Rumor: Mickey's Philarmagic at WDS

[The Butlin Boy]

Read this from dlp.info:

With Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast opening in less than 2 months, the Toon Studios having finally broken ground and even the Tower of Terror shaping up, guests of both theme parks at Disneyland Resort Paris have a lot to look forward to in the next years ... till 2007/2008. But what then? Well, there is more after that! Just a few days ago DLP.info reported that the financing for the theme park expansion as agreed upon in 2004 included a budget for another new attraction in 2009. After some great Imagineering on the DLP.info Forum internal sources have provided us with an updated look at the current(!) plans for the secret 4th attraction. According to these sources Imagineering already has taken first measurements and looked into different technical approaches and is currently moving ahead with further detailed plans for the 4th attraction. But what attraction will it be?
Well, according to current plans the 4D presentation Mickey's Philarmagic is coming to Disneyland Resort Paris! So far the computer-animated 3D-movie is only presented in the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World and at Hong Kong Disneyland, but rumors have been around since its world premiere in Walt Disney World, that the show was meant to become the next "franchise" attraction to go global.
Certainly the next question is: where will it open in the Disneyland Resort Paris? And the answer is: it will not be in the Disneyland Park but instead in the Walt Disney Studios. Where in the Studios? Well here seems to be a bit of a question mark. Some sources claim it will be Soundstage 2, some sources claim it will be Soundstage 3. Anyway they all agree that currently it is not planned to add a new soundstage for the movie, but to either convert the theater of Animagique (Soundstage 3) or of Cinemagique (Soundstage 2). Both Soundstages are identical as far as their foot print is concerned and both of them would need a major overhaul since the current seating in neither of the two theaters would allow for installation of the screen which surrounds guests on three sides (left, front and right).
But: a lot can change till 2009 - especially as according to the internal sources the attraction for 2009 will not be announced till after the opening of the Tower of Terror. Till then plans may change several times, especially since the new management of Imagineering might have something to say about this as well. So till then this is just another rumor - even so from reliable sources.


Well what do you think then :?:

[flor]

I hope this is true. It's a great ride!! But I hope they don't replace Cinemagique!

[Anthony]

Welcome to the forum, Butlin Boy!  

I've been reading up on these rumours over on DLP.info too.  They're... interesting.  I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that I personally think that Mickey's Philharmagic will *never* replace CinéMagique *or* Animagique.  I've only got a rough understanding of what the attraction's like inside, but I'm pretty sure that it would be very expensive and troublesome to try and fit it into one of those "soundstages".  I'm not saying it will never come to WDS, though - I'd actually bet that it'll be there before 2010.  Just in a brand new building.

CinéMagique, for a start, is in Production Courtyard.  It would make no sense putting Philharmagic here when Animation Courtyard and Toon Studios (much more suitable locations) are right next door.  Add to this the fact that CinéMagique is very popular and easily the best thing in WDS at the moment, and I think it's safe.

Animagique... hmm.  Whilst I doubt the show will last very long once the 5th anniversary of the park has been and gone, I highly doubt the replacement will be Philharmagic.  It's more likely to be a classic Disney live show, like The Legend of the Lion King.  The building is designed as a live show theatre, everything they need is already there.  It has the backstage area, the computer systems, the stadium seating... it's perfect.  It would also be odd to have both Studio 2 and 3 both featuring cinema attractions.  The fact that Animagique is a real show with real, live performers is really important - if they replaced it with a cinema screen, then all the live Disney entertainment would be confined to streetmosphere and parades... which doesn't seem right.

Philharmagic doesn't have stadium seating, and it has a massive 3D screen that wraps around the front of the audience.  So for a start, it wouldn't work in Studio 3 without them changing the seating.  And, because the building was built with the stadium seating in mind (I think the ground of the seating is part of the concrete structure of the building), they'd have to demolish the entire interior of the building.  It just wouldn't be worth it.

So yeah - personally I don't think Philharmagic (at least in it's WDW form - they could alter it) will go into Studio 2 or 3.

I wonder where it could go, then?  It might fit quite nicely right behind Art of Disney, as part of an extension of Toon Studios...  :?

[flor]

Animagique... hmm. Whilst I doubt the show will last very long once the 5th anniversary of the park has been and gone, I highly doubt the replacement will be Philharmagic. It's more likely to be a classic Disney live show, like The Legend of the Lion King. The building is designed as a live show theatre, everything they need is already there. It has the backstage area, the computer systems, the stadium seating... it's perfect.

Maybe The voyage of the little mermaid like in MGM??
It has some scenes similar to Animagique but there would be some little changes: a real life Ariel, Eric, a huge Ursula puppet. So it would be live show with some video and puppetteering.

[Anthony]

Maybe The voyage of the little mermaid like in MGM??

Yeah, a show like that is exactly what Studio 3 was made for.  In fact, i guess Animagique is kinda WDS' version of Voyage of TLM, they're quite similar in a way.

I still think something like LOTLK or DCA's Aladdin would be perfect for Studio 3 too.  It's quite a versatile theatre space, so it would be a shame for them to ruin it by using it for Philharmagic.  I don't think DLRP are (that) stupid, so I don't think Studio 3 will be the place for Philharmagic.

If they do ever get Philharmagic, then whether it uses Studio 3 or not, Animagique will have to go, since the story is the same as Philharmagic...

Any more ideas for an Animagique replacement?