Happy Birthday Disneyland Paris - Joyeuse Anniversaire Euro Disney

30 years ago, on April 12th 1992 Walt Disney Company opened a new park in the suburbs of Paris and I was part of the opening crew.

I signed my contract summer 1991 and joined in December the same year as cast member Guest Relations.

I still remember the onboarding at Disney University during the first days.?A compact program including all colleagues from all levels. Everybody learned a lot about #Disney, corporate culture, values and behaviors. It was a connecting element bringing people from different backgrounds, nationalities and education levels to a common understanding on what Disney is and what the whole team represents.

The following months were very intense and interesting. We all had one common target the Grand Opening April 12th, 1992. At Guest Relations our main tasks were informing future visitors, getting ready for the guided tours for visitors and VIP. Learning escalation and crisis processes of the department and guide new cast members through the park still under constructions.

The most exciting part before the opening?was testing all rides from ?It‘s a Small World“ over ?Big Thunder Mountain“ to ?Phantom Manor“ and finally ?Star Wars“. Whenever an attraction was ready we received calls from operations, headed from our offices to the park. Some time the test team just unloaded big bags full of sand before we could enter and enjoy the ride. Preparing the opening, watching the imagineers working, seeing the park change from a construction site to a world full of magic was very impressive.

During the opening, I had the chance being interviewed by Thomas Gottschalk a German TV legend. As Lead VIP Tours, my team and I hosted an incredible amount of celebrities as members of royal families, international TV, film and music stars. I even met Michael Jackson in person, while he was visiting Disneyland Paris.

After one year working in the park the next step in my career was the marketing and sale organization called the Dream Team. Creating new packages, implementing new programs for different groups and market those was our job. As the program succeeded in France a roll-out was planned for our countries and after 12 years living in Paris I returned to Germany and implemented the new program in the German market.

I met a lot of great people during my time at Disney, and we had a lot of fun during and after work. Even 30 years after the Grand Opening I still cherish not only many souvenirs in my mind but also some goodies as my cast member pin, my Opening Crew Baseball jacket, a bunch of t-shirts, the collection silver coin and the Dream Team collection watch (10/60).

It was a pleasure being part of the opening crew and I am looking forward visiting the park again.