Introduction

C'est ça L'amour: Voyage Enchanteur (So This Is Love: An Enchanting Journey) will be an ode to the love and romance that has been at the core of Disney's story telling for 100 years now. A spiritual successor to the iconic Tunnels of Love of classic Americana, this will be a slow moving boat ride focused on simple show scenes taking guests through the stages of a beautiful love story as seen through the lens of Disney iconogrpahy. From first meetings to happily ever afters, guests will float through this romantic emotional story.

This is not a traditionally told story though. While some chracters are recurring, we are not following one couple or character. Rather, this ride takes guests through the stages of a romance step by step using moments from Disney films as a way to tell this tale as old as time in a more abstract and artistic way. Although if that isn't your thing, you can also just enjoy a relaxing boat ride with Disney characters like a modern Storybookland. It is meant to work equally well whether you allow yourself to get caught up in the whirlwind love story presented here or if you just want to see a tiny cute little Wall-e and EVE fly past the moon.

Join us for a lovely ride on C'est ça L'amour: Voyage Enchanteur

Facade

Guests who walk to the edge of La Voie des Amoureux will find themselves greeted by an old stone mill. It's wooden sides are being reclaimed by nature with vines and flowers growing despite the winter weather. A light dusting of snow covers the roof as the water wheel spins on powered by the small babbling brook that runs through this corner of the land. Crossing a small foot bridge over the idealic stream, guest will see that the mill has been decorated to celebrate the Valentine's season! Ribbons and banners adorn the worn down building turning the rustic into wondrous. With advertisements that a tunnel of love has been set up allowing guest to ride on a romantic journey down the waterways usually used for transporting heavy goods for the mill.

Whether you are here on a date, here because you simply love love, or here just to have some fun in an homage to classic fair rides mixed with modern Disney flair: The mill beckons you forward to your Enchanting Journey!

Queue

Once inside, the queue winds through the rustic old wood interior softly lit by oil lamps. The queue is very simple, centered around several switch backs decorated with floral displays themed to different Disney couples. Pay attention and you might see some familiar initials/names scratched into the side of the wood inside little hearts! Unofficially, Disney Security is instructed to look the other way when guests add their own marks as long as it is nothing obscene. Eventually, guests find themselves at the loading station with vines coating the ceiling. 

Ride System/Vehicle

So This Is Love: An Enchanting Journey (C'est ça L'amour: Voyage Enchanteur) uses the same ride system and virtually the same layout as Frozen Ever After in EPCOT and Hong Kong Disneyland. A boat ride through simple dark ride show scenes with the twist that at one point it comes to a stop and begins going backwards! There are two small drops (one right after reversing and one right at the end), but neither is too extreme as this is a very family friendly ride. The ride vehicles are decorated to look like large swan boats as an homage to Tunnel of Love boat rides, but functionally they are still the larger boats seen in Frozen Ever After. This is for the practical consideration of capacity needs for a modern Disney park as well as wanting to avoid the more ...ahem...how should i say... "romantic"... kinds of guest behavior that Tunnels of Love were known for IRL.

Phase 1 - Love at First Sight - Once Upon a Dream

We start with the "meet cutes" that lead to fairytale romances. This section is scored with "Once Upon a Dream" from Sleeping Beauty and sung by the three princesses featured. Soft greenery, warm toned rockwork, and a focus on natural looking settings define the part of the ride.

As guests leave the worn wood of the old mill, the find themselves transported to the fantastical forest of Sleeping Beauty. After being immersed in this world, they turn the corner to se Phillip and Aurora dancing at the water's edge moments after their fateful meeting. Continuing on, the stylized environment becomes slightly more naturalistic taking us to the seaside sight of Ariel serenading Eric after finding him on the beach. The rocks give way to stone work as we come upon the over grown courtyrd at the edge of a castle where Snow White sings at the wishing well and Prince Charming admires her while sitting atop the wall.

These scenes are simple with figures that don't move much, but the emotions are conveyed primarily through the warm tones of the sets and lovely music. The simplicity adds to the timeless feeling of the attraction.

Phase 2 - A Wondrous Date - Bella Notte

The warm tones of the more natural environments found in the first part give way to deeper cool tones. Navy blues and royal purples take over as night falls. The perfect setting for the next stage of our journey: a wondrous first date. Featuring the song "Bella Notte" from Lady & the Tramp.

The stonework of the castle courtyard from the end of the previous section transitions to the cobblestone street in the alley behind a lovely Italian restaurant. Look on the ground and you might see some wet cement where Lady and the Tramp left the paw prints in a heart on the ground. Turning the corner we see the titular dogs on their iconic date sharing an accidental kiss over a bowl of spaghetti. We then head to the lift hill and the buildings around us shrink away. Forced perspective make it seem as if guests are rising faster than they really are. Much like Elsa's ice castle at the top of the lift hill in Frozen Ever after it is not a perfect effect, but guest's eyes are drawn forward away from the slightly sketchy effects towards the spectacle ahead.

The stars above are inviting and set the stage for a romantic dance. Guests can look to their right to see... what some call a dance among the stars. It's up to you and how you define dancing

Using the same mechanism as the angler fish scene from The Seas with Nemo, Wall-e & Eve can be seen to the right of guests as they rise up the hill flying through space forever entwined. They are not full size since they are meant to be off in the distance. Since Wall-e & Eve cannot sing themselves, Bella Notte is continued as an instrumental although their robotic voices can be heard humming along.

Finally, as they reach the top of the hill, guests find themselves among the clouds up in the night sky as Aladdin and Jasmine float alongside the boats serenading each other with slightly modified lyrics to Bella Notte to fit their story slightly better.

Phase 3 - Falling in Love - I See the Light

The night skies fade to darkness as we enter the next section. Do not fear though, the dark settings will soon be illuminated by golden light symbolically representing the love that lights up the lives of those that find True Love. This section is dedicated to the moment where you look in the eyes of someone special and realize the love you feel for them. All set to "I See the Light" from Tangled sung by the couples featured.

The room is almost entirely dark except for the light of the lantern Rapunzel & Flynn are holding as they sit in a boat in front of guests. Guest's boats come to a stop at what appears to be a dead end right in front of the happy couple. Suddenly, the track the boats are on begin to rotate (similar to the Let it Go sequence from frozen Ever After) as floating lanterns ignite around guests. Once the boats are lined up with the new track, guests begin to slide backwards down a very very short hill (just enough to get momentum) taking them down a new path.

The room is still dark, but now it is lit by the blooming Vivisteria flowers from Elemental. Above guest's heads, Ember held aloft in a bubble by Wade can be seen floating past the glowing flowers. As the boat continues on, some more traditional orchids take the place of the fantastical Vivisteria flowers as glowing orbs from magical light glyphs (from Owl House) light the room. Luz & Amity share a special moment and a gentle first kiss surrounded by the magical lights.

Phase 4 - Happily Ever After - So this is Love

Surrounded by lovely flowers under the moonlight guests come to a stop in front of a familiar fountain with some overgrown vines as the Fairy Godmother takes a moment to prepare us for the ball. We've met someone special, went on a magical date with them, realized how special they were. Now it is time for our Happily Ever After as we realize: So this is Love

The boats rotate again to connect to a new track and head forward once more. Leading to a short drop as guests get the chance to metaphorically and literally "fall" in love.

This takes us to the grand finale as soft pinks and blues fill the space and an abstract Mary Blair-esque sensibility dictates the design of the castle ballroom we now find ourselves in. "So this is Love" from Cinderella is sung by the princesses and princes featured here (with an occasional bark of agreement from Lady & the Tramp). 

Of course, at the center of it all is Cinderella and her Prince dancing and they get the most advanced movements from their animatronics while the rest remain very simple (not much more advanced than the dancing ghosts in the Haunted Mansion ballroom, just with gentler movements). Aurora & Phillip as well as Rapunzel & Flynn are seen dancing along as Lady & the Tramp sit on a banister and bob along while the cuddle together. The lovely ending leads to a brief dark hallway giving guests here with their special someone a bit of privacy to sneak a quick kiss (but not too much privacy to sneak anything else of course) before returning to reality and the old stone mill.

Next: La Fidelle