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[CentralPlazaPerson]

for those who haven't seen le visionarium a user called the timekeeper on dailymotion posted the show.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1v4a6 ... shortfilms

[davewasbaloo]

le visionarium
http://images.google.co.uk/imgres?imgur ... N%26um%3D1

Thank you, thank you, tahnk you!!!!  :lol:  =D>  =D>  /  /  That was so awesome to watch again, I had to wipe my eyes. This is the inspirational Disney I know, love and miss very much!! I miss you Timekeeper and Nine Eye.

[davewasbaloo]

Not quite as good as the Golden Horseshoe Revue, this is Billy Hill and the Hillbilies at Disneyland, they are great. I wish we had more of this sort of stuff at DLP. This is the real Disney difference IMHO.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fusea ... id=5705479

[davewasbaloo]

This is the Disneyland experience I remember, and there was a version of this show when DLP first opened. I used to enjoy Betty and Billy performing this live when I was a kid. I was tickeled pink  when I was able to experience a version in Paris. I miss it very much, Vaudeville is a big segway between the west and the turn of the 20th century, part of why the Lucky Nugget is where it is now.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=634SzojF0Q4

[davewasbaloo]

Thanks RnRCj. Maybe if people take the time to look at these and watch them, they will better understand why a meet and greet with a character does little for me. They are a part of the experience, but now they seem to be most of the experience.

[DLP-Photos.com]

I have just seen the whole grand opening - AMAZING! Funny and a great way to see the park as it was from the beginning - at my first visit in '94 I was only 4 and I cannot remember that much.

However, two things saddens me when watching the videos:

1. All the great street entertainment which is gone by now (Barbershop Quartet, gunsmen etc.)

2. The fact that they advertised with the opening of The Little Mermaid and Beauty and the Beast attractions within a few years and the grand opening of MGM Studios Europe in 1995. It is sad that such beautiful attractions and great plans didn't become reality. (Hopefully we could still get The Little Mermaid in the future).

Otherwise great videos Dave - they just made my evening magical!  

[Anthony]

Thank you, thank you, tahnk you!!!!  :lol:  =D>  =D>  /  /  That was so awesome to watch again, I had to wipe my eyes. This is the inspirational Disney I know, love and miss very much!! I miss you Timekeeper and Nine Eye.

I've got to admit... one of the few things to do the same to me. It's been a while since I watched it through, but the moment where Jules Verne ends up on the front of the TGV is still pure magic... the music, the action, the scenery. Gives me goosebumps. And then he walks out into the middle of the Champs Elysées. It's hilarious, too.

Same for when he's taken away by airport security... "Changement de décors!" ... and then to that music you fly around Mont st Michel and all the other places. It's too much to bear. :oops:

Lucky we still have CinéMagique for this kind of clever, emotional entertainment to ground one of the parks. As for Discoveryland, it really, desperately needs Soarin'. It could the spiritual sequel to Le Visionarium: have Timekeeper as a pre-show explaining his amazing flying time machine.

[CentralPlazaPerson]

As the first space mountain ain't around no more I suppose it could be a ride "that no longer exists."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKa5tgTj ... re=related
This is a newsround report on the opening of space mountain. Just look at that for an opening ceremony! Pure magic!

[CentralPlazaPerson]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3EEe1GzZTo
I always loved this advert. It was on my Disney classics VHS. Did Queen of Hearts really chase you around the maze? I also spot Critter Coral.

[davewasbaloo]

Man, I am actually quite down now. You see, to me, Discoveryland used to be the most perfect land in any Disney Park in the world, with the inspiring Le Visionarium, an amazing Space Mountain From the Earth to the Moon, and the Nautilus open all the time with working effects.

Now, it really is a shadow of it's former self, having lost it's heart, soul and amazing music everywhere. It epitomises the notion of toons and pop culture ripping out the artitstic magnificance of what WDI can produce. And the mantra of many fans "If the kids like it...."  :roll:

[Pete's Dragon]

Ignorance is bliss. Since I never visited until 2004, the park hasn't really lost anything for me. In fact, it has gained stuff, like Tower of Terror. But having watched most of the videos that have been posted you can really see how much the budget has been cut for 'non-essentials'. i.e. street performers, bands etc.
I think Beth Orton sung it best, when she said "If I never saw the sunshine, I wouldn't mind the rain"

But then its very easy for the management to justify these cuts. Wages and Salaries are one of the biggest expenses businesses have to pay out. And back when Eurodisney was losing money hand over fist, it's no wonder these poor people were the first to go.
I mean, would you rather the money went to A) A safety engineer or B) Someone doing Magic Tricks on the riverboat ??

[CGM12345]

Look at Discoveryland, a cohesive theme with a fully functioning Orbitron, Roc Shoc in Videopolis (no toons), Le Visionarium. It was so awesome, with the Nautilus and Space Mountain to come shortly afterwards, and the prospect of a fully themed visionary table service restaurant:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvD5q_iv ... re=related

And then an amazing future at the resort to look forward too.

at 40 - 50 seconds in its Discoveryland without Space Mountain

[RnRCj]

for those who haven't seen le visionarium a user called the timekeeper on dailymotion posted the show.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1v4a6 ... shortfilms

Wow! Thanks! Having never visited Le Vis, that was really interesting to watch. I agree with Anthony - Discoveryland really needs Soarin'. After watching that video I can completely see how it would work. I would rather see this return though, and move Buzz to WDS or something.

[bigrossco]

even more interesting to hear it saying the studio's due to open in 1995

[davewasbaloo]

I am glad you guys are enjoying this, and maybe you understand me a little better. I have been experiencing this Disney quality since the early 70's, to me the entertainment is a HUGE part of the Disney difference. And my strongest memories with my family is enjoying this entertainment together.

They still do it in DL, to a lesser degree WDW, HKDL and TDL. It's hard enough knowing that we have the worst fireworks andvery limited (another big part of Disney growing up). Sadly most of what is great at DLP is the original stuff from 1992. Ok, I will concede that Moteurs Action, Rock N Roller Coaster, Cinemagique and Tower of Terror are amazing too. And I also think that Stitch Live, Playhouse Disney Live and Cars are nice minor additions. And the OUADP is probably Disney's finest parade on the planet (other than the MSEP of course).

But I would rather they spend the money on this type of entertainment than on Toystory Playland, or redoing the Backlot Express (where I swear it was the menu choices and cold food that caused the problems there).

To me, DLP is a pretend Disney park. Beautifully designed, but lacking the soul of a real Disney park. Rides and rubberheads are only a small part of the equation. It is the cut back on entertainment, dining options and the staggered ride hours, and maintenance (which has thankfully been getting better and better over the last 4 years) that let the place down so much.

You guys do not know how much it kills me inside. It is silly, I know. But my love of Disney really drove me through the first 25 years of my life, to learn, to be better, to expect people to plus things, and it has made me the professional of who I am today. But to see Disney die a little more year on year (e.g. more commercial rather than edutainment and experiencial), and more of the real world creeping in, it hurts so bad. It rocks me to my core. And that is why I hate George K and Jay Rasulo so much. They have defiled much of what made Disney what it is, and it scares me.

If it had been just all rides and characters in the beginning, I doubt we will have ever seen a DLP. It will lose share value. Already in Europe, there are more over 65's than under 18's. They need to aim at a wide demographic and not just kids.

This is why folks I get so cranky, especially at newbies. And sometimes I wish I never had the wealth of international experience in 4 decades of Disney.