Walt Disney Studios Park

Walt Disney Studios Park
Location Disneyland Paris, Marne-la-Vallée, Paris, France
Coordinates 48°52′2.28″N 2°46′44.43″E / 48.8673000°N 2.7790083°E
Theme Show business
Owner Euro Disney S.C.A.
Operated by Euro Disney S.C.A.
Opened March 16, 2002
Website Official website

Walt Disney Studios Park is the second of two theme parks built at Disneyland Paris in Marne-la-Vallee, France, opened on March 16, 2002. It is dedicated to show business, themed after movies, production, and behind-the-scenes. In 2013, the park hosted approximately 4.4 million guests, making it the third-most visited amusement park in Europe and the 21st-most visited in the world,[1] though it has the lowest attendance figures of all eleven Walt Disney parks.

The park is represented by the Earffel Tower, a water tower similar to the Earful Tower in Walt Disney World's Disney's Hollywood Studios.

Dedication

To all who enter this studio of dreams...welcome. Walt Disney Studios is dedicated to our timeless fascination and affection for cinema and television. Here we celebrate the art and the artistry of storytellers from Europe and around the world who create magic. May this special place stir our own memories of the past, and our dreams of the future.
—Michael D. Eisner, March 16, 2002

History

Earffel Tower.

Initial plans for a second theme park, named Disney-MGM Studios Europe or Disney-MGM Studios Paris, were scheduled to open in 1996, though these plans were cancelled around mid-1992 due to the resort's financial crisis at the time. After the resort began to make a profit, these plans were revived on a much smaller scale. Walt Disney Studios Park opened on March 16, 2002.

In June 2007, a new "studio lot" opened in the Animation Courtyard area of the park, named Toon Studio. It is themed as a "toon backlot", representing the film studio work place of animated characters, where they produce their animated classics, including The Little Mermaid, 101 Dalmatians, and The Jungle Book. The concept has been created exclusively for Walt Disney Studios Park and features two 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 after the 2006 Disney/Pixar film Cars, with the ride taking the form of an enhanced tea cups ride. Similar attractions are found in Mermaid Lagoon at Tokyo DisneySea and a bug's land in Disney 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!, imported from Hong Kong Disneyland, replaced the Disney Channel Studio Tour.

In 2009, new attractions and entertainment opened at Walt Disney Studios to run alongside with Mickey's Magical Party, which began in April 2009. Playhouse Disney Live On Stage! opened next to Stitch Live! and is presented in French, English and Spanish. Walt Disney Studios opened with a full size parade called 'Disney's Cinema Parade', which was themed after popular Disney animated and live action films (see 'Disney Wiki'). In 2008 the parade was replaced with 'Disney's Stars 'n' Cars', a smaller version of Disney Stars and Motor Cars Parade, which came from Disney's Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World in Florida. In August 2010, Toy Story Playland opened to coincide with the new Disney·Pixar film Toy Story 3, "shrinking" guests to the size of a toy, and comprises three attractions, as well as several photo opportunities. The three attractions are a Half pipe coaster named RC Racer, a parachute jump style ride named Toy Soldiers Parachute Drop and a Music Express train named Slinky Dog Zigzag Spin, all themed intricately around the first 2 Toy Story films.

Studio lots

Walt Disney Studios Park is divided into four "studio lots", representing various aspects of film production present at a Hollywood film studio.

Front Lot

La Place des Freres Lumiere

Front Lot serves as the park’s main entrance and is home to most shops and services of the park, the Earful Tower is located here. The entrance courtyard, La Place des Frères Lumière, is designed in classic Spanish architecture which was common of the grand entrances movie studios of the 20s and 30s had. La Place des Frères Lumière is loosely based on the design of the original Disney Bros. Studios on Hyperion Avenue. The central feature of the courtyard is a large Fantasia fountain. The courtyard is a tribute to the French inventors of cinema. Front Lot features Disney Studio 1, a covered walkway with shops and restaurants themed after a soundstage with a recreation of Hollywood inside. The exterior of Disney Studio 1 is loosely based on the first soundstage Walt Disney owned. The parks primary gift shop, Walt Disney Studios Store, is located in this lot as well as the park's largest restaurant.

Restaurants:

Shops:

Toon Studio

Toon Studio is inspired by classic Disney and Pixar animated characters. The lot features such Disney and Pixar characters as Crush (from Finding Nemo), The Genie (from Aladdin), Mater and Lightning McQueen (from Cars), Buzz, Woody, Slinky, and other characters from Toy Story, in addition to the classic Disney characters present in the land’s show, Animagique.

When the park originally opened in 2002, the land was known as Animation Courtyard but in 2007, as part of the park’s 5th Anniversary, two new rides were added (Crush’s Coaster and Cars Quatre Roues Rallye). In 2009 the area was expanded with the attraction Toy Story Playland. In January 2012 construction began on a new Ratatouille themed ride and restaurant.

The entire Toon Studio area is believed to undergo a re-theme into Pixar Place (with the exception of the Art of Disney Animation building), similar to the area in WDW Hollywood Studios. This would include a refurbishment or possible removal of Flying Carpets over Agrabah and the addition of Toy Story Midway Mania to the back of Toy Story Playland. This work is due to be complete for the 2017-18 season ready for the Resort's 25th anniversary celebrations.

Attractions:

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Production Courtyard

Disney Studio 1 as seen from Production Courtyard

Production Courtyard's theme revolves around the production aspect of Hollywood movies and the Hollywood mythos, including movie legends. The land contains two distinct parts: Hollywood Boulevard, which features Hollywood-inspired street sets and the rides Twilight Zone Tower of Terror and Studio Tram Tour: Behind the Magic; and Place des Stars themed around the production facilities of movie lots, containing the attractions CineMagique, Stitch Live!, and Playhouse Disney: Live on Stage!.

This area is also to undergo a large place-making development; with Disney Parks confirming the redesign of the Studio Tram Tour course. The entrance to the Tram Tour is to be moved back 100 metres allowing for an extended Hollywood Boulevard with actual buildings rather than set-pieces, as well as better entrances to Toy Story Playland and the Backlot areas. This scheme also frees up land for future developments such as Toy Story Midway Mania. The Catastrophe Canyon area will remain in place as it is quite a distance from the park, however the rest of the Tram Tour is subject to change. This would allow for a much better theme in the central hub of the park, as well as a possible new park icon.

Attractions:

Restaurants:

Shops:

Backlot

The Moteurs... Action! Stunt Show.

The Backlot is themed after actual movie backlots with an industrial theme and is very plain. This lot showcases the high thrills of movies and is targeted toward older children and adults with three thrilling attractions. The Backlot also features soundtracks from blockbusters such as Mission: Impossible II, Planet of the Apes, Batman, or Independence Day.

Attractions:

Restaurants:

Shops:

Sister park

Walt Disney Studios Park has a sister park at Walt Disney World, named Disney's Hollywood Studios, originally Disney-MGM Studios, which opened in 1989. Both are themed after show business, and have provided attractions to each other. The Earffel Tower, Walt Disney Studios Park's icon, is nearly identical to Hollywood Studios' Earful Tower; Hollywood Studios' original icon was the Earful Tower prior to the construction of The Sorcerer's Hat in 2001.

Attendance

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 Worldwide rank
2,612,000[2] 2,655,000[3] 4,500,000[4] 4,710,000[5] 4,800,000[1] 4,470,000[1] 21

Gallery

New for 2014

Toon Studio

Production Courtyard

Backlot

See also

External links

Coordinates: 48°52′2.28″N 2°46′44.43″E / 48.8673000°N 2.7790083°E

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 "TEA/AECOM 2013 Global Attractions Report". Themed Entertainment Association. 2014. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
  2. ↑ "TEA/AECOM 2008 Global Attractions Report". Themed Entertainment Association. 2008. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
  3. ↑ "TEA/AECOM 2009 Global Attractions Report". Themed Entertainment Association. 2009. Archived from the original on June 2, 2010. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
  4. ↑ "TEA/AECOM 2010 Global Attractions Report". Themed Entertainment Association. 2010. Archived from the original on July 19, 2011. Retrieved November 20, 2012.
  5. ↑ "TEA/AECOM 2011 Global Attractions Report". Themed Entertainment Association. 2011. Retrieved November 20, 2012.