As far as I know the Mark Twain refurb has been postponed until next year, because it has to get completely rebuilt like Molly Brown.
Wasn't the Molly Brown rebuilt prior to the 20th? I seem to recall it being freshly finished during my visit 4+ years ago, which would mean that the Twain has been sitting and rotting away that whole time. I know the park really don't need the extra capacity most of the time, but it would be a shame to lose such a unique and authentic feature
It's interesting to see how much of the park was locked in at such an early time (though it says it's "Plan X", so presumably 9 others came before it), while there were still extensive changes in the Main Street and Discoveryland areas. Based on the transportation system, it looks like this would have been the 1930's art deco/streamline modern Main Street, with a direct link to Discoveryland. It's also interesting that there's no massive footprint for Discovery Mountain, since it was originally intended to be noticeably larger than Space Mountain; the D-400 area looks to be about the same size as what was built (though in a different location). It looks like this version of Adventureland included a Jungle Cruise (possibly tying in to another attraction, like early plans for Indiana Jones at DL), and another attraction would have been on the outskirts of Frontierland, but other than that, the west side of the park was essentially unchanged It's also neat to see the labels for each land. Presumably A is for Adventureland, F is for Fantasyland, and D is Discoveryland; W could be for Westernland (though I'm not sure why the name would be changed to the less-clear Frontierland), and I'm really not sure how T relates to Main Street
That's an interesting map. It's fun to see what changed. I quite like the idea of having the train station at the entrance to Discoveryland as the steam element would have worked well and added to the sense of movement that is achieved by the having the Orbitron front and centre. I wonder if that had happened whether Discoveryland would have seen its theme being eroded less as the entrance would have had to stay with the steampunk vibe? I always thought Frontierland sounded quite French regardless of whether it had previously been used in the US parks. For me Western land would sit more uncomfortably.
I'm also quiet happy with Frontierland. Western Land sounds just awful, even more for non-English speakers.
Also, I like the fact that "frontier" is more of a concept than an actual place, just like "Adventure", "Discovery" etc. Sure, here it's represented as a wild west town, but it doesn't have to be. Westernland is a much less open theme.
W400, would that have been splash Mountain? It looks like anything in pink is an attraction in the park.
That could be it. I was trying to figure out what that one was, since it's a strange shape, but it would more-or-less match the shape of the other Splash Mountains. I know that there had been discussions about adding Splash to DLP early on, but they ultimately decided against it since the weather is too cold for too much of the year; even with Tokyo-style adjustments on the water effects they didn't think it would be a big draw in the colder months I'm also trying to figure out what A-400 is; my guess is Indiana Jones Adventure, since it looks like the Jungle Cruise (A-500) and railroad pass through the building, similar to early concepts at DL, but I'm not sure the building is large enough for something like that, or if it was ever seriously considered for DLP that early on
DLP's Main Street is now equipped with LEDs. Frozen Float for the new DLP parade: And here's a new DLP update by Disney Gazette: La Gazette : Début des préparatifs du 25ème Anniversaire
The LEDs look really nice. Sometimes "white" LEDs look too cold and blue, but it seems like they managed to get the color just right I'm looking forward to seeing what the rest of the parade looks like. This seems like a really good start
If I'm not mistaken, DLP worked with German light manufacturer OSRAM, a former Siemens company, for several years to get the light right. When I was stil with Siemens, Osram was still part of the comapny and I read in an employee magazine that they were even developing new kinds of LEDs for DLP so that the light doesn't look too cold.
Those photos of the frozen water in Adventureland really highlight how great the landscaping is there. It really looks like a remote tropical area, but also thrives through harsh winters. Tokyo and Shanghai also get cold winters, but Paris is much colder, yet somehow they make it look as lush as Orlando. It's one of those things that you never really think about, but it goes a long way toward building the illusion
Three new floats for Disney Stars on Parade Three brand new Disney Stars on Parade floats revealed from concept to reality
Very neat! Even though I can't understand 95% of what they say, I really like this video series, and wish they had something similar in the US (and I wish they had similar exciting new things coming to the US parks in the near future, but that's a discussion for a different time). I really like how they're excited about what's coming, without being really over-the-top and fake like so many of the usual Disney promotional pieces; there's a lot to be said for holding back some times
Euro Disney SCA is going to release the first quarter earnings an Friday. I guess the financial results will be terrible, otherwise it doesn't make sense to release the numbers right before the weekend. Usually DLP release them on the same day as TWDC does and Disney does it today.
True, but there's been remarkably little advertising for it so far. We also have Rivers of Light (rumored to start soft openings any day now) at DAK, and the Tower redo at DCA and Fantasmic! 2.0 this summer at Disneyland. It's actually a pretty good line-up this year, but it's been a long time since much substance has been added and we're several years away from anything else being ready after this year too
