Editor's Note : What a day, big news coming from both sides of the planet! Disneyland Paris has now the money to build the awaited Ratatouille dark ride at the WDS - see below - and Hong Kong Disneyland is planning to build four more hotels - see article after the one about DLP or click HERE.

Disneyland Paris obtains a 150M € revolving credit facility from WDC - Ratatouille Dark Ride now on its way at WDS

The sky is brighter over Disneyland Paris today, and especially over the Walt Disney Studios. I've told you recently that we'll have early January an announcement about DLP future, and here it is, as DLP officially announced today that "Euro Disney obtains a 150M € additional standby revolving credit facility from The Walt Disney Company in connection with an approval from its lenders to increase its investments." Here is the official release:

"(Marne-la-Vallée, January 10, 2012) Euro Disney S.C.A. (the "Company"), parent company of Euro Disney Associés S.C.A., operator of Disneyland® Paris (together the "Group"), announces that, on January 6, 2012, it has obtained an additional standby revolving credit facility (the "Additional Facility") of € 150 million from The Walt Disney Company. This Additional Facility expires on September 30, 2018 and was advanced in connection with the approval from its lenders to increase the Group’s investments by up to € 250 million. These investments correspond to the annual recurring investment budget for fiscal year 2012 and a multi-year expansion of the Walt Disney Studios® Park, which includes a new attraction. The Additional Facility is separate from the € 100 million existing standby revolving credit facility (the "Existing Facility"), which expires on September 30, 2014 and is still undrawn. The other terms and conditions of the Additional Facility are substantially the same as the Existing Facility.

Although no assurances can be given, the Group believes it has sufficient funds to finance these and other necessary investments and repay its borrowings consistent with the scheduled maturities, based on its existing cash position, liquidity from the Existing Facility and the benefit of certain conditional deferrals permitted under the Group’s existing debt agreements."

What does this mean, in clear? In clear, it means that DLP now have the money to build the Ratatouille dark ride as well as the mini land around the ride. It also means that the banks probably refused to deliver the cash without a kind of guarantee from the WDC. Now that the park have it works should begin anytime soon as they need two years to build the ride and land. You probably won't be surprised to learn that 150M € is more or less the cost of the Ratatouille ride, so basically what is happening is that the WDC provides to DLP the needed amount to build the ride ...money which will go back for a big part in the pocket of Disney as DLP is of course buying the new attractions to WDI, i.e Disney. Are not they smart at Burbank?

That said, even after paying for the Ratatouille ride the park will still have a credit facility of 100M €, that they had before today's announcement and that they can "use" until 2014. For sure you can build other rides with 100M € and we will know soon what the park expect to do with it. Although their priority is to expand the WDS chafes are that they will use a small part of this money to enhance some DLP ride - hello Jack Sparrow AAs in POTC - or a new placemaking in another part of the WDS, and why not another ride. In the meantime, today is a happy day for DLP fans as this time, this is it, a major E-Ticket ride is on its way!

Picture: copyright Disney

Don't forget to pre-order a collector's copy of the Disneyland Paris book, on its way for reprinting.Just go HERE to learn how.

Hong Kong Disneyland Planning to Build Four More Hotels !

Hong Kong Disneyland said Tuesday its net loss narrowed in its sixth year of operations due in part to a 13% increase in visitors to the theme park and i will tell you more about this below but there is much more interesting news from HKDL today as HKDL has asked the Hong Kong government for four more hotels.

Hong Kong Disneyland proposal will include building one large hotel and three smaller vacation-style hotels which will be connected by a tram and the park, which saw a record 5.9 million visitors last year - also aims to build an artificial lake. If the new plans looks too big for the HK government which owns 57 percent of the park, HKDL is apparently willing to compromise, saying that all four hotels do not have to be built at the same time.

Disneyland managing director Andrew Kam Min-ho had earlier said the park wanted to build one large and one small hotel. A government source said Disneyland submitted different proposals including the feasibility of expanding within the existing area and we know they have room for this as you can see on the aerial shot below. But a HK source noted that HKDL wants to expand its rides first before building the hotels which means that the new hotels won't open before 2014 probably, if everything goes fine.



Hong Kong Disneyland also officially revealed its 2011 performance results this afternoon and as i've said the attendance during the period was up 13% to 5.9 million from 5.2 million. Separately, the theme park said it welcomed more than 31 million visitors from its opening in September 2005 to the end of December 2011. HKDL said it had a net loss of HK$237 million (US$30.5 million) for the 12 months ended Oct. 1 last year, improving from a net loss of HK$718 million in the previous fiscal year.

As we know new attractions are being added to Hong Kong Disneyland, Grizzly Gulch will open next summer and Mystic Point next year and there is no doubt that the new lands will attract many more guests.

Finally, another news that may interest you, always about Disney in China: Disney English, the teaching arm at Orlando is in search of foreign trainers to teach English to children ages two through 12. Disney has been advertising the jobs in the New York Times and online. Of course, Disney’s push coincides with its plan to open Shanghai Disneyland. Foreign trainers hired for the China program will be given a contract of between 12 and 15 months. Trainers are given a monthly salary and a monthly housing allowance. Disney provides trainers with three weeks temporary housing until they can find apartments.


Finally, the great HDR picture at the top of this article is coming from my HKDL Wallpapers application and if you don't have it yet, don't miss it, you'll find it on the iTunes Appstore! See article here
Direct iTunes link HERE!

Steven Spielberg "Master Class" LIVE on Disney and more today at 6.45 pm Paris Time (9.45 am L.A Time)

Steven Spielberg is at Paris Cinématheque today for his last movie "War Horse", which is released by Disney Buena Vista. Now, Steven won't do the classic promo of his movie but will give a rare "master class" which will be broadcast live today at 6.45 pm, Paris time. If you're in New York that should make 12.45 pm in N.Y and 9.45 AM in L.A. If you're in London that will make 5.45pm and if you're in Asia, that should make 1.45 am Hong Kong time.

Steven will of course speak in english, and as the master class happen from Paris Cinematheque i suppose there will be a french translation, so whether you speak english or french it should be fine. As Spielberg master class are pretty rare i've embedded below the link for the Live broadcast so you'll be able to watch it "live"! Right now there is nothing which appear which is normal as it is not yet the time of Steven master class. Join us later today for this special event, and i hope that everything, technically speaking, will work fine (!).

Edited: Steven Spielberg's Live master class is now over. The video of it is now available and i've embedded it below for those who've missed this event.




Picture: copyright

ThemeParkGPS, the first iPhone App that will guide you by GPS inside WDW Magic Kingdom !

Here is a great idea, specially for WDW guests coming for the first time at the Magic Kingdom... or for those of you who definitely don't have the sense of orientation. ThemeParkGPS is, simply, the first ever GPS iPhone App that actually helps you to navigate throughout the Magic Kingdom effortlessly and enjoyably. All you have to do is to follow the icon "Guide Guy" as he shows and tells you how to get from where you are in the Magic Kingdom to anywhere you want to go in the Park.

You know how works GPS for cars? This app works the same way, and the voice-guided, turn-by-turn GPS directions is only one of the many features that are offer in this ThemeParkGPS App. Here is a description of the others features, coming from the App description.



FAMILY & FRIEND TRACKER: Want to keep track of the kids while letting them explore the Park by themselves? With ThemeParkGPS you will have peace of mind, always knowing where the kids are in the Park while still giving them their independence. Note that each person you are tracking needs this App downloaded to their iPhone.



IN-APP MESSAGING: Want to meet your friends for lunch in the Magic Kingdom? Need to remind them of your next FASTPASS time? Use this convenient App feature to send and receive messages...especially time-sensitive messages!



REAL-TIME MAP VIEW: Johnny needs to go to the bathroom...now! You are out of cash and you need to find the closest ATM. No worries! GUIDE GUY will locate you on the GPS Map, pinpointing everything that is around you, and lead you to your destination quickly and directly.

FUN FOODFINDER: Craving something special to eat? Want to find a restaurant in the Magic Kingdom that serves Chicken Tenders, Pizza, Carrot Cake or Baked Ziti, for example? With this unique feature, you can search for a place to eat based on any combination of 5 categories!



GPS VEHICLE LOCATOR: Ok, you've had a long, tiring day. Both you and the kids are getting cranky. Its dark and all you want to do is get the kids back to the hotel...and fast! Suddenly you find yourself wandering aimlessly in the parking lot looking for your vehicle. No worries. Follow our dependable GUIDE GUY and he will lead you directly to your vehicle!

In addition ThemeParkGPS gives you much more: You also get the latest information on Magic Kingdom's Attractions, Dining, Shopping, Special Events and Entertainment.

Sounds like a good app for someone who don't know well the park, isn't it? And the good news is that this GPS app cost $0.99 only on the iTunes Appstore! If you have an iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch, go ahead, you can download the App HERE.

AND, talking about iPhone Apps, i remind you the two great Tokyo Disney Sea and Hong Kong Disneyland Apps which include hundred of gorgeous pictures of the parks and that you can download HERE and HERE.

An Important Message from Walt Disney

50 years ago, at a time where the word environmental was barely known by anyone, Walt Disney, for a natural wildlife week was already warning us to take care of the planet and to don't spoil its natural resources. Have a look at this short video and follow Walt advice!




Video: copyright Disney

WDS Crush Coaster Making-Of Video

A little bit of Imagineering for this week-end with this Crush Coaster making-of. Personally i've never been a big fan of the ride as i think that the dark ride part is either too short or not sophisticated enough, technically speaking, but the ride is very popular at DLP Walt Disney Studios and you might enjoy it next time you'll visit the park!




Picture and video: copyright Disney