Behind the scenes at Disneyland Paris

Recently, I was lucky enough to take a special, if rather cold and rainy, trip to Disneyland Paris for a sneaky peek behind the scenes of the brand new show, ‘Disney’s Forest of Enchantment: A Disney Musical Adventure’. You’ll probably remember that this summer, the boys and I were at the park to watch the Frozen Summer Sing-along, and this brand new show will take over at the Chaparral Theatre until 8th May, when Frozen Summer Fun will return.

Over the course of a couple of days, we were given a very special look at the costumes, music and even rehearsals of this incredible, 100% live song and dance extravaganza, featuring lots of famous Disney heroes, heroines and much-loved characters, all of them in some way connected to nature. I won’t give them all away, but the Tangled scene was my absolute favourite:

Tangled scene in Forest of Enchantment

The story is told entirely in song by a cast of incredibly talented performers, and it was such a privilege to sit in on their vocal warm-ups and hear Jordan Todd, Sam Hastings, Dean Ryan, Rosie Hale, Georgia Permutt and Wesley Maddocks rehearse. They were a lovely bunch and we all had a bit of a chat afterwards about the demands of being in a show that’s performed five times a day, seven days a week. It was also a huge privilege to talk to hugely talented Music Director Vasile Şirli about how the music was conceived and ultimately recorded in LA.

Watching the performers rehearse with their vocal coach (l to r: Jordan Todd, Sam Hastings, Dean Ryan and Wesley Maddocks

Rosie and Georgia rehearsing

As well as the singers and acrobats, there’s an enormous team of choreographers, vocal coaches, acrobatic coaches and technical staff involved, and we talked to Show Directors Aurelian and Christophe and Producer Claire about how much work goes into such a huge production: auditions, sets, choreography, costume concepts… work started on the project over a year ago, but when you think about it, that’s a really short period of time to fit all that work in. In the costume department, over 40 talented couturiers, including specialist tailors, milliners and costumiers design and create the most spectacular costumes, often designing and commissioning the actual fabrics used. It wasn’t surprising to hear that a lot of them trained at places like Chanel, Dior and YSL in Paris.

In the costume department with some of the beautiful costumes

Rapunzel’s flower!!

The show is incredible, with so much to look at and performers appearing all over the stage and in the audience as well. Do make the time to go and see it if you’re planning a trip to Disneyland Paris. Click here to watch the YouTube video I made during my trip.

While we were there, we took a bit of time to visit some old favourites, including the glorious Bistrot Chez Remy:

Steak frites and ratatouille at Bistrot Chez Remy

…and some new ones - I was really impressed with The Chicago Steakhouse Restaurant in Disney Village:

My Cajun spiced crab cake with snow crab claw tempura at the Chicago Steakhouse

Should you possibly need any more reasons to visit Disneyland Paris this year, there’s TONS of new things coming up:

• Spring celebrations start on 5th March, with lots of characters and dancers celebrating the return of spring with different shows like Goofy’s Garden Party in the Central Plaza and an adorable new little mini parade called Minnie’s Little Spring Train.
• Frozen Summer Fun is back on 4th June until 18th September, with the return of Frozen Sing-along, Anna and Elsa making special appearances in the park and a special Frozen Feature in the gorgeous Disney Dreams night-time show.
• The Jedi Training Academy that I mentioned last summer will have a set out of the new movie, and young Padawans between the ages of 7 and 12 will be able to become apprentices to a Jedi master and train to use the force to defeat Darth Vader with their interactive light sabers.
• The inaugural Disneyland Half Marathon will take place on the weekend of 23-25 September, with the race taking place through the closed park. There’s all sorts of special events, AMAZING medals and character appearances over the weekend, along with a 5k as well.
• Later on this summer, there’s a brand new show starting in the Animagique Theatre in Toon Studios: Mickey and the Magician has a gorgeous set with some state of the art tech, loads of characters, tons of dancing (I hear rumour of a rather spectacular tap number with Aladdin’s Genie) and definitely shouldn’t be missed.

it’s a small world

As well as all these new attractions, Disneyland Paris will be seeing some major renovation over 2016, with Big Thunder Mountain being closed for refurbishment, Peter Pan’s Flight getting a facelift and Pirates of the Caribbean getting new special effects and all sorts of new audio and animatronic technology. it’s a small world will be getting new dolls and new colour palettes and Space Mountain will be getting a refurb as well as a new single rider lane.

PHEW! I think that’s it. As usual, if you’re planning a trip and have any burning questions, or need any advice, do drop me a line either in the comments or over on my Facebook or Twitter. I’m always happy to help 🙂

ATTRACTION TICKETS DIRECT TRAVEL PACKAGE PRICE

Book tickets to Disneyland Paris in advance through Attraction Tickets Direct. Call free on 0808 271 4453 or visit www.attraction-tickets-direct.co.uk

General ticket prices

1-Day / 2-Park Hopper ticket – priced from £45 per adult and £40 per child (low season / mid-week prices)

2-Day / 2-Park Hopper ticket – priced at £102 per adult and £92 per child (can be used on any two days within 12 months)

3-Day / 2-Park Hopper ticket – priced at £127 per adult and £115 per child (can be used on any three days within 12 months)

4-Day / 2-Park Hopper ticket – priced at £149 per adult and £137 per child (can be used on any four days within 12 months)

Special offers currently available

Travel before March 16^th and book Winter Saver 1-Day / 2-Park ticket, priced as follows:

- MINI-Ticket (weekdays only) - £34 per adult and £29 per child (3-11)

- MAGIC-Ticket (anytime) - £43 per adult and £38 per child

Travel before April 30^th and receive 4-days for the price of 3:

- 4-Day / 2-Park Hopper ticket – £127 per adult and £115 per child (to be used on any four days within a seven day period)