“Ratatouille” Preview Event Liveblog

Invitation to the Disneyland Paris Ratatouille Preview Event The brand new, much-anticipated 150 million-euro Walt Disney Studios Park “E Ticket” dark ride Ratatouille: L’aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy doesn’t officially open until 12 July 2014 but Disneyland Paris has invited the Disneyland Paris Treasures blog to attend a special preview event and the entire experience will be live blogged right here, exclusively for the followers of the Disneyland Paris Treasures Blog!

The event schedule contains an extended visit to the whole Ratatouille mini-land and Place de Rémy, several sneak peek ride-throughs of the new Ratatouille: L’aventure Totalement Toquée de Rémy attraction and a lunch at Bistrot Chez Rémy.

And here we go, the Liveblog of the “Ratatouille” preview event happens right here, right now! Liveblog updates happen below and will refresh automatically. So just scroll down, sit back, and enjoy the event.

Liveblog of the “Ratatouille” Preview Event

18:46

That’s it, everyone! I hope you enjoyed the Disneyland Paris Treasures Liveblog coverage of this exciting event! I’m off to ride Ratatouille: The Adventure one last time!!

18:42

Disneyland Paris posted on Twitter the official group shot taken earlier this afternoon. Again, thank you for having us Disneyland Paris!! Thanks to Antonella, Jonathan & Mathias for a truly great day!

Disneyland Paris official group picture of the Ratatouille Preview Event

18:23

A little girl right in front of me is VERY excited ^^

18:20

In the queue of Ratatouille right now. Standing in line with the “regular guests” (i.e. no bloggers, no press, no vips etc.) and watching their expressions is amazing, most are aware of the amazing luck they just had to be allowed in here.

18:12

BREAKING NEWS: Disneyland Paris is doing an unannounced soft opening of Ratatouille right now, from 18:00 to 19:00 CET!! This means the whole mini-land and the attraction itself are open to everyone! If you happen to be in the parks, hurry over!!!

16:37

Sorry everyone, the mobile data at WDSP was terrible (never has been THAT bad before), tons of updates didn’t get through. I’ll post a recap to make up for them. I re-post them later, when I’m back home.

16:28

There we can also finally enjoy some decent wifi! Mobile data at the park today was as bad as never before, a lot of my updates didn’t go through I’m afraid, not sure how many yet…

16:25

Maxime (designingdisney.com), Olivier (ameworld.net) and I are heading to the Disneyland Hotel’s Main Street Lounge to relax a bit, freshen up and talk about the event. Excellent idea Max!! :-)

16:09

The event has officially ended and we just left the Ratatouille area to thank and say goodbye to our generous hosts Antonella, Jonathan and especially Mathias.

Thank you for for your hospitality and a wonderful day!

15:49

Have to hurry now to ride Ratatouille: The Adventure two times more before the event officially ends at 16:00 CET!!

15:40

Almost everyone is already outside again so I can take some pictures of the empty restaurant

15:14

The food really was excellent, especially the steak and the deserts (we got to try two different deserts).

14:12

We are asked to test the different wines which are available exclusively at Bistrot Chez Rémy.

13:58

The food is delicious and the service is excellent!

13:24

The restaurant menu

13:23

The theming of the restaurant is elaborate and very immersive

13:20

Now we’re invited into Bistrot Chez Rémy for lunch and are greeted with Champagne at the entrance!!

13:19

Lalo’s scooter (the one Skinner borrows in the movie) and Colette’s motorcycle:

13:18

Rode two more times in a row, love this ride! This is an amazing and badly needed addition to WDSP.

13:07

Also I love how much they used scents throughout the ride and queue line. In the early years they used scents everywhere!

13:06

The ride technology is amazing, I can’t believe how precise these 2.5 ton vehicles move, especially when they dock at the unloading area.

13:05

The queue line is wonderful, the ride itself is insanely fun. It’s also quite lengthy (for a dark ride) and the scale effect created by the huge props and the 3D dome screens works very well.

13:03

Wow, what a fantastic experience! I was blown away by the ride and my expectations (which were quite high) have been exceeded!!

12:55

Our Ratmobile arriving at the exit area:

12:50

We’re in, see you on the other side – I’m so excited!!

12:49

… enter the loading area and wait for our Ratmobile!!

12:48

We pick up our glasses …

12:47

The theming, the ambience and the music of the Parisian rooftop scene in the queue line is wonderful!

12:44

And then, finally, we are allowed to ride this brand new, 150 mio. Euro “E-Ticket” attraction with zero minutes wait time!!

12:38

The whole Ratatouille area looks amazing. Wonderful theming, details everywhere

12:36

Sadly Chez Marianne is still closed. As we learned at the presentation earlier it will open some time at the end of 2014

12:35

Charming details in every corner

12:34

And we’re in!!!

12:34

The badge check at the entrance to the Ratatouille area:

12:30

These are the special ‘Ratatouille Press event’ badges which allow us access to Place De Rémy and the Ratatouille area:

12:28

As is to be expected on a sunny Sunday during school holidays WDSP is very crowded. We go straight to the Ratatouille mini-land…

12:18

Walking to the studios. Even though we were all “VIPs” wearing the Preview Event badges we still had to pass security and the bag check!

12:05

The presentation has ended, off to the real thing now!!

12:01

The very last question to the Imagineers: What was your biggest wish? Their answer: To make it work! To make it look gorgeous!!

11:59

Some of the questions are asked and answered in French. Beth and Bjorn both speak excellent French!

11:57

150 imagineers, 44 European companies, 4000 workers were involved in the creation of the ride

11:55

Now that no more WDI images are shown we’re allowed to take pictures again

11:49

The presentation has ended, now the Q&A session begins. Someone is asking if the infamous Pixar truck is hidden within the attraction. Beth seems not to know anything about it

11:47

The boutique will open some time at the end of 2014.

11:46

Now they talk about the new boutique Chez Marianne

11:45

Showing pics of the restaurant props. And more leafs…

11:44

They are now talking about Bistrot Chez Rémy. They developed wine and champagne especially for the Restaurant!

11:42

Scene 9 – Chez Remy: They had a company building 2000 leafs by hand for four years

11:36

They show pics of the Passage between scenes 7 & 8

11:34

They are showing early, not rendered medias and construction pics

11:33

Beth talks briefly about ‘Scene 6 – Dining Room’ and ‘Scene 7 – In The Walls’

11:31

Bjorn is explaining that each vehicle weighs 2.5 tons and how they prevent that the fully free moving vehicles from ever going of the invisible tracks

11:26

They are talking about ‘Scene 4 – Food Locker’. They are showing pics of the huge props like fish, ham.

11:24

Beth is talking about the Pepper Ghost effect they used for showing Gusteau in the ride

11:18

Bjorn build the huge domes and screens in WDI’s office in Glendale for testing the media and the equipment

11:17

They are explaining and showing pictures of how the sets were build

11:10

Now Bjorn Heerwagen is explaining the ride vehicle. They are showing videos from testing the vehicle

11:08

They build it in close collaboration with Pixar. Nothing was pulled from the movie, all sequences were made especially for the ride

11:07

She explains that they knew it is difficult to build a Paris miniland so close to the real Paris, but they thought they can do it by building a ‘Pixars Paris’

11:05

Beth Clapperton (Art Director) is explaining how the attraction came about. They are showing pictures and concept art, but reminded us that we are not allowed to take pictures during the presentation!

11:01

The Disneyland Paris Ambassadors are on stage, introducing the Imagineers

10:59

Presentation will start any minute now…

10:53

The presentation will be followed by a Q&A session.

10:46

The presentation ‘The Making Of Ratatouille’ with Beth Clapperton (Art Director) and Bjorn Heerwagen (Show Designer and Production Manager) from Walt Disney Imagineering will start at 11:00 CET.

10:29

I made it, here is everyone:

10:25

Oh, wow. Thanks to the airline losing my luggage I’ve just had to buy toiletries for € 35 at the Hotel New York boutique! Now, this way…

09:56

Just arrived at Hotel New York, what beautiful weather today!

09:55

By the way, the airline lost my luggage and as I arrived very late last night all shops were already closed.

So the first thing I am going to do is visit the Hotel New York boutique and buy some toiletries

09:41

…and of course to meet everyone!!!

09:40

About to arrive at Hotel New York, for the Welcome at the Hotel New York Convention Center and the Distribution of the welcome kits.

09:31

Good Morning!!! The “Ratatouille” Preview Event starts at 10:30 CET, but Live Blogging starts a bit earlier, to cover the whole event. Cell Phone and Wireless Data reception at Disneyland Paris can be very ticky, so let’s hope all goes well!

 


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2 Comments

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  1. I can’t wait to read about the new attraction! I will follow the live blogging event with great interest and I’m looking forward to learn more about this fantastic new park area and ride! Good luck and lot’s of fun!

    Wish I was there!

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