Transformative Multi-Year Expansion Announced for WDS Paris

[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!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

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!

Yeah my picture is right near the exit if Studio One.

 

[marni1971]

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!

It didn’t arrive in WDSP until the summer of 2002. If you visited before then it would have been missing (IIRC the dedication plaque was installed since the March)

 

[nickys]

It didn’t arrive in WDSP until the summer of 2002. If you visited before then it would have been missing (IIRC the dedication plaque was installed since the March)

No, I thought I saw it elsewhere on Monday. As if they moved it for the construction.

Last time I visited DLP was in 1995 - before the Studios existed!

 

[Indy_UK]

My fear is that studios is just going to become a mash of studios with Avengers/ ToT, Epcot with the new lake, food booths and Nemo/Rat/ Frozen and then Animal Kingdom thrown in with a Lion King Land?

Stick with Star Wars but add fun this time and it will be great. The park will need a ride like Rise. Again, Avengers campus needs a 3rd attraction with whatever that Thanos ride is going to be and Move Lion King to behind Adventureland. I personally don't want Pandora in Paris.

With what they've actually added over the last 30 years... don't bother with a 3rd park please.

 

[theRealist]

My fear is that studios is just going to become a mash of studios with Avengers/ ToT, Epcot with the new lake, food booths and Nemo/Rat/ Frozen and then Animal Kingdom thrown in with a Lion King Land?

Stick with Star Wars but add fun this time and it will be great. The park will need a ride like Rise. Again, Avengers campus needs a 3rd attraction with whatever that Thanos ride is going to be and Move Lion King to behind Adventureland. I personally don't want Pandora in Paris.

With what they've actually added over the last 30 years... don't bother with a 3rd park please.

The future layout of WDS will be:
- entrance + studio 1 + theater district (incl. ToT) = movie studio / classic Hollywood
- Pixar attractions + mini-lands = Worlds of Pixar
- Marvel in the Avengers Campus
- lake district = mini-lands based on Disney Classics (Tangled, Frozen and Lion King)
Far from perfect, but at least it has some kind of structure.

Avatar will only happen if the future movies are successful.

Galaxy's Edge was cancelled in January 2020 for a number of reasons:
- reaction to the ones in the US resorts was underwhelming (except RotR), it wasn't the homerun that Disney needed it to be for such an expensive land
- RotR too expensive to build and to maintain (especially compared to a Lion King Splash Mtn.)
- the Star Wars franchise has lost a lot of popularity since The Last Jedi, and the numbers are getting worse with every release
- the future of Star Wars as a franchise = ????? A lot of movies were anounced, a lot were cancelled. The shows on D+ are doing very bad in viewership and reviews.
- Star Wars has a loud hardcore fanbase that is very devided and thus very niche; while Lion King remains extremely popular with mainstream audiences and has generally a broader apeal as an experience for the entire family

At this point, I wouln't even bet money on the Star Wars expansion in Discoveryland. If Disney can get the franchise back on the rails by 2025-2027, it might happen. If they can't, they'll probably gonna play it save and cheap (!!!) with a Discoveryland themed version of Soarin'. Or they might surprise us with something totally new?

 

[wdrive]

At this point, I wouln't even bet money on the Star Wars expansion in Discoveryland. If Disney can get the franchise back on the rails by 2025-2027, it might happen. If they can't, they'll probably gonna play it save and cheap (!!!) with a Discoveryland themed version of Soarin'. Or they might surprise us with something totally new?

I’d take a Discoveryland themed Soarin over a mini Star Wars Land in Discoveryland. But a none Disney IP attraction being seriously considered? I think those days are over.

 

[mrflo]

Avatar will only happen if the future movies are successful.

After the first movie and the long break, ok. But after the success of the sequel - in particular in France & other European countries? If they are smart and seriously consider to add a Pandora experience to WDS, they should have it open before part four comes out in 2029.

- RotR too expensive to build and to maintain (especially compared to a Lion King Splash Mtn.)

I think that's one of the main reasons why I am bothered with the LK replacement. It seems like it is basically again a cost cutting exercise removing the one attraction from the 2 billions expansion plan that would have added something exceptional and unique for Europe. If they at least were to add something with the same scale and quality. FoP is one of the few existing attractions that could take that spot. A Splash Mt. in Adventureland on the other hand (LK or even better Jungle Book) - great!

At this point, I wouln't even bet money on the Star Wars expansion in Discoveryland. If Disney can get the franchise back on the rails by 2025-2027, it might happen. If they can't, they'll probably gonna play it save and cheap (!!!) with a Discoveryland themed version of Soarin'. Or they might surprise us with something totally new?

I agree that the future of the Star Wars franchise is a bit uncertain in terms of direction right now. The lesson learned from SW:GE was that they should not have blocked themselves into a limited timeframe to only focus on a few characters. That could be easily fixed for anything they are planning to build in DLP.

But wasn't the rumour for this expansion to open around 2028? They would have to finalise their plans before 2025 for it to open by then.

Personally I would even prefer them building an exclusive attraction going back to the original Discoveryland theme. Bring back Timekeeper & Nine-Eye for a new attraction to travel the world using some of the new Sphere 18k screen technology from Las Vegas. Soarin itself would already be a bit outdated for many European guests.