Disneyland Paris attraction
Les Mystères du Nautilus (French for "The Mysteries of the Nautilus") is a walkthrough attraction at Disneyland Paris in France. It is an updated version of the "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" walkthrough attraction that was at Disneyland in Anaheim, CA in the early 1950s, based upon the film of the same name.
This attraction takes guests throughout the various rooms of Captain Nemo's submarine, especially those seen in the film. It opened on 4 July 1994.
Summary.
The submarine is located in a lagoon near . Guests enter what looks like a lighthouse, and proceed into the attraction through an underwater corridor. Although guests may believe they are visiting the submarine seen in the lagoon, the 'underwater tunnel' leads them into a show building hidden by tall green bushes. The winding staircase into the attraction helps to disorient guests so they do not realise this.
Six rooms are visited inside the Nautilus:
Design.
In its concept stage, a larger version of this walkthrough was intended, with a greater number of rooms to visit and even dine in an underwater restaurant located within the Salon. It was to be part of the never-built Discovery Mountain project, which was shelved and scaled back to Space Mountain when the costs to design and build became too high.
The squid attack was more elaborate when the attraction first opened in 1994. It began with the organ playing Johann Sebastian Bach'sToccata &amp; Fugue in D Minor, and Captain Nemo giving a short speech about his ocean kingdom. Then, the window opened for guests to witness the ocean depths, until a giant tentacle hit the glass. Captain Nemo ordered the window to close, and tried to free the submarine from the squid's grip. Yet, bursts of water from the ceiling reached the audience, and the engines eventually broke down. Finally, as the window reopened, guests could see the whole monster. Electric zaps struck it, but it would not unleash the submarine until the zaps were more powerful. Due to a number of technical problems, this scene was shortened.
Disney Imagineer Tom Sherman designed the attraction and created many concept sketches and models. He ultimately oversaw the construction of it, and was awarded the name of "Admiral of the Nautilus" before opening. Fellow imagineer Tim Delaney, whom worked on Discoveryland, stated it was, for him, "a dream come true."
References.
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