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[Kristof]

Updated the list with things I checked.  

[davewasbaloo]

Ben-J over at DCP informs us about the geysers:

Une rehab est prévue mais coutant excessivement cher pour ce que c'est (je ne décrie pas la beauté des geysers bien au contraire je suis le premier à souhaiter les revoir fonctionner mais malheureusement nous avons beaucoup trop d'autres priorités) elle risque d'être repoussée éternellement.

Putting it through a translator, I got that a refurb is planned for the geysers but it will be expensive and may be postponed indefinitely. There are other things that have priority at the moment.

That's a real shame, seems like they no longer treat the Rivers like an attraction in iteslf. At Disneyland in California there is a whole AA village of indians that you can only see from the train, the Mark Twain and the Canoes (and when I was a kid, there was a real burning cabin and a huge waterfall too). DLP always felt let down in comparison, but the geysers made it special and unique, especially as there are none in Big Thuder per se (like in DL, WDW and TDL)

[Kristof]

Returned detail: notice the American flag on Mark Twain.

[pussinboots]

Some good news from this weekend.

- The dragon was breathing smoke again!
- The caterpillar in Alice's Curious Labyrinth is smoking again! *edit* I see someone spotted the effect working in the beginning of July as well. It didn't work when I was there in that period, but good news nonetheless.
- The Columbiad on Space Mountain was recoiling on Sunday. The smoke was also working, but that's nothing new.
- The animatronic chickens in the baskets underneath the Hyperion are back, and working.

However...

- The Columbiad was no longer recoiling yesterday, and the hatch isn't moving;
- The Buzz Lightyear Animatronic is still stationary. The projection of his face is working, though.

I'm starting to believe the rumors about the special effects unit. Things are looking pretty good.

[Kristof]

I'm starting to believe the rumors about the special effects unit. Things are looking pretty good.

This is how it works:

- First, ride and land managers & team leaders can now request refurbishments of effects, façades, whole attractions etc. In the past, these things were checked once every while by the maintenance department, but it's a big park and a small department, so... (The Rock 'n' Roller Coaster responsible personally requested the September refurb by e-mail)

- Secondly, every morning, a team of managers go through the parks with a photo camera and take pictures of things that are broken, unclean, etc. and these are then send to the responsible departments.

 

[pussinboots]

This is how it works:

- First, ride and land managers & team leaders can now request refurbishments of effects, façades, whole attractions etc. In the past, these things were checked once every while by the maintenance department, but it's a big park and a small department, so... (The Rock 'n' Roller Coaster responsible personally requested the September refurb by e-mail)

- Secondly, every morning, a team of managers go through the parks with a photo camera and take pictures of things that are broken, unclean, etc. and these are then send to the responsible departments.

 

Excellent. And they're aware of all effects? Even ones that haven't worked for years? I mean, it's easy to spot a broken smoke effect on a figure holding a hookah, but would these people know about the flaming fountains or the birds at Colonel Hathi's?

Oh and I forgot to mention an effect that's working again — the light in the dragon's throat.

[RnRCj]

I'm starting to believe the rumors about the special effects unit. Things are looking pretty good.

This is how it works:

- First, ride and land managers & team leaders can now request refurbishments of effects, façades, whole attractions etc. In the past, these things were checked once every while by the maintenance department, but it's a big park and a small department, so... (The Rock 'n' Roller Coaster responsible personally requested the September refurb by e-mail)

- Secondly, every morning, a team of managers go through the parks with a photo camera and take pictures of things that are broken, unclean, etc. and these are then send to the responsible departments.

 

It's great to hear that so much effort is being put in to fix things now! I absolutely cannot wait to see RnRC working properly again (I actually had a dream about that last night :lol:).

[Pete's Dragon]

This is how it works:

- First, ride and land managers & team leaders can now request refurbishments of effects, façades, whole attractions etc. In the past, these things were checked once every while by the maintenance department, but it's a big park and a small department, so... (The Rock 'n' Roller Coaster responsible personally requested the September refurb by e-mail)

- Secondly, every morning, a team of managers go through the parks with a photo camera and take pictures of things that are broken, unclean, etc. and these are then send to the responsible departments.

 

It's a pity that loyal fans, and regular visitors couldn't contact the maintenance department directly, and make suggestions as to what needs fixed. As this is the age of the mighty i for interaction, this would be a great way for everyone to feel that they had some level of involvment as to how the park should look

[Magic M]

Has the "Sword In The Stone" smoke effect been added to the list?  Was it working this week Kristoff?

[kristofke]

I was wondering this at the weekend... what happened to him? You still hear him talking about getting your hand stamped at the exit, but they mustn't have had any new recordings from him for 10 years or more. I'd much prefer if parades were announced by a friendly American voice rather than with a disjointed accent and all the words mixed up. "In just 5 minutes will begin It's Party Time with Mickey and Friends. That's in just 5 minutes" does not make sense!.

Mike Wagner worked for Disneyland Paris from 1995 tot 2000 and then went on to become the director of a french radio station

don't know he still works there

would be nice to see him come back

http://www.magicsparks.com/tributes/JW/jackwagner.htm

[pussinboots]

I was wondering this at the weekend... what happened to him? You still hear him talking about getting your hand stamped at the exit, but they mustn't have had any new recordings from him for 10 years or more. I'd much prefer if parades were announced by a friendly American voice rather than with a disjointed accent and all the words mixed up. "In just 5 minutes will begin It's Party Time with Mickey and Friends. That's in just 5 minutes" does not make sense!.

Mike Wagner worked for Disneyland Paris from 1995 tot 2000 and then went on to become the director of a french radio station

don't know he still works there

would be nice to see him come back

http://www.magicsparks.com/tributes/JW/jackwagner.htm

Brings back memories! He has a lovely voice. His replacement is okay, but indeed something's a little off.

[RnRCj]

Updates from 2nd - 4th September 2009. I have only listed things which I saw and have changed since the last update:

MAIN STREET USA

CASEY'S CORNER
- Animated baseball players on overhead menu (RnRCj, 04 September 09)

DISCOVERYLAND

AREA DEVELOPMENT
- Lava pool water fountains (RnRCj, 04 September 09) (only one was working)

SPACE MOUNTAIN MISSION 2
- Columbiad smoke (RnRCj, 04 September 09)
- Smoke before wormhole (RnRCj, 04 September 09) (went by so quick, but did seem as if there was some smoke there)

FRONTIERLAND

LEGENDS OF THE FAR WEST
- Waterfall near Indian village (RnRCj, 04 September 09)

PHANTOM MANOR
- Interior: Leota's "floating" table (RnRCj, 04 September 09)
- Interior: Finale: Fog behind the Bride skeleton (RnRCj, 04 September 09) (was not working Thursday, was working Friday)

BIG THUNDER MOUNTAIN
- Fluorescent pools (RnRCj, 04 September 09)

RIVERS OF THE FAR WEST
- Chewing moose animatronic (RnRCj, 04 September 09)

ADVENTURELAND

AREA DEVELOPMENT
- Waterfall near Frontierland entrance (across Colonel Hathi's Pizza Outpost) (RnRCj, 04 September 09)
- Waterfall near Hakuna Matata (RnRCj, 04 September 09)

ADVENTURELAND BAZAR
- Torches at entrance (RnRCj, 04 September 09)

LE PASSAGE ENCHANTE D'ALADDIN
- Fountain effect inside walkthrough (RnRCj, 04 September 09)

LA GIRAFE CURIEUSE
- Animatronic giraffe (RnRCj, 04 September 09)

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN
- Torch tower near Blue Lagoon entrance (RnRCj, 04 September 09)

[Anthony]

Mike Wagner! That's the name I wanted! Thank heavens for the Disneyland Railroad spiel.

The new voice isn't English or American as far as I can tell, which makes it sound slightly distorted and unfriendly (often getting the words in the wrong other doesn't help), and indeed in some cases new events this Summer have been introduced by their own show director Emmanuel Lenormand, which sounds even worse and incredibly cheap.

Some kind of "Voice of Disneyland Paris" competition would be good publicity, wouldn't it?

As for the checklist, I noted the same as RNRCj, plus:

Videopolis
- Flashing lights on spires on façade (1 September '09)

Castle
- Turning spinning wheel (1 September '09)

Frontierland
- Waterfall near Indian village (I saw this working, but a few days before you RnRCj, so that's a bit disappointing if it's broken again) On a side note, the tepees themselves look awful, as if they're about to rot away.

[RnRCj]

^Both the spinning wheel and the flashing spires were not working when I was there. Or do the flashing spires only work at night? That was a problem with several of the effects I checked - I wasn't sure whether they only operated at night.

And I agree about the teepees. They were filthy. As I approached Frontierland I actually saw some guests walking around the teepees and I got a little over-excited thinking they were open... turns out those guests had gone through the "Cast Members only" door. :lol:

There seemed to be some problems with waterfalls during my visit. I mentioned this is my trip report - a lot of waterfalls were not working, like the ones at Skull Rock, La Cabane, Colonol Hathi's, Fantasia Gardens, the one near Hakuna Matata, and the one at the Indian Village.

[Anthony]

Spinning wheel was definitely working 31st August (that's when I should have dated those, Monday), tsk.

All the Adventureland waterfalls were definitely turned off on that Monday too, after working perfectly fine before. DLP.info mentions something about the lower lagoon being drained slightly too, so perhaps there's actually just some maintenance happening there.

I was happy to see water running from Frontierland to Adventureland, even if the tepees were filthy. Back in April it was dry and full of leaves. The park as a whole is looking fan-tastic.

But as well as the tepees, it's about time Adventureland Bazaar (Central Plaza side) got a major repaint.



Torches weren't working either.