Tag: Allison

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DL vs DLP In the Parks Reviews

Anaheim vs. Paris: A new short series of writings in MouseScrappers, a request for writers and a comparison of Toads

Due to the dwindling number of contributors to this site, and so its faithful followers have new articles to read on as near to a daily basis as possible, I have offered to submit a handful of additional pieces on top of the exclusive comparisons between Walt Disney World and Disneyland Paris that I write for MouseScrappers every January, April, July and October.

These additional articles (the first of which shall be available here November 12th) are to be comparisons between the Fantasylands in Anaheim and in Paris. A new article will then come out every Monday until the end of the year.  These will be cut-down re-edits of articles which I wrote in 2010/2011 for DLDhistory.com, but with new material included.

[Some of the below info about Toad first appeared in one such DLDhistory article]

Whilst I am writing, editing and submitting these, the MouseScrappers organisers are out looking for new columnists to start in the new year, or sooner if possible. If anyone wishes to volunteer, do please get in touch with the MouseScrappers Team. Articles can be regular or occasional; new material or recycled; funny or serious.  Anything Disney related is of interest.

[I write comparisons between DLP and DL, and between DLP and WDW, but there is little need to go full circle by comparing WDW to DL because there is only one difference between the two that matters: DL has the real Mickey Mouse].

For the sake of brevity my articles comparing DL with DLP shall not be comparing the theatres or shops, although my by-now-probably-slightly-out-of-date musings on the latter subject can be found here: http://dldhistory.com/2k11article.asp?Page=5&Filter=Current&Ident=2371

I shall also not be looking at the stations (although the one in Anaheim is officially considered as part of Mickey’s Toontown), The Sword in The Stone Ceremony, parades, fireworks, meet and greets, restaurants, the characters or anything no longer in operation. Some of these things may get mentioned in passing though.

I also won’t be going to the level of the uber-nerd, by comparing costumes, trashcans, paint colors and the like.

However, I shall be looking at the following attractions over the coming weeks…

 

Nov 12th – The Castle

Nov 19th – Snow White’s Scary Adventures

Nov 26th – Pinocchio’s Daring Journey

Dec 3rd – Peter Pan’s Flight

Dec 10th  – Fantasyland’s Rotating Rides (Dumbo, Tea cups and Carrousel)

Dec 17th – Alice in Wonderland

Dec 24th – Casey Jr. Circus Train and Storybook Land Canal Boats

Dec 31st – it’s a small world

 

Do please let me know if there is anything major I have missed…

Paris has no equivalent of the Matterhorn.

France also has no direct equivalent to Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, although it does have Toad Hall Restaurant. The exteriors to both are remarkably similar, although the Ride has the Latin phrase “Toadi Acceleratio Semper Absurda” over the entrance (“Speeding with Toad is Always Absurd”), whereas the Restaurant in Paris goes for “No Consumus Froglegus” (“No Eating of Frogs Legs”).

Both the Ride and the Restaurant feature a Library scene, complete with comically titled books and a suit of armor. In Paris, though, the latter is more humorously designed, looking more like one Toad himself might wear.

The soundtrack in the Restaurant varies more and is less annoying, featuring lyric-less versions of songs related to England.  Some of these are Disney related (think Winnie The Pooh or Mary Poppins) and others are from the world of Music Hall.

The Ride and the Restaurant also both feature chandeliered ceilings, faux stained glass windows (one of which being broken in my last visit to Paris) and famous paintings adapted to feature Toad’s face.  In Paris, these images change in front of your very eyes, kind of like the portraits between the stretch rooms and the load area in California’s Haunted Mansion (or Phantom Manor in Paris, for that matter).

Toad Hall Restaurant also features non-moving portraits which feature other Toad characters, such as Ratty and MacBadger.  Such things do not exist in Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, seeing as Toad is too vain to have images of anyone but himself, although it is understandable that these exist here, especially as the characters appear in the ride in other manifestations.

Going off-topic slightly.  Although the food in the Restaurant is very basic short-order fare, the theming is beautiful and the layout is interesting, with two separate dining areas which aren’t physically connected in any way. There is also an impressively wide array of seasoning, rare for any Disney eatery, and it tends to be quite quiet there, so –whilst I am not a big fan of reviewing restaurants- I would recommend giving it a look if you are ever in the park.

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Disney History Gone But Not Forgotten In the Parks WDW vs DLP

WDW vs. DLP: Tomorrowland vs. Discoveryland

Other than its geographical position (to the right of the Hub, with direct connections to only Fantasyland and Main Street, U.S.A.), at first glance Tomorrowland in Florida’s Magic Kingdom seems worlds away from its cousin Discoveryland in Disneyland Paris.

The layout is very different, as is the theming (Florida is a “space port” whereas Paris is a reflection of how nineteenth century visionaries imagined the future) and the dining experiences are incomparable.  For the sake of brevity, I will not discuss these eateries, nor the shops, arcades, characters or shows.

 

THE TIMEKEEPER

In 1994, a new color scheme in Florida’s Tomorrowland did bring the two Lands closer stylistically, as did the opening of The Timekeeper, an attraction which bore more than a passing resemblance to Le Visionarium (an opening day attraction at DLP, two years previously). Nonetheless, the Land’s artwork and backstory became more the vision of tomorrow dreamt of by 1930s comic strip characters, rather than that imagined by Jules Verne, H. G. Wells and their ilk.

Although the 360 degree film shown in Le Visionarium and The Timekeeper were pretty similar to each other, there were a few subtle differences, such the inclusion of a scene featuring Gérard Depardieu as an airport worker in the former and a view of the New York skyline in the latter. [Ironically, both of these scenes were temporarily removed: the Depardieu scene due to the 2000 Concorde crash; and the NYC section soon after September 11th 2001].

Aside from the main film, there were several other differences between Le Visionarium and The Timekeeper, including the exterior (which in Paris featured a flying car), the pre-show video and the audio.  Although the Paris attraction’s show was in French, there were headphones for guests wishing to listen to the show in English or German. The English audio was not the same as the version used in the Florida version, which was a lot more upbeat, utilizing the voice talents of Robin Williams and Rhea Perlman.

Over time, Florida’s color scheme has changed again, and The Timekeeper has closed (as it did in Paris) and the two Lands feel less related than ever before.

 

ASTRO ORBITER

One Discoveryland-inspired 1994 Tomorrowland change which is still in place is the re-theme of the aerial carousel Star Jets to the Astro Orbiter. This is based on Paris’s Orbitron Machines Volantes, commonly known just as Orbitron. Both attractions have twelve height-controllable rockets with zodiac signs on the tails rotating around a spinning “planetarium” which makes the ride feel faster than it actually is.

Whereas the WDW version is raised, thus affording beautiful views to the rider (especially at nighttime), the DLP version is slightly sunken, surrounded by “meteorites” and serves as the Land’s main weenie.

 

SPACE MOUNTAIN

The Paris version of Space Mountain (known in full as Space Mountain: Mission 2) is remarkably different from the Florida version. The exterior design is more steampunk, there are inversions, the rockets go in sets of six each seating four (whereas WDW’s rockets are in sets of two, each seating three), the pre-show is less interactive and there is no pre-launch tunnel of light or no post-ride robots.

Although there are two separate loading bays in both Paris and Florida, in the former these meet up and travel on the same track, whereas the latter has two separate “rides”, called the Alpha Track and the Omega Track.

The main lift in Florida is relatively slow, albeit with plenty to look at. In Paris this section is much faster. You are supposedly being catapulted out of a cannon [The Columbiad] and into space. This portion of the attraction is covered from the elements, but is visible to those outside, which adds to the kinetics of the Land.

The coaster section in Disneyland Paris feels the faster of the two. This may be due to its track length (including storage and maintenance) being 1.1km whereas Florida’s is almost triple this. The visuals are, in my opinion, a lot more interesting though, featuring more near-misses and an easier plot to follow.

Both have a Fastpass option, are manufactured by Vekoma, and have onboard audio (though Paris uses the SOBAT system whilst Florida utilizes Starry-O-Phonic Sound).

 

OTHERS

Paris does feature an Autopia, closer in theming to its Anaheim namesake than Florida’s speed-orientated Tomorrowland Speedway. DLP also has a Buzz Lightyear attraction, which is practically a carbon copy of the Anaheim one and so misses out on many of the cooler details which appear in Florida, such as three-headed dinosaur, the wall of Z’s, the rotating light effect or the domed screen.

Paris has no version of the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover, Walt Disney’s Carousel of Progress, Stitch’s Great Escape! or Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor. The nearest it has to the latter two is Stitch Live!, in Walt Disney Studios Park, which uses similar technology and audience interactions to MILF, but caters more towards younger children. (In 2009, there was a live stage show in Discoveryland on a mobile stage by Space Mountain, in which Stitch was the DJ, but the less said about that, the better).

Likewise, there are several attractions in Discoveryland which have no equivalent in Florida’s Tomorrowland.  These include Videopolis, Discoveryland Station and Les Mystères du Nautilus. This last attraction sounds like it may have been similar to Fantasyland’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea Submarine Voyage, and (whilst based on the same source material) it‘s closer stylistically, thematically and plot-wise to a 1950s walk-through attraction once housed over in Disneyland.

The two other attractions in Discoveryland which do not exist in Florida’s Tomorrowland (although they exist elsewhere in WDW, as well as in California’s version of the Land) are Captain EO and Star Tours. NB, DLP has still got the original version of Star Tours, rather than the “The Adventures Continue” upgrade existing stateside.

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WDW vs DLP

WDW vs. DLP: Adventureland

Standing in front of the castle, with your back to Main Street, U.S.A./World Bazaar, the first Land you encounter clockwise in four of the five Magic Kingdoms is Adventureland. Internet rumors abound that in Shanghai, Adventureland will take up the Tomorrowland/Discoveryland position to the East of the Hub. However, for now, Disneyland Paris has the only “park one” where Adventureland is to be found elsewhere; it is located between Frontierland and Fantasyland.

Not including restaurants, shops or shows (seasonal or otherwise, past and present) there is very little to do in either the Walt Disney World (WDW) or the Disneyland Paris version of this Land.  If we also exclude meet and greets, there are fewer attractions in Adventureland in Paris than in any other Land; in Florida only Liberty Square and Main Street, U.S.A. have fewer.

 

SWISS FAMILY TREEHOUSE

In both Florida and Paris, this is a walk-through attraction themed to Johann Wyss’s 1812 novel Der Schweizerische Robinson (commonly known in English as The Swiss Family Robinson) and Disney’s 1960 film version of the text.

In many ways, the two are similar, featuring examples of how the Robinsons lived on a day-to-day basis, with look-but-don’t-touch glimpses into their rooms, underscored by the lively, if repetitive, strains of Buddy Baker’s catchy Swisskapolka.  Both have a set path to follow, featuring beautiful views, hand-painted leafs and more steps than you remember until it’s too late.

Although the waterwheel in Florida’s treehouse is more impressive than its French counterpart (in terms of its size and its ability to actually transport water), and the route has fewer theme-less yellow health-and-safety signs, I do still prefer the Paris version, as it is taller (89ft as opposed to 60ft) and features several details not included in the WDW version, such as the nearby wreck of the Robinson’s vessel, and a walk-through root cellar.

 

PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN

This classic attraction was an opening day attraction in Disneyland Paris, and has been in WDW since 1973.  Both are set in a Spanish Fortress, although the one in France is supposedly a lot more run down with a darker queue area which only has one route.

The storyline for both versions of Pirates of the Caribbean (POTC) is pretty similar: a group of pirates attack a small village, set it on fire, and die with their skeletons found posed near their boats.  The order this is experienced in varies considerably, with the French version being the more chronological of the two.  Likewise, both have versions of the iconic moments (such as the auction scene, the pooped/gluttonous pirate, the talking Jolly Roger, the mayor being dunked in a well and so forth) but in a totally different order.

Paris does not yet have characters from the film franchise added (and whether they ever will, or should, appear has become a source of much debate) although a look-alike Jack Sparrow sometimes partakes in a meet-and-greet near the attraction’s entrance.

Details found on the Paris POTC which do not appear in any other version of the attraction worldwide include a protective octopus, sword-fighting pirates and a buccaneer who swings over the riders’ heads. Sadly its proposed Pirate-themed Shooting Gallery never made it off the drawing board.  Nevertheless, due to these details (and the overall narrative of the attraction) I would suggest that I prefer the Paris version to the one found in Florida.

 

THE MAGIC CARPETS OF ALADDIN

This Dumbo-esque attraction was added to WDW’s Adventureland in 2001 and an equivalent was added to Disneyland Paris in 2002 as an opening day attraction in their Walt Disney Studios park.  The French version, called Flying Carpets Over Agrabah, is not particularly different in terms of looks or control (with the Guests in the front controlling the height, and those in the back determining the angle).  Both feature sixteen carpets, all of which seat a maximum of four riders, rotating around a central lamp and, in my opinion, neither suit the Land in which they are housed.

Thematically, the French version is more interesting as it gives the impression that the riders are extras in a new movie, directed by the Genie.  His comments can get frustrating, especially if you have already heard most of them whilst waiting to board, but I still prefer this to the Florida counterpart due to the beautiful Agrabah backdrop, the use of FastPass, the lack of spitting camels and the better shade for those waiting.

 

OTHERS

Paris has no equivalent of Walt Disney’s Enchanted Tiki Room or Jungle Cruise.  The latter has been put down to the language issue, as well as the climate not being right for either outdoor animatronics or thematically suitable plants. The Land does however feature a boat based on the eponymous one from The African Queen (which Jungle Cruise was partly inspired by) outside of a counter-service restaurant called Colonel Hathi’s Pizza Outpost.

The Explorer’s Club (the original table-service eatery, where Colonel Hathi’s now stands) once featured animatronic birds which would sing on occasion. The birds, located in a tree at the center of the building, still exist, but are now rarely-if-ever switched on. This design was reminiscent of Walt’s original idea for California’s Tiki Room; a restaurant where the birds performed whilst Guests ate. To a lesser extent, this also reflects one of the early notions for Disneyland’s Club 33, where an audio-animatronic vulture would have interacted with those dining.

Unique to the Adventureland in Disneyland Paris is Le Passage Enchanté d’Aladdin, a walkthrough attraction, where you pass nine miniature tableaux telling Disney’s version of the story, as per the 1992 film. This attraction is often overlooked by Guests, and doesn’t mean much to people who haven’t seen the movie, but it is incredibly detailed and makes good use of the Pepper’s Ghost effect. With the exception of the music and the dialogue painted by the opening/closing images (which are in French) the attraction is bi-lingual. It is the only attraction in the whole resort I have never seen a Cast Member at (and the switches and fire extinguishers are easy to find) so it is perhaps one of the easiest parts of the park to raise havoc in.

Also in Adventureland in Disneyland Paris is Adventure Isle (similar to Florida’s Tom Sawyer Island) and Indiana Jones et le Temple du Péril, which was the world’s first Disney attraction to feature an inversion, and is still the Disney attraction with the greatest height requirement to ride unaccompanied (54 inches).  This is a standard Intamin rollercoaster although for four years (2000-2004) the cars were turned to face the other direction, so the riders could not see which way they would be going next.

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WDW vs DLP

WDW vs. DLP: The Railroads

One of Walt’s most famous edicts about Disneyland, whilst it was still in the design phase, is that it would be “surrounded by a train”.

The Disneyland Railroad (formerly the Santa Fe & Disneyland Railroad) opened with the park in 1955.  Equivalent Railroads have been opening day attractions at Walt Disney World (WDW), Tokyo Disneyland (TDL), Disneyland Paris (DLP) and Hong Kong Disneyland, with one planned for the forthcoming Shanghai park.

With the exception of TDL’s Western River Railroad, all Railroads circle the park and have stops by the park entrance.  There is so much that can be written about all five Railroads (not to mention the other train rides at the parks, such as Big Thunder Mountain, Casey Jr. or the Wildlife Express Train) but this article will focus solely on the basics, specifically referring to WDW and DLP.

 

THE NOMENCLATURE

DLP’s Railroad is now known as the Disneyland Railroad, although it opened as the Euro Disneyland Railroad in 1992. Although the attraction changed its name in the mid-1990s, the trains themselves didn’t lose the word “Euro” until early 2002.  The word wasn’t removed from the water tower by Frontierland Depot until 2009, and the initials EDRR are still visible on the iron railings at Main Street station.

The trains are called George Washington (with its carriages named after places important in Washington’s life: Mt Vernon, Boston, Philadelphia, Yorktown and Valley Forge), C.K. Holliday (with carriages named after the top vacation locations from yesteryear: Coney Island, Atlantic City, Chesapeake, Long Island and Niagara Falls); W.F. Cody (with carriages named after Western US cities: Silverton, Durango, Denver, Wichita and Cheyenne) and Eureka (with carriages named after Californian cities: San Francisco, Los Angeles, Monterey, San Diego and Sacramento).

WDW’s Railroad is called the Walt Disney World Rail Road.  The trains are called Walter E. Disney, Lilly Belle, Roger E. Broggie and Roy O. Disney, but the carriages do not have individual names.

 

THE STATIONS

Main Street Station was an opening day attraction at both resorts.  Taking this stop as a starting/ending point, the trains in WDW currently call at the following stations: Main Street Station, Frontierland Station (which opened in its original position in 1972, and in its new location in the early 1990s); Fantasyland Station (which opened in 2012, replacing Toontown Fair Station, which had replaced Duckberg Station); Main Street Station.

The route at Disneyland Paris is as follows: Main Street Station; Frontierland Depot (which opened with the park in 1992); Fantasyland Station (which opened with the park); Discoveryland Station (which opened in July 1993 to coincide with a new post-show to Star Tours); Main Street Station.

The Main Street Stations are the only ones not to use the title of their land in their nomenclature, seeing as neither feature “U.S.A.” in their official name.  In terms of theming and location, there are many ways in which both versions of this stop are similar.  For example, both are located above the entrance to the park, both are themed to a small town station from the turn of the twentieth century, both have featured prop fire buckets which many Guests believe to be there in case of a genuine emergency and both feature announcements solely made in English.

Three other details which set Main Street Station in Paris apart are: the viewing area for the parade (although this is often shut), the maroon band organ in the centre of the platform and the stained glass windows representing landmarks which can be found in the other lands of the park.  From left to right, these windows show the Orbitron (Discoveryland), Sleeping Beauty Castle (Fantasyland), Captain Hook’s Galley (Adventureland) and the Mark Twain passing Big Thunder Mountain (Frontierland).

In Disneyland Paris, the stop in Frontierland is the only one in the park to not feature the word “Station” in its title; it is officially named Frontierland Depot.  Its look is based on the original design for the Frontierland Station in California (still visible the other side of the tracks from New Orleans Square Station), which in turn was based on the one which appeared in the 1948 Disney film So Dear to My Heart.

Both Frontierland Depot in DLP and Frontierland Station in WDW feature a telegraph key which taps out part of Walt Disney’s 1955 dedication to Disneyland.  The former has a water tower for replenishing the tenders of the Railroad trains; in WDW the water tower can be found at Fantasyland Station.

 

THE GRAND CIRCLE TOUR

Both Railroads travel solely in a clockwise direction and have 3ft narrow gauge tracks.  The length of the onstage portion of the tracks is 7817ft in Florida and 7217.8ft in Paris.  Due to the difference in distance travelled, one would expect WDW to have the longer “Grand Circle Tour” (i.e. getting on at a random station, riding the Railroad past all stops, then getting off where one boarded) yet this lasts approximately twenty minutes in Florida and thirty in France.

The WDW Grand Circle Tour features glimpse of outdoor animatronics in WDW not visible from anywhere else accessible to Guests.  It also passes through Splash Mountain, and gives an up-close view of Big Thunder Mountain.  The DLP Grand Circle Tour goes through Pirates of the Caribbean and an equivalent of Anaheim’s Grand Canyon Diorama.

Other than when a station is shut for a refurbishment, generally Guests can embark or disembark at any stop of the Disneyland Railroad in WDW.  In DLP, this is not always the case, especially off-season and/or early or late in the day.  It has been known for Guests to only be allowed to board or exit at the station in Main Street, U.S.A.  A variant on this (which usually occurs when staff is limited) is where Guests can only board at that station but can disembark wherever they wish.

Another time when the DLP Railroad has specific boarding requirements are when the park runs “Good Morning Fantasyland” character breakfasts.  This means Guests can get to a restaurant in Fantasyland, without having to go through Main Street, U.S.A., which may not have opened to the public yet, and may still be full of maintenance staff.

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WDW vs DLP

For your future reading pleasure…

I am a longtime Disney fan and former Disneyland Paris (DLP) Cast Member who currently lives in London, where most of my time is taken up preparing for a “Mouse Tales” style book I am writing about the resort. I go to DLP several times a year and also often visit Walt Disney World (WDW) and Disneyland in California (DL).

I write for DLDhistory.com and do some occasional proofreading and fact-checking for websites, books and e-books about Disney. This may imply I know something about the company, and may be why Carol has foolishly asked me to write a semi-regular blog for MouseScrappers.com

As my knowledge is mostly on DLP, and as Carol says most of you guys visit WDW more than any other resort, I figured that my blogs here should compare the two.  I apologize in advance that a lot of what I write for MouseScrappers may be a glorified re-hash of some of my DLDhistory articles, where I compare DL with DLP.

I will be looking mostly at “park one” of the resorts (Magic Kingdom in WDW and Disneyland Park at DLP) rather than, say, the hotels, shopping district or the other parks.

My short term plan is to cover the Railroad in my first article.  Then, my next articles will cover the lands found in DLP and comparing them to their MK equivalent:

  • Adventureland
  • Discoveryland (the DLP equivalent of Tomorrowland)
  • Fantasyland
  • Frontierland
  • Main Street, U.S.A.

(There is no version of Liberty Square in DLP)

Do please get in touch with me if you have any questions about any of my blogs, if you notice any errors in any of my writings or if you think you have some DLP info which may be of use for my book: hughallison@dldhistory.com