Sources
Help build the largest human-edited directory on the web.
Submit a site - Become an editor
Wikipedia. Licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
Are you an expert in this subject? Join the discussion and share your knowledge at Wikipedia.org.
Walt Disney Studios Park
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Disney theme park | |
 |
|
| Walt Disney Studios Park | |
|---|---|
| Location | Marne-la-Vallée, France |
| Opening Day | March 16, 2002 |
| Resort | Disneyland Resort Paris |
| Theme | Showbusiness |
| Website | Disneyland Resort Paris homepage |
| Operator | Euro Disney SCA |
Walt Disney Studios Park is the second theme park of Disneyland Resort Paris, but also owned and operated by Euro Disney SCA, at the heart of the Disney resort complex in Marne-la-Vallée.
The park is currently promoting the resort's 15th Anniversary Celebration with a new attractions and entertainments to mark the occasion.
Contents |
Opened on March 16, 2002 as part of an initiative from The Walt Disney Company pledging to open a new theme park gate at each of their resorts around the world, the Studios is the smallest Disney park and has been a criticism from many Disney fans since its opening - mainly stemming from its lack of attention to detail, theming and number of attractions compared to Disneyland Park (Paris) next door.
The park is supposedly themed around 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, yet the park has some original attractions, such as Moteurs... Action! Stunt Show Spectacular which was later exported to Disney-MGM 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.
Disney could not use the website address "www.waltdisneystudios.co.uk" to access this site until a month before the official opening in 2002. This was after a domain name dispute which ran for almost 3 years. This name, among others was held by a notorious cybersquatter, Mr Andrew South. Mr South has caused many large companies serious domain name problems over a long period of time. These disputes have been well documented. He has also been known by the alias "George Wellington-Scott", and is thought to have held over 70 Disney related names.[1]
On June 26, 2007, a 14 year-old girl from Spain lost consciousness while riding Rock 'n' Roller Coaster. A health team tried to revive the girl, but she was declared dead when an ambulance arrived. This was the first death to occur on Disneyland Resort Paris.[2]
Disney-MGM Studios Europe was the original plan for a movie-themed park in Paris and was planned to be open sometime between 1995-1996. However, this idea was cancelled around mid-1992 due to the drastic underperformance of the resort during that time.
However, after the resort was renamed to the Disneyland Resort Paris in 2002 and Euro Disneyland was renamed Disneyland Park, the resort began to make a profit, and plans for a movie themed theme park went into development again. In 2002, the Walt Disney Studios Park opened.
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.
In December 2007, The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror attraction will open in the new Hollywood Boulevard area of the park. Stitch Live has been confirmed as a replacement for the Disney Channel Studio Tour. Playhouse Disney Live is also to be added to the Disney Channel Studio tour opening around mid summer 2008.
No new attractions beyond 2008 have been confirmed although a Ratatouille themed coaster has been rumoured along with an Incredibles themed attraction and a journey to the centre of the earth.
The 5 themed lands of Walt Disney Studios Park are officially called "Studio Lots". The overlying "story" of the park is that the guest enters the park as a "nobody", but leaves as a world-class movie star "celebrity".
- Disney Studio 1
- Earful Tower
- Frontlot Square
- Art of Disney Animation
- Flying Carpets Over Agrabah
- Animagique
- Crush's Coaster
- Cars Quatre Roues Rallye
- CinéMagique
- Stitch Live (Opening 'Early 2008')
- Moteurs... Action! Stunt Show Spectacular
- Rock 'n' Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith
- Armageddon - Les Effets Speciaux
- ^ Nominet.
- ^ Investigation after girl, 14, dies on Disneyland Paris ride. The Herald.
- 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
- Everything you need to know about the Walt Disney Studios
- DLP Foodguide - All the restaurants, all the menu's and tons of reviews