Mousekingdom Blog

Instrumental music playing through (more or less) hidden speakers placed all over the Disney theme parks and even the areas outside the theme parks accessible to guests in the Disney resorts is one of the key elements in setting the atmosphere and making sure guests are totally immersed in the world of Disney. Frequently guests do not even notice the music except unconsciously as it is (mostly) cleverly selected for the different areas to fit the theme of each area. However, once it is noticed guests frequently fall in love with the music selections and enquire with cast members in the area or (in the Disneyland Park) City Hall whether the music is available for sale in the park. Unfortunately the answer is mostly no – even so in particular at the Disneyland Resort Paris CD releases such as “Frontierland en musique” and “Disneyland Resort Paris en musique” at least include a few selected background / area music tracks.

The problem with the majority of the background / area music however is, that it is not recorded specifically for Disney but is so called “needle drop” material, meaning tracks taken directly from other (in most cases: commercially available) record releases. So one would hope, that the resorts are maybe able, to provide a list which tracks are playing in which area (in other words: in which music loop) and from which sources they are. However, the information cast members have at their disposal is very limited in msot cases. This certainly does apply to the Disneyland Resort Paris. Therefore, one of the frequent questions asked on the web is: “Which music is playing in the background loop at ____? Anyone knowing where I can get it?” Luckily there is an answer as far as where to get the information…

(more…)

I can’t explain why I feel like it was, but it felt that this trip was the best so far… I just loved every minute of it. Could have been the great weather (finally after this terrible and could winter), could have been the company (well, that’s a given as I was their with my family) or was their another reason. I might not know why I felt like that on this trip, all I now is that it was great.

It started out fantastic with a super deal we found on Expedia.com (sounds a bit like an advertisement now) for the Marriott. I never expected to ever stay their but the deal was to sweet to let it pass. Now I am happy we did. The accommodations are great, big spacious rooms, 2 bathrooms, big living room and a kitchen with everything you need (if you wanted to cook for yourself). We loved and if another deal like that would pop up we would go again. However, even if we thought it was a great place, it is advised to visit this only when you have your own form of transportation. There is a shuttle bus but on the low season day it was packed to full capacity and I have heard from people staying their you can sometimes wait for 1 hour before you can catch another one. It is said the shuttle only goes out every 40 minutes, but in high season that might just not be enough.

(more…)

Just a short reminder: the US switched to daylight saving time today! Since the European countries are not yet switching the time difference is one hour less for the time being. E.g. Walt Disney World (Orlando, Florida) is now only 5 instead of the regular 6 hours behind Disneyland Resort Paris, while the Disneyland Resort Anaheim (California) is 8 instead of the regular 9 hours behind DLRP.

Many rumors have been floating around regarding the addition of up to three flat rides (including a small “parachute tower”) from an Italuan manufactueer beeing added to the Walt Disney Studios at Disneyland Resort Paris. Most frequently it is rumored that the attractions will be added next to the current Toon Studios area, even so rumors are divided whetwr as an extension or a new mini-land (depending on the rumor either themed to Disney/Pixar’s Incredibles or Disney/Pixar”s Toy Story series).
Due to the release of themes brochures we now know the addition will not come (as originally rumored) in 2009 – but there is new “evidence” that it or another addition may arrive in 2010.
As had been discussed on fan boards (such as http://forum.mousekingdom.com) the current tram tour route might cause problems to the rumored addition of the flat rides or any other addition to the studios line-up in the area next to the Toon Studios behind the Art of Animation. But recently construction fences went up behind that limiting section of the tram tour road … and now a construction notice was errected outside the studios, next to the entrance of the perimeter road behind the Rock’n'Roller Coaster announcing the project of “rerouting” at least parts of the tram tour!

Arriving by plane to Disneyland Resort Paris via the airport Charles de Gaule (CDG), Roissy, means guests have to choose whether to take a 10 minute ride on the TGV train to the resort or a 40-45 minute ride on the resort’s official shuttle bus operated by VEA. Timewise the comparison is easy, especially on the way back to the airport. Costwise the comparison depends on the time of the day a guest arrives as pricing for the TGV depending on rush hour varies between approximately 15 and 23 Euro, while the shuttle bus has the regular price of 17 Euro. Convenience can be a factor too, with the bus dropping guests off directly at each Disney hotel (but not Disney’s David Crockett Ranch), but the TGV arrives at the resort’s train station (Marne la Valle Chessy) which is about 50 meter from the entrance to the parks and the Disney Village, right next to the resort’s bus station, from where free shuttles operRe to all Disney hotels (again with the exception of the ranch). Sounds like a dead race…
Me personally? I am usually taking the shuttle on the trip to the resort and the TGV on the way back to the airport so to be able to stay in the parks as long as possible on the last day. Larger groups and families might also want to consider a ore-booked shuttle service offered by various companies (and also regularly advertised in the google-ads on this blog.

Why this post now? Well, I just took the shuttle into the resort fir my New Year’s trip. T this ocassion I could also witness that the tests from earlier this summer at CDG mudt havebeen successful, since VEA continues to operate the improved pick-up system at the airport. Instead of having the shuttle stop at various pick-up points at the various terminals and then having to radio in an extra bus once the first one was full, now a shuttle runs continuously to pick up the guests at the terminals and transport them to a central stop (between terminals 2E and 2F), where the shuttle to the resort is the boarded. This allows for more convenient loading of luggage and boarding due to the location and to gave extra buses already waiting. A great improvement which speeds up the process and makes it more convenient for guests!

Last year’s visit of the Disney Cruise Line to the Mediterranean wasn’t much of an event for the European markets. Sure DLRP did do a small event in Spain but due to the selection of invited press the event pretty much turned into a non-event. What could have been the big entry of the Disney Cruise Line into Europe’s booming cruise market (especially Germans are more and more turning to this type of vacations) and could also have opened a new market for DLRP of guests combining a Disney cruise with a visit to DLRP just didn’t do anything.

(more…)

We are still waiting for the May 16 opening of the second installment of the “Narnia”-series, titled “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian” (or even longer for some of us here in Eruope, where at least in Germany the movie won’t open till July!) … but the powers at Disney and Walden (the partner of Disney for this franchise) already proof all the gloom sayers on the internet wrong by announcing, that Disney and Walden are NOT abandoning the franchise!!

While some popular sites already declared the series dead or nearly dead unless the second movie did outstanding business the partners used the Comic Con in New York to announce that filming for the third movie in the series will commence as early as October of this year!

(more…)

It is that time of the year again – no, not awards, even so I had one of those posted about for Brad Bird. I am talking about the time the stations decide which shows will be allowed to return for another season. According to the TAG Blog decisions for two of Disney’s animated shows have just been made:

“The Replacements” (on the Disney Channel in the US, on Toon Disney in Germany) will not get a third season but will end after 52 episodes. In the meainte “Phineas and Ferb” got picked up again and an order for 26 and 13 episodes seems to have been placed. “Phineas and Ferb” in the recent months managed to garner fans on the Disney Channel in various age groups and is currently also introduced to the European market. E.g. guests visiting the all new “Stitch Live!” attraction at the Walt Disney Studios Paris at Disneyland Resort Paris are introduced to the show during the pre-show.

Did you notice that I didn’t talk about any rides so far on this trip report? I said it before and I’ll say it again; it is not all about rides, a Disney park is so much more. Sure we did rides! It is always fun to do Big Thunder Mountain a couple of times, Phantom Manor is a must do (being my favorite ride experience) and getting 739000 points on Buzz did add to the fun. But there is so much more. Even my 7 year old son doesn’t mind exploring the other things Disney has to offer besides rides. I think this was a trip where he did less rides then he ever did in any previous visit, still never was he bored once!

With the celebration being the main interest of this trip we got our attention to the Parade, and made sure that we visited each and every shop to see all the new 15th anniversary stuff. Also some good dinner arrangements and visiting some shows (like the Lion King and another visit to see the awesome stunt show) took over most of the time we spend in Disneyland Resort Paris this time around.

(more…)

Here is my first part of my trip report. I will not go for the regular report but will bring you some highlights and other stories related to this visit. I’ll make it a fun read so stick with me and enjoy.

The first day of a Disneyland Resort Paris trip is always special. You enter the place you love and you feel like you’re coming home. My family is not surprised when I send them an “I am Home” text message. Normally I feel like home once I enter the gates of the resort but this time I could not feel it right away. The cause for this was that I didn’t have an annual pass and with the queues at the ticket booths it was going to be a while before I would have be able to buy the ticket. I opted to go to the Studios to purchase it as lines are always shorter there, but I must have been in a queue for a good 30 minutes there too. With the time it took to get a ticket I was afraid that exchanging it at the Annual Pass Bureau inside the park would have me in another big queue. Luckily this wasn’t the case and after 15 minutes at the annual pass bureau I had my “Dream” pass and could finally felt like I returned home.

(more…)

The Orlando Sentinel  just reported that Walt Disney World will finally announce its new head and replacement for Al Weiss. The announcement is just hours away as it is scheduled for the afternoon of today (August 17), local time. Al Weiss had been promoted to oversee the Disney resorts worldwide last November after running WDW since 1994. While a search for his sucessor went on he continued to run WDW provisionally.

Anyway, fans of DLRP should be especially interested in the announcement, since the Orlando Sentinel points out that the rumor mill currently mentions two front runner for the job:

• Jim Lewis, senior vice president and general manager of Disney Vacation Club timeshares

and (drum-roll, please)

• DLRP’s very own Karl Holz, who happens to be a former senior vice president of operations at WDW.

While the job obviously would be a step up on the company ladder for Karl Holz it must be questioned whether another change of guard at the top of the Disneyland Resort Paris wouldn’t be extremly counter productive, as the policies of Karl Holz only recently after some major upheavals on the management levels finally show their first results. Well, we need to wait and see…

Finally…. It has been way to long ago (for me) but when you see this entry we (Me and my fellow bloggers; Dirk and Stefan) will be in Disneyland Resort Paris.

We will bring some nice pictures and hopefully (I’m sure we will) some great stories. For me it will be a 5 day visit full of Disney Magic and we will be celebrating Dirk’s Birthday.

Going to Disneyland Resort Paris too, when you see us, say HI!

How often do you send E-cards? I must admit that I haven’t sent one for ages. But would it not be fun to get one? Sure, especially when you can send them from a collection of over 5000 pictures to choose from. Even better, they are pictures taken by many Disney fans, collected to share with everybody on the web. Search or browse the pictures and send a card to one of your friends.

How does it work? Easy, all you need is a free (yes, as in no cost at all) account. Once you’re logged in you can send a card. Where do you have to go? Just visit ClickMagique PicParade!

But there is more than just sending E-cards. Once you have your account (remember, it is free) you can add up to 50MB worth of pictures. Picture added; name it, comment on it and see how people give marks to it. You can also use them linked in forums or websites, or use ClickMagique PicParade just to keep track of your best Disney pictures.

If you want to share your Disney pictures this is the right place as, up to now, over 450000 times the pictures have been viewed so far.

So what is stopping you? ClickMagique PicParade wants your Disneyland Resort, Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disney Resort, Disneyland Resort Paris and Hong Kong Disneyland pictures! Add them now (did I mention it was free).