New Disneyland Paris Concept Artwork for Ratatouille and LEGO Store
This past Wednesday was the AGM for Disneyland Paris where we had heard rumours that we might get the opening date announcement for Ratatouille: The Ride. Though that never came to fruition we did get a wonderful piece of concept artwork which helps us to visualise how La Place de Rémy will look.
On the last episode of the podcast Mark and I talked about a weenie, and how Walt Disney Studios was lacking them. That big Gusteau’s sign is clearly the weenie for the new Ratatouille mini-land, and should be seen from quite far away.
As we discuss on the new episode of the podcast, which you can’t hear yet as we only recorded it a few hours ago, Disneyland Paris concept art often depicts evening scenes, so we shouldn’t look too much into that…but what if this, plus the night time parade tease from the last podcast, are in fact an indication that Walt Disney Studios could be about to open later than the current 7pm closing time? When Ratatouille opens we’ll have a new e-ticket attraction, a new sit down restaurant, and an area, that if this artwork is anything to go by, will look quite spectacular lit up in the dark of night.
The whole area looks quite fantastic and for once we could have an somwhere in Walt Disney Studios that people will want to spend time in, more than just walking through from ride to ride. According to the press release the shop won’t open until later in the year, which is a bit baffling, and I’d do everything in my power to make sure everything opens at the same time if I were in their position. You’d think the shop would be a far smaller project than the actual ride, but then if the LEGO Store is anything to go by it may not be that straight forward.
Speaking of the LEGO Store, the rumour mill was in overdrive this week as some said it would open this week, maybe even Wednesday 12th, to coincide with the AGM. That didn’t happen, quelle surprise, but we did some concept artwork instead.
The shop actually looks long and not as deep as the old Hollywood Pictures, but maybe that’s just the artwork not giving away the true dimensions of the shop. My friend @OUTTdlp was out in Disneyland Paris this week and he took this photo of the exterior of the LEGO Store, as it is now, in Disney Village.
You can see that it does closely resemble the concept artwork, well, from what we can actually see through the frosted windows. The mural of the two LEGO figures in front of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle can be seen in the window. If not this past week, then the other runoured opening is April, which given how busy it always is during the Easter holidays, would make perfect sense.
Hopefully we will soon have confirmed opening dates for both Ratatouille: The Ride and The LEGO Store, two of the biggest talking points of Disneyland Paris for the last 12 months or so.
