Category: DL vs DLP

Comparison of Disneyland and Disneyland Resort Paris in terms of design, queues, nomenclature, etc

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Disney History DL vs DLP In the Parks

Anaheim vs. Paris: “it’s a small world”

This week, in my final article to compare the Fantasylands in California and Paris, I shall be looking at “it’s a small world”, the ride which –according to Marty Sklar- has a “song [which] will drive you bananas if you hear it often enough, but from a message standpoint … is a timeless attraction”.

Both versions of the attraction keep the title in lower case and enclosed in quotation marks. For this article however, I shall use the abbreviation of iasw, although I have known several Cast Members use the initials FAD instead, standing for “F-ing Annoying Dolls”.

Both rides last approximately fifteen minutes and feature the titular song as composed by the Sherman Brothers for the “Children of The World” pavilion at the 1964 World Fair. However, the song was re-recorded for the Paris’ park, using choirs from around Europe.

iasw in Paris was an opening day attraction. It has only had one sponsor (France Telecom) which has been funding the ride from park-opening until 2009. Over the years, California’s iasw (which opened in 1966) has had several sponsors, including Bank of America. Mattel and Sylvania. At the World’s Fair, it was sponsored by Pepsi-Cola but promoted UNICEF.

The “America” scene in Paris is much bigger than the equivalent room in California; the scene existed in Paris long before it was added to the one in Anaheim. Paris’s iasw also features a Middle-Eastern section (not appearing in Anaheim) in which the dolls sing in Arabic.

With the exception of Ariel, Paris’ iasw does not feature any of the 29 Disney/Disney*Pixar characters added to the California version in 2009; however, France’s ride does feature Slinky Dog from Toy Story (who doesn’t appear in the Anaheim ride). Both versions feature Hidden Mickeys and Magic Carpet from Aladdin.

Both rides start with a “hello room” and end with a “goodbye room” with the penultimate scene being the “Finale” where representations of dolls from previous scenes wear white and sing together. In the version in California, all dolls sing in English in this section; in Paris this scene also features verses in French and German.

Neither version offers Fastpass (although California’s “it’s a small world holiday” was the world’s first attraction ever to offer this service, back in 1999).

Further differences include: the Great Britain scene in France doesn’t feature the song being performed in a (bad) cockney accent; the French version doesn’t feature a “hidden Mary Blair” halfway up its Eiffel Tower; the French attraction is completely covered so as to help protect it from the elements; the French ride is made up of one big interconnected room, rather than lots of little rooms; the floor is flooded in Paris whereas the water only exists in troughs in Anaheim; the clock face outside the park (with a display every fifteen minutes) in France is shaped like the sun and the moon, whereas in California it is based on the dolls’ faces. (The clock and the identical faces were both designed by the same man: Gregory S. Marinello).

Whereas California’s iasw annually turns into “it’s a small world holiday”, France’s becomes “it’s a small world celebration”.

In terms of similarities, both versions of the ride feature a sun or moon in virtually every scene, both are continually loading mass capacity attractions (with the one in California being the first ever Disney ride which could be described thus), both feature topiaries around the exterior (although France’s version also features fountains), both feature the Disneyland Railroad visibly traveling between the queue area and the show building, and both feature the “please remain seated” spiel at the end of the ride in English, French and Spanish.

 

Portions of this article first appeared in my musings for DLDHistory.com in August 2011, which also featured an interview with Chris Bailey who was the director of the (now-closed) post-show for DLP’s iasw.

 

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Disney History DL vs DLP Gone But Not Forgotten In the Parks Reviews

Anaheim vs. Paris: Casey Jr. Circus Train and Storybook Land Canal Boats

Early plans for the Fantasyland in the Anaheim park included a roller coaster called Rock Candy Mountain, upon which guests were transported on Casey Jr. style trains. There would be a canal surrounding this, which guests could circumnavigate on miniature boats.

It is claimed that this concept was abandoned when Imagineers thought that visitors may be put off by the sickly looking design for the mountain. However, other sources imply that it was for financial reasons that this wasn’t built.

What did appear on opening day was Canal Boats of The World, known to some Cast Members as The Mud Bank Ride. It broke down often, with employees frequently having to pull the boats along by hand. As part of the spiel, Cast Members had to promise that the ride would be improved over time, with replicas of major world cities being added over time.

Although these cities were never added, one feels perhaps this could have been a precursor to It’s a Small World.

On July 31st 1955, Casey Jr. Circus Train opened nearby, giving riders the chance to see the same pieces of mud from a different angle. As Dumbo the Flying Elephant has not opened yet, Casey Jr. was officially the first Dumbo based attraction to open at the park.

Several portions of the passenger cars had once been part of the chariots on the same Dentzel Carousel that had been transformed into King Arthur Carrousel for Opening Day.

On September 16th 1955, Canal Boats of The World was closed for good, to be replaced with Storybook Land Canal Boats, which opened on June 16th 1956.

Very little about either Casey Jr. Circus Train or Storybook Land Canal Boats has been changed since then, although various scenes on the latter have been altered or replaced. For example, the Sultan’s Palace from Aladdin was added in 1994 in the position of Toad Hall. Toad Hall was re-added to the attraction, at a different location, the following year.

1994 was also the year that the equivalents of these two rides were added to Disneyland Paris. To date, neither of these attractions have appeared in any other Disney parks worldwide.

Casey Jr. Le Petit Train du Cirque is very similar in design to its California counterpart. However, truer to Walt’s original intention, this version is billed as a roller coaster, although (due to it never being reliant on gravity) officially it is a power coaster, Disney’s only one to date.

Although both versions have a top speed of approximately 14mph, the Paris one feels faster due to being a shorter ride (two and a half minutes, as opposed to California’s three and a half) and has several rises and falls whereas Anaheim features only one “lift”.

In most ways, the ride experience is identical. Both feature trains of seven cars, a rearrangement of the Frank Churchill/Ned Washington song from the movie and cages which can make the rider feel claustrophobic.

The Paris version does however have a “going backwards” option, a synchronised on-board audio system (the first coaster in the world to feature this) and it goes closer to the Canal attraction. The two attractions are more closely intertwined, and in some instances –such as the Beast’s Castle- shows propping not visible on the boat ride.

Le Pays de Contes de Fées (which translates as The Land of Fairy Tales) is, conceptually at least, very similar to Storybook Land Canal Boats. Both feature miniature models of scenes from Disney movies –although the films in question are not always the same- and travel in a dyed waterway with music playing throughout to set the atmosphere.

Both versions feature boarding by the side of a faux-lighthouse. The Californian one used to be a ticket office, whereas the one in France is used mainly as storage for cleaning utensils.

The France version does not have an on-board guide. Likewise, it does not have dialogue emerging from any of the models nor is it powered by motors.

All the boats in the Anaheim ride are named after Disney characters. This is the case in France too, although the latter uses their French names. There are 20 such boats in France and 13 in the States; although both versions rarely have all in circulation at any one time.

All of the boats in France are named after female characters, whereas in California, there is one named after a male: Flower, the skunk from Bambi.

The Paris equivalent features a Rapunzel scene –maybe the Imagineers were presupposing Tangled- and a tiger-mouth entrance to the “Cave of Wonders” scene but no Monstro.

 

Portions of this article first appeared in my musings for DLDHistory.com in March 2011.

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DL vs DLP In the Parks

Anaheim vs. Paris: Alice in Wonderland

Although there is no direct equivalent to Anaheim’s Alice in Wonderland ride in Disneyland Paris, there is an attraction called “Alice’s Curious Labyrinth”.

The Labyrinth is a hedge maze consisting of two parts: Tulgey Wood (which is the more comical part) and the harder-to-navigate Queen of Heart’s Maze (which is mildly scarier, with characters and noises installed in such a way to make you jump). It is possible to leave the attraction before getting to Queen of Heart’s Maze, in case you are with someone finding the experience too intense.

In the centre of the maze is The Queen’s Castle, which one can climb up for a view of Fantasyland. This used to feature a slide which, although still visible, was closed off for safety reasons within a year of the park opening.

One of the most visible elements of the Labyrinth from outside is the head of the Cheshire Cat. Except for his eyes and teeth (which light up at night), his face is made up of various flowers, which are changed regularly, meaning the exact color of the visage alters depending on the time of year.

What Guests don’t often realize is that the section of Tulgey Wood known as Cheshire Cat Walk makes up the feline’s stripy body, when viewed from above.

Although they are different types of attraction, Alice’s Curious Labyrinth and Alice in Wonderland (the ride in California) are remarkably similar. Both start with a trip down the rabbit hole, have very similar soundscapes and feature identical figures, such as White Rabbit holding a clock, the Caterpillar smoking a hookah, the Cheshire Cat rolling his eyes, a family of Horns honking and the Queen of Hearts shaking her fists.

Both also feature misleading direction signs (with the same creatures on top, such as Hammer Birds and the owl with an accordion neck), a scene based on “Painting the Roses Red” and a slightly embarrassed looking King of Hearts figurine.

However, Alice’s Curious Labyrinth doesn’t feature an equivalent of the Tea Party scene, Tweedledum and Tweedledee or the Flower Garden – but instead has a Caucus Race, which can be entirely bypassed if necessary.

One more omission is that Alice herself does not appear in The Labyrinth (except for on the attraction’s logo above the entrance) whereas she does appear in the Anaheim ride. Seeing as the Guest is supposed to be “playing” Alice in each attraction, with the voiceover of the ride being her thoughts, her lack of appearance in France is the more sensible of the two.

 

Portions of this article first appeared in my musings for DLDHistory.com in April 2011.

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Disney History DL vs DLP Reviews

Anaheim vs. Paris: Fantasyland’s Rotating Rides

This week, I shall be comparing the “rotating” rides which appear in the Fantasylands in California and Paris.

 

DUMBO

The obvious place to start this article is with Dumbo The Flying Elephant. This ride exists, with the same name, in all five Magic Kingdoms but the California version was the only one not to be an opening day attraction.  Although it was supposed to have been, the opening was delayed due to the 700pound weight of the fibreglass pachyderms being too heavy for the initial mechanics to lift.

The attraction is practically identical in both Paris and California, down to the water features, the topiaries, the lengthy queues, the overhead storks, the chipmunks in the spokes and the statue of Timothy Q. Mouse on top of the central hot air balloon.

In France, Timothy has always held a feather. In California, although he had a whip when the ride first opened (and does again now), there was a period of time when he too had a feather.

Both versions feature a steam organ which originally played live music, but now plays pre-recorded tunes on a loop. The loop in Paris lasts 28 minutes, whereas the one in California lasts approximately two hours.

When the ride opened in California, it had ten carriages. After the 1983 Fantasyland refurb, when the location of the attraction was moved to the site of the former Skull Rock and the design was improved dramatically, there were still ten carriages. However, after “bruises and scrapes” were caused when an elephant separated from its support arm in 1989 (and after a similar incident the following year, in which an arm collapsed completely) the ride was temporarily closed. It was replaced in November 1990 by a version with sixteen carriages which had been originally built for Euro Disneyland (as it was then to be known). By the time the French park was opened, a sixteen carriage replica was built and installed therein.

Obviously, the Paris version doesn’t have the history of the West Coast one. This history includes, but is not limited to: Harry S. Truman’s 1957 refusal to ride due to the elephant being a Republican symbol, The Carpenter’s 1975 hit “Please Mr. Postman” being partially filmed thereon, the occasional carriage being sold for impressive sums, the original hinged flapping ears which never worked, the gold carriage to celebrate the park’s fiftieth birthday and the original intention to paint the elephants pink before Walt allegedly interjected about how this would make a mockery of the no-alcohol policy.

However, regardless of all the history behind the California attraction, I prefer the one in Paris, for a more ethical reason. Cast Members in Disneyland in Anaheim hand out feathers to those waiting in line. They then symbolically take these away before the Guests board. This is supposedly to demonstrate that (like in the film) you don’t need a feather to fly. However, the real reason for these props is to work out who will be riding which time. In Paris, occasionally anonymous bits of plastic are used for this purpose, but generally the Cast Members just count in their head. In this instance, I prefer the methodology of the latter. Although it gives people a greater chance of getting away with the Bubba Swap –which I won’t explain in case it encourages greater use- it means younger Guests are less likely to be disappointed when they discover their gift was only temporary.

 

TEA CUPS

This attraction is officially known as Mad Tea Party (MTP) in California, and Mad Hatter’s Tea Cups (MHTC) in Paris. Both were opening day attractions, which have been in Fantasyland from day one, although the location of MTP altered in 1983 so as to fit King Arthur Carrousel directly behind Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Whereas MTP has to close down in inclement conditions both for health and safety reasons (e.g. a greater chance of excited children slipping) and because the motors under the platforms are not able to function properly when wet, MHTC is covered and thus can theoretically operate in any weather.

Both rides feature eighteen cups. MHTC seats four riders in each, compared to MTP which allows five. Both feature a pre-recorded spiel, which Cast Members can override, and are surrounded by themed topiaries.

Both versions are accompanied by an instrumental version of The Unbirthday Song, as composed by Mack David, Jerry Livingston and Al Hoffman. Both have Chinese Lanterns hanging overhead (which make the attractions especially pretty when lit at night), and both officially refer to the giant spinning platform as “the tea tray”. Extending this metaphor, each disc is referred to as a “plate”, and each cup is on its own “saucer”.

The operator’s booth for MTP is shaped like a house with a thatched roof (such as the one Alice bursts through in the film, after consuming the “eat me” cookie), whereas for MHTC it is shaped like a sugar bowl.

 

CARROUSEL

In California, this is called King Arthur Carrousel, whereas the Paris equivalent is called Le Carrousel de Lancelot.

The two attractions feature titles based on the legend of The Sword in the Stone, although the 1963 Disney film of that name does not feature the character of Lancelot. In fact, the California version was open to the public long before the completion of the film on which it is themed.

Both carrousels run at speeds of 4.4mph with flexible durations, although the horses always end their rotation at the same location (and height) as they started.  Both feature a soundtrack consisting of looped Disney music lasting two hours, and both have leaping horses as opposed to the more traditional funfair style without bent knees.

Differences include: the shape of the queue-line; the Paris ride having been built by Disney whereas the Anaheim one had been built by Dentzel in 1875; the nine hand-painted panels in California telling the story of Sleeping Beauty whilst those in France tell that of The Lady of the Lake; the number of horses operational at any one time (currently 68 in Anaheim; 86 in Paris); and the colors. In 1975, all the horses on King Arthur Carrousel were painted white, whereas Le Carrousel de Lancelot features horses of many different colors.

 

Portions of this article first appeared in my musings for DLDHistory.com in February 2011 (Dumbo), April 2011 (Teacups) and June 2011 (Carrousels).

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Disney History DL vs DLP In the Parks

Anaheim vs. Paris: Peter Pan’s Flight

This week I shall be comparing “Peter Pan’s Flight” in Disneyland (California) with its equivalent in Disneyland Paris.

When I mention the Anaheim attraction in this article, I am referring only to how it stands after the 1983 refurb, which added the interior section of the queue-line, a Peter Pan audio-animatronic, the pirate-ship deck scene and the “Return from Neverland” finalé.

Both versions (California and Paris) have been residing in Fantasyland, in some form, since their parks’ respective opening. They use the same overhanging mechanism to transport the rider above scenes from Peter Pan in chronological order and have very similar “hidden” details, such as the smoke coming out of the chimneys, the blocks in the nursery spelling out D15NEY and the mermaid resembling Ariel.

The Paris ride is slightly longer than California’s which in part is because the vehicles in Europe travel slightly slower. The slower speed does make the attraction somewhat jerky on occasion though.

The more relaxed pace of the ride is the best explanation I can give for preferring the one in Paris. I do have other reasons however: Paris has a greater number of interesting details (such as the picture of George Darling in the Nursery), a soundtrack which suits the visuals more and a FastPass option.

Geographically, I also prefer the position of the one in Paris. It is next to Adventureland’s Pirates of The Caribbean whereas in California, Peter Pan’s Flight is close to the Castle. Although the latter makes sense in terms of keeping it with other cartoon based dark rides, the former helps with the transition from Fantasyland to Adventureland both thematically and visually.

 

Portions of this article first appeared in my musings for DLDHistory.com in January 2011.