Hi bbombpig,
The most detailed account of the history of Disneyland Paris is
contained in Andrew Lainsbury's book "Once Upon an American Dream: The
Story of Euro Disneyland". You can browse 29 sample pages online, and
read the reviews (which are generally favorable) at Amazon.com:
Amazon.com ... Once Upon An American Dream
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/070060989X/qid=1031745756/sr=2-1/ref=sr_2_1/002-8099625-1433611
A brief concise overview of the history and financial problems of
Disneyland Paris is provided by Disney Vacation Planner:
Disneyland Paris Brief History
http://www.solarius.com/dvp/dlp/dlp-history.htm
That page ascribes the problems to a number of reasons, including an
overcapacity of hotel accommodation for a theme park that could be
visited in one day and was within easy commuting distance for many
visitors. Other factors included a European recession, the cheap US
dollar persuading people to holiday in Florida instead, and
unfavorable publicity following an accident on the newly-opened
Indiana Jones roller coaster ride.
A research report published by the Alpha Kappa Psi Professional
Business Fraternity at the University of Nevada analyzes and discusses
the financial and management performance of The Disney Company. They
discuss the key players, and make several mentions of EuroDisney. They
describe EuroDisney as "one of the worst investments Disney has made"
and ascribe the "financial disaster" to the "lack of study of customer
needs":
"disney"
http://www.nevada.edu/~akpsi/research/disney.html
The Disneyland Paris Guidebook contains a detailed history of the
park:
"History"
http://www.dlp-guidebook.de/History.htm
Two chapters of the above site are of special interest:
6: Storm Over Euro Disney
http://www.dlp-guidebook.de/History/Chapter6.htm
7: A New Beginning
http://www.dlp-guidebook.de/History/Chapter7.htm
The Disneyland Paris Guidebook discusses the role of two new rides
(Indiana Jones, and Space Mountain) in turning around the park's
performance..
"...the financial problems were stemming from the trouble they had
getting the guests to spend money on everything from the food to the
shopping options to the hotels. Guests where literally walking through
the gates with their picnics, doing the rides and then heading back
home at the end of the day without shopping ... the hotels were
relatively empty and the shops had tons of unsold stuff! EuroDisney's
solution was to find a way to keep the guests for longer in the theme
park by adding so much stuff that: a) nobody could possibly do
everything in one day (that would solve the hotel problem) and b) add
capacity so that people wouldn't stand for hours in queues and would
have the time to shop and eat."
The page goes on to analyze the relative cost of the new rides, and
the massive new capacity that they introduced, compared to the
alternative ride that had been previously announced ("The Little
Mermaid") and now could not be accommodated:
"The Little Mermaid - Part 3"
http://www.dlp-guidebook.de/Interact/F-Files/LittleMermaidIII.htm
Many other "reasons for failure" are given in other commentaries about
EuroDisney, such as the initial failure to provide for the European
preference for on-park alcoholic refreshments, and the initial
surliness of park staff. But these problems were resolved
satisfactorily, and are probably typical "teething troubles" for a
venture such as this.
By drawing together information from the websites listed above, and
from the additional links listed below, it is possible to prepare a
timeline:
1975 - Britain, Italy, Spain and France were considered as possible
locations for a European version of Disneyland.
1985 - December - A letter of agreement was signed between Disney's
Michael Eisner and Jacques Chirac.
1988 - August - Construction started.
1990 - December - Espace Euro Disney (an information centre) was
opened to the public to show what was being constructed.
1991 - September 1 - The casting center opened to recruit operators
for the park's attractions.
1992 - The first phase of development (theme park, hotel complex and
golf course) had gone massively over budget, and had cost 22 billion
francs.
1992 - March - The park was opened for testing, with sponsors and
their families invited to visit the park.
1992 - April 11 - Formal press preview day.
1992 - April 12 - The park was opened to the public. Just 20,000
people (some reports give the figure as 50,000) turned up instead of
the anticipated half a million.
1992 - May - The daily attendance was around 25,000 visitors (some
reports give the figure as 30,000) instead of the predicted 60,000.
The Euro Disney Company stock price started a slow downward spiral.
1992 - July 23 - Euro Disney announced an expected net loss for the
first year of operation of about 300 million francs.
1992 - August - Annual visitor estimates were cut from 11 million to
just over 9 million.
1993 - New Indiana Jones roller coaster ride opens. End of year
figures show a loss of 650 million pounds sterling.
1993 - July - Walt Disney Company CEO Michael Eisner and President
Frank Wells "sat down together to discuss the Euro Disney situation.
The problems in Europe came as a major blow to many egos at the Disney
Company, which had seen nothing but success ever since Eisner and
Wells got on board in 1984".
1993 - November - Disney invested $300 million to keep the park
running until the end of March 1994, and issued an ultimatum to the
banks: "restructure the loans or else we pull the plug on the
venture".
1994 - Rumors circulate that Euro Disney is on the verge of
bankruptcy.
1994 - February 28 - Sanford Litvack, an attorney and former Assistant
Attorney General during the presidency of Jimmy Carter, made an offer
(without the consent of Eisner or Wells) to split the debts between
Euro Disney's creditors and Disney. After the banks showed interest,
Litvack informed Eisner and Wells.
1994 - March 14 - The banks capitulate to Disney's demands (the day
before the annual shareholder's meeting). The creditor banks bought
$500 million worth of Euro Disney shares, forgave 18 months of
interest and deferred interest payments for three years. Disney
invested $750 million into Euro Disney and granted a five-year
suspension of royalty payments.
1994 - June 1 - Saudi Arabian Prince Al-Waleed Bin Talal Bin Abdulaziz
Al Saud cut a deal whereby the Walt Disney Company bought 51% of a new
$1.1 billion share issue, with the rest being offered to existing
shareholders at below-market rates, with the Prince buying any that
were not taken up by existing shareholders (up to a 24.5% holding).
The prince ended up with a 17% stake in Euro Disney.
1994 - August - The park's hotels were fully booked during the peak
holiday season.
1994 - October 1 - The park's name was officially changed from
EuroDisney to Disneyland Paris.
1994 - End of year figures show a loss of 200 million pounds sterling,
with attendance figures down to 8.8 million.
1995 - May 31 - New Space Mountain ride opens.
1995 - July 25 - Quarterly figures revealed a $35.3 million profit
earned by Disneyland Paris and the Euro Disney resort complex.
1995 - November - Annual figures revealed a net operating profit of
$22.8 million, with attendance up to 10.7 million and hotel occupancy
up to 68.5%.
1996 - By now, Disney had only 39% equity interest in EuroDisney and
had lost more than $500 million.
1999 - January 4 - Disneyland Paris started accepting payment in
Euros.
1999 - October - EuroDisney was "now posting big profits and has
surpassed the Eiffel Tower as the continent's most popular tourist
attraction".
2002 - March - By now, most of the news was upbeat. Reuters reported
that the park was performing well and that an agreement had been
signed to build a new 405-room four-star hotel. "This is London"
reported on the tenth birthday party celebrations. Associated Press
reported on the opening of Walt Disney Studios Paris and a new Disney
Cinema Park. However, Reuters examined the economic performance of the
Euro Disney resort and concluded that it "may not seduce investors".
Additional links:
Disneyland Paris Fact Sheet
http://www.dlp-guidebook.de/Service/FactSheet.htm
Mar 2002 Headlines
http://laughingplace.com/News-Headlines200203.asp
Newsquips Oct 22, 1999
http://www.mikesnewsquips.freeservers.com/newsquipsOCTOBER1999.html
Google search strategy:
eurodisney "financial problems"
://www.google.com/search?q=eurodisney%20%22financial%20problems%22
eurodisney timeline
://www.google.com/search?q=eurodisney+timeline
"history of eurodisney"
://www.google.com/search?q=%22history+of+eurodisney%22
Regards,
eiffel-ga |
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