Disneyland Paris

**Disneyland Paris**, formerly **Euro Disney Resort**, is an entertainment resort in Chessy, France, a new town located 32 km (20 mi) east of Paris's centre. It encompasses two theme parks, many resort hotels, Disney Nature Resorts, a shopping, dining, entertainment complex, a golf course, and several additional recreational and entertainment venues. Disneyland Park is the original theme park of the complex, opening with the resort on 12 April 1992. Walt Disney Studios Park opened a second theme park in 2002, 10 years after the original park. Disneyland Paris celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2017. Within 25 years of opening, 320 million people visited Disneyland Paris, making it the most visited theme park in Europe. The Parisian resort is the second Disney park to open outside the United States following the Tokyo Disney Resort opening in 1983 and is the largest Disney resort to open outside of the United States. Disneyland Paris is also the only Disney resort outside of the United States to be entirely owned by The Walt Disney Company.

## Ownership

Walt Disney announced a €1 billion ($1.25 billion) bailout plan to rescue its subsidiary Disneyland Paris; the *Financial Times* reported on 6 October 2014. The park is burdened by its debt, which they calculated at about €1.75 billion ($2.20 billion) and roughly 15 times its gross average earnings.

Until June 2017, Disney only held a minority stake in the resort, when they bought the remaining shares. In 2017, The Walt Disney Company offered an informal takeover of Euro Disney S.C.A., buying 9% of the company from Kingdom Holding and an open offer of 2 euros per share for the remaining stock, which brought The Walt Disney Company's total ownership to 85.7%. The Walt Disney Company will also invest an additional 1.5 Billion euros in strengthening the company.

## History

### Seeking a location for a European resort

Following the success of Disneyland in California and Walt Disney World in Florida, plans to build a similar theme park in Europe emerged In 1972. Under E. Cardon Walker's leadership, Tokyo Disneyland opened in 1983 in Japan with instant success, forming a catalyst for international expansion. In late 1984 the heads of Disney's theme park division, Dick Nunis and Jim Cora, presented approximately 1,200 possible European locations for the park. Britain, France, Italy and Spain were all considered. However, Britain and Italy were dropped from the list because they lacked a suitable expanse of flat land. By March 1985, Disney reduced the number of possible locations for the park to four; two in France and two in Spain. Both nations saw the potential economic advantages of a Disney theme park and offered competing financing deals to Disney.

Both Spanish sites were located near the Mediterranean and offered a subtropical climate similar to Disney's parks in California and Florida. Disney had asked each location to provide average temperatures for every month for the previous 40 years, which proved a complicated endeavour. None of the records were computerized and registered on paper. The Pego, Alicante site became the front-runner. Still, the location was controversial as it would have meant the destruction of Marjal de Pego-Oliva marshlands, a place of natural beauty and one of the last homes of the almost extinct Samaruc or Valencia Toothcarp, so there was some local outcry among environmentalists. Disney had also shown interest in a site near Toulon in southern France, not far from Marseille. The pleasing landscape of that region and its climate made the location a top competitor for what would be called Euro Disneyland. However, Disney encountered shallow bedrock beneath the site, which would have rendered construction too difficult. Finally, Disney chose a spot in the rural town of Marne-la-Vallée because of its proximity to Paris and its central location in Western Europe. They estimated this location to be no more than a four-hour drive for 68 million people and no more than a two-hour flight for a further 300 million.

Michael Eisner, Disney's CEO at the time, signed the first letter of agreement with the French government for the 20-square-kilometre (4,940-acre) site on 18 December 1985, and Disney drew up the first financial contracts during the following spring. The final agreement was signed by the Walt Disney Company leaders and the French government and territorial collectivities on 24 March 1987. Construction began in August 1988, and in December 1990, an information centre named "Espace Euro Disney" was opened to show the public what was being constructed. Plans for a theme park next to Euro Disneyland based on the entertainment industry, Disney-MGM Studios Europe, quickly went into development, scheduled to open in 1996 with a construction budget of US$2.3 billion. The construction manager was Bovis.

### Design and construction

To provide lodging to patrons, Disney decided to build 5,200 Disney-owned hotel rooms within the complex. In March 1988, Disney and a council of architects (Frank Gehry, Michael Graves, Robert A.M. Stern, Stanley Tigerman, and Robert Venturi) decided on an exclusively American theme. Each hotel would depict a region of the United States. At the opening in April 1992, seven hotels collectively Disney had built housing 5,800 rooms.

Frank Gehry designed an entertainment, shopping, and dining complex based on Walt Disney World's Downtown Disney.

Its towers of oxidized silver and bronze-coloured stainless steel under a canopy of lights opened as *Festival Disney*. For a projected daily attendance of 55,000, Euro Disney planned to serve an estimated 14,000 people per hour inside the Euro Disneyland park. To accomplish this, Disney built 29 restaurants inside the park (with a further 11 restaurants built at the Euro Disney resort hotels and five at Festival Disney). They varied menus and prices with an American flavour predominant, and they continued Disney's precedent of serving alcoholic beverages in the park.

Disney installed two thousand three hundred patio seats (30% of park seating) to satisfy Europeans' expected preference for eating outdoors in good weather. In test kitchens at Walt Disney World, Disney adapted recipes for European tastes. Walter Meyer, the executive chef for menu development at Euro Disney and food projects growth at Walt Disney World, noted, "A few things we did need to change, but most of the time people kept telling us, 'Do your own thing. Do what's American'."

### Recruitment/employment

Unlike Disney's American theme parks, Euro Disney aimed for permanent employees (an estimated requirement of 12,000 for the theme park itself) instead of seasonal and temporary part-time employees. Disney set up casting centres in Paris, London, and Amsterdam. However, it was understood by the French government and Disney that "a concentrated effort would be made to tap into the local French labour market." Disney sought workers with sufficient communication skills, spoke two European languages (French and one other), and was socially outgoing. Following precedent, Euro Disney set up its own Disney University to train workers. Twenty-four thousand people had applied by November 1991.

### Controversies

The prospect of a Disney park in France was a subject of debate and controversy. Critics, who included prominent French intellectuals, denounced what they considered to be the cultural imperialism of Euro Disney and felt it would encourage an unhealthy American type of consumerism in France. On 28 June 1992, a group of French farmers blockaded Euro Disney to protest farm policies supported by the United States.

A journalist at the centre-right French newspaper *Le Figaro* wrote, "I wish with all my heart that the rebels would set fire to [Euro] Disneyland." Ariane Mnouchkine, a Parisian stage director, named the concept a "cultural Chernobyl," a phrase they echoed in the media during Euro Disney's initial years.

In response, French philosopher Michel Serres noted, "It is not America that is invading us. It is we who adore it, who adopt its fashions and above all, its words." Euro Disney S.C.A.'s then-chairman Robert Fitzpatrick responded, "We didn't come in and say O.K., we're going to put a beret and a baguette on Mickey Mouse. We are who we are."

Topics of controversy also included Disney's American managers requiring them to speak English at all meetings and Disney's appearance code for staff members, which listed regulations and limitations for the use of makeup, facial hair, tattoos, jewellery, and more.

French labour unions mounted protests against the appearance code, which they saw as "an attack on individual liberty." Others criticized Disney as being insensitive to French culture, individualism, and privacy because restrictions on an individual or collective liberties were illegal under French law unless Disney could demonstrate that the conditions are requisite to the job and do not exceed what is necessary.

Disney countered by saying that a ruling that barred them from imposing such an employment standard could threaten the park's image and long-term success. "For us, the appearance code has a great effect from a product identification standpoint," said Thor Degelmann, Euro Disney's personnel director. "Without it, we couldn't be presenting the Disney product that people would be expecting."

### Opening day and early years

Euro Disney opened for employee preview and testing in March 1992. During this time, visitors were mostly park employees and their family members, who tested facilities and operations. The press was able to visit the day before the park's opening day on 12 April.

On 12 April 1992, Euro Disney Resort and its theme park, Euro Disneyland, officially opened. Disney warned visitors of chaos on the roads. A government survey indicated that half a million people carried by 90,000 cars might enter the complex. French radio warned traffic to avoid the area. By midday, the car park was approximately half full, suggesting an attendance level below 25,000. Explanations of the lower-than-expected turnout included speculation that people heeded the advice to stay away. The one-day strike that cut the direct RER railway connection to Euro Disney from the centre of Paris made the park inaccessible. Due to the European recession that August, the park faced financial difficulties as there was nothing to do and an overabundance of hotels, leading to underperformance.

Disney opened a new Indiana Jones roller-coaster ride at Euro Disney in 1993. A few weeks after the ride opened, there were problems with the emergency brakes, which resulted in guest injuries.

In 1994, the company was still having financial difficulties. There were rumours that Euro Disney was getting close to having to file for bankruptcy. The banks and the backers had meetings to work out some of the financial problems facing Euro Disney. In March 1994, Team Disney went into negotiations with the banks to get some help for their debt. As a last resort, the Walt Disney Company threatened to close the Disneyland Paris park, leaving the banks with the land.

### Financial, attendance and employment struggles

In May 1992, entertainment magazine *The Hollywood Reporter* reported that about 25% of Euro Disney's workforce – approximately 3,000 people – had resigned from their jobs because of unacceptable working conditions. It also noted that the park's attendance was far behind expectations. The disappointing attendance can be partly explained by the recession and increased unemployment, which affected France and most of the rest of the developed world at this time; when construction of the resort began, the economy was still on an upswing.

Euro Disney S.C.A. responded in an interview with *The Wall Street Journal*, in which Robert Fitzpatrick claimed only 1,000 people had left their jobs. In response to the financial situation, Fitzpatrick ordered that Disney put the Disney-MGM Studios Europe project on hiatus until they could make a different decision. They reduced prices at the hotels.

Despite these efforts in May 1992, park attendance was around 25,000 (some reports give a figure of 30,000) instead of the predicted 60,000. The Euro Disney Company stock price spiralled downwards, and on 23 July 1992, Euro Disney announced an expected net loss in its first year of operation of approximately 300 million French francs. During Euro Disney's early winter, hotel occupancy was so low that they decided to close the Newport Bay Club hotel during the season.

Initial hopes were that each visitor would spend around US$33 per day, but near the end of 1992, analysts found spending to be around 12% lower. Efforts to improve attendance included serving alcoholic beverages with meals inside the Euro Disneyland park, in response to a presumed European demand, which began 12 June 1993.

By the summer of 1994, Euro Disney had $3 billion worth of debt. Disney CFO Richard Nanula and Wall Street financier Steve Norris worked with Alwaleed's business advisor Mustafa Al Hejailan to rescue the overleveraged company. In that deal, Disney reduced its 49% stake to 39%. The banks agreed to forego interest payments until 1997. Disney wrote off royalties and fees until 1999, and Alwaleed agreed to pay $345 million for a 24 percent stake in Euro Disney.

### 1995 turnaround

On 1 October 1994, Euro Disney changed its name to Disneyland Paris. On 31 May 1995, a new attraction opened at the theme park. Disney planned Space Mountain: De la Terre à la Lune since the inception of Euro Disneyland under *Discovery Mountain*, but they reserved it for a revival of public interest. With the attraction's redesign (which premiered as Space Mountain at Walt Disney World Resort's Magic Kingdom in 1975) including a "cannon launch" system, inversions, and an on-ride soundtrack, the US$100 million attraction was dedicated in a ceremony attended by celebrities such as Elton John, Claudia Schiffer, and Buzz Aldrin.

On 25 July 1995, Euro Disney S.C.A. reported its first quarterly profit of US$35.3 million. On 15 November 1995, Disney released the fiscal year's results ending 30 September 1995; in one year, the theme park's attendance had climbed from 8.8 million to 10.7 million – an increase of 21%. Hotel occupancy had also risen from 60 to 68.5%. After debt payments, Disneyland Paris ended the year with a net profit of US$22.8 million.

### 2000 onwards

As of March 2002, Disneyland Paris underwent a second name change to Disneyland Resort Paris. In 2002, Euro Disney S.C.A. and the Walt Disney Company announced another annual profit for Disneyland Paris. However, it then incurred a net loss in the three years following. By March 2004, the Walt Disney Company had agreed to write off all Euro Disney S.C.A. owed to the Walt Disney Company. On 1 December 2003, Euro Disney S.C.A launched the 'Need Magic' campaign, which lasted until March 2006 to bring new, first-time European visitors to the resort. And by 2005, having been open fewer than fifteen years, Disneyland Paris had become the number one tourist destination for Europe, outselling the Louvre and the Eiffel Tower.

In March 2006, Disneyland Resort Paris launched the advertising campaign, "believe in your dreams," and paired with the TGV East European Line to encourage European family attendance to the resort. Shortly after announcing a 12% increase in revenues for the fiscal year of 2007, Euro Disney S.C.A. implemented a "reverse split" consolidation of shares of 100 to 1. August 2008 brought the resort's 200 millionth visitor. It made for the third consecutive year of growth in revenues for the resort and recorded a record of 15.3 million visitors in attendance.

In 2009, the resort demonstrated dedication to recruiting new employment positions, especially for the Christmas and summer seasons, which continued in 2010 and 2011 when 2,000 and 3,000 employment contracts were offered, respectively. The 2009 fiscal year saw a decrease in revenues by 7% and a net loss of 63 million, followed by stable revenues at 1.2 billion in fiscal 2010. Euro Disney S.C.A. refinanced its debt to Walt Disney Company again for 1.3 billion euros in September 2012.

A study done by the Inter-ministerial Delegation reviewing Disneyland Paris' contribution to the French economy was released in time for the resort's 20th anniversary in March 2012. It found that despite the resort's financial hardships, it has generated "37 billion euros in tourism-related revenues over twenty years," supports on average 55,000 jobs in France annually. That one job at Disneyland Paris generates nearly three jobs elsewhere in France.

For the first time in the resort's history, both the Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park closed from 14 to 17 November 2015, as part of France's national days of mourning following the November 2015 Paris attacks.

On 19 June 2017, the resort's operating company, Euro Disney S.C.A, was acquired by The Walt Disney Company, in the process, giving them full control of the resort. In December 2018, Natacha Rafalski took over as CEO. On 1 September 2017, the resort's second nature resort opened as Les Villages Nature Paris.

On 27 February 2018, Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger announced that the company would invest €2 billion into the Disneyland Paris resort. Disney will expand the Walt Disney Studios Park with three new areas based upon Marvel, *Frozen* and *Star Wars*. In addition to the three new areas, the expansion includes a fresh lake, which will be the focal point for entertainment experiences and will also connect each of the new park areas. Disney will finish the first phase of the expansion in 2021. In April 2019, the location hosted a *Dota 2* esports tournament.

In March 2018, a Disney Parks West regional division was formed with Disneyland Resort in California, Walt Disney World in Florida, and Disneyland Paris under Catherine Powell, outgoing Disneyland Paris president. This new division mirrors the Disney Parks East regional division of Shanghai Disney Resort, Hong Kong Disneyland and Walt Disney Attractions Japan and headed by Michael Colglazier. Natacha Rafalski was promoted from chief financial officer to president for Disneyland Paris in December 2018. In September 2019, Powell exited her post as president of the west park division. The division dissolving and Disneyland Paris transferred to Disney Parks International, East region reverting to its prior name.

On 1 June 2019, Disneyland Paris sponsored the Magical Pride Party, an LGBTQ celebration. Previous similar events have taken place at the park since 2014 but were not officially supported by Disney.

## Name changes

Disneyland Paris and its properties have been subject to a number of name changes, initially an effort to overcome the negative publicity that followed the inception of Euro Disney.

1. 12 April 1992 – 31 May 1994: Euro Disney Resort
2. 1 June – 30 September 1994: Euro Disneyland Paris
3. 1 October 1994 – 15 March 2002, 4 April 2009–present: Disneyland Paris
4. 16 March 2002 – 3 April 2009: Disneyland Resort Paris

## The complex

Disneyland Paris contains 2 theme parks, 8 resort hotels, 7 associated hotels, a golf course, a high-speed rail station, a large outlet centre (la vallée village), and a large shopping mall: Val d'Europe.

### Parks

* Disneyland Park opened with the resort on 12 April 1992 and is based on a larger scale of the original Disneyland in California and the Magic Kingdom in Florida.
* Walt Disney Studios Park opened on 16 March 2002 celebrating show business, films, and behind-the-scenes

### Disney Nature Resorts

* Disney's Davy Crockett Ranch®
* Villages Nature Paris®

### Shopping, dining, and entertainment

* Disney Village, an entertainment district containing a variety of restaurants, entertainment venues and shops.
* Val d'Europe, a shopping centre with a variety of outlet shops and large department stores.

### Other recreation

* Golf Disneyland features 9-hole and 18-hole courses.

### Rides and attractions

According to the Disneyland Paris website, the theme park's top five attractions in Disneyland Park are *It's a Small World*, *Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain* (formerly known as *Space Mountain: Mission 2*), *Big Thunder Mountain*, *Pirates of the Caribbean*, and *Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters*. *It's a Small World*, located in Fantasyland, takes visitors on a musical tour of world attractions. Star Wars Hyperspace Mountain is a roller coaster situated in the Discoveryland district. Big Thunder Mountain is a mine train roller coaster within Frontierland. Pirates of the Caribbean is a boat ride in Adventureland. Buzz Lightyear's Astro Blasters, also located in Discoveryland, was inspired by the Disney/Pixar film *Toy Story 2* and featured guests shooting lasers at moving targets to earn as many points as possible.

The park is approximately 4,800 acres (1,942 ha) and is divided into two main parks that each hold separate attraction areas within them. The park receives around twelve million visitors a year, making it the most visited place in Europe.

In 2018, The Walt Disney Company announced a multi-year expansion project. It is expected to be completed by 2024 in time for the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

#### Rides

 Phantom Manor | Vekoma | 239 metres (785 ft)

### Hotels

The complex features six Disneyland Paris hotels. The Disneyland Hotel is located over Disneyland Park's entrance and is marketed as the most prestigious hotel on the property. A body of water known as Lake Disney is surrounded by Disney's Hotel New York — The Art of Marvel, Disney's Newport Bay Club, and Disney's Sequoia Lodge. Disney's Hotel Cheyenne and Disney's Hotel Santa Fe are located near Lake Disney; Disney's Davy Crockett Ranch is located in a woodland area outside the resort perimeter.

Disneyland Paris includes six on-site partner hotels not managed by The Walt Disney Company but provides free shuttle buses to the parks: B&B Hotel, Algonquin's Explorers Hotel, Vienna House Dream Castle Hotel, Vienna House Magic Circus Hotel, Kyriad Hotel, and Radisson Blu Hotel. There are also two associated hotels located in Val d'Europe: Adagio Marne-la-Vallée Val d'Europe and Hôtel l’Élysée Val d'Europe.

Disney's Hotel New York - The Art of Marvel is currently closed for renovation. The reopening is scheduled for 15 June 2020.

### Disney Nature Resorts

Located set back from the parks, these resorts specialize in adventurous and aquatic activities.
 Villages Nature Paris

### Transport

A railway station, Marne-la-Vallée–Chessy, is located between the theme parks and Disney Village. It opened on 1 April 1992 and is notably served by regional express line RER A, which directly connects with Paris's centre and, for further connections, direct to Paris - Gare de Lyon.

Long-distance high-speed TGV and Ouigo trains offering direct services to many cities across France serve this station. There are services from and to London St Pancras International, Ebbsfleet International and Ashford International by Eurostar. There are also Thalys services to both Brussels and Amsterdam.

Free shuttle buses provide transport to all Disney hotels and Les Villages Nature® Paris (except Disney's Davy Crockett Ranch) and Associated Hotels.

### Backstage Disney

Disneyland Paris has strict rules designed to prevent guests from seeing backstage areas of the park. Photography and filming are strictly forbidden in all backstage areas. The parks' edges are lined with ride buildings and foliage to hide areas that are not for the public to see. Numerous area gates allow entrance into the park for cast members, parade floats, etc. When area gates around the park are open, anything seen through them is considered to be on-stage and part of the Disney Magic. Therefore, from the moment the gates are open, all of the cast must be in character and place to 'perform.' As the complex is so big, shuttle buses take cast members to different parts of the parks via service roads located around the perimeter of the parks.

Many attractions are housed in large, soundstage-like buildings called "show buildings," some of which are wholly or partially disguised by external theming. Most show buildings have off-white flat roofs that support HVAC units and footpaths for maintenance cast members. Housed inside show buildings are the actual attractions, including hidden walkways, service areas, control rooms, and other backstage operations.

### Electroland Festival

On 8 July 2017, Disneyland hosted its first-ever EDM festival, entitled Electroland, to celebrate Disneyland Paris's 25th anniversary. Steve Aoki, NERVO & Michael Calfan were the main highlights of the first edition. The second edition of the festival was held on 29 and 30 June 2018, which featured Afrojack, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Klingande, Robin Schulz, Bob Sinclair, Mosimann Lovely Laura & Ben Santiago**.** The third edition was held over three days from 5 July through to 7 July in 2019. The theme of the third edition was based upon Disney's movie The Lion King. The lineup included Steve Aoki, Nervo, Showtek, The Magician, Nicky Romero, Alesso, Armin Van Buuren, Nora En Pure etc. Disneyland also announced the fourth edition of the 3-day festival in 2020 starting from 4 July.

## Notable Incidents.

For a list of incidents see "Incidents at Disneyland, Paris"

## See also

* The Walt Disney Company
* Rail transport in Walt Disney Parks and Resorts