EWhat if we could weave cobwebs like Spider-Man? It is now possible in a new attraction inaugurated this summer at Disneyland Paris. Sitting in vehicles equipped with motion-detecting image recognition technology, we’re off to help Spider-Man get rid of thousands of ‘spiderbots’, shooting our webs at these out-of-control little self-replicating robots. at all costs and invade the premises. More sporty than a session in the room – it pulls on the biceps – and as addictive as a video game – you repeat it over and over to improve your score – Spider-Man WEB Adventure has everything to rise among the favorite attractions visitors.
This adventure is part of the Marvel Avengers Campus, a new area of Walt Disney Studios Park, slated to open July 20. Five years of design, three of which were needed to transform the old Backlot, whose sloppy decorations – sheet metal sheds and tar on the ground – were unanimously against them. More than a hundred professions worked on the project, underlines Beth Clapperton, artistic director. “It takes a lot of people to build such universes! »
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Roller coaster space travel
Visitors here are rookies, because “this campus was designed by Tony Stark [l’homme derrière Iron Man, NDLR] to discover a new generation of superheroes. Perched on a futuristic concrete platform, the impressive Avengers ship, the Quinjet, overlooks the scene. In this new immersive world, with decors mixing industrial and ultra-modern style, Marvel heroes are everywhere. Captain America, Black Widow, the Guardians of the Galaxy… “We can’t go five minutes without meeting one”, promises Louisa Kriouche, in charge of animations. “It’s a living world, where there’s always something going on. »
For recruits who still have strength after fighting the robots, head to the Avengers HQ, where Iron Man and Captain Marvel await us for another mission (without pressure): to save the Earth from missiles that threaten to destroy it. Briefed by an amazingly realistic Iron Man animatronic, we embark on hypersonic ships, understand the trains of a roller coaster propelled at more than 90 km/h before linking loops, descents and turns. Avengers Assemble: Flight Force is a successful rethematization of the mythical Rock’n’Roller Coaster, even if we regret that the trains have not been replaced by a more comfortable version, as Space Mountain was entitled to. As a result, the thrills are there, but so is the headache.
The Avengers HQ also hosts FRIDAY, the artificial intelligence that watches over the campus, and its elegant circular facade lights up when the digital voice makes announcements. An effect that forced the Imagineers (the name of the designers at Disney, combination ofto imagine and engineer in English) to rack your brains. “There is a real work of innovation at the service of visitors”, points out Axel Chetail, attractions engineer, also citing the technology deployed to detect movements in Spider-Man or the latest generation animatronics of Iron Man. “All this requires months and months of testing, we are really progressing little by little. »
Immersion right down to the plate
Saving the world sucks, so what can a future Avenger eat? The immersion continues right down to the plate at PYM Kitchen, an experimental lab where, according to the official story, PYM particles are used to expand or shrink food. Burgers, hot dogs, ice cream, cakes… In this buffet, everything is served in XXL or miniature versions. Gazpacho is drunk from a beaker, red wine from a test tube and chardonnay is blue! We eat very well – this is not the case everywhere in leisure parks – and the fun experience justifies the price (42 euros for the all-you-can-eat buffet; 30 euros for children). For smaller budgets, the Stark Factory offers pizzas and pastas, and some food-trucks are also available.
There remains the inevitable passage through the shop, where more than 350 souvenirs developed especially for the campus are sold. “We have very innovative products,” says Jean-David Marque, director of derivative products, who is testing his remote-controlled spider robots that can fight together like a big child. Another flagship product: a strap to hang on the arm to increase its powers tenfold in the Spider-Man attraction (40 euros) and which turns into a game at home.
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Two new themed areas coming soon
“Our Imagineers have outdone themselves”, welcomed the CEO of the Walt Disney Company Bob Chapek during the inauguration, a few days before the opening to the public, welcoming “the transformation of the destination initiated in recent years”. Renovation of flagship attractions, redesign of a hotel on the theme of Marvel, introduction of a compulsory reservation system, redevelopment of the Disney Village… Disneyland Paris has embarked on a major modernization plan as it approaches its 30e anniversary, which it has been celebrating since March with a new drone show and a lively parade.
The company does not communicate figures, but it has benefited since the spring, like the other French parks, from a return of visitors after two years shaken by the Covid-19 pandemic (from 15 million visitors in 2019, Disneyland Paris dropped to 4 million in 2020, according to AECOM and Themed Entertainment Association). The Avengers Campus is “a significant step forward in the global transformation of the experience” in the parks of the Ile-de-France, rejoices Natacha Rafalski, president of Disneyland Paris.
[EXCLUSIF] Disneyland Paris announces a major expansion plan for Walt Disney Studios Park including three new themed areas dedicated to Marvel, Star Wars and Frozen! More info: https://t.co/CcqBb8JMZX pic.twitter.com/81eHKoPvJE
— Disneyland Paris (@DisneylandParis) February 27, 2018
It is above all the first stone of a 2 billion euro investment plan for the site, which has been in financial difficulty since its opening in 1992, announced in 2018 by former CEO Bob Iger in the office of Emmanuel Macron. , to completely transform the Walt Disney Studios Park with the addition of three new themed areas. A cheap park, opened in a hurry in 2002 to respect the agreement signed with the State, which really needs this boost to reach Disney standards. Behind the palisades, the workers are already busy preparing the rest. Next step, with no opening date announced: a 3-hectare lake and an area dedicated to the Snow Queen, whose castle and 40-meter mountain will eventually dominate the park.