Phantom Manor DLP Video

Phantom Manor DLP

Welcome foolish mortals, todays gruesome update is a new video, a ride through, of DLP Phantom Manor. Its not a fully detailed report examining every piece of wallpaper (We do sometimes enjoy riding and soaking up a ride/show without a camera in hand you know) but a little trip to give you just enough feel and atmosphere to remind you and make you want to hurray back (shouldn't Disney pay me for that). Some notes and thanks. When Disneyland Paris opened their dark ride, Phantom Manor, in the early 1990s they had a Vincent Price voice-over as the Phantom. However, French policies indicated that the narration in the beginning of the ride must be in French, so Vincent's English narration was discarded, and Gerard Chevalier got the job as the new 'Phantom.' However, we only hear his voice in the beginning, as Vincent's demonic laughter is still heard throughout the rest of the ride. TY to Imdb for that info and a big TY to The Sound of Magics archive section for the sound edits. Note how in this video we get to see a fleeting glance of Dans pin hat which is slowly getting heavier after each trip. The big win this year being a LE Stitch St Patricks day pin.

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Disneyland Paris restaurant reviews.

So far on the dining pages we now have 3 mouth watering, illustrated reviews from the Blue Lagoon, the California Grill and todays update the Manhattan restaurant inside the New York Hotel. Still to come from DLP are reviews for Walts, Inventions and the Silver Spur. Don't forget there are also many more reviews from Florida and California with more to be added as well.

Click here for the latest restaurant reports

St Patrick's Day Disneyland Paris

Have a look at our Chip & Dale try Irish dancing extravaganza, including a special pre parade for St Patricks day. We were very fortunate over these few days to be given clear bright blue skies with no rain whatsover. However it was cold, so if your wondering why some shots are not quite as steady as normal, especially in the close ups, you have our excuse already.This video is slightly different than our normal style as it concentrates a little more on the parade and the special St Patricks day events. This is the first of our Paris videos...more coming soon. Dont forget to leave a comment

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DLP Castle by night

A little update today. We are part way through the editing of the first video for DLP. This has taken a little longer because there are a couple of key things that required suitable music, namely the St Patricks day celebrations. I also have a hospital appointment today so I have been preparing myself for that as well, its been a little on my mind as it has approached, hence the lack of updates. Anyway hopefully this week we will have a short video ready and will get all the DLP restaurant reports uploaded.

The picture above is Jackies handywork, I took four attempts at this long exposure of the castle but the evening chill caused my hands to shake everytime. Jackie got it in one, with a little help from the railings in Discoveryland and her big thick pink gloves. Au revoir Danny and Jackie.

Click for Blue Lagoon Paris report

Just back from Disneyland Paris

We are back from a fab few days in DLP. Coming soon are reviews of all the best restaurants in the parks and Disney hotels. First up is the California Grill at The Disneyland Hotel. Also to come are our videos of the Studios including the construction of Tower of Terror and Disneyland Park with St Patrick's Day celebrations with Chip n Dale.

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Space Mountain at Disneyland Paris

Just a quick update this morning. In a few hours time we will be setting off to DLP. We will bring a full update when we return plus lots of new video reports and dining information. In the meantime here are a couple of easy links to the videos or the restaurant reviews.

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The V&A Restaurant at the Grand Floridian

Another restaurant review today to please all the foodies. This one is from our Christmas 04/05 trip and is lavishly illustrated so don't even think of looking on an empty stomach.We visited the V&A at the end of our Christmas to New Year trip and what a perfect conclusion to a wonderful holiday.
We must thank Susan for pointing out that the comments links have not been working, hopefully we have fixed this. If you're looking for any of the videos remember you can just scroll down the page to a video link or use the archives or previous post links to the right.

Click for V&A report

Inside the ToT

We now have ten videos on stream for you to view on the server with High Definition pictures and CD quality sound. On Wednesday its off to DLP to start filming more footage to share on our return. We have had a few desperate emails requesting ways for firefox and mac owners to view the videos and have come up with the solution of putting all 10 films onto one DVD . The DVD resolution and sound is actually superb as we only ever record in 16:9 anamorphic widescreen. Please keep clicking on the sponsors and advertisers links to keep the video streaming going or use the google link on this page to visit your next random surf.

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Narcoossees food review

We're a little unfamiliar with the GF resort but finally found Narcoossees with help from a CM. Our timing couldn't have been more perfect, on arrival the lights dimmed and we all trooped outside to see the vintage Water Pageant which we had never seen before, it's so adorable. Then Disney's famous Wishes show took to the skies. Music is piped onto Narcoossees deck area to provide a delightful pre dinner showing.

Click for Narcoossees report

Walts restaurant DLP

Have just come off the phone this morning after a smooth and painless experience booking all our dining reservations for next week. The first choice has been one of our favourites "Walts" which is on Main street, the restaurant is upstairs and has several intimate rooms all with a different style of decor. Last time we were there it was Christmas and you could look down on main street as snow gently fell every half hour, in true Disney style.

Our other choices are Blue Lagoon(similar to Blue Bayou in DL),Inventions in the Disneyland hotel, Silver Spur in Frontierland, Manhattan in the New York hotel, and California Grill, again in the Disneyland Hotel. We have as usual chosen full table service restaurants for that long well earned break, with the added pleasure of knowing one can enjoy a beautiful bottle of wine to compliment the meal in the French park. Can not wait to start writing the reviews.

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Dinner at Jiko's AKL

Another foodie update today you will be pleased to see. I have once again illustrated this with some lovely food photos and included the price. One thing I have not mentioned is our transportation arrangements between our base, Disney's Port Orleans Riverside and the restaurants. We used Disney's transportation if the hotel could be easily reached from the TTC for example Narcoossee's. The rest of the time we took taxis which on average cost $20 each way, remember WDW is a big place. So remember to budget for this.

Click for Jiko review

California Part 2 Video

Another video is uploaded and ready. This one looks at the Hollywood area before taking us to Universal Studios, Six Flags Magic Mountain and ends with a visit to the famous Lawry's Prime Rib restaurant in Beverly Hills, with a look at the Disney re-imagineered Encounters restaurant at LAX, where we enjoyed a great meal and wine whilst watching our flight arrive. This has to be the best place to pass time, from that horrible moment from checking in to boarding, we have found . You will probably spot the opening sequence is the same as one other video. Once I had decided on the music it just fitted so well (though actually the day we arrived it was hot and sunny, this was filmed from Encounters before we left) I just had to use it again to set the mood. There's a review of Encounters coming soon on the dining pages and we must give a big thankyou to Susan for recommending this. It made the start of the journey home a pleasure.

Fantasmic dining at the Brown Derby

There's a new entry on the dining pages tonight, showing the delights of the Brown Derby's Fantasmic Dinner Package. Click below for the article or use the dining link on the left. I will have part two of the California videos on stream later, this will be showing some familiar sights as well as taking you to Universal Studios, Six Flags Magic Mountain and the iconic Disney re-imagineered Encounters restaurant at LAX.

Brown Derby review

Haunted Mansion MK

The restaurant reviews are now coming along, there's a new dining link on the right. We are working on part two of the Californian trip, the first section is almost complete and the music edited, the Six Flags MM section is still being edited. In preperation for next weeks DLP trip lenses are being cleaned and batteries charged, apart from the one that still lies under a coaster somewhere in California, the G forces having removed it from Jackies pocket in much the same way they removed our R.P.R room keys in I.O.A. Florida. I have also moved all the Busch Gardens and WDW Port Orleans Resort clips onto the Hard Drive ready to edit which should be fun. The Fantasmic video seems to have gone down well looking at the viewing figures but unfortunately it brought the server to its knees at one point. Everything seems fine now, just give it a little time to load as its four times longer than our other videos.

Food Glorious Food

Just a quick mention of what's coming up. Researching and finding quality dining plays a major role in the planning of all our holidays. I have now begun adding links to all our favourite spots and letting you see some of the beautiful food we have eaten there. I will also make sure you get the full low down on ambiance, service and of course value for money. First up is a review of the restaurant we visited on Christmas Eve 2005 in DTD California's "Catal". I hope you're enjoying the videos, new ones are on the way very soon. We have more from California: including Hollywood, Universal and Six Flags MM. There is also a quick look at the Port Orleans Resort in Orlando and a very hot day at Busch Gardens.

Please make sure you click on the sponsors at the bottom so my video server can keep running at maximum speed.

Catal review

A Californian Fantasmic 05

This video was shot in Disneyland California on Boxing Day 2005. Despite capacity crowds I was impressed by the park’s sit down policy, which gave everyone a nice clear view.
The original California show has a couple of major differences to the Florida remix and not just in the score. Not only do you get the mighty Peter Pan sequence on the beautiful Columbia tea clipper and the full compliment of characters aboard the Mark Twain, but also the setting is on the Magic Kingdom’s lake.
The original plan whilst shooting this video was to shoot the highlights of the show over two nights. However this could not be done due to illness.
I have stuck to my original plan and with some careful re editing and reframing of shots managed to put together what I envisaged.

P.S. We seem to have a Mickey who loves to rock out big style at the end of the show. Enjoy.

Danny and Jackie.

Part 1

Part 2

Soarin over California Christmas 05

Part 1

We have just finished putting the final touches to this video. Jackie has been burning the midnight oil reviewing the rough clips before she came upon the idea of having two videos to cover Disney. One that would be based around the E ticket shows of each park, namely Fantasmic and Aladdin and another that would be a kind of tour of the parks. On this trip I lost a day of filming due to having to rest due to illness, which meant I had less coverage than I would normally like to have. This video therefore is a gentle introduction to the two contrasting parks in California. I have to admit there is something very special about the California MK. Despite its diminutive size, once you enter the gates it really is like entering a whole new world metres away from the freeway. There is also an added feeling as you stand in the town square and look up at the apartment above the fire station that this is the original home of Disney. I particularly like the lightness of touch and scale here on Main Street and the grand old buildings of New Orleans square, this has to be the best looking area in any Disney Park. We flew into LAX on a KLM flight. On our final day as we enjoyed a meal in the Encounters restaurant in the middle of the airports parallel runways we managed to get some footage of our outbound plane arriving on a wet New Years eve, just shows what juggling the footage around can achieve as this scene now opens the video, quite apt when you consider the music.With regard to the music the track has quite high dynamics so you may need to notch up the volume a touch. Subwoofers and a good set of speakers will help get this music across as the composer intended.

Danny and Jackie

Disneyland California update

Just a quick update today. All the files and footage are now on the hard drive and some rough editing is in place. I have not yet decided on the pace and feel for this video though yet. After experimenting with a faster pace I have now (at least for the moment, anything can change) decided to keep it more based around some of the parks themes. I`ll have an experiment and see how it works out. We spent last night watching some of the rough Fantasmic footage, we love the show in this park, it's where we first saw it when it premiered and it feels so much more intimate yet large scale at the same time compared to the Florida version, the music is much more cohesive as well. Its hard though trying to find music that ties into California Adventure and the Magic Kingdom as the parks are so different (Im pretty sure I'll be doing one longish film rather than a film for each). Anyway back to the editing desk.

Universal I.O.A and Studios

I had a couple of Emails asking me about the Universal Video so I decided to give it some space on the blog in much the same way as I have included Sea World. This video was a much more relaxed affair to shoot as we didnt have as many time constraints(We even made it into the pool for 30mins before getting bored and going back to the parks). We were staying in the Royal Pacific Resort which meant we had front of the line access which was a bonus, incidently we lost our room keys and passes after riding dueling dragons on the front row so I don't recommend the Universal neck wallets to display your key/FOTL pass. I decided to try to get Jackie to dance to the music in the parks a couple of times knowing I could perhaps intergratethose scenes with the music I would dub into the video, this does help to give another dimension to the finished article. If I had known I was going to use U2s vertigo at the time maybe I would have had a go at miming the chorus (correction I would get Jackie to mime as she probably would look more at ease than me..lol). If you want to see an example of this done well check out Robb Alveys video of the opening of the Hades coaster on the Theme Park Review site. I mixed the two parks up and experimented with some fast jump cutting in this for the first time which helped when it came to the Epcot video.

Sea World

We visited Sea World on this trip as usual and caught the new Dolphin show Horizons (after riding Kraken four or five times of course). Sea World was having quite a ball that weekend as it was the free Halloween event and the park was very busy and very very hot. How those kids manage to survive in their polyester outfits amazes me. We had another great lunch in Sharks though I do wish they would introduce another table service restaurant. This video is in some ways like the Animal Kingdom video. I have actually used a climactic segment of music from the Horizons show itself which blends beautifully in to the feel of this park. Enjoy.

Epcot

We spent quite a lot of time in Epcot as it was the food and wine festival, which may explain why I am in the videos more and Jackie is behind the camera filming. This has to be one of my favourite events that Disney puts on. The food was fantastic and the wine flowing. Again it was a hot sometimes unbearably sunny day which was interupted by moments of pure hot sticky greyness. I was determined here to make a film which pulled together the two parts of Epcot, the excitement of future world and the laid back feel of the World Showcase. In doing this I started with setting the pace with some music. I had just been to see REM at a concert in Manchester the previous summer and remembered that there "Orange Crush" song from the "Green" album had really lifted the crowd into a mass of excitement. The first few snares and the pounding bass produce an energy that was to suit the editing style for this film, plus the song is so melodic and full of harmony's I knew, from the footage I had, I might get away with some cheeky tricks. Once again there's no linear order to the footage just a remembrance of a fantastic time at Epcot and how exciting and visceral the park can be.