Le Visionarium

Anthony · July 07, 2009, 08:38:59 PM

Do we seriously not have a proper topic for "Le Vis", as it used to be known? :shock:

Well, the best thing about the attraction was obviously its soundtrack, and via DLP.info comes the news that Bruce Broughton has finally posted up an official excerpt on his website!

Listen here, it's titled "Let's Go Back to the Future": http://www.brucebroughton.com/listen/listen.html

Best - attraction score - ever.

Disney or Bruce really ought to release some kind of "Best of the Disney Parks" compilation.

CafeFantasia · July 09, 2009, 04:46:36 PM

What a gorgeous piece of music. Why can't Bruce release all of the music that he composed for Le Visionarium on iTunes or Amazon? I don't understand how someone can create something so fantastic, yet not be sharing it with the World? It's nuts. How much longer is that going to remain locked up for?

Btw, if you like Bruce's soundtrack for Le Visionarium, check out the scores he did for the 2 films The Boy Who Could Fly and Moonwalker. Actually, good luck with checking them out, 'cos they aren't available for sale either.

The Butlin Boy · July 09, 2009, 05:54:28 PM

Thanks for the link Ant, I've just listened to it about ten times back-to-back whilst reading through the forum. It is by far one of, if not the best music score ever created for a Disneyland park. Truly incredible =D>

experiment627 · July 10, 2009, 10:55:04 PM

Ah, the memories...

Theme park attraction music never got better.

(Well, the Cinémagique score is quite wonderful, too, but in the end that is nothing more than just a collection of great cinema music.)

CafeFantasia · July 13, 2009, 06:29:41 PM

I have some new information on this matter, having been in contact with the guy that did the soundtrack for Moonwalker ;-)

CafeFantasia · April 17, 2010, 11:04:49 AM

Here's something I've never seen before.

You know the Exposition Universal 1900 scene in Le Visionarium, where HG Wells shows Jules Verne his time machine model? Well, here's the location where they shot that scene, on Google Maps. The building is called the Palm Pavilion and is essentially a large green house:

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?hl=en&ie= ... kipedia.en

CafeFantasia · September 10, 2010, 12:03:01 PM

Some more Visionarium information. According to Tim Delaney, the Visionarium had a French theme by contract. Here's a quote from his March 2010 Season Pass interview:

"We also had a couple of other challenges in Discoveryland. The next one was that we were carrying the burden of having, by contract, a dedicated French show in Tomorrowland, which they had suggested like a Circle-Vision show. And that particular show we ended up deciding to do, like, well we'll do a Circle-Vision show that, Circle-Vision shows generally don't have legs after the first year. So we wanted to do something different. So we created a time machine show."

dagobert · September 10, 2010, 02:32:10 PM

The Palmhouse you have posted is in Vienna at Schönbrunn Palace. WDI used it for Le Visionarium. It's a great building. WDI used more locations in Austria for this show. For example they also used the Olympic bobsled run in Innsbruck.
If you are in Vienna you have to visit Schönbrunn Palace and the Palmhouse.

By the way the podcast featuring Tim Delaney is great. It was definately a better time for DLP. The Imagineers really cared about Disneyland and tried to create something great. He really enjoyed his time working for Disney. It's such a shame that he had to leave. I'm interested if Tim was involved in SM:MII and in bringing Buzz Lightyear to Discoveryland, because he cared a lot about the Discovery theme. And Buzz doesn't fit. I'm sure he is disappointed by the current state of Discoveryland. Maybe he critized the leadership of WDI for building cheap attractions and ruinning "his" Discoveryland and so he had to leave WDI. Many great Imagineers had to leave in recent years and many of them are now working for Universal. If I'm not mistaken, Harry Potter at Universal Florida was built by an former Imagineer. Well done Disney!!

sebassah · October 21, 2010, 10:03:48 PM

Quote from: "dagobert"I'm interested if Tim was involved in SM:MII and in bringing Buzz Lightyear to Discoveryland, because he cared a lot about the Discovery theme. And Buzz doesn't fit. I'm sure he is disappointed by the current state of Discoveryland. Maybe he critized the leadership of WDI for building cheap attractions and ruinning "his" Discoveryland and so he had to leave WDI.

I think Tim wasnt involved but that nobody at WDI was happy with Mission 2. In multiple interviews the imagineers said that the 'upgrade' was a 'must do' forced trough by the DLRP marketing department cause they needed a 'new' attraction.

dagobert · March 01, 2011, 04:31:59 PM

Disneyandmore.blogspot.com has posted a fantastic "Making Of...Le Visionarium":

http://disneyandmore.blogspot.com/2011/ ... aking.html

(taken from Ddisneyandmore.blogspot.com)

This was a wonderful attraction and I really miss it. It should have never be replaced by a Pixar attraction. Buzz would fit so much better into WDS. Unfortunately I could only experience it once. Alain Littaye has covered Le Visionarium in his book "From sketch To Reality", too, and it is very informative.

WDI used several locations in Austria as well to produce the 360 degree movie. I have already posted a picture of the "Palmenhaus" at Schönbrunn Palace in Vienna above.

Who else is missing this WDI masterpiece?

davewasbaloo · March 01, 2011, 05:49:47 PM

Quote from: "dagobert"Who else is missing this WDI masterpiece?

Surprise, surprise, I am. It was my 3rd fav attraction at DLP after PotC and PM. I miss it terribly. Sadly my kids love Buzz, but I dearly loved Le Visionarium. It was awesome.

Josh · March 01, 2011, 06:43:16 PM

I was too young to enjoy it properly when I saw it. Is there an article anywhere that explains what happened in it?

dagobert · March 03, 2011, 10:19:41 AM

After talking to some friends who also liked Le Visionarium a lot, I can't stop thinking that the closing of this special attraction was the beginning of the downturn of DLRP. What great had happened since then, except TOT and to some degree Crush's Coaster, to Disneyland Paris? Until then everything at Disneyland matched the themes.

Buzz Lightyear isn't a bad attraction, but I think most of us will agree its far away from Le Visionarium, which was one of the best attractions at DLRP. Buzz should have never been built there, because the building, the theme just destroy the Discoveryland feeling. I still don't get what Toy Story has to do with Science Fiction or discovery.

In my opinion the best parts of the movie were the soundtrack and the ride on the TGV, at least that's what I remember best.

CafeFantasia · March 03, 2011, 06:26:35 PM

The best part of the Visionarium for me was the vision of Paris in the future, and flying through the Eiffel Tower. Pure fantasy and escapism.

Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast would make much more sense over at the WDS in Toy Story Playland. But, it's a bit late for that now.

Kobato · March 03, 2011, 06:44:30 PM

I found a pretty decent video of the Timekeeper at WDW, here is it if you want to watch it:

[youtube:215ss576]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yPt8e8mUTQc&feature=related[/youtube:215ss576]

I recommend you to watch it on 720p, the audio is better.
I would have posted one of le Visionarium, but I didn't find any with decent quality.