Wednesday, December 19, 2012

HKDL Mystic Manor Update !


I've got a great Mystic Manor pictorial update for you today with these brand new pictures showing the exterior of the Manor, now totally finished as well as the buildings nearby. HKDL Imagineers are now working on the inside decors and the ride system and Mystic Manor is scheduled to open next summer 2013.




The building you'll see on the next pictures will be the one for a merchandise shop and the ride exit.




Some closer shots of architectural elements of this building.






The least we can say is that Mystic Manor - especially the main building - has a quite unique architecture. But where WDI Imagineers did take their inspiration for it, that's what i will tell you in the part two of this Mystic Manor update, tomorrow! Don't miss it!

Pictures: copyright Disney and more

 Discover the great HKDL Wallpapers HD App for iPhone, iPad or iPod Touch!
Direct iTunes link HERE!

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Disneyland Big Thunder Mountain Rainbow Ridge Mining Town is Here to Stay


In his Mice Age update yesterday Andy Castro posted pictures of Disneyland Big Thunder Mountain which is now in a long refurbishment. And Andy added about Rainbow Ridge -  the little mining town that guests can see in the ride and which was part before of the now extinct Mine Train Thru nature's Wonderland: "What Disney didn’t confirm, however, are rumors that the mining town that riders pass at the end of the attraction will be mostly removed during the refurbishment... I hope the old Rainbow Ridge can be saved, but rumors continue to suggest it will become a permanent part of Yesterland when the attraction closes for refurbishment in January." 

Well, Andy, i have a news that should make you happy as well as all Disneyland fans as, yes, the Rainbow Ridge buildings will be removed...but it's to rebuild them and then DL Imagineers will put them back in place, and it seems they will rebuild them fully new. Back in 1978 when WDI Imagineers moved them from their old location in Nature's Wonderland they had to partially rebuild the ones they wanted to save and the ones in worst condition went away. Sitting in the dirt since then they probably got some wood rot by now. Maybe now they will put Concrete foundations down for them, or we can only hope. 




Back in 1978 the Rainbow Ridge buildings never had props or interiors as guests did not get that close to them in Nature's Wonderland. So for DL BTM Imagineers installed props, curtains, wallpaper and lighting inside and outside of them, as well as some audio effects from "X" Atencio and the WED Gang.  For instance, in the Saloon you can hear Imagineers "X" Atencio and Scott Hennesy and other WED Imagineers singing along in Rainbow Ridge. By the way, talking about Big Thunder did you knew that the BTM Trains were first designed in 1969 by Imagineer George McGinnis for Marc Davis for his planned train ride and were later adapted to Big Thunder for Tony Baxter BTM concept. 

You can see more pictures of DL BTM Rainbow Ridge in Andy's article on Mice Chat HERE.

Pictures: copyright Andy Castro - Mice Chat

A Great Idea for a Christmas Gift !

These limited edition prints from the great Tom Scherman paintings area great idea for a Christmas gift! Tom Scherman as you probably know was the world wide specialist of the Nautilus, and it's thanks to him that we have at DLP the great Nautilus walk-through attraction. But Tom was also a fantastic painter and illustrator and did beautiful paintings. Rowland Scherman, brother of Tom, and director of the Tom Scherman estate is selling beautiful limited editions prints and they would make gorgeous Christmas gifts! Each of them is a limited edition of 150 with a paper size approximately of 13"x19" and an image size of approximately 14" length.
As i've said all the artworks below are limited editions, printed on heavy, high quality "art paper". Each of them has a reference number and title.

If you wish to place an order, please send a email to: lawrence55@wanadoo.fr and tell us precisely which artwork, which quantity and the country where the artwork will be sent. We will send you a Paypal invoice, including shipping price, so you will be able to proceed to the Paypal payment. If you don't have a Paypal account, let us know in your email.


TOM SCHERMAN PAINTINGS
: Color prints on Art Paper


Reference NO 1: Nautilus 1: Limited edition of 150. Paper size: 13"x19" Image size: Approximately 14" length. Price: $100 + shipping





Reference NO 2: Nautilus Underwater: Limited edition of 150. Paper size: 13"x19" Image size: Approximately 14" length. Price: $100 + shipping






Reference NO 3: Nautilus on Vulcania Island: Limited edition of 150. Paper size: 13"x19" Image size: Approximately 14" length. Price: $100 + shipping






Reference NO 4: Nautilus on the rocks: Limited edition of 150. Paper size: 13"x19" Image size: Approximately 14" length. Price: $100 + shipping






Reference NO 5: Nautilus TWO: Limited edition of 150. Paper size: 13"x19" Image size: Approximately 14" length. Price: $100 + shipping





VULCANIA ISLAND ARTWORK: B&W prints on Art Paper



Reference NO 6: Vulcania overview. Limited edition of 150. Paper size: 13"x19" Image size: Approximately 16" length. Price: $75 + shipping






Reference NO 7: Nautilus in Lagoon. Limited edition of 150. Paper size: 13"x19" Image size: Approximately 16" length. Price: $75 + shipping






Reference NO 8: Captain Nemo's Machines. Limited edition of 100. Paper size: 13"x19" Image size: Approximately 16" length. Price: $75 + shipping






Reference NO 9: Journey to the Center of the Earth. Limited edition of 100. Paper size: 13"x19" Image size: Approximately 16" length. Price: $75 + shipping






Reference NO 10: Journey to the Center of the Earth TWO. Limited edition of 100. Paper size: 13"x19" Image size: Approximately 16" length. Price: $75 + shipping





All artwork: copyright Tom Scherman Estate. No unauthorized reproduction allowed.

Monday, December 17, 2012

Walt Disney Studios Ratatouille Ride Update


Hello Everyone. As promised i'm back today from my break and i have great updates for you this week. Today thanks to Max, from Dlrp Welcome and Disney and more contributor, we'll begin by the latest pictures of the works on the awaited Ratatouille dark ride scheduled to open early 2014 at DLP Walt Disney Studios.

As you will see on the pictures below almost all of the walls are now in place on the show building. It'll take probably one more month before they begin the theming of the Parisian facades!










Pictures: copyright Max Fan - Dlrp Welcome

Monday, December 10, 2012

Editor's Note: I'll be away for a break - that i was supposed to take late October but never did! - until Monday 18. And boy, how do i need it! But i've programmed some cool posts on the D&M Facebook page HERE so make sure to check it daily! Also, may i remind you that the Disneyland Paris book Christmas special offer will end on December 25 and that it's still time to enjoy the $45 discount on the normal price! You'll find all infos about it below or thanks to send your order at: neverlandeditions@gmail.com

Save $45 on the Disneyland Paris, From Sketch to Reality Collector Edition thanks to the Christmas special offer !


Save $45 thanks to our Christmas special offer as until Dec 25th the book price for one collector copy is at 85€ ( $108 ) instead than 120€ ( $153 ) ! Last english copies available! Also, for those of you who have never seen a copy of the book you'll find below a video presentation of the full book which will show you each of the 320 pages of the book. And, most of all don't miss the comments of those who have already received the book at the end of the book presentation!

For those of you who don't know what is the Disneyland Paris, From Sketch to Reality collector's edition here is more details: the collector's edition is printed on a luxury glossy paper, it has a gold printing on the cover and dust jacket, is limited at 2000 copies in english ( and 2000 in french ), each copy has a number, AND each copy include four beautiful "lithographs" of WDI artwork for the Walt Disney Studios. Each of these lithographs can be put under frame. Also, the contents of the book is exactly the same than the first collector's copies printed ten years ago. And only the collector's edition is available, the regular edition is sold out.



Here is how to do to order the book:

So, how to pre-order a copy of this collector's edition? First, send us an email at: neverlandeditions@gmail.com ( with as subject: "dlp book order" ) to let us know that you want to order a copy, how many copies you want, in which language ( english or french edition? ) , and your shipping address.

How to proceed for your payment: We prefer a Paypal payment. Paypal is a very safe way to pay without giving your credit card number. For a payment with Paypal the total amount must be sent through Paypal at the email adress: neverlandeditions@gmail.com

OR, even more easy, you can now order the book directly from this page and proceed to the payment with Paypal by clicking on the "Buy it Now" Paypal button below! Order two or more copies an enjoy an additional discount!
Also, don't forget to let me know your shipping address and to confirm your order and payment AND to say if you want the book in english or french edition by sending us an email at: neverlandeditions@gmail.com

IMPORTANT - PLEASE READ: Whatever the book quantity you will choose you'll see that in the next page that will open the quantity written in the "quantity box" is "1". I tried everything possible to change this and to have the right quantity appearing but it still doesn't work. SO, when you will do your Paypal payment please don't forget to write in the text box the book quantity that you have ordered, AND also tell it to me by email. No worries, though, as i will also be able to identify instantly how many copies have been ordered when i will see the amount paid. Thanks!


Choose quantity and enjoy additional discount!

If you don't have a Paypal account: either you know someone who have one and through which you can send the payment, or you can pay by check if you live in france or with a bank wire transfer ( no foreign checks, sorry ). If you want to do a wire transfer please let us know in your email and we will send you the bank infos.

BOOK DESCRIPTION:

Below you'll find a description of the book as well as visuals of the inside pages ( click on the mosaic pictures to see them in larger scale ). The printer did an incredible job, and the printing and binding is just perfect! I did a video to show you the final product, exactly the same one than you will receive if you order the book, and you can watch the video below!




Although you've probably heard about this beautiful book, many of you may have never seen a copy of it. So we've done a video presentation of the full book which will show you each of the 320 pages of the book! The book includes 750 pictures of the park, including 250 gorgeous renderings of Walt Disney Imagineering and stunning pictures of the park seen from above. The book is so big that it took us seven and a half minutes to show you the full book, and that's without stopping turning each pages! So, if you want to have a closer look at a page don't hesitate to stop the video. Finally, because we didn't had any more a collector edition copy the video is showing the regular edition of the book, not the collector's edition that you will receive if you place your order, but the inside pages are exactly the same.




Description of the book:



The book is a gorgeous "coffee table book" with 320 pages and 750 pictures - of which 500 are park and attractions photos and 250 are Walt Disney Imagineering renderings!

The size is 9 x 12 inches, all pages are in color and it's hardbound with a glossy dust jacket. The text (by Disney historian Didier Ghez), was written after more than 75 interviews he conducted with all the Imagineers who created the park. He goes into just about everything you wanted to know about this unique place that many describe as the best "Magic Kingdom" ever created by WDI.

It took five years to create the book, but it was worth all the time we spent on it, and the book looks just as good as we had hoped for at the beginning - in fact Imagineer Bruce Gordon told us that it was "probably the best book ever done on a Disney theme park". Coming from Bruce who did with David Mumford the great "Disneyland, The Nickel Tour" book, it was more than a compliment.

The first chapter about Main Street has 52 pages and introduces the reader to the "legend" of Main Street, USA. You'll learn all about the Disneyland Paris Railroad, the unique "Discovery" and "Liberty" Arcades; find out about the architecture, the restaurants (like "Walt's," a tribute to Walt Disney, but also inspired by Club 33 in Anaheim) and the shops; with dozens of photos, renderings, models, and reproduced for the first time here, all the "cities of the future" posters located in "Discovery Arcade."



The second chapter on Frontierland discusses the park's western side with extensive sections about its major attractions, "Big Thunder Mountain" and "Phantom Manor." In fact the book has the longest sections ever put together in a book on all the major attractions. The Pirates of Caribbean section in the Adventureland chapter is 26 pages, Phantom Manor has 16 pages devoted to it, as does Space Mountain, it's a small world, etc. The photo material was so great that we kept adding more pages to the book, which was supposed to have only 240 pages when we started... we ended up with 320 upon completion!



The Frontierland chapter also covers the Mark Twain, the River Rogue Keelboats, Fort Comstock, all the restaurants, the shops and Cottonwood Creek Ranch.and featuring stunning photos of Disneyland Paris from the air by Yann Arthus Bertrand, author of The Earth from Above that make spectacular "double-pages," and allow the reader to discover the park from a whole different angle.



The Adventureland chapter is even more interesting, as many elements of the land exist only in Paris - such as the Bazaar and Aladdin to Africa and the ex-"Explorer's Club." Plus there's a long section about "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril," "Adventure Isle" and "The Swiss Robinson Treehouse" and, of course, "Pirates of Caribbean" the land's major attraction and featuring its amazing Audio-Animatronics! All in all there are 56 full pages about Adventureland, and as in the previous chapters, there are dozens of photos, lots of concept art, and many shots of Imagineers at work. There's even a great bonus here, with the Marc Davis artwork for "Pirates" also included.



56 full pages are also dedicated to Fantasyland. There's an extensive look at Sleeping Beauty Castle, sections on all the dark rides (Snow White, Peter Pan and Pinocchio), as well as a look at "Alice's Curious Labyrinth," the "Mad Hatter's Tea Cups," "Storybookland," and "Casey Jr." There are even 14 pages about "it's a small world" with stunning photos of nearly all the scenes in it. Here the reader can discover a new attraction that exists only at Disneyland Paris, with a great view from above of Alice's Labyrinth.

Discoveryland also gets 52 pages of special treatment, with sections on the Visionarium, the Nautilus, Star Tours, Space Mountain, and everything you wanted to know about the other attractions in this land – Autopia and Orbitron. In fact the Nautilus chapter takes you on a visit with photos of every room of this detailed walk-through and two double page photo spreads, one which makes you feel you're inside Captain Nemo's grand salon, and the other showing you a unique view of Discoveyland featuring the Nautilus and Space Mountain in a kind of "CinemaScope" view.



When the book was released in early 2002, the Walt Disney Studios didn't exist, so you won't see them in the book. But there's still one last chapter about the hotels of the park, and Disney Village too, with the great Buffalo Bill Wild West show that entertains hundreds each evening.

And because every day in a Magic Kingdom should end with a parade and fireworks, we have the Main Street Electrical Parade that close the book, with also an Herb Ryman gorgeous painting in the very last pages!



Order the book directly from this page and proceed to the payment with Paypal by clicking on the "Buy it Now" Paypal button below! Order two or more copies an enjoy an additional discount!
Also, don't forget to let me know your shipping address and to confirm your order and payment AND to say if you want the book in english or french edition by sending us an email at: neverlandeditions@gmail.com


Choose quantity and enjoy additional discount!


Pictures: copyright Disney

Video: copyright Alain Littaye 2012

Sunday, December 9, 2012

Discover the Great Attraction Posters of Greg Maletic, and more



I've posted a few days ago on the Disney and more Facebook page this "fake" "Swan Boats" attraction poster. It was down by a great artist named Greg Maletic who did more "fake" attraction posters like the ones below.



He then posted them online and someone at WDI saw them and Greg was hired to create some of Hong Kong Disneyland "real" attraction posters! You have a selection of these below and you can see more on Greg Maletic website HERE.




But Greg did more for HKDL as he is also the one who did the front and back of the 24 foot billboard for HKDL Autopia attraction! 



As you will see on his website Greg did much more than that and as a Tiki fan i also love the great Tiki invitation he did for his 40th birthday.


So, jump to Greg Maletic website HERE to discover his work and don't miss too his proposal to "make "outside" seem like "outside" attraction technology" concept!

Pictures: copyright Disney, Greg Maletic
 
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