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[phantom247]

According to the French 15th Blog we will see a few changes to the shops very soon!

 The redevelopment of the facade of Walt Disney Studios Store Front Lot because shops are not visible enough. Des travaux sont prévus pour "ouvrir la façade, casser l'ensemble des vitrines pour mettre des portes, donc ça va être beaucoup plus aéré" Work is expected to "open the cover, breaking all the windows to doors, so it will be much more airy"

La confirmation du projet de construction d'une boutique de 2500 m² à l'entrée de Disney Village "pas pour demain mais ça va venir assez vite" (World of Disney) The confirmation of the plan to build a store of 2500 square meters at the entrance to Disney Village "not tomorrow but it will come fairly quickly" (World of Disney)

Le prochain thème pour les vitrines à partir du printemps prochain: "les jardins à la française" The next theme for the windows from next spring: "French gardens"

THERE IS A VIDEO BUT IT SEEMS ONLY AVAILABLE FRENCH

[Anthony]

Thanks for the news. The Walt Disney Studios Store thing seems the most interesting. We've been noticing for years their desperate attempts to tell people rushing past: "THIS IS A SHOP! LOOK INSIDE!", so I'm not sure how to feel about a "redevelopment" of the facade...

The planters do hide the windows, and the shop does seem quite distant from the courtyard. The facade hardly tempts you inside like the wonderful Main Street ones... so there's a chance they could really improve this, add a bit more interest to Front Lot. On the other hand, they might just fill the whole of Place des Freres Lumiere with jumble sale-style clothes rails of princess dresses and horrible Disney Princess-branded canopies.

[Willow]

I said this a few months ago about the random planters which appeared in Front Lot for a few weeks that they were to try and force the traffic around the sides of Front Lot and closer to the shop. I thought it worked quiete well, nobody was walking through the middle except one or two people.

[Anthony]

I changed the topic title from "Resort Shops" and moved this to Walt Disney Studios Park board because these changes at Walt Disney Studios Store have begun:





Source

Apparently they're "opening up" the façade and some of the windows will be replaced by doors.

Oh and hallelujah, that hideous Disney Princess banner over the red canopy has gone!

[Kristof]

There were already changes inside past weekend.  The toys and cloths department switched sides.  The "boutique" room on the left now sells baby and child cloths and toys.

[peep]

Interesting. I never did see many people heading into the store so I suppose a change can only be a good thing.

[pussinboots]

It is a good thing. The facilities along the Front Lot plaza, although nicely designed and decorated, seem tucked away and uninviting.* It speaks for the Main Street shops' powers of persuasion that they manage to lure masses of people inside despite one of the world's greatest weenies (Sleeping Beauty Castle) beckoning in the distance, yet the Front Lot shops can't win the battle against Shoebox 1.

So "opening up" the place might be just what it needs.

*It only recently occurred to me that buying a ticket or an Annual Pass might be a lot quicker there because of that. No lines. They do have an Annual Pass service at the Studios, right?

[ford prefect]

You still have to go into Disneyland Park for the Passport office.

[phantom247]

This annuel passport office is seasonal and open on busy weekends so if you renew before May go straight to Disneyland AP office.  the annuel passport office at WDS is also hard to find tooked away in the corner with minimul signage some obscured by trees.

[RnRCj]

This should be good! I must admit, I always bypass the store (haven't been in there since 2002), unlike the Emporium at DLP which I almost always go in. Hopefully this will "persuade" me to have a look. It'd great if it added something to the area too.

[pussinboots]

This annuel passport office is seasonal and open on busy weekends so if you renew before May go straight to Disneyland AP office.  the annuel passport office at WDS is also hard to find tooked away in the corner with minimul signage some obscured by trees.

Thanks for the information. Seems like another time-saver for those in the know. It wouldn't surprise me if no one on these forums had ever used it, though. Or the regular ticket booths, or Studio Services... All of which might benefit from a little "opening up" somewhere in the future.

[Kristof]

It wouldn't surprise me if no one on these forums had ever used it

You probably expected this reply from me...... but we have used the WDS AP office before to get my mum's AP... It's basically just a tiny desk with 2 or 3 camera's on it and no waiting area at all.  I got photos, will put 'm up on Photos Magiques some time.

[Anthony]

This is way off-topic, but... Though I can understand the idea of having the main AP office within DLP to catch people while they're enjoying themselves, it might be worth considering finding a central place for it outside the gates, perhaps in that at-this-rate-will-never-happen World of Disney store. I always dread the process of getting my AP, and not just because they never understand UK postal addresses.

I've seen huge queues at the WDS ticket booths and actually only ever used those ones myself. The only problem is with the AP sales and also Guest Storage -- I'm never sure if they're consistently open every day, so I'd always go to DLP by default.

MMP fans will be pleased to know the fences are now decorated:

Source: Mouetto, DCP

[pussinboots]

This is way off-topic, but... Though I can understand the idea of having the main AP office within DLP to catch people while they're enjoying themselves, it might be worth considering finding a central place for it outside the gates, perhaps in that at-this-rate-will-never-happen World of Disney store. I always dread the process of getting my AP, and not just because they never understand UK postal addresses.

I've seen huge queues at the WDS ticket booths and actually only ever used those ones myself. The only problem is with the AP sales and also Guest Storage -- I'm never sure if they're consistently open every day, so I'd always go to DLP by default.

Well, it's not that off-topic, is it? The Studios Store isn't the only Front Lot facility with problems. It's good to see they're at least acknowledging this.

(What is off-topic: The Bureau Passeport Annuel in Central Plaza isn't bad at all (best view ever), but my issue with it is that there's a ten-minute walk between the person you pay to and the person who handles your membership. I can't be the only person who's forever having to walk back and forth to get everything in order after having stood in line for fifteen minutes both at the ticket booths and the Bureau. It seems a little unnecessary and indeed, perhaps they would be better off concentrating it in one office outside the parks. But then you can't really complain for that price!)

[MizzRabbit]

Any idea when it will be ready? I always go inside. As soon as I detect a store I go in. I'm excided to see how it will turn out.