From: guthrie@nb.rockwell.com (Karen Guthrie)
Newsgroups: rec.travel
Subject: Re: France: Disney woes
Date: 18 Aug 1992 17:25:32 GMT
Organization: Rockwell International


In article <1460300107@igc.apc.org>, Eric Fenster <efenster@igc.apc.org> writes:
> 
> From: Eric Fenster <efenster>
> Subject: France:Disney woes
> 
>   Eurodisney, which opened east of Paris in April is licking its wounds
> after its first four months.  Attendance is enough below what was
> anticipated that the park will show a loss this year.  Things don't look
> brighter for after the summer tourist season either because the French
> themselves seem to be ignoring the park. "It's like being in a foreign
> country," said one of the French employees.
> 
>   Officials are trying to pretend their setbacks are normal.  Five thousand
> of 18,000 workers will be laid off after the summer.  "Perfectly normal for
> a seasonal business."  One of six hotels will be closed after the summer
> and 400 of the 800 employees laid off.  "That hotel has a summer theme, so
> it's normal to close it."  (To run a major hotel near a metropolis on a
> part-time basis?)
> 
>   French trade unions, all the varieties from left to right (who rarely
> agree on anything), don't agree.  They've never seen anything like it, they
> say.  Moreover, 1,500 of the original 18,000 employees have already
> resigned.  "Perfectly normal," said a Disney official. "That's less than
> 10% turnover."  In four months!!  And despite the rigid selection process?
> 
>   Disney employees dropped their obligatory smiles during TV interviews
> this week.  They were fed up with working hours standing up and without a
> break during the recent Paris heat wave for the monthly equivalent f $960
> (try living on that in France).  And those who work the evening shift which
> ends after public transport stops were tired of getting home at 3-4 in the
> morning.  Eurodisney built 600 apartments near the park for employees.  And
> they rent them for $500...per person (half their salary).  Two people in a
> room 8 x 14 feet.
>   Disney is still make-believe.
> 
I worked for Disneyland in 1977 and much of what you are saying is not
new to that business.  I worked seasonal as did about half of the staff
which meant that we worked summer, Christmas week and Easter week.  After
the summer was over you were basically out of a job.  The wages were near
minimum and the turn over was high since you are talking mostly about
college kids who dispite the year it took to get hired don't stay at 
anything too long.  I worked for 3 hours selling popcorn in 108 degree
fahrenheit temperatures in the sun durring my time there and we regularly
had people pass out from the heat.  I think that the response of the French 
is quite predictable since they are the only ones who cling as tightly to 
their culture as the Americans do.  Whether one likes it or not I predict 
that Disney will turn a profit in France.  It may take them a while but they
are very smart.  Working at Disneyland 40 hours per week should get you 
about $700 per month before taxes now and in California one bedroom apartments
rent for about $800 per month and a room in a private house about $300.  So
you see it is not supposed to be a career and it can't support you until 
you have put up with it for years and your salary improves.

Just a note

Karen