DLP refurb presentation 25 March 2011 (updated with photos)

[Martyn]

Rethemeing of each hotel? (was that worded wrong, should that have been refurbishment?)

It will be refurbs / retheming (example: Cars being added to Santa Fe).

Yeah, I've seen that, but it does it mean that every hotel is going to be tied in with a film?

[Malin]

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.

You were blaming the weather and I only pointed out that Disneyland Paris is not the only Disney Resort that gets hit by extreme weather conditions each year. In fact I would say the weather in Tokyo can sometimes be worst. Since the park is often hit by typhoons in the Autunm. The area the Tokyo Disney Resort is located in is urayasu, Chiba which was declared a disaster area after the Earthquake. Since a lot of it was built on reclaim land. The only reason no major damage was done to the Resort is thanks to the long-term planning of the Resort Imagineers. The Resort is not perfect but it does place its vaules on how people see the park first. And does its best to keep to that image.

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.

 

If EuroDisney had listen to its fans more we may not be stuck with Toy Story Playland right now. But I do agree that I don't think it should be going by what market research has to say all the time. If Management can't work out for themselves what are the right decisions to make. Should any of them have a job in the first place.

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.

To be fair I see a lot of limited resources being spent on crap that could be better spent on the parks. Some of the new Magical Moments entertainment for instance is a complete waste of money. I am still not convinced that Disneyland Paris have a genuine interest in what the fans think. With more refurbishments coming up however I am willing to give them a chance to prove that there do care for the parks. But its going to take a lot more convincing me than reading anything some webmaster of a fan site has to say on the subject. I want to see real hard evidence and this is the reason why I'm going to be monitoring the situation very closely from now on.

[DGRavenswood]

The Resort is not perfect but it does place its vaules on how people see the park first. And does its best to keep to that image.

And like I said, they've always had the money to actually do so. I'll repeat: We have the bad weather and financial problems here in Paris.

But I do agree that I don't think it should be going by what market research has to say all the time. If Management can't work out for themselves what are the right decisions to make. Should any of them have a job in the first place.

But that's a general problem not limited to DLP. Why do you think we see all those character-based additions in Disney parks around the world? Because that's what people think they want! I'd argue that it's pretty much the same reason we get all those sequels and remakes in cinemas these days...

And to get back to the actual point, I'm not convinced that fans actually know what's in the resort's best interest. Nobody really knows, but DLP itself arguably has better data to make educated guesses.

The Magical Moments Festival for example may not appeal to you and me, but as they can't afford to add a new attraction every year right now, those annual themes are simply an incentive to get people to come (back) at a time when there's little else that's new. Whether that works or not, I can't judge... but if they hadn't brought in more money than they cost, I'm pretty sure they would have abandoned the idea of themed years altogether by now.

I hope so, anyway.

I want to see real hard evidence and this is the reason why I'm going to be monitoring the situation very closely from now on.

I'm sure they'll be on their toes now that they know.

[Josh]

Well Peggie seems nice, and she obviously cares very much about the park. Also, with this new department that "act as a bridge between WDI and DLP's management," it sounds as though things are looking up.

[DopeyDad]

@DGRavenswood "And to get back to the actual point, I'm not convinced that fans actually know what's in the resort's best interest. Nobody really knows, but DLP itself arguably has better data to make educated guesses."

I think you've been spot on with a couple of points here, imagine a park run for 'superfans', I'm not sure it would be as good as some might think, and I'm certain it would be a crummy business. The fact is, fans may not be all that representative of those who visit and love Disney parks, and the parks are for everyone who goes, not just those 'in the know' so to speak.
I'm really glad that as an organisation they are trying a different strategy on engaging people, such as the very family focused ad campaign, to events like this hoping to get inroads in to fan sites. I think it will probably be a good strategy and signifies a shift in emphasis towards quality of experience, if it doesn't go far enough to please everyone would not be surprising, and may well be right.
Now, many people won't agree with that, and that's kinda my point.

[Malin]

And like I said, they've always had the money to actually do so. I'll repeat: We have the bad weather and financial problems here in Paris.

That may be so but a lot of the financial problems it brings on to itself. The reason the Tokyo Disney Resort makes lots of money is down to knowing what the Guests want from a Disney themepark experience. It sells the kind of merchandise the Japanese want to buy. How often do we all complain on here that we can never find anything we want to buy when we visit Disneyland Paris. And yet you visit TDR and you see people leaving each day with bags full of gifts to take back home.

And to get back to the actual point, I'm not convinced that fans actually know what's in the resort's best interest. Nobody really knows, but DLP itself arguably has better data to make educated guesses.

Is that why the Studios is performing so well. All thanks to educated guesses from up above. And the reason TSPL has yet to really make any impact on the overall number of people who visit.

The Magical Moments Festival for example may not appeal to you and me, but as they can't afford to add a new attraction every year right now, those annual themes are simply an incentive to get people to come (back) at a time when there's little else that's new. Whether that works or not, I can't judge... but if they hadn't brought in more money than they cost, I'm pretty sure they would have abandoned the idea of themed years altogether by now

I'm not complaining that new things shouldn't be tried out every year. But these Festivals are rarely viewed in high regard and often the money could be spent on other things instead. Like bringing the Lion King back to the Videopolis.

think you've been spot on with a couple of points here, imagine a park run for 'superfans', I'm not sure it would be as good as some might think, and I'm certain it would be a crummy business.

We already have a park for Superfans. We call it Tokyo DisneySea. And its a very suscessful place. Riding Journey to the Centre of the Earth sure beats anything Toy Story Playland has to offer.

[dagobert]

We already have a park for Superfans. We call it Tokyo DisneySea. And its a very suscessful place. Riding Journey to the Centre of the Earth sure beats anything Toy Story Playland has to offer.

Are you really going to compare Journey To The Center Of The Earth with TSPL? It's like comparing a FIAT with a Ferrari.   Every attraction in both Tokyo parks beats TSPL. I would even say, nearly every Disney attraction beats TSPL, except Chester & Hester's Dinorama.

[DGRavenswood]

We're really getting off topic here...

That may be so but a lot of the financial problems it brings on to itself. The reason the Tokyo Disney Resort makes lots of money is down to knowing what the Guests want from a Disney themepark experience.

Let's say that it helps that plenty of Japanese fully embrace Disney culture. DLP isn't so lucky with its audience.

It sells the kind of merchandise the Japanese want to buy. How often do we all complain on here that we can never find anything we want to buy when we visit Disneyland Paris. And yet you visit TDR and you see people leaving each day with bags full of gifts to take back home.

I see that at DLP a lot, actually... Again, you're talking about us here on a Disney fan board complaining about the souvenirs. That's a very limited audience. In 1992 DLP had some high quality, diverse merchandise that everybody on this forum would dream about these days. But it didn't sell! Unfortunately it wasn't what the general public wanted.

I'm not complaining that new things shouldn't be tried out every year. But these Festivals are rarely viewed in high regard and often the money could be spent on other things instead. Like bringing the Lion King back to the Videopolis.

Are you sure that bringing back an old show would prompt thousands of families to plan their next DLP vacation? The festivals (are supposed to) work because they create an urgency... You have to come this very year if you want to see X small shows and meet characters Y and Z. And again, it's not marketed to us fans (personally I don't care for characters and their shows at all) but I think that for many regular guests it might provide an incentive.

We already have a park for Superfans. We call it Tokyo DisneySea. And its a very suscessful place. Riding Journey to the Centre of the Earth sure beats anything Toy Story Playland has to offer.

TDS isn't a park for Superfans. It's a park that was driven by the creative vision of the Imagineers involved, not by what some people on a message board demanded. Which is exactly what I was saying earlier:

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.

Now, would DLP do any better if they had miraculously managed to build TDS instead of WDS? Who knows! Chances are they'd be even more in debt and only we fans would have been happy for five minutes... until we noticed the place falling completely into ruin.

There, see? I sort of made it back on topic.

[Anthony]

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.

Free trip? No it wasn't. My little two night break for this cost me a lot of money when you include hotel and trains from the UK, which I had to book at the last minute because we didn't get the details until about two weeks beforehand. (Though it was worth it, of course)

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.

Absolutely! Anything I could ever suggest to Imagineering, they've thought of already ten years ago. It's more about whether management and the banks are on board, I guess.

The best thing about this event as a fan wasn't to be listened to but to be talked to...

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.

Indeed. You always know they're there behind the scenes, working hard, but to meet these people and hear first-hand about these projects is totally different. Seeing the individual human effort gives you so much more appreciation. We talk about the castle and Molly Brown on here and it just sort of happens, it's Disneyland... Sitting there and being given such a huge amount of information direct from the people at the top was almost surreal. Hopefully it was good for both sides: Those toiling away on refurbishments also got to meet a group of people who care just as much as themselves about those five exact new shades of pink, etc, and know there are hundreds and thousands more like us out there on forums here and beyond.

[Riebi]

For me it´s an extremly good step, that the resort now "invite" fans/website-masters to have a little "press conference/talk". I don´t like the old DLP way, which means to talk about things to their guest after the things where at the park for a while.

[dagobert]

DisneylandParis from Micechat.com has posted the following map with the refurb locations:



http://micechat.com/forums/disneyland-r ... 1056492155

[dagobert]

What are they going to refurb in Adventureland and what's happening with the Fantasyland Festival Stage?

[Anthony]

What are they going to refurb in Adventureland and what's happening with the Fantasyland Festival Stage?

In Adventureland, Colonel Hathi's Pizza Outpost will get a much-needed exterior refurbishment and the thatched roof of the Coolpost will be redone. I'm not sure about the area around the Bazaar... repaving?

In Fantasyland it's more repaving, between Fantasy Festival Stage and Dumbo.

The map went by so quickly in the presentation I'm glad they released it for everyone to see. I never noticed the red spot on the Rivers of the Far West before, in the corner near Chaparral Theater. Please let that be where those horrible landing rafts are, that they might be integrating them better...

[DopeyDad]

I may have missed it but are there dates set for BTM refurb?

[CafeFantasia]

It's really surreal to see all these familiar (yet rarely seen) faces on Disneyland Paris' official YouTube channel.

[youtube:3gnpp8o9]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O8Punoy8lD4&feature=feedu[/youtube:3gnpp8o9]