Back when the Euro Disney Resort opened its gates in 1992, it was the current Disney Gallery unit in what was then known as Festival Disney which housed the Maison du Tourisme. Come 1999, Disney Village was seeking new attractions and the tourist information office moved out onto the main resort hub, in a purpose-built and designed hexagonal kiosk.

The concrete and white construction matched somewhat the neighbouring train station (and its “château” spires) with its Disney-meets-modern-France architecture style, a kind of “afraid to be too nostalgic / afraid to be too modern” mix which was born out of the initial opposition to what was seen as the “kitsch” Disney style.

In September this year, the original kiosk promptly closed for good with little warning. A temporary building appeared whilst we awaited the results of the “refurbishment”, but, as construction fences appeared, it became clear the original kiosk had had its’ day. Plans for a whole new building appeared on the walls, matching almost completely the more nostalgic, European design style of the 2005 PanoraMagique ticket kiosk with its more traditional details and “hidden Mickey” roof supports.

Jump ahead to this weekend, and the new ‘Tourisme Info’ building is complete! The new construction is clearly much larger than its predecessor, which was often far too small for the number of visitors, taking up a slightly bigger footprint and losing the canopy which took up almost half of the hexagonal shape in the old design.

The paint scheme of simple, full green might admittedly have been better given more shades, like that at PanoraMagique, but the general look is far closer to what you’d expect at the heart of Disneyland.

We’ve seen for many years the attempts to soften and “Disneyfy” the bleak architecture used in the original Disney Village buildings, back when Disney was so keen to modernise its architectural image, and now here’s the next step — the first of the French services at the heart of the resort to admit that the nostalgia Disney trades off is no bad thing.

[Images © Photos Magiques, J°o°eL]