Photos Magiques

Throwback Thursday: Le Visionarium

Le Visionarium was a Circle-Vision film in Discoveryland. It opened along with the rest of Disneyland Paris in 1992 and featured for the first time a 360° film combined with Audio-Animatronics.

According to the story, Timekeeper sends a hovering robot called 9-Eyes back through time and projects all the images she records on the 360° screens in Le Visionarium. 9-Eyes travels from the Jurassic age to the Renaissance and even to the future along with the visionary Jules Verne.

The attraction featured a memorable soundtrack composed by Bruce Broughton.

On 5 September 2004 it closed permanently to make way for Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast.

Disneyland Paris history

Throwback Thursday: Wishes logo

Before Disney Dreams! and The Enchanted Fireworks there was Wishes, a fireworks display that used for the first time ever in Disneyland Paris still projections and lasers on Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant.

Unlike for Disney Dreams where its projectors were placed on top of the Main Street, U.S.A. buildings, where both the projectors and lasers hidden in a large Wishes logo in the middle of Central Plaza.

Because the projectors where so low to the ground, guests were not allowed to stand in front of the Wishes logo and had to sit down.

Wishes ran during the summer seasons of 2005 until 2007.

See photos of the Wishes fireworks.

Disneyland Paris history

Throwback Thursday: Karl Holz riding Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast

On 9 April 2006 Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast opened officially for guests. In the morning Karl Holz, Euro Disney SCA CEO at that time, dedicated the attraction with a small ceremony and then rode the attraction.

The on-ride camera captured this photo of the current president of Disney Cruise Line…

Disneyland Paris history

Throwback Thursday: Cast Member drawing

On May the 4th (be with you) 2005 I was wondering through Discoveryland when I suddenly stumbled upon a maintenance Cast Member apparently making a drawing. I asked what he was doing, so he showed me his sketch of Orbitron – Machines Volantes and Space Mountain: Mission 2.

It turned out he loved making sketches of attractions in the park during his break.

Site updates

New: Photo of the day on Instagram

Some changes have been made to our Instagram. Just until recently we used Instagram only to post live photos from the Parks, but this caused our photo stream to remain silent in between trips. Therefor a “photo of the day” as well as “Throwback Thursday” will fill in that gap!

Be sure to check us out on Instagram! You don’t even need to use your smartphone, just visit: http://instagram.com/photosmagiques!

Disneyland Paris history, Photo posts

Happy Birthday Toy Story Playland

Today Toy Story Playland celebrated its birthday. Exactly three years ago this mini-land with three unique Disney attractions, one shop and lots of themed props were added to the existing Toon Studio zone, on a grassy field next to the Studio Tram Tour Behind the Magic station.

Around 2008 a former French website dedicated to Disneyland Paris broke news that three temporary, unthemed fun fair attractions would be installed in Walt Disney Studios Park to help with the struggling need for additional capacity. This rumor persisted for a long time, but was finally dismissed when plans where revealed to add an entire mini-land dedicated to the world and characters of Pixar’s first animated feature film.

Plans for the land evolved over the course of months, from a flat version build on an oversized board game to the lush version with large bamboos and large Christmas lights. Even the number of attractions was changed as two RC Racer tracks were downgraded to just one and some for Toy Soldier Parachute Drop. A playground was also supposed to be part of the Fort Emery, was dropped as well.

After the land opened in Walt Disney Studios Park it was adapted for Hong Kong Disneyland and there’s a rumor that Shanghai Disneyland might feature their own version as well.

Happy birthday Andy and the Toy Story gang!

See the Toy Story Playland photo albums:

Disneyland Paris history

Throwback Thursday: Finding Nemo photo location

The Finding Nemo photo location was located on what’s now Hollywood Boulevard. It followed up on the Bugs Land photo location around 2004 and featured an underwater backdrop with a large Bruce the shark suspended on it. Guests had to take place in front of a rocky coral featuring Marlin and Dory, which “disappeared” from time to time.

The photo location eventually went away when Hollywood Boulevard construction was being prepared.

Disneyland Paris history, Site updates

Remember Cyber Space Mountain?

Before Stitch Live! and Playhouse Disney Live on Stage there was the Television Production Tour in which guests were taken on a tour through the backstage of a real Disney Channel production, only until a few years after the park opened, pulled out of Walt Disney Studios Park and left empty soundstages behind.

The post show of the tour was called the Zapping Zone (or Disney Channel Cyberspace according to some signs) with a bunch of old interactive games that came from the closed Disney Quest Chicago (a Disney-version of a games arcade). One of the popular attractions was Cyber Space Mountain, in which guests could design their own rollercoaster on a computer and then ride it in a motion simulator.

In 2006 both the tour and the post show closed down to make way for new attractions.

Over 35 photos and lots more info in our newest gallery update:

Television Production Tour

Disneyland Paris news, Photo posts

Ode to Mark Twain

Mark Twain, one of the riverboats that circles the rivers of Frontierland in almost every other Magic Kingdom style park, has been out of service in Disneyland Paris since 2011. Right after the refurbishment of the Molly Brown was finished, Mark Twain immediately went to the dry dock and is still remaining there.

Disney Central Plaza forum broke news today that Mark Twain currently is not begin refurbished, instead, according to them, it’s sitting in a corner of Frontierland deterring away.

Therefore, an ode to Mark Twain, captain of the Rivers of the Far West!

More:
Riverboat Landing

Disneyland Paris news

Ratatouille construction update

It’s time for an update on the Ratatouille construction. Lots of changes have happened since our last update as walls and windows are starting to receive their theming.

Let’s take a peak over the construction walls as seen from Toy Story Parachute Drop.

Disney Parks and Resorts

Walt Disney World’s Spectromagic retired

Walt Disney World has retired its Spectromagic nighttime parade. It was originally introduced to the Magic Kingdom in 1991 as a replacement for the Main Street Electrical Parade. The colorful floats featured characters from Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid, Aladdin, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, Cinderella and Fantasia, as well as the Mickey Mouse and the other Fab 5. The Spectro-Men were characters created just for this parade and features light-up faces.

Spectromagic was “temporarily” replaced in 2010 by Main Street Electrical Parade again, but never returned. It was confirmed earlier this week that the parade has been officially discontinued with many floats already retired.

As a tribute, check out this photos we took during our 2005 trip to Walt Disney World. Can you see any similarities to our retired Disney’s Fantillusion?

Welcome to the Splendor, the spectacle, the sparkling sensation, where the romance, the comedy and the thrill of Disney fantasies come to electric life… And now the Magic Kingdom proudly presents in a million points of musical light, the magical worlds of Disney in SpectroMagic!

Disneyland Paris news

A look at the new Disney PhotoPass

Disneyland Paris recently renamed their Photo Souvenir pass to Disney Photo Pass, in line with the popular photo service at Disneyland California and Walt Disney World Resort.

But unlike its American cousins, it’s currently only possible to purchase the souvenir photos inside the park or the Disney Hotels. It’s not known if Disneyland Paris will offer online viewing and ordering as well in the future.

Here’s a look at the new Disney PhotoPass:

This is what the former Photo Souvenir pass used to look like. The backside is almost similar to that of the Disney Photopass.