Transformative Multi-Year Expansion Announced for WDS Paris

[Animaniac93-98]

Dome has now been placed atop the East Pavilion

 

[Bernswss]

The skyline is looking very much complete!

 

[Animaniac93-98]

 

[Supersnow84]

The parks skyline is looking much better than before (and will be even better with lion king)

I’m still unsure though on the two halves. Like the two closest parks to this would be DCA and DHS both of which really pulled back on the opening area to make Hollywood boulevard and Buena vista street, they aren’t “intrusive” to the wider park. But WDS still retains the boxy studio 1, and the production areas that make up toon studio and the walk to avengers. DHS sorta has this as well around commissary lane and the animation courtyard but it’s living lands are more “urban” than what WDS seems to be going for with this art novoveau tree lined boulevard and lake.

The park has a risk of being quite disjointed but it remains to be seen

 

[cjkeating]

The park has a risk of being quite disjointed but it remains to be seen

I will take a disjointed lake area as opposed to more of the same from the front half of the park.

 

[Supersnow84]

I will take a disjointed lake area as opposed to more of the same from the front half of the park.

I agree. I still think it’s a consideration

 

[Sir_Cliff]

I remain a little underwhelmed with what they have done with the front/original part of the park as new paving, lampposts, and landscaping can only go so far.

It is so awkwardly laid out, however, I am not sure how much they can really do with the area without just demolishing most of it and starting over. Until budgets begin swelling in order to permit that sort of reworking of the existing park in addition to expansion, I think we're all unfortunately stuck with trying to put lipstick on the pig that is the original WDS.

 

[marni1971]

I remain a little underwhelmed with what they have done with the front/original part of the park as new paving, lampposts, and landscaping can only go so far.

It is so awkwardly laid out, however, I am not sure how much they can really do with the area without just demolishing most of it and starting over. Until budgets begin swelling in order to permit that sort of reworking of the existing park in addition to expansion, I think we're all unfortunately stuck with trying to put lipstick on the pig that is the original WDS.

Aside from the pinch point outside Crush, it works - once you can get from Avengers to the lake.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Aside from the pinch point outside Crush, it works - once you can get from Avengers to the lake.

While I don't love Avenger's Campus as a theme, I do think it works once you get to that point and basically beyond the big plaza/ex-carpark.

At any rate, I will finally get back at the beginning of December so am looking forward to seeing how it all looks in person!

 

[Supersnow84]

I think it’s fair to draw distinction between “it works” and “it’s good”

Putting pathways between worlds of Pixar and avengers campus and adventure way/bay doesn’t really change the awkward arrangement of the front half of the park and the fact that the lake is kinda trying to pretend like it’s not part of the park

Like when you make a path from worlds of pixar and avengers campus to adventure way you kinda end up with two big dead zones on either side of adventure way you’d imagine would be accessible

 

[nickys]

While I don't love Avenger's Campus as a theme, I do think it works once you get to that point and basically beyond the big plaza/ex-carpark.

At any rate, I will finally get back at the beginning of December so am looking forward to seeing how it all looks in person!

The expansion won’t be open then though. What you’ll see are the changes to the front of the park.

 

[marni1971]

awkward arrangement of the front half of the park

It’s not awkward. It’s very straight forward. If anything it’s plainly obvious; a long straight walkway that has various offerings off of it.

It’s just hanging onto the “studio look” mentality.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

It’s not awkward. It’s very straight forward. If anything it’s plainly obvious; a long straight walkway that has various offerings off of it.

It’s just hanging onto the “studio look” mentality.

I don't think the walkway and lake area are awkward, but I do still find the front half of the park once you make it through the soundstage a bit awkwardly arranged. You have this giant open area that is kind of a studio/theatre area and then paths going off in different directions to the different lands without any obvious organisational logic. The placement of ToT will also forever sit weirdly within the park, IMO, and the empty facades while not necessarily bad looking, also are kind of strange in that they are obviously not fully fleshed out and it is now longer supposed to be a studio set... or is it?

I do kind of agree with @Supersnow84's point in that the organisational logic then suddenly becomes super clear when you get to the new section, which has had significant thought put into how it was planned rather than the patchwork way in which the original park developed.

 

[nickys]

You have this giant open area that is kind of a studio/theatre area and then paths going off in different directions to the different lands without any obvious organisational logic.

Left is Avengers Campus, Right is Crush and the theatre, Straight ahead is ToT, with Pixar and Ratatouille beyond.

I don’t see why this is any different to say DHS. There you have Sunset Blvd to the right, Echo Lake to the left and the Chinese Theatre and Animation Courtyard straight ahead. With GE and TSL at the back of the park.

 

[marni1971]

Left is Avengers Campus, Right is Crush and the theatre, Straight ahead is ToT, with Pixar and Ratatouille beyond.

I don’t see why this is any different to say DHS. There you have Sunset Blvd to the right, Echo Lake to the left and the Chinese Theatre and Animation Courtyard straight ahead. With GE and TSL at the back of the park.

Exactly. It couldn’t be more simpler. It’s even almost fully symmetrical.

 

[BrianLo]

I agree. The issue isn't layout. It's actually quite nicely laid out and somehow has fallen into more Epcot synergy than it deserves. The issue is cosmetic.

Art of Animation does not aesthetically symmetrically work well with ToT. The two Studio theatres are elegantly placed, but are just passable studio shells instead of opulently facaded theatres.

A couple nice facades and a rethink of Aladdin and perhaps a tear down and attraction replacement of AoA would fix the whole thing.

 

[Rush]

This park will graduate from being the ugliest to the ugliest and most incoherent.

 

[Sir_Cliff]

Left is Avengers Campus, Right is Crush and the theatre, Straight ahead is ToT, with Pixar and Ratatouille beyond.

I don’t see why this is any different to say DHS. There you have Sunset Blvd to the right, Echo Lake to the left and the Chinese Theatre and Animation Courtyard straight ahead. With GE and TSL at the back of the park.

I guess I also think DHS has the worst layout of all the WDW parks, so maybe it is just me!

I don't mean any snark in saying this, but I honestly don't quite get the above diagram as of course some things are on one side of the plaza and other things are on the other side of it. I do get that there are two paths that lead off from each end of the plaza and there is some symmetry to the placement of structures, but It's not even entirely clear how everything gathered around that big area fits together let alone there being an intuitive logic to the organisation of the park at present. At least for me, or perhaps we're referring to different things.

What seems very different between the existing and upcoming sections of the parks is you have these paths that kind of wind off through different lands that flow one into the other and with some paths that just serve to connect different areas in between. In the new section, there is suddenly a big, open boulevard that leads to a clear focal point around which different lands will be visibly organised. In other words, there is a very clear organisational logic that is very different from the existing park. That is also where it looks like two parks welded on to one another, particularly as there's no ostensible reason within the park's theme that the different areas are organised differently.

Again, though, this seems to be just me!