Walt Disney Studios Park
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| Disney theme park | |
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| Walt Disney Studios Park | |
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| Location | Marne-la-Vallée, France |
| Opening Day | March 16, 2002 |
| Resort | Disneyland Resort Paris |
| Theme | Showbusiness |
| Website | Disneyland Resort Paris homepage |
| Operator | Euro Disney S.C.A. |
Walt Disney Studios Park is the second theme park of Disneyland Resort Paris, but also owned and operated by Euro Disney S.C.A., at the heart of the Disney resort complex in Marne-la-Vallée.
The park is currently promoting the resort's 15th Anniversary Celebration with new attractions and entertainment to mark the occasion.
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[edit] History
The park opened on March 16, 2002 and is themed after 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, although the park has original attractions including Moteurs... Action! Stunt Show Spectacular, which was later exported to Disney's Hollywood 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]
[edit] Early Projects
Disney-MGM Studios Europe was the original plan for a second theme park and was scheduled to open in 1996. However, these plans were cancelled around mid-1992 due to the resorts financial crisis of that time.
After the resort began to make a profit, plans for a movie themed theme park went into development again but on a much smaller scale. In 2002, the Walt Disney Studios Park opened.
[edit] Recent Growth
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 opened in the new Hollywood Boulevard area of the park. Stitch Live! has replaced the Disney Channel Studio Tour.
[edit] Studio Lots
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".
[edit] Front Lot
- Disney Studio 1
- Earffel Tower
- Place des Frères Lumières
[edit] Toon Studio
- Art of Disney Animation
- Flying Carpets Over Agrabah
- Animagique
- Crush's Coaster
- Cars Quatre Roues Rallye
[edit] Production Courtyard
- CinéMagique
- Stitch Live!
- Place des Stars
- Studio Tram Tour: Behind the Magic
- The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror
- Playhouse Disney Live on Stage! (currently under construction)
[edit] Backlot
It is the park's Backlot that really packs in action-packed attractions and eateries.
- Moteurs... Action! Stunt Show Spectacular is a stunt show based in a mediterranean town , full of explosive stunts , car chases and a mind-blowing finale. This attraction is unique by the fact that it is the only Walt Disney Studios Park attraction to be copied into Disney's Hollywood Studios Park and not Vice-Versa.
- Rock 'n' Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith is an indoor looping roller coaster based on Aerosmith's journey to a concert. Most of the attraction is in the dark , and the ride features a launched start , doing 0-60 mph in less than 3 seconds.
[edit] Disney's Hollywood Studios
Walt Disney Studios Park has a sister park, Disney's Hollywood Studios (formerly Disney-MGM Studios) in the Walt Disney World Resort. The two parks share the same theme (showbiz), and shared the same icon (The Earful Tower in Florida and The Earffel Tower in France) until The Sorcerer's Hat was built in Disney's Hollywood Studios and took the role as the park's icon in 2001.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- 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
- MagicalKingdoms - WDS park guide
- Walt Disney Studios Park photo album
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