Sorry to spoil any illusions you may have bought into at Les Mystères du Nautilus but, as every visitor to Discoveryland can clearly see at the moment, Disneyland Park only really has half of this famous submarine within its Discoveryland Lagoon. That’s perhaps a lucky thing for the project team who have just embarked on a last-minute refurbishment of Captain Nemo’s vessel and its surrounding lagoon, the final major restoration project before the launch of the 20th Anniversary. With the water drained, they’ve only the jagged spine of the submarine to repaint in fresh metallic tones — but even that is impressive enough when you see the unusual sight of a person standing right next to it. These latest photos from DisneyGazette.fr show how guests are being treated to a full view of the hard work that goes into maintaining the “magic”. A temporary staircase, allowing workers to climb over the railings and down into the lagoon, has been hidden behind hoardings but the rest of the area remains completely open. As well as the Nautilus itself, the stone walls of the lagoon are being repainted to return them to their intended rusty glow. The walkthrough itself remains open throughout — just to further spoil the magic, did you know that it’s actually located in a building on the other side of the path, behind Autopia?

Throughout the vast slate of 20th Anniversary refurbishments the hard metal and stone landscape of Discoveryland has required relatively little work, other than a complete dismantling and refurbishment of Orbitron – Machines Volantes which was completed last year.

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