3/29: Nothing But Blue Skies, Part II

[Al Lutz]

In honor of the park's upcoming 15th anniversary, Guest Columnist Alain Littaye concludes his tour of the Disneyland Paris ...that never was. Discuss it here!

[TheManator]

Awesome article.
Still makes me sad I was there when it opened and none of this stuff really made it.

[Club 33]

Nice job Alain! I look forward to seeing the MiceAge coverage of the 15th, as I remember being there for the 5th! It was a very clever "Topsy Turvey" theme, from the movie The Hunchback of Notre Damn (based on the book by French author Victor Hugo of course). They also unvailed the big wand sculpture at the entrance, which was sculpted by a friend of mine. It's hard to believe that was 10 years ago.

[kcnole]

Those hotel designs were awful and you had to wonder if they even truly expected to have them chosen. Just goes to show another reason why big name architects should not be doing design work for Disney. They just don't get the Disney way of doing things.

[daannzzz]

I really liked the Aircraft Carrier hotel. It did have a bit of a feel of a ship but the styling from the early 20th century was great. I think it would have been nice.

It really is hard to look at the Blue Sky ideas sometimes because they mostly are never realized. The whole Discovery Mountain concept was awesome!!

[nojarama]

Fabulous article. Thanks for sharing. Hope to visit the park myself someday & see all the exciting sites/rides. Thanks for sharing!

Regardsarama,

Jon

[WDW Monorail]

Very interesting hotel designs. I especially like the Marina one.

[pancakesaregood]

I really enjoyed the article, though I was hoping there would have been a mention of Le Visionarium and the original proposals/designs.

Though strangely I never new Horizons was planned for Disneyland Paris. I wonder if it would been a copy of EPCOTS or the expanded new version planned for WestCOT. Too bad, that was one of the best dark rides after the 1960s, though it dated somewhat (the future seemed sleek for an 80s proposal, but not as much as if was the 90s/00s)

[kcnole]

It really is hard to look at the Blue Sky ideas sometimes because they mostly are never realized. The whole Discovery Mountain concept was awesome!!

Very true. Any park where I could have seen Horizons would have been on my must sees for sure.

[loaloa]

Originally Posted by kcnole

Very true. Any park where I could have seen Horizons would have been on my must sees for sure.

Hello, Alain Littaye, here . I answer your questions about this Horizon concept for Discovery Mountain: NO, if it would have been done, this "Horizon" attraction would have NOT be the same than the Epcot one. And i can't tell you how it would have looked , because , unfortunately, i don't know anything about its concept, except its "title". Thanks to all of you to have enjoyed the article.

[tasman]

The nice thing about Disneyland Paris is that just about everything that was supposed to be built, did get built. Honestly most of the alternate designs are not as attractive as the ones that were used. Space Mountain as built looks nicer than the Discovery Mountain proposals. And I feel the same with regard to alternate Main Street, castle, and hotels discussed in these two articles. Of what was eventually built the only attraction that strikes me as kind of cheap is the Indy coaster. Either the Anaheim or Tokyo version would be more in keeping with the classy feel of the rest of the park. There are still areas of land where the Little Mermaid and Splash Mountain were supposed to be - and I think there is a decent chance that some day those attractions do get built.

A question to Alain or to anyone who might be in the know. How would a dark coaster have worked in Discovery Mountain when the interior would have to lighted at least to some degree?

[kayoss]

Originally Posted by tasman

A question to Alain or to anyone who might be in the know. How would a dark coaster have worked in Discovery Mountain when the interior would have to lighted at least to some degree?

Oh boy, one I can answer! If you look at the concept art there, you can see load/unload for space (even if it's a little weird in the concept sketch). But basically, you'd enter the mountain, and look up and see the 'cone' of the roof that you see from a distance outside. When space leaves from this open area, it would go into a 'hidden' part of the mountain, in back, on top, underneath, and to the sides of the 'fake' mountain, and this part would be dark. Picture if the Haunted Mansion elevators had another 5-6 stories ABOVE where the hangman would be located, and you get a good idea of where they would shove space in relationship to the dome. It's a cool idea. Always fun when they use space (no pun intended) in weird ways.

[kayoss]

Journey to the Center of the Earth in Tokyo DisneySea, does amazing things with it's space. It's just amazing. Probably the best example.

[Tom319]

"Before the recent changes in climate, when Imagineering first worked on the concept eighteen years ago, the rainy seasons in Paris were longer."

You can't be serious.

[pussnboots]

Originally Posted by Tom319

"Before the recent changes in climate, when Imagineering first worked on the concept eighteen years ago, the rainy seasons in Paris were longer."

You can't be serious.

Well, whether or not you're still in denial about global warming, winters in Europe have indeed been milder and dryer this past decade or so than in the preceding decades. It sounds a little melodramatic, but that part is certainly true.