Disneyland Paris in Paris -- a Geographic Mistake by Disney?

[DoctorQ9]

I love the photos of snow-laden Disneyland Paris, but it must be miserable conditions for Park Guests. In this posting is a graph showing the annual temperature ranges for Paris. If Disney had built the park in Southern France, or perhaps in Spain, the annual temperature ranges would have been much more hospitable for Guests.

Which begs the question: Did Disney make a colossal mistake locating Disneyland in Paris?

[swampymarsh]

It's built in an area where labor is easy to find, and international travelers have easy access. It snows in Tokyo too, should they have built it near Okinawa?

[DoctorQ9]

It's built in an area where labor is easy to find, and international travelers have easy access. It snows in Tokyo too, should they have built it near Okinawa?

Tokyo Disneyland was not an investment by Disney and has a history of solid financial performance -- unlike Disneyland Paris. In addition, "Tokyo, the capital city of Japan, experiences a humid subtropical climate that futures two typical major seasons like the other cities in the country, a hot and humid summer and a mild winter with cool spells.

Read more at Tokyo, Japan Weather Averages | Monthly Average High and Low Temperature | Average Precipitation and Rainfall days | World Weather Online "

Apples and Oranges.

[TimmyTimmyTimmy]

Paris is the best location in Europe. People can combine a Disney visit with one of the most famous cities in the world.
The winter is something that comes natural for many of us.

Tokyo is also a natural pick... just like Shanghai.

The entire world does not evolve around California and Florida

...just wait until they build a 3rd Disneyland in north China

[lazyboy97O]

Parc Disneyland has never had financial or attendance difficulties. The issues have always been with the wider, overbuilt resort complex.

[DoctorQ9]

Parc Disneyland has never had financial or attendance difficulties. The issues have always been with the wider, overbuilt resort complex.

This is very interesting. Is my interpretation right -- if Disney had simply built Disneyland Paris on a similar scale that the Oriental Land Company did in Tokyo, the park would have been a similar success (financially)?

[lazyboy97O]

This is very interesting. Is my interpretation right -- if Disney had simply built Disneyland Paris on a similar scale that the Oriental Land Company did in Tokyo, the park would have been a similar success (financially)?

The scale of the park was not the issue either. It was the seven hotels, several designed by "starchitects," they built and opened all at once. They trying to build a Walt Disney World for Europe but jumped the gun on the hotels.

[robbiem]

Lazyboy970 is right. The mistake was trying to build a WDW style resort in a place where people would visit on a day trip from Paris. A resort in Southern Europe would probably have worked but never in Paris.

You could argue a 'day' resort would have worked better in London, a larger city with a more pro Disney population but that's another question!

[godsonsafari]

Building a second gate that was completely underwhelming and summarily bombed also hurt the justification for having all those "wonderful" onsite hotels. Probably the biggest mis-step was cheaping out and assuming the Disney name alone would bring in the money.

[lazyboy97O]

Building a second gate that was completely underwhelming and summarily bombed also hurt the justification for having all those "wonderful" onsite hotels. Probably the biggest mis-step was cheaping out and assuming the Disney name alone would bring in the money.

Euro Disney SCA had a contractual obligation to build a second gate. They had to build a park, but had no money. Not too long ago they were able to have the deadline for the third gate pushed back to avoid a repeat of the same problems.

[godsonsafari]

Euro Disney SCA had a contractual obligation to build a second gate. They had to build a park, but had no money. Not too long ago they were able to have the deadline for the third gate pushed back to avoid a repeat of the same problems.

Their contractual obligations were choices the management made when the concept behind the amusement resort was developed. Going back to the original thread question, I don't think the problems were geographic in nature. They came down to poor management decisions across the board (building unnecessary hotels, not funding or seeking enough funding for a viable second gate, etc). They don't get a pass from me for screwing up something they negotiated in the first place.

[lazyboy97O]

Their contractual obligations were choices the management made when the concept behind the amusement resort was developed. Going back to the original thread question, I don't think the problems were geographic in nature. They came down to poor management decisions across the board (building unnecessary hotels, not funding or seeking enough funding for a viable second gate, etc). They don't get a pass from me for screwing up something they negotiated in the first place.

The people who negotiated the deals and build out of Phase 1 were at The Walt Disney Company, not Euro Disney SCA.

[croboy82]

I would say yes. Me living in Switzerland I know the weather is not great here either.

I would have prefered it much more if it was built somewhere near Barcelona (another major city in Europe). But what can you do.

I'd just wish they would do a re-do of the 2nd gate asap.

[godsonsafari]

The people who negotiated the deals and build out of Phase 1 were at The Walt Disney Company, not Euro Disney SCA.

The majority share holder is still Walt Disney Company. Moreover, it is kinda irrelevant to the original question.

[lazyboy97O]

The majority share holder is still Walt Disney Company. Moreover, it is kinda irrelevant to the original question.

The Walt Disney Company has never been the majority shareholder. The SCA structure gives them the control.