Is it going to be a log flume style like Tianas/splash. Or , a water coaster like journey to Atlantis in SeaWorld ?
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Transformative Multi-Year Expansion Announced for WDS Paris
- Thread starter Jwhee
- Start date
Gusey
Well-Known Member
It's going to be a flume ride, but with larger boats and probably different ride layout.
Definitely, I just wasn't sure if the wider boats could make a larger splash at the bottom, so they might have slightly different results to Tokyo?
Crossed my mind too, but it’s an awful lot of effort for something that could be simulated.
nickys
Premium Member
Star Tours does have an English “option”. But I believe it’s up to a CM to select it. I know DS rode a bunch of times and got one English script out of around a dozen.
cjkeating
Well-Known Member
My leading theory is because this is (I believe) a Vekoma flume so a prototype.
Just to note the only attraction using the Shanghai Pirates tech is Shanghai Pirates. Tokyo Frozen is just a longer/bigger version of the Intamin Frozen Ever After.
Flume.
The ride did not open with the English option weirdly and for some reason they seem very reluctant to use it. I was recently on Star Tours when the host asked (to make his life easier doing the safety spiel) what languages everyone spoke there was a loud cheer for English, a quiet cheer for Spanish, and one French and Italian family so I had assumed he'd also select the English ride audio but not we got French. I'm not sure if it is only programmed into one Starspeeder or what.
cjkeating
Well-Known Member
Even now the new stories are bilingual?
Animaniac93-98
Well-Known Member
So much of this expansion and aesthetics is all about "gardens"
I think that's why they want to open it in the Spring and not Winter
I think that's why they want to open it in the Spring and not Winter
BrianLo
Well-Known Member
I think it’s usual for brand new ride platforms for manufacturers. Which this appears to be. We’ve seen it on things like Shanghai Pirates, Cosmic Rewind, Cars and Stark Test lab as of late.
The only unusual part is that it’s on property.
infloencer
Active Member
Maybe they plan on using the testing parts within the actual ride later on? Then it would probably be easier to build the test track right next to the actual attraction than on the manufacturers property
Supersnow84
Well-Known Member
so much of this expansion is very strange. Lion king is definitely a gap that got filled at the right time but so much of this expansion feels like it’s opening the park up to future expansion when the park needs a reason to visit it right now
Like “smallest frozen area right at the very back of the park” really isn’t selling WDS to people who want a reason to go to it over parc Disneyland
jmuboy
Well-Known Member
Agreed - the Paris resort will always be on the slowwww burn to getting things done.
Gusey
Well-Known Member
I do think Avengers Campus (Phase 1 of this whole project) has helped to draw people to WDS, especially as DLP parkgoers tend to also visit WDW where there can't be much Marvel representation. And the new nighttime show will help to divide crowds in the evening as before people would just park hop to Parc Disneyland after visiting WDS to see the fireworks.
nickys
Premium Member
What makes you think that DLP guests visit WDW?
Some will, I suspect the vast majority don’t. Or will do one trip of a lifetime to Florida.
I agree about Avengers though. In fact anecdotally I think it probably draws new visitors to DLP as a whole, especially those with boys not girls.
nickys
Premium Member
And that is also why I don’t understand the decision to build a land around the Lion King rather than Star Wars.
Sure LK may be popular in France, it’s reasonably popular here too. But I don’t see kids pleading with Mum, Dad, Grandparents to visit Simba more than they would to visit Baby Yoda. I just don’t think it’s going to draw new visitors the same way as Star Wars would. And I suspect LK is more popular with girls, who already have the Princesses to entice them.
Maybe though it’s more designed to entice the adults than create pester power amongst pre-teens?
Sure LK may be popular in France, it’s reasonably popular here too. But I don’t see kids pleading with Mum, Dad, Grandparents to visit Simba more than they would to visit Baby Yoda. I just don’t think it’s going to draw new visitors the same way as Star Wars would. And I suspect LK is more popular with girls, who already have the Princesses to entice them.
Maybe though it’s more designed to entice the adults than create pester power amongst pre-teens?
Supersnow84
Well-Known Member
I can’t remember where I saw it but I’m pretty sure that WDW and Paris have the highest overlap of guests of any of the two resorts
Americans and people who go to America for the parks tend to go to one or the other. Shanghai and Tokyo are very insular in their demographics, HK has a wider demographic but they only go to HK which leaves Paris and MK as the two that overlap the most
Im assuming the overlap is still very minor on a resort wide scale but they may be trying to avoid giving Parisian guests a reason to not visit WDW
Americans and people who go to America for the parks tend to go to one or the other. Shanghai and Tokyo are very insular in their demographics, HK has a wider demographic but they only go to HK which leaves Paris and MK as the two that overlap the most
Im assuming the overlap is still very minor on a resort wide scale but they may be trying to avoid giving Parisian guests a reason to not visit WDW
European1992
Active Member
If Lion King land is not being replicated soon in any other parks, that is a big draw to visit Paris imo. I am glad they moved away from Star Wars, it is overdone.
mrflo
Well-Known Member
I fully agree. The lake and the landscaping around it will no doubt be a welcome change, including the Art Nouveau elements. But outside of Frozen the whole expansion area doesn’t seem to offer much in terms of actual experiences or that sense of being transported to another place and time. Hopefully I’ll be pleasantly surprised once it opens next spring.
My assumption is that DLP will lean heavily on marketing next year - rebranding WDS as “a whole new park” to casual guests who aren’t following all the details, banking on the IPs’ popularity (and maybe using that as an opportunity for further price increases). To me, this expansion feels more like a marketing-driven repackaging exercise of a park with a weak reputation, rather than an ambitious push to fully elevate the product to the highest potential itself.
Technically, Lion King still counts as part of the 2018-announced expansion phase, but I’d really like to understand what TWDC has planned next - especially in light of the $60B “supercharged” investment strategy. Not long ago, insiders were suggesting DLP would see major additions in both parks. Now, things feel quiet, and even Lion King is pushed back to 2029 (instead of the initial 2027 rumors). Avatar, Star Wars in Discoveryland, and other projects are probably still on the table, but the big question is over how many years Disney plans to spread those out.
Right now, it doesn’t feel like TWDC sees any need to accelerate things for Paris - as long as the attendance numbers hold steady and the parks sell out.
Supersnow84
Well-Known Member
Paris does seem to be in a weird rut where it’s technically earning more than Disney needs it to earn but it doesn’t it because the initial euro Disney investment paid off and people acknowledge how good parc Disneyland is; not because they have made worthwhile investments in the resort recently
Like HK is still struggling on attendance so you can understand why they are going harder on expansion and Shanghai probably has the highest input to output ratio of money spent on expansion to guest numbers but Paris is stuck where it needs updates but its numbers make it look like it doesn’t