florida Alien Swirling Saucers going into it. They changed that to a prettier Tangled Tea Cups ride with massive capacity and an extra water feature in front of it, accessible from the lakeside promenade.


My last visit to the parks was a few weeks ago and both times I went inside Avengers Campus, something was happening.

 

[marni1971]

Tangled is getting a ride? I thought it was just going to be like an Epcot pavilion with some shops, a restaurant and the tower.

Flat ride / spinner style

 

[marni1971]

Rise of the Resistance: 1600
Millennium falcon Smuggler's Run: 2000?
.

1700 and 1740

 

[theRealist]

Where the Partners statue and the Toon Studio entrance Mickey statue used to be ... Work in progress!
Source: Pixiedust.be

 

[EPCOTCenterLover]

Certainly right to have your opinion, but I certainly would disagree. I very much enjoyed WDSP when we were there as much as California Adventure, and they have only improved WDSP since we were there.

That's what I love about these discussion boards, a variety of opinions.

 

[LondonTom]

Where the Partners statue and the Toon Studio entrance Mickey statue used to be ... Work in progress!
Source: Pixiedust.be

Super glad I did the photo pass picture by it on my last trip now!!

 

[nickys]

Where the Partners statue and the Toon Studio entrance Mickey statue used to be ... Work in progress!
Source: Pixiedust.be

I’m just back from a trip and I’m desperately trying to remember if & where I saw the Partners statue. I’m sure I recall thinking “why is it there” but I don’t think I took a picture.

Anyone know if they have moved it or am I losing my mind? (After the travel chaos getting back to Edinburgh from London, losing my mind is an entirely plausible explanation).

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I’m just back from a trip and I’m desperately trying to remember if & where I saw the Partners statue. I’m sure I recall thinking “why is it there” but I don’t think I took a picture.

Anyone know if they have moved it or am I losing my mind? (After the travel chaos getting back to Edinburgh from London, losing my mind is an entirely plausible explanation).

The statue is right outside the main building at the studios. I think it was moved for construction.

 

[nickys]

The statue is right outside the main building at the studios. I think it was moved for construction.
View attachment 750086

That’s where you come out of Studio 1 into the park, correct?

That’s where the construction is now. The inevitable walls ae up and you’re diverted round to the left. But I think I remember seeing it somewhere else in the park and thinking it seemed an odd place to have it. If they moved it that makes sense. But for the life of me I can’t think where it was!