Disneyland Paris from the sky: New projects (1992-1996)

1992

Let’s go back in time to 1992. The dust generated by the various building sites and the incessant ballet of construction machinery has given way to visitors for several months. When Euro Disneyland was inaugurated on 12 April, the Disneyland Park was, with a few exceptions, in the form we know it today. Far from being an end in itself, the completion of the initial phase of the resort’s construction marks the launch of an era of expansion. New projects are about to be launched at Disneyland Paris.

During the first year of operation, several of the park’s flagship attractions remained absent from the aerial images. This is notably the case for Space Mountain: From the Earth to the Moon in Discoveryland (1995), Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril in Adventureland (1993), Le Pays des Contes de Fées and Casey Jr. Le Petit Train du Cirque in the back of Fantasyland (1994) or The Chaparral Theater in Frontierland (1993).

On the other hand, on the Rivers of the Far West in Frontierland, all around Big Thunder Mountain, there is a lot of activity. Two sternwheelers (the Molly Brown and the Mark Twain) but also Keelboats and Indian Canoes.

Still in 1992, the Euro Disney Resort’s visitor car park appeared to be very busy.

New projects in Disneyland Paris shopping village

Festival Disney is completed and recognisable by its columns, most of which have disappeared today. Planet Hollywood, the Gaumont cinema and the Vapiano and Five Guys restaurants, to name but a few, do not yet exist. Panoramagique was not present at that time either. It will arrive in 2005, designed by the company Aérophile.

At the end of the commercial artery, the entrance sequence (the esplanade) has little to do with the shape we know now. No Walt Disney Studios Park is visible on the horizon. All the hotels around the lake are completed and welcome their visitors in their different American ambiences. Along the lake, the future event spaces of the “Disney Village Dome” and the “Disney Event Arena” are only an undeveloped plot. The Hurricanes nightclub then overlooked Festival Disney above the current Rainforest Cafe. It will close in 2010.

1993-1994

After 1992, the changes visible from the sky are necessarily much less numerous. While waiting for the construction of the Walt Disney Studios Park almost ten years later, a few significant changes can be noted between 1993 and 1994.

In Adventureland, the vast land left free within the perimeter of the Disneyland Railroad began its transformation in 1993. The following year, it will host Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril. This novelty came in response to the thirst for thrills demanded by the European public.

Another setting, another atmosphere in the back of Fantasyland. Here, two new attractions were created beyond the railway tracks. Le Pays des Contes de Fées and Casey Jr. Le Petit Train du Cirque opened in 1994.

In Discoveryland, Space Mountain: From the Earth to the Moon was built between 1993 and 1994. The original version of the attraction will open in 1995. With it, Les Mystères du Nautilus in the Discovery Lagoon and its blue water will complete this new space. At this stage of the construction, the dome is globally finished. Work is concentrated on the cannon and on the station where a crane is still visible.

Finally, at the back of Frontierland, the Chaparral Theater makes its appearance. In 1993 it was only an open-air stage. It was then transformed many times until it became the Frontierland Theater that we know since 2019.

Disneyland Park in 1994.

1996

Let’s go back in time to 1996 when Festival Disney changed its name to Disney Village in 1997. In addition to the name change, several development projects followed one another. The construction of the Planet Hollywood restaurant and the Gaumont Disney Village cinema, along with a new entrance for Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, are particularly noteworthy.

To the left of Disney’s Newport Bay Club, the construction of the new convention centre for business tourism is in full swing. It was inaugurated in 1997.

At Disneyland Park Space Mountain has been in operation for 1 year. The Frontierland theatre “The Chaparral Theater” has been equipped with a roof.

Read more about this journey through time between 1998 and 2002 here and find the previous article from 1991 here.

Guillaume