The success of Disneyland Paris’ new Ratatouille ride could hold the key to the future of this theme park

Andrea Monti

10 years ago

EuroDisney S.C.A. (i.e., the financial company behind
Disneyland Resort Paris) has a lot at stake with the opening of its brand-new
multimillion attraction, “Ratatouille, l’avventure totalement toque de Remy”
(which — for all of you English-speaking Disney fans out — translates into
“Remy’s Totally Crazy Adventure”).

It’s also worth noting here that the word “toque” in French
means both “crazy” but also stands for chef’s hat, “the toque.”…this is a
clever summing up of how crazy the road to this attraction has been for
Disneyland Paris management and how much “ego” is also at play here.

As all Disneyland Paris watchers know, when Walt
Disney Studios Park
opened on the 16th of March 2002,
it had only 9 attractions and very weak theming. Though the Front Lot was and
is still regarded by some as stunning, once Guests exit Studio 1 – WDS’ covered
version of Main Street, U.S.A. — it was a commonly acknowledged joke that (given
the way the Partners statue was positioned in the main plaza of Walt Disney
Studios Park) even Walt was pointing the way out of this theme park.

Walt Disney Studios was the last of a large expansion phase
which gave Walt Disney World its fourth gate (i.e, Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Which has amazing theming but a low ride count), a second gate for the
Disneyland Resort (i.e., Disney’s California Adventure theme park. And we all
know how the original version of that project turned out), Tokyo
Disney SEAS
at the Tokyo Disney Resort (TDS is what many consider to be WDI’s modern
masterpiece) and a second gate for Disneyland Paris (which was originally supposed
to have been called “Disney-MGM Studios Europe”).

The low attendance of Walt Disney Studios (less then 3 million
guests in its first full year ) brought EuroDisney SCA back to its 1992-1996
“doom days” when the entire DLP resort struggled & had to make drastic cuts
to its operation line up and investments. This theme park simply wasn’t compelling
people to stay on property that extra night which would have then increased not
only ticket sales but also improved this resort’s restaurant revenues and hotel
bottom lines.

Disney Paris management quickly followed the Anaheim formula
and decided to clone the Tower of Terror ride into the park – this was to be
seen as a similar move to what was done in 1995 with the opening of “Space
Mountain” in Disneyland Park next door; a heavy investment attraction which was
to be a game changer for the park and with high marketing potential in Europe
(no other European park had such a highly themed thrill ride).

Along with the Tower came the “Toon Studios” area; with two
Pixar themed rides; the fun and thrilling “Crush’s Coaster” (a spinning
coaster-in-the-dark themed around the East Australian Current scene from
“Finding Nemo”) as well as a “Cars Race Rally” Cars themed spinner
ride.

These new rides allowed the park to establish itself as a
close-to-full day park; still closing at 6 p.m. in winter and 7 p.m. in summer
(but the park is often used for business or sponsor special events in Studio 1)
but still dragging in no more then 5.6 million Guests a year; thus being the
Cinderella of the Disney Parks & Resorts.

Walt Disney Company management finally decided to solve its
“Paris problem” once & for all by
dropped three large “gifts” onto the Resort.

the amazing “Disney DREAMS” nighttime show in 2012 for
Disneyland Paris’ 20th anniversary
it then paid back 1.5 billion Euros of debt the company had
owed the banks & lenders (out of 2.3 billion) and opened up a large play
area, “Toy Story Playland” in the Walt Disney Studios to up that theme’s ride count
as well as increase its overall kid-friendliness.

And this is where our story gets interesting.

You see back in 2011 during the Toy Story Playland previews
guests got an amazing teaser of what Imagineering really wanted to do with the
area in the future. Which was open up an amazing Paris
street with a Ratatouille-based restaurant and ride.

During those annual passport & shareholder previews of
Toy Story Playland, Guests exited the area through a blue “barrel of fun” which
— on the other side — was an archway. And on top of this archway — for a
short few days, anyway — Guests would find a huge statue of Auguste Gusteau,
the chef from “Ratatouille.” And as they walked down this faux Parisian street,
Guests would find highly-themed benches with little chef Remys hidden in their
iron work. Which was a lot of theming & testing for an area which hadn’t even
been greenlit yet.

You see, Tom Fitzgerald — Executive Vice President of Walt
Disney Imagineering (More importantly, the man who was in charge of the
Disneyland Paris portfolio) — had delegated Tracy Eck (WDI’s operations head
for Paris) to have everything ready so that management could immediately greenlight
this cartoonish Paris-based area.

Imagineers knew that the Walt Disney Studios needed
something which could be sold to the French as “theirs” and yet familiar with
the Europeans. Tom also knew that the Studios lacked a true “themed area,”
one of those truly immersive place-making areas which Imagineering was famous
for. Fitzgerald’s team also knew that the Studios park didn’t have a truly
unique restaurant. Even worse, there was no proper sit-down restaurant (a must
for a theme park which wants to become a full-day destination).

It therefore was an obvious choice to create a highly themed
area, based on a truly French character who could then give this theme park a
must-see attraction and — at the same time — justify the construction of a
fully functional sit-down restaurant.

Unfortunately, Disneyland Paris management couldn’t see its
way clear to greenlighting construction of this new area until the Walt Disney
Company waved that 1.5 Billion Euros (The Banks, up until then, had a very
strong say when it came how money was spent at that Park and didn’t want to
greenlight such a costly 150 million Euro reinvestment in the property).

The wait though proved to be positive for Tom & Tracy
and their team as it allowed some rethinking of the ride system and show. When DLP
Guests finally venture into those Paris-themed show buidings which house the
ride they will board the result of 13 years of tweaking the most amazing ride
vehicle Imagineering has ever designed. “Ratatouille, l’avventure totalement
toque de Remy” uses a NextGen of Tokyo Disneyland’s “Pooh’s Hunny Hunt”
trackless ride vehicles (which debuted at that theme park back in 2001).

As they come through the queue, Guests will be shrunk down to
the size of a rat and then invited by Remy to come along with his friends
(which are rat-shaped ride vehicles) to travel along the rooftops of Paris and
then down into the kitchen where Chef Gusteau once worked and where Chef
Skinner now rules the roost.

And to really sell the idea that the Guests are now
rat-sized, everyone will be issued a set of 3D glasses before they board that
rat-shaped ride vehicle. And the combination of huge physical sets of kitchen
tools & refrigerators and giant 3D screens showing Skinner & Liguini
striding around this immense kitchen … Well, the end result is a NextGen
combination of Universal’s “The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man”
& “Transformers : The Ride – 3D” with Disney’s “Pooh’s Hunny
Hunt” with a dash of Hong Kong Disneyland’s “Mystic Manor”
thrown in.

Once they’re out of Chef Skinner’s reach, Walt Disney Studios
Park Guests will no doubt want to sample the fare at “Bistrot Chez Remy.”
What makes this new sit-down restaurant fun is that — as Guests enter the
place — they’re still supposed to be the size of rats. Which is why — as they
dine — these people will be surrounded by huge plates, forks and knives. The
menu at Bistrot Chez Remy (which was tested last month at Disneyland Paris’s
Sequoia Lodge hotel) will offer pres et 3 course menu with the choice of 3 hors
d’ouvre, 3 main dishes and 3 desserts (including cheese as dessert) for a fixed
price. Which is something that is sure to be appreciated by DLP Guests,
especially given Europe’s current economic crunch. And
— of course — this being the “Bistro Chez Remy,” there has to be
Ratatouille on the menu.

It’s important to understand here that Walt Disney Imagineering
& Disneyland Paris both have a lot riding on “Ratatouille, l’avventure
totalement toque de Remy.” The July 10th opening of this Walt Disney Studios
Park addition (which comes on the heels of this past weekend’s media preview as
well as this ride’s upcoming annual passport & shareholder preview dates) (all to get as much word of mouth marketing
and publicity for this area as possible) will closely watched by senior Walt
Disney Company management. All with the hope that — should WDSP see a
significant uptick in attendance levels over the next six months — Disney may
decide to give this theme park a Disney California Adventure-like makeover.
Which would ultimately turn this theme into a full day experience with more
themed areas (there’s a plan to turn the Backlot into a Marvel-themed area) and
a nighttime show (which would mean the construction or a central lake/area to
stage this nighttime show on) or to just “Let It Go” when thinking about Paris.

And as for me … I plan on visiting Bistrot Chez Remy soon and
eating some Ratatouille.

Salut mes amie!