Star Wars Weekends at Disneyland Paris

[CafeFantasia]

Star Wars Weekends is an annual special event at Disney's Hollywood Studios theme park that celebrates the legendary Star Wars Saga and the animated television series, Star Wars: The Clone Wars. On Friday, Saturday and Sunday of each weekend, you can join celebrities and characters for special shows, panels, presentations and more!

In Episode 5 of the DLP Newscast, Steve suggested bringing Star Wars Weekends to Disneyland Paris. What a great idea. Now, you're probably thinking, the reason they do Star Wars Weekends at Disney's Hollywood Studios in Florida is because it's a more popular theme park. Well, if you look at the attendance figures for 2010, Disney's Hollywood Studios had 9.6 million visitors, whereas Disneyland Park (Paris) had 10.5 million!

Ok, well they probably do Star Wars Weekends in America because that's where all the talent is. Well, let's list the Star Wars celebrities that typically appear at these events:

• Warwick Davis (Wicket the Ewok) lives in England
• Kenny Baker (R2-D2) lives in England
• Anthony Daniels (C-3PO) lives in England
• Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) lives in Texas
• Ray Park (Darth Maul) lives in Los Angeles

What do these guys all have in common? They're all English, and the majority of them still live in England. So, what's the distance from London to Disneyland Paris? It's about 222 miles. What about the distance from London to Disney's Hollywood Studios? It's about 4364 miles! So, all of those Star Wars celebrities are having to travel 20 times the distance, to get to a park that has a million less visitors per year!

But Star Wars is an American film, right? Well yes, George Lucas (director and writer) is American, Gary Kurtz (producer) is American, Rick McCallum (producer) is American and John Williams (composer) is American. But where were these films actually shot? America, right? Wrong. The three original Star Wars films were shot at Elstree Studios near London. And the first two prequels were shot at Leavesden Studios, also near London. The only Star Wars film not to be shot in England was Revenge of the Sith, which was shot at Fox Studios Australia in Sydney. So really, the majority of the Star Wars films were all made in England, not America.

It certainly makes you think, doesn't it? Disneyland Paris would be the perfect home for Star Wars Weekends.

[norhel]

Now, I'm not that much in to Star Wars, but if Star Wars is so popular here that I believe it is, why not?
I also think that this is something great that can bee DLP, especially since it's produced in Europe.

[davewasbaloo]

I love the Star Wars weekend at the National Space Centre in Leicester, as well as the one at DHS. And the Jedi Academy in WDW and DL is fantastic. I would love it to happen in DLP. Sadly I would doubt we would see it though.

[lilfencer09]

I would LOVE to go to the Star wars weekend at DLP! Please let it happen!

[coruscantpt]

Now that would be a great idea to bring this huge event to Paris. We can hope

[MAVERICK]

As a big STAR WARS fan i would love them to do special events it would be very cool

[PirateSteve]

My fear of flying is what stops going to WDW for these events as they are quite literally dream weekends for me. Star Wars has been an obsession of mine for 31 years and Disneyland Paris for the last 10 years - add those two together and I'd be in heaven. I also think it would give a new dimension to the park and if done on quiet weekends could bring in much needed revenue at times when they usually have to have 40% flash sales.

Anyone who went to Exhibition Europe a few years ago will know, as if anyone couldn't guess, just how popular Star Wars is in Europe. With first the prequels and now The Clone Wars and Lego Star Wars, there are new generations being introduced to it all the time. Star Tours is perfectly positioned next to Videopolis which can house some shows and that whole area can become Star Ware themed. I'd have Star Wars 3D instead of MJ for those weekends. The possibilities are endless.

[CafeFantasia]

Ok. Here's an idea. You know the huge L’Astroport Services Interstellaires hall that walk through, as you come out of Star Tours? It's not very Star Wars-y, is it. And it's not very well utilised at the moment. It's a pretty dead, ugly area that does little to immerse you in the World of Star Tours.



Well, what if they completely re-themed it, and turned it into an indoor stage area for a permanent Jedi Training Academy? Indoor so that the Paris rain can never stop or cancel the show. Here's a description from Disneyland's official site:

Welcome to the Academy, young Padawans! This live-action show features several kids selected from the audience to don the famous brown robes and train with a Star Wars™ Jedi Master. Watch young Jedi trainees recite the sacred Jedi Oath, draw their light sabers and learn ancient battle techniques from a true Jedi Master.
Confront the Dark Side

But stay vigilant; there has been a disturbance in the force. Stormtroopers led by Darth Vader himself have been rumored to be nearby. Can you defeat the Dark Side and win the day? Only time will tell. May the force be with you!

[15MagicalYears]

That's an awesome idea, but wouldn't it get a little congested in there? With people coming off the ride every 5 minutes, and people trying to squash in to see the show?

[Columbiad]

Being a film franchise, this screams Walt Disney Studios to me. It's a shame that the ride is in Parc Disneyland as this would be a brilliant boost for WDS.

Although it will most likely never happen, it would be really fantastic if they built a dedicated Star Wars area in WDS with Star Tours II, and used the area in Discoveryland for a proper, retro-future-themed attraction.

[CafeFantasia]

@15MagicalYears

It might get a little congested in there, yeah. On the other hand, the steady stream of people coming out of Star Tours would guarantee an audience for the Jedi Training Academy shows. It would never be dead and unpopular.

Alternatively, what if L’Astroport Services Interstellaires was turned into a huge Star Wars shop, like Tatooine Traders in WDW, and the space that Star Traders currently occupies was turned into an outdoor stage area for the Jedi Training Academy?

There's lots of potential, and a new shop interior and stage shouldn't be too unrealistic (cost-wise) for Disneyland Paris to build. If they can't even afford those two things, then they're definitely in the wrong business!

[PirateSteve]

Great ideas - getting anything to replace video games arcades would be a positive in my book.

A Star Wars float in the parade during SW weekends would probably be cost prohibitive, but awesome!

[Patrick89]

Nice ideas, I like most of them. The main thing would be to replace/alter the interior of L' Astroport Services. Always when I leave Star Tours, all these gaming machines totally ruin the atmosphere for me...

[Vegitabeta]

Shove everyone in Videopolis! The theming isn't spot on but it is near the ride and there is a lot of space in there.

[SophieD]

This would be amazing if they decided to bring Star Wars Weekends over to Disneyland Paris!! Its a great opportunity for DLP to do something like this especially given the fan-base of the franchise. The question of space does spring to mind though.. especially if, like Walt Disney World Florida, they do a parade of stars and characters. Like @Columbiad I think the only way to counteract this would be to place the Weekends in the Studios. Would there be enough space in the building where Stitch:Live is to house the Jedi Training Academy?
But I do think we need the update of Star Tours =) and regular meet and greets with Chewbacca, Darth Vader and the Storm Troupers!!

[sebassah]

Worked loads of Star Wars weekends at DHS back in 2009. Have to say that the 'magic' is mostly made by the guests dressed up as their favorite characters (which is only allowed during SWW). The Americans are way more into dressing up and Star Wars minded as the Europeans or is that something I see wrong?

@Alan Id love to rebuild the arcadehall to a permanent Tattooine traders type of show.

[BlackPearl]

It really would be a great idea to replace video games arcade (I never liked it very much) and make room for Star Wars weekends or regular meet-and-greets with characters.
I remember meeting Chewbacca and two Ewoks when we visitied Dlrp in 1995 (not totally sure about the year)
They were in Videopolis and we had so much fun. Chewbacca was just awesome and the Ewoks tried to plunder our
rucksacks . A meet-and-greet with them would definitely be better then the videogames.

[Patrick89]

Even if I'm not a friend of the mass meet and greet places coming up everywhere, this would be a good idea. This video game arcade is really a shame and ruins all of the Star Wars feeling.

[lorrig]

I'm going to show my ignorance here and ask 'Why is Star Wars associated with Disney' - not being cheeky, I just don't know.
Personally, I have no interest in it at all and my daughter was petrified when she saw star troopers and Darth Vader.
But it would probably be a money spinner - just as some people think toon characters are.
Just hope it doesn't happen when I'm there lol