In the last month of 2015 we’ve had rumours a-plenty about shows, rides and even WiFi in Disneyland Paris. The Experience Enhancement Plan might be well under way by now, but that clearly doesn’t mean that the rumour mill has stopped! This month we discuss the replacement for Animagique, the new Forest of Enchantment musical show, WiFi, a Lucky Nugget Saloon show, a new parade and potential changes to the exterior of Star Tours.
Animagique’s replacement
Rumours arrived this month (as, admittedly, they have previously) stating a date for Animagique’s last show: January 31 2016. The attraction isn’t listed on the Disneyland Paris website, but from all the communication we’ve received this date would seem to be accurate. We’ve also heard that Animagique will not merely be improved but rather replaced. The new show for Studio 3 in the Walt Disney Studios Park has been confirmed to be unique and as such will sport a brand new name. (This sounds like stating the obvious, but it looked like it was still going to be called Animagique). Furthermore we’ve learned that the replacement won’t be PIXAR, and there has been further suggestion that, unlike Animagique, it will not using black light. What exactly the show will be thus remains a mystery, but a fair guess would be that it will feature characters and perhaps stories from Disney cartoons – being that it sits still in Toon Studio.
The Enchanted Forest
We’ve also learned that the long rumoured new show for the Chaparral Theatre will also be new and unique to Disneyland Paris! Huzzah! The show is confirmed to be a musical entitled: The Forest of Enchantment and will be around twenty minutes long, including Disney characters Pocahontas, King Louie, Tarzan, Rapunzel and Merida. The artwork for the show also shows characters from the Jungle Book taking centre stage. Rumours suggest the show will begin 10 February 2016, and will run during the parts of the year when the Frozen Sing-a-long isn’t, meaning that it will run in spring and autumn. Regarding the show itself, it will supposedly include a host joined by 4 singers who represent elements of nature. Most of this information comes from ED92 who also stated that the set would be foldable to reveal moving stairs and would be “continuously evolving”. It will be great to have another proper show at Disneyland Paris – indeed the musical shows in the park have been remarkably successful, so we have every reason to believe this one will be also.
Free WiFi !!
We’ve all been wanting free WiFi in the parks for a long time, and now Disneyland Paris has confirmed when it plans to implement it. The Walt Disney Studios Park should receive WiFi at the end of 2016, while the Disneyland Park will take a little longer, with WiFi arriving in early 2017. These dates are very vague, and knowing Disneyland Paris are probably also open to a little change – so we’ll keep you posted with developments.
Lucky Nugget Saloon show
Daniel Delcourt, an operations head at Disneyland Paris has been the source of much of the news in this article. But he happened to drop in another little gem. He said that Frontierland’s Lucky Nugget Saloon could host new permanent show in 2016. This seems a young idea though, so it may not happen. Nonetheless it would be fun to see the restaurant host more than just live music.
A new parade for 2017
We’ve also had confirmation this month from Walt Disney Imagineering’s Jody Daily that she is working on a new parade for Disneyland Paris’ 25th Anniversary in 2017. No word yet as to what that might entail…
Star Tours show building
@InsideDLParis suggested that when Star Tours reopens in early 2017 as Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, the exterior of the building could have received “big changes”. These might be to make it look more Star Wars-y, or perhaps just to make it more attractive and less plastic-looking. Personally I’d like to see it look a little more like the gorgeous retro-futuristic Space Mountain show building, but we’ve not seen anything new of that beautiful Victorian ilk for a long time, and there’s no reason to suggest we will be seeing any more anytime soon.
Also to note: when It’s A Small World reopened this month, the dolls hadn’t actually ben replaced. It turns out the dolls will be replaced gradually up to 2017.
Excited by the rumours this month? We certainly are! Join the discussion on Facebook and on Twitter @MagicalDLP.