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[MizzRabbit]

I was just at my cousins birthday yesterday and my mom had brought me a photoalbum from our first EuroDisney trip in 1992. She has more pictures at home and these aren't the best of the bunch, they're quite blurry actually, but she has promised to find more for me. I thought you guys might find it enjoyable to see EuroDisney before it was even open to the public, back when the paint in Alice's Curious Labyrith was fresh and colorful. I've done a little editing on a few of the photos but I didn't really have time to do them all. I hope you'll enjoy this photo report (I'll add a few comments to the pics) and more will come soon when I get a hold on the rest of the pics. Enjoy!

My mom and me in EuroDisney 1992:

Well, first of all, this was 1992 where PERMS were fashionable. My mom thought I'd be really cute with one and I obviously did have much say about it so my long hair got all curly and weird and I absolutely hated it. And the bow on my head - OMG. So well, my hair's not really that curly. Just wanted to clear that up. I was about 7 or 8 years old and I loved Disney!











"OMG! Am I really in EURODISNEY!"











In my little bag I have my new Minnie Mouse dress. I think this is front of a dressingroom. Does anyone know where exactly? My mom says it's on Main Street but where?



































This is outside the castle in Fantasyland...











Now check this out, this is über cool! There was this show, I don't remember it at all, but take a look at who's on stage! The Phantom an Melanie! He's holding her! Have any of you heard of this show? I want to know more... Since I love Phantom Manor I think this was a cool find!



I try to zoom in on them here:



And here Melanie's appearing in smoke in a frame so it looks like the painting of her that's in the Manor. How cool is that?!











Now finally, the labyrinth. So pretty and new.









And here you can see, as I wrote on the Alice's Curious Labyrinth thread, I loved to crawl through the tiny doors! I guess all kids like roaming in a labyrith like that.









My beloved Bella Notte!



























I loved my Mickey ears. I had my name sewn on the back in gold thread. Unfortunately I didn't take very good care of them during the years so I don't have them anymore.



Bella Notte. I try to have these seats everytime we're there. I'm a little nostalgic. I had the spaghetti bolognaise and my mom had a Mickey pizza.



This is my mom with her pizza. Notice the yummy fruitcups.













We were only there for one single day. We traveled with the Kodak team from my mom's work. We were also in Paris for one day. It was one of those experiences that lives in you forever. More pictures to come when I get a hold of them. Hope you'll enjoy this.

[burntsienna]

WOW! Honey they are brilliant photographs! I love the look of old photos they are just amazing!
I'm still in love with your coat!  :lol:
DLRP has really changed sooo much!
I'm so jelous you got to go in 1992 wish I could have...though I'd have only been 2 and probably wouldn't have remembered!  :lol:

[MizzRabbit]

WOW! Honey they are brilliant photographs! I love the look of old photos they are just amazing!
I'm still in love with your coat!  :lol:
DLRP has really changed sooo much!
I'm so jelous you got to go in 1992 wish I could have...though I'd have only been 2 and probably wouldn't have remembered!  :lol:

No you probably wouldn't have remembered. I hardly remember. I only remember the feeling, the joy, but only very few specific moments. I remember the following trips better. I'll try to find photos from them as well. But anyway, glad you liked it! It took me hours to scan so I hope everyone likes it.

[DLP-Photos.com]

Oh my God - this is one of the best new topics ever. It is so funny and great to see "EuroDisney" just when it opened - somehow it seems like a completely different place. I was there for the first time in 1994 and do not remember anything besides that I did not dare to go on It's a small world as I was sure it was a dinosaur-attraction  :lol: I really do not know why...

But it most have been great to find all these photos from your first trip and I cannot wait to see more photos from 1992.

[MizzRabbit]

Oh, just got a hold on a few more. My mom scanned them and sent them.

Me and a CM before the Main Street Electrical Parade. She was so sweet and sang with us. Her I remember very clearly!



Me in our hotelroom with my new Minnie Dress and Ears.



Fantasyland

[Wendy]

What a fantastic thread, I love seeing the park so clean and new!   =D>

We first visited for my oldest son's 8th birthday which was the 5th Anniversary in 1997 - I'm going to try to dig out some of those photos and scan them in!

[Clarebelle]

Your photos are lovely Honey!! I love the one of you infront of the castle  
They all have such a nice old photo-ie look! you just cant get that anymore with digital

[Patrick]

Thanks for the report, so amazing seeing old photos, and i'm glad you explained why the ugly kodak banner was up on the main street station, I thought for a minute it was like that for a year or something :lol: .  I also don't think I've seen so many photos of such a clean and colourful Fantasyland .

The show you saw was C'est Magique, basically a show that did a tour around the park, with certain things from each land and I believe even hotels etc being performed through Disney characters.  So amazing seeing the Phantom Manor scene, I have never found pics of that scene before .  It's reports like this that make me feel sad I didn't visit until 2000 .

[ColdSun]

lovely photos :shock: ! I really get a feeling of nostalgia looking at those. I was also there in 1992 (or was is 93) and like you I only remember very few specific moments but just the general feeling of happiness.
Thanks for sharing these pics...and you were just so cute (still are of course )...

[Clarebelle]

Thank you sooooo much for taking the time to do this! (forgot to say before  :roll: )

[Pete's Dragon]

First of all, love the hair  :wink:

Wow, Eurodisney looks wonderful !! Nowhere needs painting, and everything looks pristine. Thanks for sharing.

[penfold12]

I have lost my photos from early visits, I was there every year for the first 6 years, and really wish I could find them.

Biggest thing that sticks out, is how much better the park looks 16 years on with the trees grown in. All the photos around the central plaza, and of the castle make it look quite barren....

[davewasbaloo]

Thanks for sharing these, oh the memories. The plants have totally grown in now, but so much I miss:

I have been going since before opening day, and much has changed (and not necessarily for the better!).

On Main Street -

Ribbons and Bows used to sell mouse ears where they would embroider your name on the back.

There used to be a marching band, a keystone cops sax group, a barbershop quartet and ragtime piano player at Casey's Corner.

Every store was different, and Main Street Motors was a reproduction of a old time garage (with 4 real cars for sale if you were rich enough).

There was a sillouette artist that would create a sillouette of you while you wait.

And the Horse drawn street car, 3 horseless carriages and Omnibus would be in operation at the same time unless too crowded (add to that a train every 10 to 15 minutes).


Next onto Frontierland - where from 1994 on you could tour the teepees and speak to the Indians before going through the fort.

The Lucky Nugget was not a character meal, but in fact had a revue show open to all including singing, stunt fights and live cancan dancers.

There were Indian Canoes on the water where you could paddle through white water and near the geysers too (they used to work). And near the canoes were indian craftsmen making pots and weaving rugs, you could also buy native american indian trinkets.

Occassionally the cavelry would ride their horses or a gun fight would break out on the rooftops. Don't forget the live Dixieland on the Mark Twain!!!!

And in Cotton Wood Creek, wood carvers would make things to order, there was a blacksmith shop and real animals including Brahma Bull

Adventureland - this is the area I think has been ruined the most.

Besides the covered walkway that connected Main Street to PotC, going away, I miss the Bazaar.

In the Bazaar there were merchants that made wooden boxes, brass plates and woven persian rugs, all for sale. Hakuna Matata was known by another name, and would serve African cuisine, and where one can now buy Pizza's, it used to be a table service restaurants with a cast of different characters and parrots that would interact with the guests in The Explorer's Club (also sold chinese for a short time before it became Col. Hathi's).

The TAMTAM drummers and asian gamalan players would frequently appear throughout, along with pirates sword fighting. and the lighthouse near PotC was live flame at night!!!!

I also miss the reflecting pool that used to exist at the entrance of Adventureland.

Fantasyland is the one land that in the main has changed for the better, but there are a few things I miss here too.

You could buy unbirthday cakes and decorate them near the Tea Cups. Also you could buy different hats and have them embroidered in that area too.

Merlin would conduct the sword in the stone ceremony, and Cinderella, the mice and Fairy godmother would put in an apperance at Auberge for no further charge ( with a choice of at least five things for each course on the menu and the slipper could be had by anyone).

And I miss the fountains working on It's a Small World.

Other entertainment would include medieval jugglers and the odd band (I forgot a pirate band would occassionally float between Peter Pan and Adventure Isle).

Discoveryland - Shows have come and gone such as Rock Shock, Beauty and the Beast, Mulan, the 10th Anniversary Show, and soon the Lion King will be leaving.

I am saddened by the loss of Le Visionarium as I always felt this best encapsulated the ideals of the land.

we had a Nasa Space exhibit for a time in the area that is now Pizza Planet. And I greatly morn the loss of Space Mountain au la terre de la lune.

And I really miss the fire that would burn on top of the water at the entrance to Discoveryland.

And we used to have mini parades - Aladdin, Lion King, Mulan, et al, the Halloween Parade (3 versions), Imagination (with the Big Balloons), Christmas parade (2 versions), the Main Street Electrical Parade (which I preferred to Fanti), and BIG Fireworks more frequently.

DLP was the near perfect park even though it had less attractions than the other MKs when it opened. There have been some returns to greatness (the burning torches in Adventureland returning), but to me the shopping, dining and entertainment (stage shows aside - they have improved) have been going backwards.

Although we have gained since opening:

Pocahontas Playground
Aladdin Walk Through
Indy
Pirate Playground
The Old Mill (closed again)
Casey Jr
Storybookland Canal Boats
Space Mountain
Buzz
Pizza Planet
Hista replacing Capt Eo

I think we are missing a lot of the original magic. And therefore I am sorry I am an oldtimer, but I hope at the same time things will improve to form.

Festival Disney

Well besides the missing star lights, fake palm trees, and big american figures, there have been other changes too:

- The Cinema and Planet Hollywood have not always been there.
- There used to be 6 classic cars parked in front of Annette's
- The Deli used to be a real deli - with hot food and things like bagels, reubens, french dip, and chilli dogs - you could even get root beer.
- Hollywood Pictures sold real Hollywood Memoriabilia
- King Ludwigs replaced Rock and Roll America - a live music venue specialising in rock, rhythm and blues (food was terrible, but I miss the choice of free live entertainment)
- Team Mickey sold Disney sport gear including Disney themed golf equipment!!!
- Crescend'O (opened late 90's) offered a Cirque du Soliel aquatic circus experience, I used to love it.
- McDonald's was not there opening day
- Hurricane's used to make more sense - on the ground floor was Key West Seafood restaurant and upstairs was the night club and Live music outdoor stage.
- Cafe Mickey was LA Bar and Grill - now more characterised.
- Then there was the central stage, neverland club for kids and the arcade.

Festival Disney was a trip through America West coast to East - also no real (funfare) tack in there either.

Now some things have improved where they are additions, but once again, it is not what it once was.

As for the hotels, well I remember a string quartet in the DLH, live Jazz Club at the HNY (2nd best restaurant on property, and Parkside was a great place to eat too), live pianist at the NBC, SL had storytellers and the Hunters grill served all you can eat meat brought to your table on skewers.

The lake had a laser show at night (and during the day boats to take you to the different hotels, and canoes on the river).

Cheyenne had a blacksmith and ponies, with a magicician and country band in the bar.

Santa Fe had Mariachi bands.

And Davy Crockett had a pack of wolves and buffalo living on property, and a free bus to the rest of the resort.

The Golf Course has improved though!

[RnRCj]

I can't believe how clean everything looks. All the fresh paint! None of it peeling of like it does now.

DLRP should really look at photos like these, and make it their target to return the park to this quality. This is what Disneyland should be like! I would rather the park look like this again than have a new attraction anyday.

One thing that's better now though - The park doesn't look as bare. It must be because of the lack of leaves on the trees in those photos.

Thank you so much for posting this MizzRabbit. This is definitely the best photo report I've seen for a while.

[Galathon]

Really cool photo's. I really like the one looking to discovery land and not seeing Space Mountain.