Mysteries of the Nautilus

As we conclude our visit to Discoveryland, let's go back to the visionary who started it all, Jules Verne. Among his greatest works is "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea," which inspired one of the greatest Disney adventure films, along with several Disney Parks attractions. In fact, an early Tomorrowland attraction at Disneyland was a walk-through exhibit of sets and props from the making of the 1954 movie.

Added to Discoveryland in 1994 as part of the park's first significant expansion, Les Mysteres du Nautilus invites Guests to step down into the might submersible and explore the world of Captain Nemo.

This self-guided walking tour passes through several chambers of the Nautilus, including the Captain's quarters, furnished in rich wood and occupied by a collection of artifacts from his worldly travels.

Our adventure also carries us past the engine room and the air lock, where divers come and go from the Nautilus on their missions of exploration beneath the sea.

The charts room is filled with maps and devices to aid in navigation. There's even a map of Nemo's secret island stronghold, Vulcania. Spiral staircases in this room, while inaccessible to Guests, appear to lead up to the bridge. You can almost imagine hearing the Captain shout to Mr. Baxter, "Steer clear the tottering columns!" (pronounced kol-yooms, of course)

Next up is the Grand Salon. Here and in other chambers of the Nautilus, many of the props you see are genuine antiques, including books and maps dating back to the 17th and 18th centuries. Having real items like this adds to the believability of each scene.

At the far end of the Grand Salon is Captain Nemo's massive pipe organ, designed to replicate the one seen in the film. The original organ from the movie was part of the attraction at Disneyland until 1967, when it was moved to the ballroom scene in the then-under-construction Haunted Mansion. You can still see it there today.

The organ in the Grand Salon of Les Mysteres du Nautilus is somewhat haunted itself. As the instrument steams through Bach's "Toccata and Fugue in D Minor," the face of the Captain appears in the mirror above the keys.

The real thrill of this attraction, though, comes when the iris of the observation window slides open to reveal the Nautilus under attack by a giant squid. The creature grabs hold of us with its suckers, pulling us toward its snapping jaws, until the sub's electrical defense system kicks in and wards it off.

Safe from the threat (for now), we decide to return topside to continue our day at Disneyland Paris... but not before appreciating one last detail. The exit turnstile for Les Mysteres du Nautilus continues the nautical story line right to the very end.

Blast to the Discoveryland Past

Near the exit to Star Tours in Disneyland Paris is the Star Traders shop, housed within a sort of Rebel base station crowned with an antenna for communicating with fellow Alliance groups across the galaxy. While the Star Wars references are just as relevant today as they were when they were added in 1992, there are other elements in this corner of Discoveryland which definitely provide a blast to the past.

Step inside Star Traders, for example, and you'll discover a sculpted tableau at the center of the store comprised of futuristic mannequins and... the Mighty Ducks? Yep. This '90s staple of Disney films and sports enterprises is alive and well here, in the form of Donald and his nephews playing a "space age" game of ice hockey.

Next door, there's a flashback to the 1980s with the Michael Jackson 3-D extravaganza, "Captain EO." Over the past couple of years, "Captain EO" has made a nostalgic return to the four Disney Parks around the world the show once called home (it was never presented in Hong Kong Disneyland). Here, though, sharp-eyed visitors can still spy remnants of the theater's previous tenant, "Honey I Shrunk the Audience."

The flying lightbulb was a symbol of the Imagination Institute, the setting for that 3-D film. Outside "Captain EO," you can still find this topiary of the flying lightbulb, as well as the device pictured below. When the disc near the base is spun, an illusion of animation is created... animation of a bouncing, flying lightbulb.

Check back tomorrow for our final post from Discoveryland on Mysteries of the Nautilus. (Note: Discoveryland also includes an attraction called Orbitron, a flying rocket spinner-type ride. During my visit, not only was Orbitron closed for refurbishment, but the entire attraction had been removed preventing any picture taking.)

May Le Force Be with Vous

Elsewhere in Discoveryland, we're presented a vision of the future by George Lucas with Star Tours. An X-wing fighter is poised for take-off just outside the Starport, where a fleet of Starspeeder 3000s await to take us anywhere in the galaxy.

The detailing around the entrance to the Starport is straight out of the Star Wars universe, specifically the original trilogy (the only Star Wars films there were when this attraction was built back in '92). From the "used technology" look of the signs and columns to the Jabba's barge-like sails shading the Fastpass distribution area, an atmosphere is created that transports you to that galaxy far, far away.

Here in Disneyland Paris, it's not just the film references that are original. The attraction itself is the original version of Star Tours, with Captain Rex in the cockpit for your trip to the moon of Endor. While the U.S. Disney Parks updated their Star Tours attractions in the past year, the international parks have not yet taken that step.

Once inside the Starport, there are unique elements only found in Paris, such as the planetary chart (above). There are also plenty of familiar sights, like the StarSpeeder maintenance bay with C-3PO (voiced by Anthony Daniels speaking French) and R2-D2, hard at work on a heavily battle-scarred ship (In Star Tours: The Adventures Continue, this scene features an earlier-generation StarSpeeder 1000 in brand new condition).

Next up is the Droidnostics Center, a robot repair room where the baggage services scene is found in the newer versions of the attraction. Look closely amongst the junk these droids are sorting through, and you may spot some remnants of Imperial Speeder Bikes, actual movie props from Return of the Jedi.

Next, it's "Welcome aboard," and we're on our way to the Endor moon without any further delay.

Okay... with Rex at the controls, things do go "horribly wrong," but we soon find ourselves docked at L'Astroport: Services Interstellaires. This interplanetary rest stop serves as a post-show of sorts to the Star Tours experience.

You're welcomed at the information booth by RXN. You can call her Roxanne. She invites everyone to stay a while, offering tips on what to do during your visit. In all honesty, there's not much to do here. Beyond these details, L'Astroport is a fairly standard video game arcade.

One last fun thing to look for on your way out, though, is cases like this. Looks like someone's luggage from our flight that maybe fell out of the ship's hold during battle!

To Discoveryland... and Beyond!

Not all the futuristic elements of Discoveryland come from the science fiction of the past. In the case of Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast (the name is different in Paris, allowing for easier translations), the inspiration is fairly contemporary. In fact, Disneyland Paris was the last of the parks to receive the popular Buzz Lightyear attraction, replacing the former Le Visionarium (the original Timekeeper CircleVision production) with the ride in 2006.

The oversize toy elements, which have become a trademark of the Toy Story-based attractions, are in full effect here. Before you even enter the building, you discover the Fastpass distribution location is actually a charging station. Banks of batteries are placed in chargers and actually plugged in to overhead outlets.

Inside, the toy aesthetic continues with details like a 2-way radio and foldout instruction sheets used to tell the story of the attraction. I particularly enjoy seeing familiar expressions, like "Aim for the Zs," conveyed in French. Since French and English aren't the only languages spoken here, though, some of the key story points must be communicated visually. Passing through the queue, "windows" into other chambers of Star Command Headquarters show us a robot attack in progress and LGMs demonstrating how to use the Astro Blasters.

A giant Wanted poster lets us know Emperor Zurg is "Galactic Enemy #1." Zurg is a more subtle presence, too. Check out the Lite-Brite panels, giving the impression of a couple familiar faces.

Enough playing with toys! We have a mission to get to! In the next room Buzz Lightyear himself relays the details of the plan... by Etch A Sketch, of course.

Once we've been briefed, it's off to the hangar to board our XP-41 Space Cruisers bound for Planet Z. Heading down the corridor, there are windows to the left and right. Some (actual) windows open onto the hangar bay, while others (painted murals) offer views of a neighboring space station - one that bears more than a passing resemblance to a certain mountain.

Our mission is a success, as we defeat the robots and stop Zurg just before he arrives at the Green Planet. Along the way, if you weren't too caught up in the action, you may have noticed a couple bits of Hidden Disney. In the Robot Attack scene, sharp-eyed riders can spot 9-Eye from Timekeeper near the Box-O-Bot, and here in the finale, take a look at the brand name on that wrench. It's a Binford Tool, a nod to the voice of Buzz Lightyear, Tim Allen, and his 1990s TV series, "Home Improvement."

In the end, the Green Planet and the rest of the universe are saved, and Zurg gets returned to the store! Naturally, a store is our final destination. The Constellations shop at the exit of the attraction offers fairly standard merchandise, but it also has a nice star field ceiling and one of the most clever fixtures you'll find anywhere - a Vendobot.

In Space Mountain, Everyone Can Hear You Scream

Discoveryland at Disneyland Paris draws inspiration from the futuristic predictions of several visionaries of the past, but none more so than Frenchman Jules Verne. Standing majestically at the center of the land is Space Mountain, based on Verne's 1865 novel, "From the Earth to the Moon."


Space Mountain: De la Terre à la Lune opened in 1995 and introduced two major "firsts" for Disney Parks coasters. It was the first to include multiple inversions and the first to feature synchronized on-board audio. In 2005, the attraction was updated to Space Mountain: Mission 2, taking Guests beyond the Moon to the far reaches of the universe with all new special effects and a new soundtrack composed by Michael Giacchino.

Although the story of Space Mountain has expanded over the years, many of the details remain the same. In fact, in some places throughout the queue you can still see emblems with the initials "DM" for Discovery Mountain, the name intended for the attraction until right before it opened.

In Verne's story "De la Terre à la Lune," representatives from the Baltimore Gun Club build an enormous cannon to launch themselves from the Earth to the Moon. The cannon itself, named "Columbiad," is a major architectural element of Space Mountain, extending more than 70 feet along the exterior of the structure. The detailing on "Columbiad" is magnificent... and so is the scale. To give you an idea, an average size person would only stand eye-level with the words "Gun Club" on the side of the base. High above and resplendent in gold is Columbia herself, a feminine personification of the United States, her arrow poised to shoot for the stars.

The main hall of the Baltimore Gun Club is where we board the rocket for our mission to outer space. Our goal is the future, but the setting is firmly in the Victorian past, contained within a massive, riveted iron structure.

Our rocket rolls into place in the barrel of "Columbiad," and we wait breathlessly for launch. A puff of smoke, a thrust of energy and we're off!

We blast up and into Space Mountain, past the Moon toward encounters with a comet and an asteroid field. Ultimately, we reach the supernova that is our destination, only to have it explode before our eyes. In a flash of red, a hypergate opens a shortcut for our safe return to Earth, where we might be inspired to pursue other adventures in Discoveryland.