Disneyland Paris Updates – New Operations, Castle Woes, Current Projects

It’s been about two weeks since Disneyland Paris reopened after an unprecedented four-month closure. All of Disney’s parks around the world have now reopened except for the Disneyland Resort in California and Hong Kong Disneyland (which reopened and then closed again earlier this month). So it’s time for us to visit Disneyland Paris’ parks to see how things are going and look at some ongoing projects and news . . . 

Welcome Back to Disneyland Paris

On Main Street USA, many of the facades have been repainted. They are now deep and rich in color compared to the castle in the distance . . . which continues to degrade. But we’ll take a look at that next. 

Main Street hasn’t looked this good in years. 

Très joli, n’es pas?

Unfortunately, the Disneyland Paris castle clearly needs a renovation. Hoping it’s next on the list of new projects for the resort.

She’s still beautiful from a distance . . . but up close . . . 

But we have a feeling that the color scheme would get the similar dark blue roofs that Disneyland California and Walt Disney World’s Magic Kingdom have recently received. What would you like to see?

In Fantasyland, the pathways are being replaced with paver stones. The pavers are currently being stored backstage between Walt Disney Studios and Disney Village.

They look nice. . . 

It looks like they have a lot left to place . . .

In Discoveryland, the Buzz Lightyear renovation continues with the installation of scaffolds and scrims. Unfortunately, the background music of the land has been affected since many of the area speakers are on this building.

But it can’t be all work and no play. Let’s visit Hyperspace Mountain. 

You can see how social distancing works in the queue by watching the video below. We’ll even take you on the ride. It’s mostly dark, but you can still hear the music . . . and the screams. 

And as long as we are in the area . . . and there are no lines . . . let’s ride Autopia as well!

Now . . . over to Frontierland, where the Train station is currently closed to visitors. Disneyland Railroad passengers cannot disembark from the train in this location as work is still being conducted. As can be seen in this photo, the area lighting still has its protective wrapping. 

One of the most difficult attractions for Disney to reopen was Phantom Manor. Currently, just ten small groups of visitors can simultaneously enter the stretching room in order to board the Doom Buggies. 

Walt Disney Studios Park

Let’s take a quick look at the Walt Disney Studios Park as well . . . 

At Studio 1 the posters for the Marvel summer season promotion have been permanently removed.

With the help of the Parachute Drop, we can get an overview of Toy Story Playland!

The site of the new Cars Route 66 Road Trip station is being prepped. The new attraction will recycle to old Catastrophy Canyon and retheme it to the world of Disney’s Cars . . . as you can see in this concept art. 

But, while the ride will reuse part of the old Studio Tour attraction, it will be an all-new experience with a fully-themed story, music and vehicles. Along the “Road Trip,” guests will discover the world’s biggest lugnut, active water springs, and encounter old friends such as Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater.

As part of that project, the old Studio Tour entry and queue have been completely removed. 

Let’s remember the old Studio Tram Tour: 

The Studio Tour is giving way not just to the new Cars attraction, but also a massive new lake and two mini-lands: Star Wars and Frozen. The Frozen land is under active construction now. 

The vehicle used as a teaser at the entrance to the Armageddon attraction is still sitting backstage near a dumpster.

On the soon-to-be Marvel land side of the park, the future Spider-Man attraction is under construction and the sheet metal facade of Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster is partly dismantled. The project is getting back on track, but the opening of the area in 2021 is likely to be difficult.

Disneyland Paris Resort Hotels

Outside the parks, some of the hotels continue to operate in a reduced capacity. Newport Bay and Hotel Cheyenne are open now and Hotel Santa Fe should open this week. The Disneyland Hotel should reopen in September. All the other hotels will open at a later date. But there is one strange change to Disneyland’s slate of available hotel offerings. Instead of 8 hotels, Disney is currently saying they only have 7. They have stopped promoting the “Disney Nature Resorts” as their own. Instead, the lovely resort is now in its own section and called: “Villages Nature by Center Parcs.” We wonder what the change in name means about Disney’s relationship with the project. You can see how the hotel is now listed below . . . on the other side of the line from the “Disney Hotels.” 

Disney’s Hotel New York is in the progress of becoming the Art of Marvel

Work is underway! The scaffolding disappears…

… new grey paints replace yellow….

A beautiful chandelier!

The shoreline of Disney Lake has been surrounded by fencing. 

Disney’s Hotel Cheyenne has reopened. . . 

The good news is that hotel buffets have benefited from being converted to table service. 

The visitor car park begins its 3-year transformation project. Much of the space will be covered with photovoltaic panels. 

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Let’s Hear From You

How do things look to you? While the parks are mostly in the best shape we’ve seen them in years, what do you think about the current condition of the castle? We sure do hope that plans for Star Wars land and Frozen land don’t get delayed by the world health crisis. 

Speaking of . . . after days of no new COVID cases in France, we’ve been seeing daily cases in the 1000 range. So, we’re keeping a close eye on the parks and other high-risk activities in the country. But, as you can see, the parks are operating at a very limited capacity and with a great deal of safety precautions. Please review our previous article about Disneyland Paris reopening procedures if you missed it:  

Disneyland Paris Update – Now Open to Guests!

Merci de votre fidélité. A bientôt!  See ya real soon – Max (DLPwelcome)

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