Disneyland Entrance

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Disneyland Paris has its own special version of the popular Space Mountain attraction, which is only moderately similar to the other versions in other Disneyland parks.

Space Mountain is a roller-coaster that operates entirely in the dark, inside the dome-like building you see here. At Disneyland Paris, Space Mountain is built around a theme of travelling from the Earth to the Moon via a space cannon that shoots guests towards the stars. This is related to the Jules Verne subtheme in Discoveryland that is one of Disney's few concessions to local French culture. It is said that this version of Space Mountain, which is very new, is the best of all of them, but I can't say myself, as this is the only Disneyland Paris attraction that I've never tried (I hate roller-coasters).

The giant cannon you see on the right “shoots” trains into the top of the attraction, where they go through two complete loops and some other convolutions during a brief but very high-speed ride through darkness and blacklit scenery. This attraction actually uses a catapult of sorts to rush trains into the roller-coaster; they are not simply hauled up to the top at slow speed as they are on most other roller-coasters.

As you might expect, this attraction usually has long lines, although I've never understood the attraction of roller-coasters.

In the foreground of this photo (which was taken in Discoveryland, the area of the park devoted to a sort of timeless Flash Gordon future), you can see the Nautilus submarine, part of an excellent walk-through attraction that allows you to visit Captain Nemo's famous submarine from 20,000 Leagues Beneath the Sea (not coincidentally another one of Jules Verne's stories).

Discoveryland also features Star Tours, Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (the superior replacement for the Captain EO theater after Michael Jackson's fall from grace), Videopolis (a live restaurant and theater in its Disneyland Paris incarnation), the ever-popular Autopia, and other attractions.

Space Mountain was custom built by Netherlands-based coaster specialist Vekoma, to specs prepared by Disney Imagineering. I know that some of the attractions at Disneyland Paris are leased to the park by Disney in the U.S., and I think this is one of them, but I'm not sure.

Photographed in April, 2002.