20 Years Disneyland Paris

FROM 1 APRIL 2012, Disneyland Paris invites guests to celebrate its 20th Anniversary, in sparkling and magical style. Throughout this milestone year, the Disneyland Park will provide an explosion of magic, lights and colour while hosting Disney Dreams®!, a stunning new night-time show, Disney Magic on Parade!, a fantasy-fuelled new day-time parade, and Disney’s 20th Anniversary Celebration Train, giving guests magical encounters with their favourite Disney characters.

20 fairytale years, 20 years of enchantment – 20 years in which millions of dreams have come true.

The great Disney Parks adventure began in 1955 with the opening of the Disneyland Resort in California. This unique park, dreamt up by Walt Disney himself, is a magical place where young and old alike see their dreams come true, launching a new era in theme parks. Other Disney Parks followed with Walt Disney World Resort in Florida in 1971 and Tokyo Disneyland in 1983.

On 12 April 1992, Disneyland Paris opened its doors for the first time to thousands of visitors. With its prime location at the heart of Europe, Disneyland Paris is within easy reach of the Paris airports and the Eurostar station located right next to the parks. Since its opening, Disneyland Paris has welcomed more than 250 million visitors, establishing itself as Europe’s leading tourist destination.

The 20 historic years have been marked by major events including the opening of must-see attractions such as Indiana Jones™ and the Temple of Peril (1993), Space Mountain – from the Earth to the Moon (1995) and The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror™ ⁽¹⁾ (2008), as well as the opening of a second park, Walt Disney Studios Park, in 2002 and the all-new Toy Story Playland in summer 2010. In addition to the wide variety of attractions, new shows and original parades such as The Tarzan^TM Encounter (2000), Disney’s Fantillusion (2003) and Disney’s Once Upon a Dream Parade (2007) have provided memorable entertainment.

Disneyland Paris now includes 57 attractions, 62 shops and 58 restaurants. Guests can stay at the heart of the magic in one of the seven Disney hotels – with a capacity of 5,800 rooms. Disneyland Paris is one of the largest entertainment centres in Ile-de-France, featuring Disney Village, two conference centres and a 27-hole golf course. Every day, more than 14,500 employees (“Cast Members”) are at work on stage and backstage to provide our guests with unforgettable holiday memories.

2012: an explosion of magic, lights and colour to celebrate the Disneyland Paris 20^th Anniversary

Throughout this historic year, the Disneyland Park will take centre stage as it hosts the stunning 20^th Anniversary celebrations, including:

Disney Dreams®! 

From 1 April 2012, the Disney Dreams®! show will dazzle guests after dark with thousands of lights, colours and magic with performances every evening in the Disneyland Park. This breath-taking night-time show will feature dazzling lasers, spectacular water sprays and absolutely incredible firework effects, culminating in a grand finale never seen before at Disneyland Paris.

Throughout this world-premiere production, guests will be swept up in the action thanks to eye-popping images projected onto the beautiful Sleeping Beauty Castle. Disney Dreams®! tells a fantastic story in which Peter Pan rediscovers the greatest Disney stories ever told, including Beauty and the Beast, The Hunchback of Notre Dame, The Lion King and Rapunzel.

Using state-of-the-art techniques, Sleeping Beauty Castle will be transformed into a star-studded sky, a replica of Notre-Dame cathedral with the Hunchback on its roof, a gigantic waterfall, and even the roof-tops of London for the chimney sweeps from Mary Poppins to dance on. The best-known Disney songs, specially recorded for this lavish production, will also play a pivotal role in the show.

A whole host of Disney character favourites will come to life on the facade of Sleeping Beauty Castle and on two water screens located on either side. Water plays a key role in the show, with new fountains installed all around Sleeping Beauty Castle. Some of the more powerful water sprays will even reach the heights of the tallest castle turrets.

Disney Dreams®! is a show spectacular not to be missed – from 1 April 2012 onwards at Disneyland Paris.

Venue: in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle – Disneyland Park

Disney Magic on Parade!

From 1 April 2012, the daily parade will be transformed to honour the park’s 20th Anniversary celebration. A magnificent new soundtrack will accompany the new floats in this unique parade, celebrating the best of Disney magic – plus all of your favourite Disney Characters will be dressed up for the occasion in their brand new 20^th Anniversary magician costumes. Disney Magic on Parade! celebrates Disneyland Paris’s 20th Anniversary in the most magical explosion of colour, laughter and emotion.

Venue: Main Street, U.S.A. – Disneyland Park

Disney’s 20th Anniversary Celebration Train

From 1 April 2012, Disney’s 20th Anniversary Celebration Train will be transporting Disney characters to meet guests in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle. With its eye-catching anniversary decoration, Disney’s 20th Anniversary Celebration Train will be making its way through Main Street, U.S.A. ® several times a day with Minnie Mouse, Pluto, Goofy, Donald Duck, Daisy Duck and Chip and Dale on board, dressed in their new party clothes. It’s one of the most memorable ways to meet favourite characters and wish a “Happy birthday” to Disneyland Paris.

Venue: Main Street, U.S.A. – Disneyland Park

Main Street, U.S.A.® Celebrates!

From 1 April 2012, our famous thoroughfare will be transformed with brand new decorations bursting at the seams with joy and cheer to celebrate Disneyland Paris’s 20th Anniversary in fitting style. Look forward to the most memorable party ever on Main Street, U.S.A.®

Venue: Main Street, U.S.A. – Disneyland Park

20th Anniversary Extended Hours

Extended Hours⁽²⁾ is Disneyland Paris’s special 20th Anniversary gift to guests which allows them to continue the celebrations into the night and enjoy the explosion of light and colour in the Disneyland Park. Visitors will be able to enjoy the magic for even longer without missing a single sparkle of this unforgettable time, from 1 April to 30 September 2012.

Venue: Disneyland Park

Meet Mickey Mouse – Opening Spring 2012

The world’s favourite mouse is preparing to treat Disneyland Paris guests to a wonderful surprise! Mickey Mouse himself will greet visitors in his own private rehearsal room for an exclusive one-on-one encounter, where every single guest will be able to have their photo taken with him. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that the whole family will remember forever.

Venue: Disneyland Park

Disney Princesses: A Royal Invitation

The Disney Princesses will be welcoming guests in a brand-new location. Located next to the “it’s a small world” attraction, this meet ‘n’ great opportunity is dedicated to Disney’s great heroines and is simply brimming with magic. Every day, one of the Disney Princesses invites visitors to an enchanted rendezvous, so make sure you take them up on the opportunity to strike your own royal pose with them.

Venue: Fantasyland – Disneyland Park

A festival of magical moments

To celebrate this birthday milestone, Disneyland Paris is also offering guests the opportunity to continue enjoying magical moments in the Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park. Enjoy a cup of tea as you plunge into The Wonderful World Of Alice And The Mad Hatter (Fantasyland, Disneyland Park), rub Aladdin’s Magic Lamp (Adventureland, Disneyland Park), have a romantic moment with Wall-E⁽³⁾ and Eve (Discoveryland, Disneyland Park), jive at Adventureland Rhythm Of The Jungle (Adventureland, Disneyland Park), Smile and say “Cheese” with Remy and Emile, the heroes of Ratatouille⁽⁴⁾  (Backlot, Walt Disney Studios) and discover the Moteurs… Action ! Stunt Show Spectacular, now featuring Lightning McQueen⁽⁵⁾.

Walt Disney dreamed of bringing to life the fairytales he enjoyed as a child, with a theme park for children and adults where they could let their inner child out again, and where children and parents could have fun together. To build this enchanted kingdom, he enlisted a team of experts, all with the same level of attention to detail and the same desire to bring to life the wonderful world of Disney films. After 20 years of enchantment, Disneyland Paris is still fuelling the dreams of young and old alike.

Disneyland Paris invites guests to celebrate its 20th Anniversary from 1 April 2012 onwards in an unforgettable explosion of magic, lights and colour. Whether it’s your first visit or your twentieth, you’ve never been to a party like it. Get ready for memories that you will remember forever and let the party begin!

Successful opening at eCarTec Paris 2012

2,418 visitors at the International Specialist Trade Fair for Electric Mobility in France

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The opening of eCarTec Paris at the trade fair center Porte de Versailles was very successful. Under the motto join the eMobility Revolution!, leading providers of electric vehicles, storage technology, energy and infrastructure, drive and engine technology, engineering and supply as well as finances visited the trade fair center in Paris. Over 90 enterprises and 2,418 visitors, mainly developers, construction engineers, designers, managers, dealers, fleet managers, private vehicle buyers, and decision makers from politics and public authorities were highly satisfied with the development of eCarTec Paris from a conference with an accompanying exhibition to an independent trade fair.

"We are very happy with the successful opening of eCarTec Paris 2012 at the trade fair center Porte de Versailles in Paris. 96 enterprises presented their innovations and visions about electric mobility to over 2,400 visitors on a floor space of 6,000 square meters. eCarTec has thus become the largest event on electric mobility in France", states Robert Metzger, Managing Director at MunichExpo GmbH and organizer of eCarTec Paris.

The internationality of the visitors was quite striking: Almost 21 percent of the visitors were foreigners from (28 countries). 61 percent of the visitors were top managers with their enterprises, whereas the percentage of specialist visitors amounted to 86.

Several product novelties at eCarTec Paris 2012
For visitors, eCarTec was the ideal platform to study the current developments and technologies from the field of electric mobility live on site and to have exhibitors explain them in detail. Brose-SEW, for example, presented their "inductive charging technology" by means of which batteries can be charged quickly without users ever having to touch them. The corporation SAB Bröckskes presented new vehicle lines and products for temperature measuring. Kienle + Spiess demonstrated Glulock®, an innovative assembly technique for manufacturing efficient and sophisticated electric motors. Schroff France introduced a new modular concept for charging stations by means of which electric vehicles can be charged while they are parked. The energy corporation ABB France premiered their Terra Smart Connect at eCarTec Paris. The DC charger prevents the costly upgrading of the grid connection and makes intelligent fast-charging available to a large audience.

3^rd International eCarTec Paris Conference for Electric Mobility
The accompanying specialist program also enjoyed great popularity at eCarTec Paris 2012. During the two-day eCarTec Paris conference for electric mobility, several renowned experts from politics, science, and economy came together to discuss the topic of future mobility. There was no doubt among the specialists that electric mobility is the key to the future of the automotive industry. Over 100 conference participants were informed in detail about the following key topics:

• Next Generation Batteries
• Market Opening and Financing E-Mobility
• Newly Developed Vehicle Architectures for Modern Electric Vehicles
• Network Integration & Infrastructure
• Overview of Practical Experience and New Experiences of Self-Service.

Jean-Michel Cavret (BMW Group France), for example, spoke about "BMW ActiveE: Ultimate test before the launching of BMW i3", Joseph Beretta (PSA Peugeot-Citroën) about "Electric and hybrid solutions for Europe" and Morald Chibout (Autolib' for Bolloré Group) about "Autolib': a world first for EVs car sharing, in the steps of Velib'”.

VIP to visit eCarTec Paris 2012
The most well-known trade fair visitor at the opening of eCarTec Paris was Roland Ries who visited the trade fair on April 3, 2012: The mayor of Strasbourg, Senator, and President of the Association "Autorités responsables de transport" took a stroll through the trade fair to gather information on the progress being made in terms of electric mobility: "I am very interested in novelties regarding induction or fast charging and also in increasing the autonomy of electric vehicles. I personally believe that electric vehicles will close a market gap in particular with regard to a further increase in gasoline prices", says Roland Ries.

The French ministry for economics, sustainable development, traffic, and housing has set ambitious goals: According to an action plan, a total of 450,000 electric vehicles will roll on the streets of France by 2015. By 2020, this number is supposed to increase to two million electric vehicles.

The complete interview with Roland Ries can be found at www.ecartec.fr

Indoor and outdoor test track for electric vehicles
Apart from the mere exhibition space, eCarTec Paris was proud to present its first own test track for electric vehicles. Discovering what electric mobility is all about was of main importance to visitors and interested parties alike. At the indoor test track, which was organized by the association ExtraEnergy France, 20 lightweight electric vehicles, such as Pedelecs and E-bikes, awaited their test drivers. At the outdoor track named eCarLiveDrive, car brands, such as Opel Ampera, Mitsubishi iMiev, Tesla Roadster, and Smart Electric, as well as several electric scooters, were ready for testing. "It is great to discover the feeling of how fast an electrically driven sportscar or electric scooters accelerates. With test drive possibilities like the ones offered, we seek to encourage visitors to purchase electrically-driven vehicles", explains Managing Director and organizer Robert Metzger.

Testimonials, eCarTec Paris 2012:
"eCarTec Paris has grown considerably compared to last year. We are very satisfied with the trade fair."
Carine Caillau, FCI Automotive France

"All the decision-makers that we wanted to meet were here."
Dipl.-Ing. Serge Megazzini, KOSTAL Kontakt Systeme

We are very satisfied with eCarTec Paris. We made good contacts and OEMs visited our stand."
Elodie Blanchard, Panasonic France

"For us, the trade fair was a real success. We were able to establish a lot of contacts."
Andreas Zühlcke, BROSE-SEW Elektromobilitäts GmbH & Co. KG

"We made a few real good and promising contacts during the three trade fair days. eCarTec Paris will certainly become quite popular in the coming years."
Dipl.-Ing. (FH) Yasar Semerci, Tyco Electronics AMP GmbH

"Our expectations were met. We met with a few clients and got the chance to establish new contacts."
Claes Ohlin, Baumann Springs LTD.

"We are very satisfied with the run of the trade fair and are happy to have been to eCarTec Paris. The conference and the press conference to which I was invited as a speaker triggered a lot of good conversations."
Caroline Hoffmann, RWE

The next eCarTec Paris will take place April 16-18, 2013 at the trade fair center Porte de Versailles.

Further information as well as trade fair impressions can be found here: www.ecartec.fr

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PRESS CONTACTSandra Bildz
Tel.: +49 (89) 32 29 91-26
Fax: +49 (89) 32 29 91-19
sandra.bildz@munichexpo.de

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