Disneyland Paris at the click of a mouse!

The official attraction closures schedule has been updated again, adding a refurbishment of Big Thunder Mountain from 26th April to 7th May 2010.

Closures & Refurbishments

The only other change is the disappearance of the month-long refurbishment of Blanche-Neige et les Sept Nains (Snow White). Cancelled or a mistake?

There’s also no mention of the Castle bridge, although that’s to be expected since Disneyland Paris rarely announce when park elements and structures are being refurbished, only attraction closures.

Since the last update our new Planning pages have tripled in number, with another 10 new and refreshed pages joining the dedicated section. Take a look:

Ride Restrictions

Queue Times

Extra Magic Hours

Guided Tours

Souvenir Photos

Park Regulations

Express Photo Developing

Disney Shopping Service

We’ve also got a brand new page:

Smoking

And a returning favourite, that useful English guide to APs:

Annual Passports

We’re adding new pages each day, so keep checking back for more.

You can also follow updates on Facebook and Twitter.

It’s a new year and a New Generation of characters are on the horizon. Most exciting of all, Princess Tiana from Disney’s The Princess and the Frog, which for most of us is now, finally hitting cinemas in less than a week’s time!

So, our interviews deviate a little into the animation side of things. After all, those characters in the parks don’t just come from anywhere. When Jérémie Noyer got the chance to meet Tiana’s actual supervising animator Mark Henn to discuss the creation of a new Disney heroine, that’s something you don’t pass up…

Don’t worry — no spoilers! This is the perfect lead-in for the film, which you’ll be first in line for when it opens this week, right? (3rd Feb in Netherlands, Belgium; 5th Feb in UK & Ireland)

Read to the end for a sneaky bit of info about Disney’s next traditionally-animated feature!

When Memorabilia became a success and swanned off to its own website, it left a gaping hole in our top menu. Some pondering later, and the only sensible replacement seemed to be — Planning. For too long our practical guides have been hidden away as part of the Guidebook (or earlier, Resort Guides), despite being some of the most popular pages on the website.

However, when that new Planning link first appeared at the top, it just linked through to the old pages. Now, we’ve taken the jump — Planning is now its own, separate section on DLRP Magic!, with a new design and rewritten guides starting to replace the dated old versions.

Check out the new section here

You can tell the pages that have already been refreshed by the yellow “New” tag on the new index page. Throughout this process, we’ll try to keep as many links working as possible. The pages have new addresses, but redirects are being put in place as each is completed, so your old links and bookmarks will still work.

So far, take a look at our new pages for Park Tickets, Half Board Meal Plans, Disney’s Fastpass, Baby Switch and Disney Express Luggage Service.

Park opening times for the first two weeks of March are now available:

Monthly Park Hours: March 2010

If you’re planning a trip soon, be sure to check out our Special Offers pages, which summarise all the current official Disneyland Paris offers and discounts in a much simpler format.

After our last, very brief, video clip of The Old Mill, we walk back into the British quarter of Fantasyland and hop aboard the Disneyland Railroad for a “grand circle tour of the magic kingdom”!

Video: Disneyland Railroad – Grand Circle Tour

If you ever want to show someone how beautiful and intricately designed Disneyland Paris is, this is the video to do it with. The moment the train bursts out the tunnel into Frontierland to the score of the Maginificent Seven is sensationally cinematic, surely one of the greatest “moments” in any Disney park.

…It’s just a shame that the announcements over the original narration can’t be a bit more subtle.

Park hours for the rest of February 2010 have now been published by Disneyland Paris:

Monthly Park Hours: February 2010

Where the hours used to be published at least 3 months in advance (and in days gone by, a full year in advance), they now appear to publish them only around 1.5 months ahead…

Also note that, according to the latest programme, Thunder Mesa Riverboat Landing and thus the two river boats, Mark Twain and Molly Brown, are currently closed — despite this refurbishment not appearing at all on the official website’s listing.