DISNEYLAND AS A BALM OF YOUTH.

Disneyland Paris, formerly known as Euro Disney Resort and Disneyland Resort Paris, is a tourist complex located in Marne-la-Vallée, consisting of two theme parks, Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park, an area with restaurants, shops and cinemas called Disney Village, a golf course and a number of hotels. It is owned by the French company Euro Disney S.C.A. and The Walt Disney Company.  The complex, comprising both Disney parks, is the most visited amusement park in Europe and the fourth in the world. After the success of Disneyland Park (1955), the Walt Disney Company continues to build other parks around the world: Florida, Tokyo,  Japan. The Walt Disney Company had already started designing a park in Europe in 1976;  Among the candidates were France, Spain, Portugal, Germany, Italy and Great Britain.
In March 1985, the number of possible locations for the park was reduced to four; two in France and two in Spain.  Both Spanish sites were located near the Mediterranean Sea and offered a subtropical climate similar to Disney parks in California and Florida. While in France there had been an interest in a site near Toulon, not far from Marseille. The pleasant landscape of that region, as well as its climate, had made the site an excellent competitor for Euro Disneyland. However, the land where the resort could be built was not very suitable for its construction, so it was discarded. The other site chosen was in the rural town of Marne-la-Vallée due to its proximity to Paris:  Disney CEO Michael Eisner signed the first letter of agreement with the French government for the Marne-la-Vallée website on 18 December 1985 and the first financial contracts were drawn up during the following spring. The final contract was signed by the executives of the Walt Disney Company and the French government on March 24, 1987. In 2002, “Disneyland Paris” changed to “Disneyland Resort Paris” while the first theme park was renamed “Disneyland Park”. On March 16, 2002, the resort was enriched with a second theme park, the Walt Disney Studios Park: the purpose of the visitor consisted in exploring the behind the scenes of a film, a cartoon, and any television broadcast. In 2006, Disneyland Paris, to encourage the participation of European families, launched the advertising campaign “believe in your dreams”!

Although I am no longer a child, I am still attracted by this fairytale reality; I would like to dive into the cartoon characters that accompanied me during my childhood. On the other hand, I would also like to experience it “when I grow up”, professionally speaking.  It would be nice to be part of such a fun and challenging context.