I brought Disney Stories to life with Flowers.

Wed, Sep 21st 2022 at 12:50 am - 2:10 am

Luc Behar-Bannelier retired Director of Nature and Environment at Disneyland Europe.

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Guest Speaker at the meeting was Luc Behar-Bannelier, retired Director of Nature and Environment at Disneyland Paris. His talk, 'I brought Disney Stories to life with Flowers’, gave a fascinating insight into the role of a landscape artist enhancing the experience of visitors to the attraction. Disneyland Paris stands on 2,000 hectares of land, now fully developed, east of Paris. It is the top European tourist destination, having, for example, 13 million visitors in 2016 of which 50% were French, 16% from the UK, 9% from Spain and 6% from the Netherlands. Luc worked with master landscaper Bill Evans, in a contained magical world, explaining that the gardens were always at the service of the magic of the place and visitor experience. The aims were to give guests comfort and shade; to shut out the real world; to tell a story through landscape. Luc explained the vast forces needed for the project to work -he was part of a huge team working in shifts around the clock, maintaining roads, golf courses, 35 thousand trees, 330 thousand shrubs, 20 kilometres of hedging (high hedges are trimmed by gardeners on stilts!), and producing 2,000 tons of green waste per year. He described how the whole massive area is surrounded by a 15 metre-high berm to keep the noise and outside world out, everything having to be perfect close-up to ‘let the visitors dream’. One million flowers are planted each year plus 500-thousand bulbs and 300 hanging baskets (each with its own irrigation system). The magnitude of the project was hard to imagine but Luc's colourful descriptions brought home the immense forces at work. After questions from members, James Murray gave the vote of thanks.