Show No Fear! DIS Exclusive Viva Italia+DLP TR Sept 2014*COMPLETE* New TR link added 7/3

[khertz]

Glad to see you had a good time and you've got some great photos

Thanks so much!

Wow those pictures are amazing and the park looks amazing!!!!

Thank you! The park was beautiful. The prettiest one I think I have ever seen!

BTM at DLPR was awesome. Twice as long as the other parks and way more intense. It was @MinnieGarden 's favorite.

When I read this post, I couldn't even remember if we had ridden BTM or not. So I went back to my notes and saw that we did indeed ride, and the only thing I wrote about it was, "Really long!"

 

[khertz]

Day 10 Continued: Wednesday September 24th

When I last left off, we had crossed the park intending to ride Big Thunder Mountain, but it was starting to sprinkle, so we changed our minds to something indoors...and spooky! Off to Phantom Manor we went, where we found absolutely NO line. I really think there were maybe 2 or 3 other people we encountered while walking through the queue. The themeing of the queue reminds me a lot of the Tower of Terror queue at DHS.

DLP 1-151 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


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Big Thunder off in the distance


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We got to the doors on the porch, and I thought we would have to keep going, that it was just part of the themeing. So I started past them onto another path, and DH asked where I was going. Sure enough, not even 5 minutes later, the doors opened and we were brought inside! VERY cool! So very different from MK where you don't really feel like you are walking inside of the "real mansion" because you are surrounded by stone walls and have a covering overhead so that you can't actually see the mansion anymore.

DH took so many pictures inside Phantom Manor that it will surely take up two whole posts just to share them. It was similar to Haunted Mansion in many ways, but the storyline is entirely different, which meant the ride had several different scene as well compared to the Haunted Mansion we are used to. Because most, if not all, of the narration was in French, we didn't really know what was going on. But I did find Wikipedia to be pretty helpful with a detailed storyline that fills in the gaps! You can read about it HERE if you are interested! We went into foyer first which had this amazing chandelier.

DLP 1-159 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DLP 1-160 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
A picture of the bride, who Wikipedia tells me is named Melanie​

From there, we went into the same stretching room that HM has, only the photos were different, as they were all of Melanie.

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Normally here at MK you would board the vehicle and head through the portrait gallery, but at Phantom Manor, the portrait gallery is more inside queue that you walk through before boarding the Doom Buggies. We didn't ride the DL version when we were in California, but I think it's also an inside queue there if I am remembering correctly.

DLP 1-166 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

From there, we hopped into our Doom Buggy at the grand staircase.

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We went through the same hallway of doors with people banging and trying to get out that you see in the US parks, and also past the clock with 13 on the face. Then we went into the seance room to see Madame Leota, who speaks both English and French.

DLP 1-170 by disneymom1024, on Flickr

Then we went over the ballroom, but instead of the birthday scene in the HM, PM has scenes from Melanie's wedding that didn't happen.


DLP 1-172 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


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We went through the bride's room, similar to the attic scene in HM, and after that is normally where the ride transitions to being more fun and lighthearted with the singing and the ridiculous heads popping up in the graveyard scene. But we didn't find that PM ever went to the more silly haunted house style, and stayed pretty creepy. We went through a graveyard first.

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They did still have the busts singing Grim Grinning Ghosts, though!!

DLP 1-183 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Then instead of continuing through the graveyard to the end of the ride, you go instead into Phantom Canyon which is like an old mining town full of ghosts and skeletons.

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I guess we didn't get any photos, but once you exit is where you see the little graveyard with puns on the stones like you see in the entrance queue at HM. Overall, a very cool and creepy attraction!

By the time we came out, it was still raining, so we decided to make a dash for Main Street to do some shopping while we waited to see if the nighttime show was still going to happen. Along the way, we went into a shop in Frontierland, where I found the perfect pin to go with by ABD collection of pins. Since we had one for every day of our Italy trip, I thought it was only fitting to complete the set for the trip by adding a DLP one.

The rain slacked off while we were inside the shop, so we went up to the front of the park. It was still drizzling so we didn't know if the show would happen or not, but DH still wanted to go find a spot just in case. He had read a blog by Tom Bricker that said where the best spots to set up were, so he was reading it off his phone to me and said the name of the castle in such an Americanized way that "Dormant" sounded like "Doormat." Then after all that terrible pronunciation, he said "Whatever that is." I was cracking up laughing, both at "doormat" and that he didn't realize he was saying the name of the Castle!!

We found our spot and had only a few people in front of us, so it was really a perfect view. Now we just had to wait it out to see if the show would go on!

DLP 1-188 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

UP NEXT: Disney Dreams

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

That was so cool to see. First thanks to DH for all the photos. So fascinating to see the differences that exist between various parks. Part of me almost expects the Manor to be creepy throughout and drop the more comical elements for a primarily European audience. Then again... Jerry Lewis.

Oh my goodness, I hope the show goes on!!!!!

 

[Dugette]

Wow, Haunted Mansion sounds really creepy! Hope the nighttime show goes on!

 

[hokieinpa]

The Phantom Manor sounds so cool. I love that it has parts that are so similar to HM but it's own story and scenes that are unique.

The queue sounds really neat - like you are really walking up to a mansion!

The ride does look quite creepy!

 

[MEK]

Oh wow oh wow - those pictures are absolutely amazing. Can your DH please share his secret? What settings does he use to capture those amazing shots? I know he's probably great at post processing as well, but I am more interested in his camera settings. ISO, shutter speed, light settings and does he put his lens on a manual mode?

They are wonderful and thanks for sharing the ride with us. It looks amazing.

 

[marDgreen88]

I went through a phase several years ago where I was researching EVERYTHING about all the different versions of Haunted Mansion and watching them all on YouTube and such, and oh my gosh, I was really looking forward to your post about Phantom Manor! I'm a major wimp, and the attic scene at WDW freaks me out. I dunno, something about a demented bride doesn't sit well with me, go figure. So like, the fact that the entire ride there is pretty much based around a creepy bride with her creepy singing and whatnot, is terrifying to me. But I find it really fascinating as well! Makes sense, right? So what I'm pretty much trying to say is that you did a great job with this update! Hahahahah. Your DH took some amazing pictures!

Oooooh, Disney Dreams. Cannot wait to hear what you have to say about that!

 

[Cousin Orville]

Great pictures! You're pictures from Phantom Manor brought back some memories. I couldn't remember it very well from riding it a couple of years ago. Seems like it was a bit confusing, but interesting because it had these random touches or homages to the DL and WDW Haunted Mansions. I'd love to go back now and try it again.

 

[missangelalexis]

The outside of Phantom Manor looks really awesome! And I love all the photos of the ride itself. It's interesting to hear all the differences from the WDW version!

Looks like you got a great spot for the nighttime show, hopefully it still goes on!! The castle looks so beautiful at night!!

 

[sayhello]

I definitely feel like DLP's castle is the most beautiful of the 3 I've seen (DL, WDW & DLP). Totally gorgeous!

I have to admit, I don't remember too much detail of Phantom Manor, except that it was nicely spooky. Hubby's photos are great! I think I remember it being more like the DL Haunted Mansion than WDW's.

Looking forward to more of your comparisons!

Sayhello

 

[afwdwfan]

DH took so many pictures inside Phantom Manor that it will surely take up two whole posts just to share them.

That's fine! It's a new attraction to me, thanks for sharing the pictures and information about it!!

It looks like a great attraction. I love how they did it similar to the traditional HM, yet different enough to make it a really unique experience.

They did still have the busts singing Grim Grinning Ghosts, though!!

But I'm definitely glad they included that piece!

He had read a blog by Tom Bricker that said where the best spots to set up were, so he was reading it off his phone to me and said the name of the castle in such an Americanized way that "Dormant" sounded like "Doormat." Then after all that terrible pronunciation, he said "Whatever that is." I was cracking up laughing, both at "doormat" and that he didn't realize he was saying the name of the Castle!!

Wait a minute, shouldn't you be calling it a Chateau instead of a castle. You are in France, after all.

And I thought being from Louisiana, the French pronunciations might come just a bit easier.

 

[DDuck4Life]

Oh wow oh wow - those pictures are absolutely amazing. Can your DH please share his secret? What settings does he use to capture those amazing shots? I know he's probably great at post processing as well, but I am more interested in his camera settings. ISO, shutter speed, light settings and does he put his lens on a manual mode?

They are wonderful and thanks for sharing the ride with us. It looks amazing.

Thanks for the kind words. Disneyland Paris was some of the hardest photography I've done. Not in the sense that the rides and attractions are harder to shoot it was just all so new that I caught myself just looking around taking it all in. Plenty of times just walking around or even riding on rides you get caught up in experiencing something new and different I forget to take pictures of everything so it was hard to balance seeing, doing, and documenting everything while we were there. WDW and DL most of the rides by now you know what's when and where what you want to photography is coming so you can prepare a little better and be ready to shoot, but I tried my best. I know that was mostly me rambling and not answering your question but I had wanted to mention that and will make things a little easier on you when trying to capture your own shots at the parks. When and where to brace for your shots helps a lot. A new park with new rides there was a lot of guess work was involved.

To get to what you really wanted the settings on the camera inside Phantom Manor, yes I was on manual for my shutter speed and aperture. Aperture was f/1.8 and shutter around 1/30sec. I was using the Sigma 18-35 f/1.8 here. ISO was auto but capped at 6400. Aperture I left alone and the shutter for the most part but that's the one I would vary depending on what was happening in the scene if I needed something faster. For the first ride through I don't think I changed anything that way I didn't have to think to much about what I was doing with the camera and worry more about enjoying and taking in the ride.

Like you mentioned before post processing can be a big help with some of these photos if you happen to just miss the mark with your settings you are able to recover a lot of detail from the RAW files you might not have had straight out of the camera. While I'm not great at post processing by any means and still a relative novice by most standards every little bit makes a difference in post processing.

For future photos your interested in settings on that DW posts you can actually click on them and open them in flickr. once they are open in Flickr all the exif data is there for you. just scroll down under the photo and it will tell you the type of camera and all the settings used for that shot. Only issue is I think you have to be in desktop mode, so if your viewing from your phone or tablet not sure if it still shows up.

hope some of this made sense and was helpful

 

[khertz]

That was so cool to see. First thanks to DH for all the photos. So fascinating to see the differences that exist between various parks. Part of me almost expects the Manor to be creepy throughout and drop the more comical elements for a primarily European audience. Then again... Jerry Lewis.

Oh my goodness, I hope the show goes on!!!!!

It definitely felt creepier, even without knowing the back story. I wrote down in my notes that it focused a lot more on the bride, and when I went back to read the Wiki explanation later, it all made a lot more sense. I always used to woder about people who visit WDW or DL and don't understand English, and wonder how they could enjoy the rides. Visiting DLP made it all come together in my head for me. I didn't have to understand the words to appreciate the attraction. I still really enjoyed Phantom Manor, even before I got to read the explanation of the story.

Eek, we shall see!

Wow, Haunted Mansion sounds really creepy! Hope the nighttime show goes on!

It was definitely a LOT creepier than its U.S. counterparts. I wouldn't have felt comfortable taking DS on this version just yet because it never got lighthearted like HM does at the end where you can make it kind of silly for them.

The Phantom Manor sounds so cool. I love that it has parts that are so similar to HM but it's own story and scenes that are unique.

The queue sounds really neat - like you are really walking up to a mansion!

The ride does look quite creepy!

It was really cool to see how a ride that exists in all of the parks could take a different backstory and make it totally unique yet with a few familiar scenes. I really enjoyed that aspect of it!

I really loved that part of it, that we ACTUALLY walked up onto the porch and through the front doors!

Oh wow oh wow - those pictures are absolutely amazing. Can your DH please share his secret? What settings does he use to capture those amazing shots? I know he's probably great at post processing as well, but I am more interested in his camera settings. ISO, shutter speed, light settings and does he put his lens on a manual mode?

They are wonderful and thanks for sharing the ride with us. It looks amazing.

Ask and you shall receive...looks like he posted a bunch of photography stuff that means nothing to me but hopefully helps you out! lol

Just wanted to say thanks for the love!!

I went through a phase several years ago where I was researching EVERYTHING about all the different versions of Haunted Mansion and watching them all on YouTube and such, and oh my gosh, I was really looking forward to your post about Phantom Manor! I'm a major wimp, and the attic scene at WDW freaks me out. I dunno, something about a demented bride doesn't sit well with me, go figure. So like, the fact that the entire ride there is pretty much based around a creepy bride with her creepy singing and whatnot, is terrifying to me. But I find it really fascinating as well! Makes sense, right? So what I'm pretty much trying to say is that you did a great job with this update! Hahahahah. Your DH took some amazing pictures!

Oooooh, Disney Dreams. Cannot wait to hear what you have to say about that!

Ohhhhh yes, it was ALL about the bride on this one!! Lots of creepy singing and wailing happening there! I'm glad this update seems to have lived up to your expectations.

 

[khertz]

Great pictures! You're pictures from Phantom Manor brought back some memories. I couldn't remember it very well from riding it a couple of years ago. Seems like it was a bit confusing, but interesting because it had these random touches or homages to the DL and WDW Haunted Mansions. I'd love to go back now and try it again.

Thanks! It was easy to appreciate the creepiness of it all without knowing exactly what was happening, but yes it was definitely confusing at the time. Now having read the backstory, it makes a lot more sense!

The outside of Phantom Manor looks really awesome! And I love all the photos of the ride itself. It's interesting to hear all the differences from the WDW version!

Looks like you got a great spot for the nighttime show, hopefully it still goes on!! The castle looks so beautiful at night!!

I always liked the one at DL because it is like a southern plantation home, but the DLP one was even better. Had such a creepiness factor about it, and really cool that you go up on the porch and through the front doors to enter the attraction.

The Castle was absolutely beautiful, day or night!!

I definitely feel like DLP's castle is the most beautiful of the 3 I've seen (DL, WDW & DLP). Totally gorgeous!

I have to admit, I don't remember too much detail of Phantom Manor, except that it was nicely spooky. Hubby's photos are great! I think I remember it being more like the DL Haunted Mansion than WDW's.

Looking forward to more of your comparisons!

Sayhello

I totally agree with that. It is a great mashup of WDW and DL...the impressive size of WDW's with the styling of DL's and then they added on that cascading side to look like it's built into the side of a mountain, and it's just breathtaking.

It was definitely the most creepy of all the HM rides I have experienced!

Thanks!

That's fine! It's a new attraction to me, thanks for sharing the pictures and information about it!!

It looks like a great attraction. I love how they did it similar to the traditional HM, yet different enough to make it a really unique experience.

But I'm definitely glad they included that piece!

Wait a minute, shouldn't you be calling it a Chateau instead of a castle. You are in France, after all.

And I thought being from Louisiana, the French pronunciations might come just a bit easier.

It was really cool that it had its own different backstory to make it really unique but for HM fans, it had plenty of recognizable scenes. We both really loved it!

The busts were a nice touch, especially since they didn't have the same graveyard scene at the end that both of the HM attractions do.

This is true. lol Although we live in a largely Cajun French area now, I identify more with my New Orleans roots, which make pronunciations decidedly different! Although there are a lot of French names in New Orleans, they are pronounced in an Americanized way, which is I guess why DH totally butchered the pronunciation of the Cas- I mean, Chateau!

Speaking of pronunciations...this video cracks me up every time. Californians trying to pronounce the name of Louisiana cities!

 

[khertz]

Day 1o Continued: Wednesday September 24th

Ugh, I had the beginning of this all typed up and then I accidentally closed the tab and lost it!! Let's see if I can remember everything I had...

We waited in front of the Castle for about 15 minutes before, yay, the show started!! Of note, an interesting thing that happened prior to the show was that the safety spiel repeated in at least 5 or 6 different languages. I really loved that!

Let me see if I can describe this show in a way that does it any sort of justice. It's like a combination of World of Color, Wishes, and the castle projection shows. It had water fountains, fireworks, water projections, and castle projections all woven into one amazing show. It was in both French and English, which was accomplished by the main characters being Peter Pan & Wendy. Wendy spoke French, but Peter spoke English, and he would rephrase what she said every time he answered her so that we had no problem keeping up with the story.

The story itself was a lot like Philharmagic. Instead of Donald stealing the sorcerer's hat and having to travel through different music numbers to get it back, Peter Pan's shadow spilled the magic out of the star on top of the castle and had to travel through different musical numbers and battle villains to get it back. Another interesting note for the music was that all of the songs were in English, except for omes from movies that take place in France, like Beauty & the Beast and Hunchback of Notre Dame.

Now what y'all really came here for, the pictures! Trust me, this might seem like a lot, but there were many many more that we had to choose from before we narrowed down to these!!

DLP 1-190 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DLP 1-191 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


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The magic falling out


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C'est La Fête


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My favorites!!


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​

Pictures really cannot do it justice, but DH certainly did his best to try! Dusty had gushed to us about this show several times over the course of the ABD trip, and he couldn't have been more correct. It was hands down the most amazing and beautiful nighttime show I have ever seen in a Disney park. I love Wishes, and I love World of Color, but Disney Dreams tops them all!

Continued in next post...

 

[khertz]

Day 10 Continued: Wednesday September 24th

​

Once the show had ended, DH stayed behind for a few more castle shots while people exited the park. Then we decided to do a little shopping down Main Street.

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How cute is the barber shop here??
​

Next up, some window displays.

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We saw lots of cute things, but all we ended up buying at that point was a Disneyland Paris wall clock that is up in our living room now. DH wanted to take some nighttime shots, so I found a little table off to the side to sit while he moved the tripod down to different spots along Main Street to take them.

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Eventually, we were actually escorted out of the park because we were the last 2 guests! A couple of CM's had come over to ask what I was doing sitting there, and the first couple were satisfied with my answer but as it got later and later, we were pretty much told we had to go. lol No lingering for an hour or more like at WDW! Normally we would be in more of a hurry to leave that late at night with an early morning ahead of us, but knowing our hotel room was merely steps away made it a little easier to linger as long as possible. Our minutes long commute had us back to the Disneyland Hotel in no time.

DLP 1-254 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


DLP 1-255 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

But instead of heading right to the room, we stopped inside of the gift shop to look around. We ended up finding a t-shirt for DH, and a coffee mug for DH's step-dad. Finally we did go back to the room to shower and have a quick Skype with DS before heading to bed.

UP NEXT: Early morning at DLP!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Ugh, I had the beginning of this all typed up and then I accidentally closed the tab and lost it!! Let's see if I can remember everything I had...

OH NO!!! I swear if that ever happened to me I'd probably quit on the spot.


Oh my goodness Kristy, just your description alone gave me goosebumps. I always wondered what a Disney show would look like if they combined them. I guess this is it.

And then... WOW

Incredible photos!! Simply incredible. If I didn't think about visiting DLP before (which of course I have) I certainly would now.

Eventually, we were actually escorted out of the park because we were the last 2 guests!

I can totally understand. Having your hotel that close and having limited time means soaking up every last drop. I'm sure I would do the same.

 

[marDgreen88]

I really have no idea what to say other than WOWOWOWOWOWOWOW. I've heard great things about Disney Dreams but never an extensive description, and it sounds incredible! I can see why you'd love it so much. Did I mention WOW? Because wow. The pictures are wonderful!

I can't get over how beautiful everything there is. Unbelievable. Also, last 2 park guests? Applauding you.

 

[hokieinpa]

It was hands down the most amazing and beautiful nighttime show I have ever seen in a Disney park. I love Wishes, and I love World of Color, but Disney Dreams tops them all!

It sounds like an absolutely amazing show!! The pictures and your description make it seem so magical!

What a great shot! The castle is beautiful - and I love the cute little ghost off to the side!

Eventually, we were actually escorted out of the park because we were the last 2 guests!

Awesome! But strange that there is no after hours lingering and a Kiss Goodnight! It must have been so nice to be so close to your resort!

 

[missangelalexis]

I love the way you described the show, it sounds really amazing! The fact that it's a combo of a bunch of different shows is awesome, and so cool that Wendy and Peter narrate it. And WOW, the pictures are gorgeous, it looks like a fantastic show! DH got some great shots of an empty Main Street! Funny that you can't linger around like in the US parks.