| Disney theme park | |
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| Walt Disney Studios Park | |
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| Resort | Disneyland Resort Paris |
| Opening Day | March 16, 2002 |
| Theme | Showbusiness |
| Website | Disneyland Resort Paris homepage |
| Operator | Euro Disney S.C.A. |
Walt Disney Studios Park is the second theme park of Disneyland Resort Paris, but also owned and operated by Euro Disney S.C.A., at the heart of the Disney resort complex in Marne-la-Vallée.
Since 3rd April 2009 Mickeys Magical Party Celebration are held at the park.
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History
The park opened on March 16, 2002 and is themed after a working film studio, with the "lands" being studio lots. Most of its attractions are imported from the other Disney parks in California, Florida and Tokyo, although the park has original attractions including Moteurs... Action! Stunt Show Spectacular, which was later exported to Disney's Hollywood Studios at the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.
It was traditional for a period of time for Walt Disney Feature Animation to have a satellite animation studio at each of the company's resorts, but the Paris studio was located in Montreuil, at the city limits of Paris and was never associated with the park.
Originally the Brizzi studio owned by brothers Paul Brizzi and Gaëtan Brizzi, Disney purchased the studio in the early 1990s and renamed it Walt Disney Feature Animation Paris. WDFA Paris' first films were A Goofy Movie and the Mickey Mouse short Runaway Brain. WDFA Paris contributed sequences to every Disney film from The Hunchback of Notre Dame to Atlantis: The Lost Empire, most notably producing the Firebird Suite sequence for Fantasia 2000. It was closed in 2004 following Disney Florida and Disney Japan, when Feature Animation was downsized to save production costs.
Early Projects
Disney-MGM Studios Europe was the original plan for a second theme park and was scheduled to open in 1996. However, these plans were cancelled around mid-1992 due to the resorts financial crisis of that time.
After the resort began to make a profit, plans for a movie themed theme park went into development again but on a much smaller scale. In 2002, the Walt Disney Studios Park opened.
Recent Growth
June 2007 saw the opening of a brand new "land" in the Animation Courtyard area of the park. Called Toon Studio, the new area is themed as a "toon backlot", apparently representing the film studio work place of animated characters, where they produce their animated classics. The concept has been created exclusively for Walt Disney Studios Park and features two brand new attractions, not seen in any other Disney Theme Park, along with small merchandising locations and many character meet-and-greets. The key attractions in this expansion phase are Crush's Coaster, a custom-designed Maurer Söhne SC 2000 indoor spinning roller coaster, and Cars: Race Rally themed to the 2006 Disney/Pixar film Cars, with the ride taking the form of an enhanced tea cups ride. Similar attractions can be found in Mermaid Lagoon at Tokyo DisneySea and a bug's land in Disney's California Adventure.
On December 22, 2007, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror attraction soft-opened with the new Hollywood Boulevard on Production Courtyard. Stitch Live! has replaced the Disney Channel Studio Tour.
In 2009, new attractions and entertainment will begin at Walt Disney Studios to run alongside with the new Mickey's Magical Party celebration which begins 3 April 2009. A new attraction Playhouse Disney Live On Stage! will open next to Stitch Live! and will be presented in French, English and Spanish. And for the first time, the Walt Disney Studios Park will receive a full parade, the new parade will be Disney's Stars 'n' Cars Parade, which had previously come from the Disney's Hollywood Studios park in Walt Disney World Resort in Florida.
Future developments
June 2010 will see the opening of a new mini-Land integrated into Toon Studio: Toy Story Playland, in coincidence with the new Pixar film Toy Story 3. This space will "shrink" the visitor to the size of a toy, and will comprise of 3 attractions, as well as several photo opportunities.The three attractions are a Half pipe, a parachute jump style ride and finally a Music Express train, all themed intricately to certain toys. It seems this Land will be identical to the area planned for Hong Kong Disneyland.
Studio Lots
The Walt Disney Studios features four themed areas.
Front Lot
- Disney Studio 1
- Earffel Tower
- Place des Frères Lumières
- Restaurant en Coulisee (Fast Food Restaurant)
Toon Studio
- Art of Disney Animation
- Flying Carpets Over Agrabah
- Animagique
- Crush's Coaster
- Cars Quatre Roues Rallye
Production Courtyard
- CinéMagique
- Stitch Live!
- Place des Stars
- Playhouse Disney Live on Stage!
- Studio Tram Tour: Behind the Magic
- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
- Restaurant des Stars (Buffet Restaurant)
Backlot
The park's Backlot features attractions related to action movies and special effects.
- Moteurs... Action! Stunt Show Spectacular is a stunt show based in a Mediterranean town , full of explosive stunts , car chases and a mind-blowing finale. This attraction is unique by the fact that it is the only Walt Disney Studios Park attraction to be copied into Disney's Hollywood Studios Park and not Vice-Versa.
- Rock 'n' Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith is an indoor looping roller coaster based on an Aerosmith music video. The attraction is completely enclosed and the roller coaster portion is in the dark with various smoke and light effects. The ride also features a launched start travelling from 0-60 mph in less than 3 seconds.
- Armageddon - Les Effets Speciaux
- Disney Blockbuster Cafe (Fast Food Restaurant)
- Cafe des Cascadeurs (Fast Food Restaurant)
Sister parks
Walt Disney Studios Park is considered a sister park to Disney's Hollywood Studios (formerly Disney-MGM Studios) in the Walt Disney World Resort, which opened in 1989. Both parks feature a show business theme, and the two parks share numerous attractions. The Earffel Tower, Walt Disney Studios Park's water-tower icon structure, is basically identical to Hollywood Studios' Earful Tower; Hollywood Studios' icon formerly was the Earful Tower prior to the construction of The Sorcerer's Hat in 2001.
See also
External links
- Walt Disney Studios Park (official site)
- WDSfans.com - The Secrets, History and Magic of the Studios
- DLRP Magic! - Full guides to the park's lands, attractions and entertainment
- Walt Disney Studios Park photo album
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Coordinates: 48°52′2.28″N 2°46′44.43″E / 48.8673°N 2.7790083°E
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
