Details of Radiator Springs

For those of you who are enjoying our look at some of the details of the Disney/Pixar attractions in the Toon Studio area of Walt Disney Studios, let's have a look at another fantastic ride. The Cars' Quater Roues Rallye has a great queue area, with references to the Cars film.

Shopping in the Wild Frontier

As we found out two days ago, even the shops at Parc Disneyland , Paris have theming spread throughout them. In just one of the many ways Imagineers never want us to forget that we are in a world of fantasy.

One of the shops in Frontierland, Disneyland Paris, is Tobias Norton and Sons Frontier Traders. A fun leather goods shop, themed like the merchants of the Wild, Wild West.
Of course, the theming of the shop doesn't just stop at its goods and facade, but the name also. Tobias Norton is a character from the 1955 Disney film Davy Crockett, King of the Wild Frontier. Known as Major Tobias Norton, the character was portrayed by William Bakewell in both the film, and the television series prior.

Fancy A Bite?

Even though there are plenty of places to find something to quench your thirst or halt your hunger on Main Street U.S.A. in Disneyland Paris, perhaps you are in need of something more. Perhaps you need the Creme de la Creme?

Well, have a look at this window on Main Street.

It reads:

Creme de la Creme

Cooking College

Specializing in the Art of Fine

French Cuisine

Instructors

Howard Gevertz

Dave Vermeulen

Both of these Instructors were involved in the food and beverage side of Disneyland Paris, or EuroDisney as it was at the time.

Howeard Gevertz was involved in the conception, planning, production and opening of all the restaurants, food and beverage locations and snack-carts in EuroDisney, as he was the Director of Food and Beverage at the time.

Unfortunately, I cannot find much information about Dave Vermeulen and his time at Disneyland Paris, but he currently resides in Hong Kong Disneyland as Vice President of Resort Operations. He did start his career, however, scooping ice-cream in the original Disneyland.

Proprietor: Walter E. Disney

In Parc Disneyland, on Main Street U.S.A, there is the Main Street Emporium. Similar to the Emporiums in other Disney Parks throughout the world, it is a one-stop-shop for all of your Disneyland Paris memorabilia and souvenirs.

The Emporium in Paris, however, has some fantastic detailing throughout, if you can managed to spot it amongst the throngs of people shopping!

This advertisement behind one of the cash desks, however, is my favourite. Perhaps it is the throwback to Walt or the old-fashioned styling, but it is a great hidden treasure of Main Street U.S.A.

Look After The Reef!

The queue area for Crush's Coaster is full of detail and references to the film, Finding Nemo. The Imagineers understood that the line would be slow moving due to the small load capacity, and made sure to give as much theming as possible to the line.

So, shall we take our time in the queue and have a look at all the fun references around us?

Looking Around Crush's Coaster

One of the newest areas of the Walt Disney Studios in Paris is the area including a couple of attractions based on films of Disney/Pixar. The area, part of Toon Studio, is one that we have focused a few times on this blog. Possibly because I think it has been very well done and highlights what the possible future of the Studios could become!Anyway, I thought that after this small break here at DF'82, it would be nice to have a look at a great new attraction: Crush's Coaster.

This attraction was opened in June 2007, and has since become one of the favourites of the Walt Disney Studios Park. There is no fastpass for Crush's Coaster, so the queues can last upwards of 60 minutes. A DF'82 tip would be to aim to get to this ride first thing in the morning (they open the main park 10-15 minutes before official park opening, and also start the queue for the main rides at this time), or aim to wait about 30-45 minutes last thing at night.

The coaster is fun for the whole family, although the seats can be a little bit of a squash. The attraction has the guest sitting on a turtle shell, going through a rollercoaster frame and spinning at the same time! It is described as a "turbulent" rollercoaster ride in the park, and it definitely is. It is advised for children aged 7 years and older, as a couple of parts can give you a real fright.

The ride lasts about 2 minutes and each turtle shell holds 4 riders. There are only 12 turtle shells in total, which is possibly why the wait time can be as long as it is. The coaster is almost entirely indoors (or undersea!) but there is one small area where you can wait and see the turtle shells swimming by.

Join us tomorrow when we will have a look at some of the detailing of the queue area of this fun attraction!

Update!

Hello lovely DF'82 readers!

You may have noticed that things are not yet quite regular here - I returned from a lovely trip to Walt Disney World at the weekend, but things have been busy in the Royal Household. This has meant I haven't had the chance to get back into this blog.

But do not fret! Things will return to normal as soon as possible. Thank you so much for your patience - and if you want to be sure you don't miss the next blog post, please add to your RSS reader - or become a fan over at facebook.

And don't forget, if you are planning a trip to Disneyland Paris and have any questions, please email me!