Disneyland Paris

”No souvenirs, Walt. They’d be difficult to explain once you got home.”

Yvette, the cast member who accepted their passes at the front turnstile, turned to open the small iron gate to allow Walt’s scooter to go through. A student of human nature, she had been instantly intrigued by the odd threesome as they approached the Park’s entry. It had been obvious that the dark, handsome man was linked to the pretty redhead, but she couldn’t figure out their connection to the grumpy older man. The group had been in the middle of an animated, obviously ongoing discussion about the direction their day should go with the man in the scooter being the dissenting vote. The dark one had put out a hand to stop the older one from taking a free park map and had received a glare for his efforts. Focused on the older man, Yvette didn’t think he could be the father of either one of them. Their looks were all wrong for that close of a connection. Long-lost uncle? Distant cousin? Were the younger ones caregivers with an attitude? Whatever their relationship, she knew they were all in for a long day. When Yvette gave the gray-headed man a sympathetic smile, she was surprised when he winked back at her. Before the other two could push through the turnstile, he briefly pulled open his jacket to show a brochure securely tucked inside. Eyes twinkling, his forefinger briefly touched his lips to ask for her silence. Yvette had to bite her lips to keep from laughing as he pulled his face back into a scowl. “Have a magical day, mon’ami.” As Walt rolled away, she gave an airy wave to Wolf and Omah as the group headed for the tunnels under the train tracks. Oui, they’re in for it, she grinned as she turned back to the next guests who waited in the queue.

Emerging from the tunnel, Walt stopped the scooter to fully appreciate the engaging scene that had unfolded in front of his eyes. Now that it was spring, the obscuring layer of snow was gone. He could see the manicured grass and flowers of Town Square and the full effect of the colors on the elaborate Main Street buildings. “This never gets old.”

“What’s that, Wal…Wally?” Wolf momentarily forgot that they had agreed not to call Walt by his proper name. It was just a precaution in case someone thought he looked familiar.

“This view.” Walt rolled over in front of the train station so he had the full perspective all the way down to the Castle. “I’m glad to see the original concept was kept.” He fell silent, suddenly overcome by strong emotion. Not sure what year they were in, he had accepted the fact that he was no longer in the picture. In his mind, as he sat there with that grand panorama in front of him, a certain blond-haired man—Kimberly’s father—stood next to him. Walt could almost feel the man’s hand on his shoulder. “We did it,” Walt muttered to his invisible right-hand man. “All our hard work, all the sacrifices we made. We really did it. It’s even beyond what we imagined. Thank you, old friend.”

“You say something, Wally?” Wolf’s sharp hearing had, of course, heard every word. He just wasn’t sure if Walt needed a moment. All of it had to be overwhelming, this shift through time and the physical proof of something he hadn’t even dreamed possible.

Omah stepped closer to Wolf, a concerned look on her face. She, too, had caught what Walt had said to himself. “Do you think this is too much for him? Do you think we should go back?”

Before Wolf could answer, Walt stood from his scooter and walked over to them. “No, Omah, I’m all right. And, yes, my hearing is still sharp.” Whatever they were going to say in their defense was waved away. “No, never mind. I appreciate your concern, but I’m fine.” His eyes drifted over to where his apartment would have been over the Fire Station. “I was just saying thanks to a mutual friend of ours.” After an appreciative thump on their shoulders, Walt turned to stare at the open, airy train station. He realized, once they went up the steps, that the huge pink and white Disneyland Hotel would be visible. Always comparing, he shook his head in disgust. “My station is better. Let’s go ride. You really think they won’t let me drive?”

Wolf had to reposition the scooter from where Walt had left it in the middle of the walkway. He grabbed the key before rushing up the steps after Omah’s and Walt’s retreating figures. The W. F. Cody had just come to a steamy stop and Walt didn’t want to miss it.

Walt was pointing out the moose painted on the train’s large, square lantern. “So, Omah, did you know it all started with a moose?” At her confused look, he let out a light laugh and turned to Wolf. “Have Wolf here tell you that story some day.”

“Walt, did you see the names of the carriages? Silverton, Durango, Denver, Wichita, and the Cheyenne. Each of the trains has themed cars to go with the engines’ names.”

His boss, however, was more interested in what the engineers were doing inside the cab. Once the passengers had disembarked, the gate was slid open and Walt had to settle on the first carriage behind the bright red coal car. The disappointment dissolved when the train entered a tunnel and Ferd Grofe’s Grand Canyon Suite began to play. “The murals are wonderful,” as he leaned forward to see all the details in the painted Grand Canyon Diorama. “There’re more animals, but they got every scene right.”

From the tunnel they emerged at the backside of Frontierland and the River, stopped at the rustic station in Frontierland, continued through the tunnel that went over their Pirates of the Caribbean, and stopped next in Fantasyland. Wolf caught Walt’s intrigued, “Ooh,” before the trip resumed and carried them through the façade of It’s a Small World. Discoveryland Station was next and Walt’s head seemed to be on a swivel as he tried to take in everything. “What’s that? Hey, look, Autopia. What’s that green tower? It looks like something out of Jules Verne. I see lots of room for expansion. We’re back at that hotel again. Hmmp. Shoulda made the berm higher.”

Once Walt was reseated in the scooter, Wolf guided them to the side of Main Street.

“Hey, I want to see the storefronts.”

“You will, Wally. I just wanted you to see the Liberty Arcade.”

Expecting an arcade like his Penny Arcade filled with novelty games, a Kiss-O-Meter, and the old-time mutoscope movies, Walt’s mouth fell open when they entered the covered walkway. He tried to take in all of the elegant designs, hanging lanterns, and arched window displays. “The Statue of Liberty. 1886. This is wonderful. This is like what I wanted to do at Disneyland off of Main Street with Liberty Square and Edison’s Corner, but I just didn’t have the money at first. And, then, different projects took over and I haven’t gotten back to it yet.”

“On the other side of Main Street is Discovery Arcade. Edison is over there, along with Westinghouse. You’ll love it.”

“It’s like they knew what I wanted when they built this.” Once the words came out of his mouth, Walt glanced up at Wolf. “But, they did know, didn’t they?”

Wolf and Omah simply nodded as they slowly progressed through the walkway.

The mobility scooter’s speed had been inching faster and faster as they got closer to Fantasyland. Walt thought he had the upper hand until Wolf reached over and put the speed indicator back on Turtle.

“There’s something I want you to see before we go through the Castle.”

They had stopped in front of the wide, welcoming bridge over the moat. Walt pulled his eyes from the square-cut trees that dotted the green hill sweeping up meet the side of the Castle. It looked as if the beautiful structure had been carved out of the rocky soil. Off to the right, on the other side of the moat, was a small gazebo.

“I saw what looked like a labyrinth from the train.”

“Yeah, there’s that for later, but that’s not what I wanted you to see. Let’s go down to the dungeon.”

“Dungeon? They have a dungeon?”

Wolf’s words had the desired effect. Walt was intrigued.

“Follow us down this path. Welcome to La Tanière du Dragon.”

Surrounded by rocky crevices and jagged stalactites, a chained dragon slept near a pool of calm, green water. Her wings tucked back, the horned tail curled out of sight. Bones littered the flat rock on which she slept. Hidden blue, yellow, green and orange lights kept the mood of the cavern dark and eerie. Before Walt could comment, the red, angled eyes slowly opened and steam rose from her tipped nostrils.

“She’s seventy-two-feet long and weighs over five thousand pounds. And, no, you can’t get closer to check her out!”

Walt grinned over at Omah. “I know. I know. Much as I’d like to.” He waved a hand to indicate the subterranean cavern. “Now this is what I would love to do back in California. Think there’s any way I can squeeze this in under Sleeping Beauty Castle, Wolf?” Before his companion could answer, Walt headed up the stone walkway. “I want to go check out Merlin’s shop.”

“How’d he know there was a Merlin’s shop, Wolf?”

Wolf’s blue eyes narrowed as they watched Walt wheel away. “I think we need to watch him a little closer. He might have slipped in a guide book or map when we weren’t looking.”

Omah tucked her arm through Wolf’s. “At least he’s enjoying himself.”

“Let’s just hope we didn’t open Pandora’s Box.” Wolf pulled her closer. “I’m enjoying myself, too. So, which do you think he’ll want to do: Ride le Petit Train du Cirque or go on Le Pays des Contes de Feés?”

“Casey Junior or Storybook Land, right? Still working on my French. Oh, the train, of course. No question.”

“Hey, are you two coming or not?”

“Yeah, Wally, we’re coming.” Omah gave a light laugh as they headed back toward the sunlight.

“Well, I recognized Snow White, Babes in the Woods, The Old Mill, Fantasia, Peter and the Wolf, and Sword in the Stone. Not sure what those other references were.”

“They’re from some of the newer animated movies that have come out. Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin, and one about Rapunzel. How come you’re grinning like the Cheshire Cat?”

Walt looked back at the canal boats as they were beginning their trip. The Casey Junior train they had just exited was already in motion again. “You just told me something else about the future. My legacy of animation will continue. Gosh, I always wanted to do The Little Mermaid. There’s a script somewhere at the Studio.” Wolf and Omah heard a bark of laughter as Walt headed back to Le Carrousel de Lancelot. He had been fascinated by the intricate, armor-covered lead horses on the outer row. His carrousel had one lead horse, Jingles, but this one had a whole herd of them. “But, then, you probably found my script by now, right? I want to go on Peter Pan again, too.”

“Why in the world did they do that to the flying ships? You don’t need a double row of seats. Ruins the design and prevents the guests in the back row from seeing everything.”

Wolf put a hand on Walt’s shoulder. “Walt…”

“Wally.”

“Wally, you’re here as a guest, a spectator. You’re not going to rebuild it or redesign anything.”

“Whenever I go on a ride, I’m always thinking of what’s wrong with the thing and how it can be improved.”

“I know that, but here you’re just a visitor, all right?”

Walt let out a snort as he headed for Les Voyages de Pinocchio. “At least they didn’t mess up this one. You know, there is one thing I appreciate.”

“What’s that, Wally?”

“That the Imagineers honored my request to never have a statue of me anywhere.”

Behind Walt’s back, Omah gave Wolf a wide-eyed oh dear look and hastened to change the subject. They’d have to deal with that later. “How about if we head to Toad Hall? It’s over by the train station. I’m getting hungry.”

Walt’s head whipped around. “What does Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride have to do with food?”

“This elegant, Tudor-style mansion is actually a restaurant.”

“No Wild Ride? Why not?”

As they got in the short line to order fish and chips, Omah gave a small shrug. “Every Park isn’t an exact copy. There are the basic elements, as you saw, like Main Street leading to the Castle and the Lands spreading out from the Hub. There are a lot of the same rides. But there are also different rides and different designs in all the Parks to make them unique.”

Walt let that sink in for a moment. “How many Parks are there? Can you tell me that?”

Omah checked with Wolf and got the go-ahead. “There’s one in Tokyo, Japan, and they’re building one in Shanghai, China. You know about Florida, of course.”

“Florida.” He flashed her a sly grin. “Surprised you brought that up. Thought it might be a sore spot for you.”

Back in the early 1960’s when Omah had failed to complete an easy quest Walt had assigned her, he had banished her to the Florida project. In its infancy, she had many years to wait out until the Park was up and running. It had been only recently that she had been able to track down a key element of that quest that had been lost and return it—thanks to her unusual ability—to Walt. “Yeah, well, let’s not go there. That was a long time ago.”

“Water under the bridge, right?”

“Lots of water.” As they headed for a table by the front windows, her disgruntled mumble could be clearly heard.

“Speaking of water,” Wolf interjected to deflect the mood that threatened to descend upon Omah, “how about if we head over to Discoveryland and tour Les Mystères de Nautilus.”

“I got Nautilus out of that.” Walt looked up from his crunchy fish filets. “Would that be the submarine I saw from the train? I didn’t see a lagoon big enough for my submarine fleet.”

“No fleet here. They recreated the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea exhibit inside of the Nautilus sub you saw.”

Uninterested, Walt made a face. “I saw that at home. What’s in that big green building over there?”

“That’s Space Mountain. It’s a high-speed roller coaster.”

“A roller coaster inside a dark ride?” Walt suddenly remembered saying those exact words to Wolf as they stood together in Tomorrowland not that long ago. At the time, he had just come out of a deep, long-range vision caused by the red diamond heart pendant. As he had stared up into space that day with Wolf, he recalled fragments of a vision-induced ride—the ride that apparently now stood in Discoveryland. The special ability of that pendant still mystified him, even though he had proof that much of what it foretold about the future had come true. Aware that two pairs of eyes stared at him, Walt shook off the vision that was always there in the back of his mind to tease and tantalize him. “I always wanted to do one of those, but we just don’t have the technology. How high-speed?”

As they rose from the table, Wolf wondered what Walt had been thinking. He had seen a look of revelation come and go over his boss’s face. “It’s pretty intense. It gets up to fifty miles per hour in some spots. I’ll bet you can’t guess the name of the first passenger.” Wolf dumped their trash into a nearby themed trash can. A smug smile crossed Walt’s lips when he saw the handy placement of the can. That had been one of the myriads of ideas he had put into place that were obviously still in effect in every Park.

“Considering I still don’t know what year this is, I wouldn’t take that bet.”

“It was Thumper.”

That stopped Walt in his tracks. “Thumper? From Bambi?”

Wolf grinned at Walt’s incredulous expression. “Yep. That Thumper. One of the Imagineers wanted to see what a passenger would go through and what condition he would be in when he returned.” He let out a laugh. “So, they strapped in a stuffed Thumper and filmed the whole thing. Thumper’s ears would fly up, flatten back, and then move all over the place. That way they could see the experience the riders would have.”

Walt nodded. “That’s smart thinking. When I wanted to test a ride, they’d make a wooden mock-up of the ride vehicle and then push me through the scenes at whatever pace the ride would run.”

“So, what do you think: Frontierland and the Mark Twain, or Discoveryland?”

“Well, I’m for both, but let’s go see their Mark Twain. And I want to get a closer look at what you called Big Thunder. A newer version of my Mine Train, huh?”

They decided to cut through Adventureland first so Walt could ride Pirates of the Caribbean. When they continued their trek to Frontierland, Wolf regaled his boss with the Disneyland Paris backstory of the Phantom Manor. Walt was soon immersed in the tale of the curse of Thunder Mesa, Henry Ravenswood, and his engaged daughter. Once the disapproving Henry had been killed and the daughter’s fiancé vanished, she never took off her wedding dress and wandered aimlessly through the Mansion, an evil phantom stalking her every move.

The mobility scooter suddenly veered past the Thunder Mesa Riverboat Landing and headed around the River toward the Manor. “Okay, the Mark Twain can wait.”

“Wolf! Hey, Wolf. Is that you?”

Stopped in his tracks, Wolf recognized the voice. A foreboding of disaster traveled down his spine. “Get Walt out of here!”

At his hiss, Omah, her fingers laced through Wolf’s, glanced over her shoulder to see who it was. “Oh! What’s he doing here?”

“He built this Park. I suspect he’s a regular visitor. And, there’s no doubt in my mind that he’d recognize Walt. There isn’t any way we can explain this. Get Walt out of sight and into the Mansion.”

Omah hurried to catch up with the scooter. Walt, oblivious to the peril, had stopped to admire Phantom Manor. “I like the dormers on the third floor and the attic. The design looks like it could have come out of the Midwest. Not sure l like the dingy brown wood compared to my white antebellum mansion.”

Peeking back over her shoulder, Omah could see that Wolf had used his body to partially block their view. “Hey, the line‘s not very long. Let’s go inside.”

“Where’s Wolf? Didn’t he want to come?”

About to start pushing the scooter herself just to get him moving, Omah fiddled with her purse to give her hands something else to do. “Oh, he’ll catch up.”

Once Walt and Omah were far enough away, Wolf planted a smile on his face. “Tony.”

The Imagineer shook hands with Wolf. “This is a surprise. I don’t usually see someone I know here in Paris. Say, who was that with you? I thought I recognized the face.”

“You mean my wife, Omah?” Wolf knew that wasn’t who Tony meant. But the tactic did seem to work.

“Wife? I didn’t know you were married. Congrats, man! Long overdue.” Tony looked from the retreating backs as they neared the entrance. “Who’s that with her? That’s who I thought I recog…”

Wolf had to think fast and blurted out the first name he could think of. “Omah’s uncle. Uncle Ninaawa.” He had just called Walt ‘Uncle Man.’

Before Tony could respond, the spring breeze carried a sound over the two men. It was a sound anyone who ever knew Walt would instantly recognize.

Walt coughed.

Eyes narrowed in suspicion, Tony turned back to Wolf.