Videopolis (Disneyland Paris)

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Videopolis
Attraction poster
Disneyland Park (Paris)
Area	Discoveryland
Status	Operating
Opening date	April 12, 1992
Ride statistics
Attraction type	Restaurant / Stage Show
Designer	Walt Disney Imagineering
Theme	Air Exploration
Wheelchair accessible

Videopolis is an auditorium in the

The building is themed to dreams of the future from the turn of the twentieth century, especially air exploration. The airship hanging outside the building is from the 1974 film, The Island at the Top of the World. Videopolis also houses the Café Hyperion, the largest fast-food restaurant in the park.^[1] This building features inspiration from Discovery Bay, a former Disneyland concept by Imagineer Tony Baxter (a land themed to Victorian visions of the future), which also inspired Discoveryland.

The original concept, however, changed due to public interests. The night-time discos were meant to appeal to teenagers and young adults as a mean of topping off their day. Yet, they were more interested in visiting other attractions up until the last minute. The regular discos therefore came to a halt, and Videopolis is only used as such a venue for special events such as New Year's Eve and Halloween.

In between the live shows,

Yet, demand for more shows based on traditional Disney properties led to its replacement with a stage version of Beauty and the Beast.^[3] After that came several shows based on Disney productions or characters, most prominently stage versions of Mulan or The Lion King.

The theater was previously showcasing a various choice of Disney cartoons, from the early animated ones (for example Steamboat Willie) to Pixar shorts, however is now The Jedi Training academy, and has been themed with scenes and characters from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.^[4]

List of Videopolis shows

• Rock Shock (1992-1993) - Returned in 1995 for
  Space Mountain
  opening.
• Beauty and the Beast (1993–1996)
• Disney Classics - The Music and the Magic (1998)
• Disney Magic Forever (1998)
• Mulan - The Legend (1998–2002)
• Minnie's Birthday Surprise (2002–2003)
• Mickey's Showtime (2003–2004)
• The Legend of the Lion King
  (2004–2009)
• Cinema Mickey (2009–2010)
• CineDisney (2010–2015)
• Jedi Training Academy
  (2015–2017)

Design

• The idea of using the airship from The Island at the Top of the World in a Disney attraction was considered for Disneyland's planned Discovery Bay, but was scrapped after that film's failure at the box office.
• There are two binocular-shaped blocked windows on the side of the building, which originally were to have acted as passageways to
  Space Mountain
  ). In the original concept, guests would have been able to go on numerous rides within this domed attraction, themed to many Jules Verne's visions.
• Behind these two windows is a Studio Radio, regularly used when reporters want to broadcast live from the park.
• Two rooms are located beneath this Studio, accessible via ground floor. They originally acted as a Space Exhibition in 1995, as
  Space Mountain
  was inaugurated. Later, in 2004, they were turned respectively into Arcade Alpha and Arcade Bêta. The arcades have both since been stripped out leaving no arcade machines left and so currently these rooms are empty.

References