Disneyland Paris 20th Anniversary Celebration Train

His face lit up and he actually started dancing and walking, then running towards the train. The thrill of seeing characters he’d only previously seen on Disney Junior, all dancing and waving on a most spectacular looking train, had him in awe. He got close, but not too close, and started dancing and waving at the characters, even shouting I Love You Mickey at one point.

Not everything in Disneyland Paris is going to be enjoyable for everyone, though most are. While traditional fans like myself prefer the theming of Pirates of the Caribbean, the attention to detail of the Castle and glory of Main Street USA, there are children like Lucas who react to something just a little simpler and more on their level. The 20th Anniversary Celebration Train was the very first thing in Disneyland Paris that he got excited about on this trip, and he continued to react favourably to it on every subsequent spotting of it on our holiday.

It was through his, and other children’s, reaction to the train that made me like it too. How could I not like something that gave the children such a thrill and made them so happy? Sometimes it’s not the attraction itself that gives you pleasure, but the response from those experiencing it. Any parent will tell you that vicarious enjoyment is as strong as, and sometimes even stronger than ones own enjoyment. It’s in that way that the Celebration Train became a highlight of our holiday, much to my initial surprise.

In our house we are eagerly anticipating a Disneyland Paris 20th Anniversary CD, as a certain 4 year old has been singing the song that accompanied the train ever since. For those of you yet to hear the music, here it is:

If you are going to Disneyland Paris during the 20th Anniversary celebrations then don’t dismiss the Celebration Train like I almost did – just watch how much the kids are enjoying it, it’ll warm your heart.

Episode 29 of the Dedicated to DLP Podcast is now available. You can listen here online

First of all, apologies for the background interference – not really sure what happened! No Joe this episode as technology is also not on his side, but Steve is joined by his wife and son as they discuss their trip to Disneyland Paris having just returned from the 20th Anniversary celebrations in the happiest place on Earth. We hear about Lucas’s favourite attractions, Steve’s falling out with the Backstage Studio Tram Tour and Denise’s desire for less chips. All this and Dreams, Magic on Parade, Ghost House, Yo Ho Boats and much much more.

Video

Dedicated to DLP TV Episode 9: Disneyland Paris 20 Years of Dreams Book

Links

Disneyland Paris 20th Anniversary merchandise on Disney Store website: http://bit.ly/DLPmerch
Disneyland Paris Mail Order Email: dlp.mail.order@disney.com
Disneyland Paris 20th Anniversary Trip Thoughts: Dreams

Have Your Say

We’ll be back with episode 30 in a couple of weeks and we’d love to hear from you on anything we’ve said in this episode or any other topic you want to chat about, or even just to say hello. You can email us at podcast@dedicatedtodlp.com, tweet us at @DedicatedToDLP and you can find us on Facebook here. You can also see Dedicated to DLP TV on our YouTube Channel.

We took a break from all the activities on offer in the park and had some food whilst watching cartoons in Videopolis. This worked well in recharging everyone’s batteries and it was pretty quiet and cool, so a perfect place to prepare ourselves for the main event. Worth noting that the chicken salad they serve in there, and most eateries around the resort, was very nice. It tasted very fresh and was made up of carrot, lettuce, boiled egg, cherry tomatoes, sweetcorn and of course chicken. Accompanied by some salad dressing it was the perfect healthy option for those of who prefer not to live on burgers and chips.

At about 9.45pm we headed over to the area that used to house the Central Plaza Stage, but is now just an area for people to stand and wait for the biggest spectacle in the 20 year history of Disneyland Paris. Over at Magic Forum, DLRP Magic maestro Anthony has encouraged people to post photos of their feet in the centre of that area, in celebration of the removal of the stage. Here is mine:

The centre of what used to be the Central Plaza Stage

It was quite a daring photo capture, as you can see how close I had to get to the guy sitting right near it. At any moment I could have been on the end of a tongue lashing from an expectant Dreams fan, angry that I’d invaded what he could have perceived as being his space. Luckily I came away unharmed, and with my treasured photo saved to my memory card.

I’d seen the video presentation of Dreams that was broadcast on the internet on March 31st, so the show wasn’t going to be a complete surprise for me. However, there is a whole world of difference between watching it on a computer screen and being there in person to see it. On watching the video back in March, I’d said it was the most beautiful and spectacular piece of entertainment I have ever witnessed, and after seeing it with my own eyes I can only reiterate that same statement.

To say I was blown away would be an understatement. As soon as the music started I felt a tingle down my spine and knew I was about to see something of the like that I’d never done so far in my life. With my little boy on my shoulders and my wife next to me taking the odd photo, I had a life defining moment, a moment that lasted a truly magical 20 minutes. The way the video mapping transforms and animates the Castle is breathtaking. The fireworks, lasers, fountains and soundtrack blend perfectly with this new technology to create a masterpiece that whisks you away to a world of make believe and wonderment.

Disney Dreams in Disneyland Paris

Standing in front of the already majestic Sleeping Beauty’s Castle, you can’t fail to be overcome with emotion and happiness, at what is a truly remarkable show. All the scenes are fantastic, but my particular favourites were The Princess and The Frog with Dr Facilier for the amazing visual of seeing a Steampunk Castle, The Hunchback of Notre Dame for the way the Hunchback leapt from turret to tower, and the start of The Jungle Book scene when the castle transforms into a flowing blue waterfall with Kaa slithering around and down. The whole show is a highlight really, but those bits stand out for me the most.

All the elements play their part in making it is incredible with the fireworks being what I would call soft fireworks, in that they aren’t huge eardrum bursting bangs, but scene enhancing and more gentle displays. The film projections onto water sprays at either side of the Castle are very clever and work incredibly well. The whole story with Peter Pan and his shadow is brilliantly combined with characters and scenes from the other films, and as a big fan of Peter, my little boy was over the moon to see his starring role.

Disney Dreams in Disneyland Paris

The finale is an epic display of all component parts, which in true Disney tradition sees good overcome evil. As the main Dreams show ended we were treated to the sound of Cara Dillion singing Come Dream a Dream as the three of us started to excitedly talk about the stunning show we had just witnessed. Getting out of the park was a case of just moving with the crowd, en masse. Luckily everyone seemed to be in a good mood, and who wouldn’t be after watching that? To our amazement, not only did Lucas stay up to enjoy Dreams, but he walked all the way back to Hotel Santa Fe – no way were we going to to attempt to get on one of the courtesy buses.

We watched it again 2 nights later, this time from a little bit further back which actually gave us a better view of the whole show. This time we had to carry a sleeping Lucas back to the hotel, but he did manage to stay up late enough to watch it on 2 of the 4 nights we stayed in Disneyland Paris. I can’t say enough good things about Dreams, and it’s a good enough reason to book a holiday to Disneyland Paris on its own.

I had expectations, and it blew those into next year – Dreams is everything you could ever want and so much more.

Sunday 1st April 2012

6.30am, time to leave my hometown for my fifteenth trip to Disneyland Paris! I started driving with three friends of mine to be one of the first to discover the 20th anniversary celebration. There was one thing all four of us looked forward the most: “Disney Dreams.” After a two-hour drive with Disney music, we arrived in Chessy to check-in the Relais Spa Chessy Hotel. We were immediately impressed by how fancy the lobby was. Because we were to early to put everything in our room, we left everything in the car. We drove to the park and were ready for some Disney magic!

Passing by the World of Disney Store, you can see that the world is now on top of the roof!

We started our visit in Main Street and with the beautiful sunny sky; it looked stunning in its golden colours. When we looked around, we saw that one of the Main Street Vehicles was waiting for visitors, so we went for a quick drive through the golden street. Our stop was of course Central Plaza and the castle looked amazing as usual.

We decided to grab a fast pass for Big Thunder Mountain, even though the waiting time was only 30 minutes. Our first ride of the day was Indiana Jones et le Temple de Pèril. I was a bit scared at first that it would be too shaky for me since they just took away my wisdom teeth two days before, but luckily there was no problem at all.

We still had some time left before we could go on BTM, so a quick visit to Phantom Manor. There was one little default in the manor: the skeletons on the Doom Buggies were missing in the final scene… After the wildest ride in the wilderness, we decided that we would eat in Plaza Gardens in the evening, so we went through Liberty Arcade to City Hall. I saw a beautiful lamppost that I had never noticed before. On our way, we also saw a character: the one and only Duffy…

When our reservations was made, we headed over to Discoveryland: A fast pass for Buzz Lightyear, a shot into space with Space Mountain and a quick visit to the octopus of Nautilus. In Buzz Lightyear, I wasn’t very successful in shooting the targets this time, so unfortunately no attempt to reach the maximum score…

What’s missing here?

The Nautilus and its blue water looked very clean and it was tempting to go for a swim!

Our tummies started to rumble, so we went to Pizza Planet for cheap food! I had my sandwiches with me, since I wasn’t able to bite a lot yet and fortunately they let me accompany my friends in the ugly tent.

Next up: the Walt Disney Studios! It was the first visit to Disneyland for one of my friends, so we were excited for his first ride on the Tower of Terror. He really enjoyed and it remains one of my favourite rides I’ve ever done. We weren’t done with thrilling rides just yet, so we listened to some Rock ‘n’ Roll! When I came outside of the coaster, I noticed that Marvel has made his way into the parks once again! There were several posters of the Avengers.

After Armageddon, we went back to the park. The friend that had never been to the parks before, had bought a passport annual and since the desk in the Studios wasn’t open, we had to make sure he had his pass. Unfortunately there was a huge waiting line. While he was queuing, I went to the Gibson Girl for some ice cream. The weather was still very sunny, so many guests had the same idea. After twenty minutes, I was back with some delicious but expensive ice cream.

When he finally came back with a 20th anniversary pass, we searched for a good spot to see the new Magic on Parade! I have to say that I quite like the ‘new’ parade. The first float was better than I expected, but the tower could have been a bit bigger. The floating effect of the fairies is very cool, I was quite jealous since it would be a good way to tour around the park!

The carriages are well done as well, but it would have been better if they weren’t driving so closely together. I really missed Aladdin, Jasmine, Belle and Adam (Beast) but the swing fits Rapunzel perfectly.

The other floats were looking great and they are all nicely adjusted to the new song. Some people don’t like the fact that there isn’t any individual music anymore and that the characters no longer talk. I, however, wasn’t really bothered but I was impressed on how intensive the new dance moves are for some characters.

Finally, Mickey and his friends arrived in the stunning final float. The characters look great except for one: Duffy. It’s very odd to see him there. Pluto would have been a better choice. At the end, no Tinkerbell but Donald, who was waving at the guests. Overall, it was better than I expected. It’s a very energetic parade and Mickey on top of the mountain looks amazing. I wasn’t a big fan of the song at first but now I’m starting to appreciate it!

There was one very important ride that we hadn’t done yet: Pirates of the Caribbean. Also in Adventureland, we noticed that the deck of Captain Hook’s Ship was open again! There was even a Cast Member on board, but we didn’t really see any use why he was there.

In Fantasyland we visited Pinnochio and took the tour of Sleeping Beauty Castle. Outside on the first floor, we noticed the equipment for Dreams! Also on the front side, you see that some of the equipment still needs some theming.

There was another dark ride on the list: It’s A Small World. It was the first time that I noticed that there was a boat for disabled persons.

We were too early at Plaza Gardens for our reservation, so we sat down outside and enjoyed the atmosphere. All of a sudden, the music changed and it was as we hoped for. The fountains started dancing! We ran to the castle to see it and it must have been pretty funny to see us running. Short teaser but it got us even more excited to see Dreams!

After enjoying an excellent buffet, even though I had some trouble eating, time to go the center of Central Plaza. The star came out of the castle like a flower and it got us even more pumped! We were half an hour on advance there, but there were already a lot of people. “In five minutes, you can enjoy Disney Dreams!” The new Dutch voice by the way is much better. Now you can clearly understand every word since it’s a native speaker.

The lights went out and the magic started… I didn’t film or take pictures as I had promised myself. One word: amazing. The song choice is excellent and it’s breathtaking what they can do with the castle. The fountains were a great addition and the fire was quite hot! The story was clear but I was most impressed by the ending! Spectacular!

We liked it so much, that we stayed for the second show and this time with an even better spot: very close the ‘VIP room’. I couldn’t resist taking pictures and even this second time, I was blown away once more.

Our energy level was very low, so when we were quite glad to arrive in our hotel room. It was a shame that we were only there for one night, because the room was very luxurious: A living room, a kitchen, a beautiful bedroom, a bathroom with an excellent shower, a separate toilet in the hall and huge balcony. When I looked out of the window, I could even see the Eifel Tower! Still, we were very tired, so we didn’t wait too long to dream about Dreams.

We also see some of the other Disneyland Paris 20th Anniversary merchandise that I brought back from the parks, including pins, vinylmation, coasters, t-shirts, caps and cups.

Direct link to watch on YouTube: http://youtu.be/toWaqUJctwg

Disneyland Paris 20th Anniversary merchandise on Disney Store website: http://bit.ly/DLPmerch

Disneyland Paris 20th Anniversary Signature Range

While there’s no denying that at £23 (plus £4.96 delivery) is a bit on the expensive side for a t-shirt, I’ve seen worse. What really surprises me is the price of the Disneyland Paris Signature Bomber Jacket which at £48 is half of what I was expecting, and has me really very tempted now.

Disneyland Paris Signature Bomber Jacket

When I first saw the Signature Range photos this jacket caught my eye, but wouldn’t have been shocked to a price tag of £100 on it. I’m not complaining though, I hope there is much reasonably priced merchandise to come. I much prefer this Signature Range to the Disneyland Paris Celebration Collection, which by the way now has Mickey and Minnie plushes added to it.

Disneyland Paris 20th Anniversary Mickey and Minnie plushes

It doesn’t state how big the plushes are, and at £40 each you’d hope they are at least 12-18 inches tall.

There are now 36 items for sale in the Disney Parks Collection section of the Disney Store website, up from 19 a few weeks ago. What is interesting is that the section is indeed called Disney Parks, which would indicate that maybe we will see merchandise from other Parks around the world included at some point, not just from Disneyland Paris.

There is also a little banner advert telling us that the Disneyland Paris 20th Anniversary Retro Range is coming to the website too. So soon you’ll be spoiled for choice and you’ll no longer have to do all your shopping in the parks. Have you ordered anything of of their website yet, or will you know the Signature Range has been added?

Disney Dreams in Disneyland Paris

Considering their advertising seems to be very child targeted these days it surprises me that their big spectacular will be on so late. I understand it has to be as dark as possible to get the best effect, but the sun sets well before 10.30pm at the moment. It could well be that my wife and I never get to see Dreams together as one of us may well have to be back at the hotel room with Lucas. I think the first day is our best shot at him being awake as it will actually be 9.30pm according to our body clocks. We could of course be surprised and Lucas stays awake till that late, but that would be quite a surprise.

Has anyone been to the parks recently with young children and did they manage to stay up? Maybe we’ll try taking him back to the hotel during the afternoon for a nap, but that’s not something he usually does, but maybe the extra long activity filled days will change that. I really do hope we all get to experience Dreams together.

Episode 28 of the Dedicated to DLP Podcast is now available. You can listen here online

Joe is back for the whole of this episode as we chat about all the rumours of new attractions coming to Disneyland Paris: Star Wars Land, Marvel Land, more Toy Story and The Smurfs? We discuss what we thought at the time of recording were some of the best pins ever made for Disneyland Paris, but we’ve since been informed they were previously available in Hong Kong Disneyland in 2009! All this plus listener feedback and more.

Video

Dedicated to DLP Episode 8: Three year old Lucas talks about his upcoming trip to Disneyland Paris

Links

Disneyland Paris Pins for May 2012

Have Your Say

We’ll be back with episode 29 in a couple of weeks and we’d love to hear from you on anything we’ve said in this episode or any other topic you want to chat about, or even just to say hello. You can email us at podcast@dedicatedtodlp.com, tweet us at @DedicatedToDLP and you can find us on Facebook here. You can also see Dedicated to DLP TV on our YouTube Channel.

Disneyland Paris Pins for May 2012

Let’s start with the 4 robot pins, which I absolutely love. The Pin MK Robot in particular is absolutely gorgeous with the nicest design of inner workings of the 4 in this set. This has gone straight to the top of my ‘to buy’ list when I arrive on May 6th, and as they come out on May 5th there may still be some available. They have a Steampunk look to them and they would fit perfectly in Discoveryland. In fact, if I were in charge of merchandise at Disneyland Paris I’d make them available only in shops in Discoveryland. I love them, and I’m thinking that’s quite obvious in what I’m writing!

The pin trading bag is not for me, but nice to see them doing something a bit different to the usual courier bag design, which I have and is fine for me. The 20th Anniversary train pins however I do like, for 2 reasons. Firstly the design, which is a great contrast to the robot pins, but perfectly in tune with the 20th Anniversary celebrations around the park. Secondly I love a range of pins that I can collect, as I did the Stitch Invasion pins from a few years ago. However, they are a bit pricey, especially the €19.99 engine pin with Mickey on. These don’t come until the end of May though, so unless I want to pay even more on eBay I’ll probably not get the opportunity to buy them. Bad for my collection desires, good for my bank balance.

The 20th Anniversary Big Thunder Mountain pin is a must. The pastel colours and imagery of Big Thunder Mountain and the Molly Brown work wonderfully well to give a concept art style pin that we don’t usually see. It along with the dice pin seem to go with some kind of pin game collection set, which at €39,99 is another expensive potential purchase. It’s a really nicely styled set.

The last three months of pin releases in Disneyland Paris have been great, and the selection for May is arguably the best we’ve ever seen on any one month. I don’t think I’ve been this excited about Disneyland Paris pins in years, maybe even ever. I really do have to own the Pin MK Robot, it is my destiny.

Disneyland Paris 20th Anniversary Collector's Programme Cover

Unfolding the programme we can see the front cover, back cover and 2 inside flaps:

Disneyland Paris 20th Anniversary Collector's Programme

Taking a closer look at those inside flaps you can see that they come together to make one bigger montage image of moments from the 20th years of Disneyland Paris.

Disneyland Paris 20th Anniversary Collector's Programme Montage

You may have seen some t-shirts featured in the second image – these were special 20th Anniversary t-shirts, which much like this programme were only for sale on 12th April. Here’s a closer look at those t-shirts – do you think you’d have bought one if you were in the parks that day, and if you were there, did you buy one? I really like the men’s t-shirt – it’s not too in your face and it’s nice to have a blue t-shirt rather than the all to common white or black.

Disneyland Paris 20th Anniversary Collector's T-Shirts

This last image is of the inside of the programme which details all the special events of the day, along with a great marketing image of Dreams and some other photos, including one of Tony Baxter. That last one was to advertise Tony’s Concept to Reality talk in Videopolis.

Disneyland Paris 20th Anniversary Collector's Programme

I’ve always been a fan of the park guides and have a huge collection from years gone by. It’s really nice to have this in my collection, even though I couldn’t be there on the day, and it was the kindness of someone that means I have a copy. In fact I also had an offer from someone else who picked an extra copy too. Just goes to show what a great bunch of people Disneyland Paris fans are. I hope like me you enjoyed taking a look at this Disneyland Paris 20th Anniversary Collector’s Programme – let’s hope we can all be there for the 25th Anniversary and get a copy of the Disneyland Paris 25th Anniversary Collector’s Programme for ourselves.