Only in… Disneyland Paris – The Old Mill

Or Les Pirouettes du Vieux Moulin !
When designing Fantasyland Tony Baxter’s team soon realised that hey hadn’t included any link to Holland, Belgique and Luxembourg. They thought about adding a mill… Actually an Old Mill attraction was already planned for Disneyland, as seen on this Bruce Bushman’s concept from Walt Disney Imagineering : A Behind The Dream Look at Making The Magic Real. It was themed after Walt Disney Classic’s The Old Mill. The technological wonder of its day wan the Best Short Cartoon oscar for intergrating so many animation breakthrough and was very dear to Walt Disney. Saddly this concept had to be droped before Disneyland opening in 1955.
So Disneyland Paris Imagineers gladly dusted off this sketch from the 50’s and put it in the park as a simple snack house, keeping the possibility to upgrade it later as the attraction Bruce Bushman envisioned.

On opening day the Mill simply hosted a snack called The Old Mill but after Casey Jr and Le Pays des Comtes de Fée (Storybook Land) openned, they added a big Ferris wheel to the back of the mill to form a new attraction called “Les Pirouettes du Vieux Moulin” (The Loops of the Old Mill) The attraction closed only a couple of years later because of its poor sucess. Today only the snack booth is in operation but this ferris wheel is still as beautiful as ever. It’s one of the cutest piece of Disneyland Paris and remain the pride of many imagineers.

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Princess Fee

I love the Old Mill – beautiful pictures too! And also great learning a little more about it… Thanks :)
— Ryan P. Wilson

I was just watching The Old Mill this weekend, and it always gives me shivers to think of the history there. I actually didn’t know about this landmark/attraction, thanks for giving me something else to add to my list of reasons to visit Disneyland Paris!
Brandon M.

I’ve never been to Paris, let alone Disneyland Paris, but I have seen many pictures of The Mill. Bummer it didn’t make the cut in LA.

Having been raised in California and spending many visits at Disneyland in Anaheim, I can appreciate what you said about the ‘imagineers’ who come up with these attractions. The creativity and the longevity of them brings back so many childhood memories. Thanks for sharing!