DLP refurb presentation 25 March 2011 (updated with photos)

[dlrpteam]

Hello,
My photos of this event of 25.  




































 

[Hathaway Browne]

Looks like you all had a great time.

Have to say I love Frontierland Mickey and Minnie, don't think I've ever seen them in those outfits before, they should have them for Meet 'n' Greets.

[CafeFantasia]

Disney should have to consult this "Fan Brain Trust" before changing or building anything at Disneyland Paris :-) Seriously, they need to listen more to people who know about the parks, and genuinely care about them.

[Riebi]

And isn´t that an interesting step? Talking about news so directly? With this Mr. Gas private talks and the shareholders round tables they seem to understand that they need their fan base more.

[gingajen]

For those who are wondering how Sleeping Beauty Castle looked like in 1992, I made a comparison photo (click to enlarge):

Are those people I see climbing up the outside of the castel in 1992? I wasn't aware that guests were ever allowed to do that!  :shock:

[Festival Disney]

They were cast members That shot is from Opening day, so you can see Mickey, Sabine, Roy, Eisner and Bob Fitzpatrick on the balcony for the dedication ceremony

[Josh]

I sounds like you all had a really fun time!

When is this video of the event that DLP made going to be released?

[Adam]

What other websites went to the presentation?

[Anthony]

Thanks for the photos Dlrpteam!

You can see myself and Kristof in awe at Peggie and Régis at lunch... haha.

And isn´t that an interesting step? Talking about news so directly? With this Mr. Gas private talks and the shareholders round tables they seem to understand that they need their fan base more.

Absolutely, it's a really positive step. I think it also gives us so much more appreciation for everything they do. Being able to actually meet the people making these refurbishments happen makes them that much more impressive. It's not just "Disney magic" and things appearing by chance overnight, but lots of hard work, thought and effort every day of the year from hundreds of people.

I'm just writing up about the new Castle colours now, and imagining if they hadn't shown us the concepts. We'd have been speculating for months and no doubt along the way had lots of negative opinions thrown up. Same for the Princess Pavillion. I really was not impressed by that whole idea before, but now I've actually seen the concept art and a bit of the works... well, I can put up with it.

For the US parks they just leapfrogged the fansites and blogs and set up their own Disney Parks Blog, but at Disneyland Paris - so far at least - they're coming to us and respecting the sites many of us have run for almost a decade, trusting us to report the news for them.

What other websites went to the presentation?

It all went too fast for me to put all the names/faces together, but off top of my head there was Disney Central Plaza, Disney Magic Interactive, Disney Gazette, NewsParcs, Disney & More, ADCP...

[Malin]

We all had an amazing time finding out about all the exciting upcoming refurbishment projects. During the day, all the attending CM's, wether they were VP, Imagineer or salary CM, they were all open to our questions and were truly open minded about our feedback. A big congratulation to DLP for listening to its fans!

To be fair if Disneyland Paris was really that concern with listening to its fans it would not be inviting webmasters down to the Resort that are encouraged to write nice things about them or they can say goodbye to anymore free trips. Sorry I have a lot of time for both you Kristof and Anthony but I'm not convinced that Disneyland Paris is listening to its fans as much as it should be here.

On the positive side I am very impressed by all the different refurbishments that have been announced. Unfortunately most of this stuff could had been avoided had the Resort done more to refurbish this stuff in earlier years. Now a lot of stuff is going to have to be replaced or built from new. And than there is the task of maintening this stuff for the years to come. Will EuroDisney keep on top of it. Or continue to allow everything to decline until it breaks again.

[ed-uk]

They're are replacing the galleon. But I think thats a good idea. A nice new galleon built out of weather resistant material apparently. I think that's a good idea. Don't other Disney parks build from new sometimes? Maintenance has turned out to be a challenge for them. But when you take into account the weather in northern Europe which can be harsh in the winter. Presentations like this create a better understanding between EuroDisney and the fans. It's nice to know what's going on instead of speculating all the time, which is what we mostly do.

[Malin]

But when you take into account the weather in northern Europe which can be harsh.

The Disney Resort in Tokyo, Japan is also open to some harsh weather conditions at times. Especially with it being located on Tokyo Bay. Yet I don't see things falling apart like you do in Paris. So I can't view the weather as an escuse here. Also when you see how quickly its acted to fix a lot of the minor damage done after the recent Earthquake. Your left with a greater impression of just how on top of things that Resort seems to be when it comes to maintenance and upkeep.

[ed-uk]

I get the impression nothing ever breaks down or goes wrong at TDL, I don't know? I'm talking about DLP and it's situation,not OLC. And during the Earthquake Tokyo came out of it a lot better than other parts of the country I believe.

[DGRavenswood]

Sorry I have a lot of time for both you Kristof and Anthony but I'm not convinced that Disneyland Paris is listening to its fans as much as it should be here.

Should they actually listen to their fans? Personally, I think that they should rather listen more to their own creative staff. In my experience, Imagineering projects (much like most creative business endeavors) are better off when they're not based on market research but on creative vision. Don't give people what they think they want, surprise them.

As for logistic issues such as upkeep, that's a different story.

The Disney Resort in Tokyo, Japan is also open to some harsh weather conditions at times. Especially with it being located on Tokyo Bay. Yet I don't see things falling apart like you do in Paris.

Um. Yes. Except that the Tokyo Resort has always been an enormous financial success from the start and never had those budget issues to resolve.

From what fans have been told at the meeting, more of DLP's limited resources are being spent on refurbishment these days. They got to see first hand that there are people at DLP who genuinely care about the parks. And I think we should probably be happy for that.

[Dolph7800]

Thanks for all these updates over the whole week, it's been great reading them. Very excited about the updates to Rock n Roller Coaster. And the castle looks like it will be stunning, just a simple change in hue of the pink is going to make a huge difference judging by the small sections done already.