CHESSY, France – A 118-foot (36-metre) mountain of ice rose over the suburban Paris countryside this weekend as Disney opened its Arendelle kingdom to the world – Elsa’s palace glowing at the summit, a “Frozen” Nordic fishing village below, and the company’s new CEO standing before a crowd of celebrities.
World of Frozen, an immersive land themed to the blockbuster animated franchise, opened Sunday as a centerpiece of a 2 billion euro (S$3 billion) transformation at Disneyland Paris.
The transformation renames one of Disneyland Paris’ two parks from Walt Disney Studios Park to Disney Adventure World. The inauguration drew Penelope Cruz, Naomi Campbell and Teyana Taylor.
It is the largest expansion in the 34-year history of Disneyland Paris, and one node in a roughly $60 billion global buildout of Disney’s parks, resorts and cruise lines.
A new CEO’s first stage
It is also the first major international stage for Josh D’Amaro, who took over as Disney’s chief executive on March 18 – just 11 days before the French gates opened – after nearly three decades in the company’s theme parks division.
The parks-and-experiences business reportedly generated 57 per cent of the company’s $17.5 billion in segment operating income last year, the force that observers say propelled D’Amaro from parks chief to the corner office.
“The Walt Disney Company was built on one man’s dream, and for more than 100 years we’ve shared that dream with the world,” D’Amaro told the inauguration crowd.
“Storytelling is fundamental to everything that we do, whether that’s on screen or stage, in our theme parks, on our cruise ships, or even at home.”
He called the opening “a transformational moment” and paid tribute to the creative team behind the land, including “Frozen” writer-director Jennifer Lee – all now at work on “Frozen 3.”
An Associated Press journalist accompanied D’Amaro on the “Frozen” ride Saturday night.
The carriage splashed through water to childlike cheers from riders and laughter from the new chief executive as they glided past singing Elsa in the dark. Some stepped off lightly wet.
The evening’s emotional peak came when Lou, an 11-year-old whose wish was granted through Make-A-Wish France, took the stage to sing a few notes of “Do You Want to Build a Snowman?”
A next-generation robotic Olaf walked out to join her. It was the 25,000th wish fulfilled for a sick child at Disneyland Paris since 1992.
A remarkable Disney reversal
On Friday, D’Amaro had stood alongside Emmanuel Macron at the resort.
The French president used the visit to claim the park as a national economic asset, calling Disneyland Paris “the leading tourist destination in Europe” and describing it as “a genuine ecosystem of success.”
Macron said the latest expansion would create 1,000 additional direct jobs.
“Since the beginning, that’s 13 billion euros invested on this territory,” Macron said.
Disneyland Paris says it has recorded more than 445 million visits since 1992, accounting for 6.1 per cent of France’s national tourism revenue.
Macron’s presence underscored a remarkable reversal.
When the park opened as Euro Disney in 1992, French intellectuals derided it as a “cultural Chernobyl.” Now a French president was standing in front of cameras calling it an engine of national prosperity.
European roots
“Frozen, of course, has its roots in European storytelling,” said Michel den Dulk of Walt Disney Imagineering.
“It’s very loosely based on Hans Christian Andersen. So to have a northern European, charming wooden little village here in Disneyland Paris – it just made sense.”
The new Tangled family ride, too, draws from European folklore – the Brothers Grimm’s Rapunzel.
The land recreates Arendelle around a lagoon, its timber buildings painted in muted Scandinavian pastels, facades adorned with rosemaling, a traditional Norwegian decorative art.
At the centre is Frozen Ever After, a boat ride featuring state-of-the-art animatronics and immersive projection effects.
Guests can meet Anna and Elsa inside Arendelle Castle, have a conversation with a responsive baby troll named Mossy who talks back, and watch a lagoon celebration called the Snow Flower Festival – featuring an original song.
Visitors praised the scale of the mountain and the detail of the village, even after delays and minor glitches.
“Despite the wait, it was well worth it. The attention to detail is incredible, and the perspective of the ice mountain is breathtaking,” said Daniel Weber, 41, an architect from Munich, Germany, after the ride Sunday.
“You forget you’re outside Paris. For a few minutes, it really feels like Arendelle,” said Lea Moreau, 27, a graphic designer from Lille, France.
Beyond World of Frozen, the rebranded park brings a vast new lake called Adventure Bay, a Tangled family ride, 15 new dining locations – including the posh Regal View Restaurant – and a nighttime spectacular called Disney Cascade of Lights featuring more than 380 drones.
A Lion King land, already under construction, will follow.
More than 90 per cent of the second park’s offerings will have been redesigned since it opened in 2002, and Disney says the footprint will roughly double once the full transformation is complete.
Disney’s streaming has swung from deep losses to profitability, but the parks remain the company’s most dependable earnings engine – and D’Amaro is the man who ran them.
“We continue to dream bigger and bring stories to life in brand new ways,” D’Amaro told the crowd.
Pyrotechnics lit up Arendelle Village.
The ice palace on the mountain turned blue.
And 34 years after Euro Disney became a punchline, a brand-new kingdom opened in the fields east of Paris – for the first time in forever.
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