Wrote by Tristane on Thursday, September 13th 2007 at 4:05 pm

15 years… That’s 15 candles, 15 poignant memories, and also - just for fun - 15 facts (I’m really working my brain off for you guys!). Anyway, I made up a little game, although I may be the only person that finds it amusing. The goal is to tell you 15 things that you didn’t know about the history of the Disneyland Resort Paris.
I’ll go to sleep a smarter person tonight and I invite you do the same (but in your own home, of course…).

1-    The first shop to open its doors in Disneyland was “Thunder Mesa”… on 15 December 1991. You might point out that the Park wasn’t open yet - and you’d be right! This shop was an outlet store for Disney employees and workers… Lucky, lucky!
2-    Crockett’s Tavern was the first restaurant to open on 2 February 1992 in Davy Crockett Ranch. There were hungry mouths to feed!
3-    The very first employees of Disneyland were housed in Davy Crockett Ranch. Obviously, the Ranch was operational before the other hotels (what fine deduction skills I have - aren’t you impressed?). This was in September 1991. And this explains the choice of the above-mentioned restaurant as the first one to open its doors. (Admit it, I’m a regular Sherlock Holmes!)
4-    Summit dinner (although one of these two may not have deserved it…): French President François Mitterrand and American President Georges Bush Sr. met at the Auberge de Cendrillon on 29 July 1994… But we’ll never know if Mickey was invited to their table.
5-    In 1994, the last phase of the Tour de France left from Main Street U.S.A, as I’ve already told you. Now, we move on to No. 6 (this is kind of like Monopoly, but you don’t have to roll any dice

6-    More than 1,200 sites in France and Spain were visited before the site at Marne-La-Vallée was chosen as the new home of Disneyland… Ha, ha, Spain, we won!
7-    The hotel themes were selected according to the favourite destinations of Europeans in the U.S. In other words, Europeans can’t complain, because they’re the ones who chose these destinations!
8-    At first, the Disneyland Hotel was meant to be a mere façade, a 2-D optical illusion. Except… Except that the development costs were so high that they built a real hotel. And I think they made the right choice!

9-    The canon sections of Space Mountain was built by the same company that constructs the fuselage for Airbus airplanes… Bet you didn’t know that! At least I didn’t…
10-    The Space Mountain Catapult propels almost 300,000 shuttles a year… In my book, this represents too many opportunities to throw up - but then again, I do have a weak stomach.
11-    Space Mountain was the first attraction in the world to feature a sound system that actually moves along with the ride! An idea by some very inspired imagineers!
12-    Space Mountain was supposed to be called Discovery Mountain… But, like children, the name often changes at the moment of birth! If you look closely at the fuselage of the first shuttle to be used on the site, you can still see the initials “DM” on its sides.

13-    The initials of the first names and surnames and birthdates of all the imagineers who worked and toiled on Space Mountain are inscribed on the constellation map displayed at the end of the queue.

14-    There are 580,000 bricks in Main Street, U.S.A. You might not find this information very exciting, but you should know that these bricks are made of the same material as those used at the turn of the century in New York.

15-    Alice’s Curious Labyrinth is 2,522 metres long… This is the first time that a labyrinth has been built in the Disney Park. The hedges come straight from the north of France, where they were planted 3 years before the Park opened. It takes time for plants to grow!