Why didn't Disney build their European parks in the UK?

[Morrigoon]

Spain would've been the better choice, IMHO, but Eisner's wife liked Paris. Or... something. Maybe the investors were French, I forget.

I'm glad it's in France, but Spain probably would've been a better choice. Less expensive.

[davewasbaloo]

I disagree that Spain would have been better. Although the weather may have been, it is harder and more expensive to get to. I am not convinced that it would have faired much better as it would have been great for longer stays, but day trips, add ons to holidays and weekends make a huge part of the Disney theme park business. All of the resorts (except Florida) rely on this model. Paris has a larger population radius within a 2-3 drive/railway journey than spain. Also DLP was in planning stages before the budget airlines were born.

[Jorn]

About the fact that Tokyo seems like the largest of them all; I guess it has also got to do with how the space is used. As Davewasbaloo already pointed out, a lot of space is unused in the Paris park, ready for expansion, which is currently out-of-view and unavailable for the normal visitor.

The small pathways that give the park an intimate feeling, also help to metally make the park smaller. Furthermore the number of attractions adds to this mental image; a larger park with 30 attractions "seems" smaller than a smaller park with 50 attractions*

Finally, Tokyo makes use of very different perspective tricks. Although the tricks are the same, they are used differently. The humongous hub in front of a smaller World Bazaar make it look bigger in comparison to the hub in Paris. As with the large walkways in Tokyo, they make you feel like you're in a huge park.

*not the actual numbers of attractions in either park, just used for getting my point accross

[TDLFAN]

I can live with that, but can someone offer the actual acres measurements? I am really curious to know.

[Hathaway Browne]

On the subject of Spain, one thing to also consider was the threat from the Basque separatists.

Not that I'm saying they shouldn't have gone to Spain, mind. The weather for one would have been much more beneficial for longer for starters.

[TDR_Fan]

Originally Posted by TDLFAN

I can live with that, but can someone offer the actual acres measurements? I am really curious to know.

Total acreage of Disneyland Paris is 140 acres. Not sure about Tokyo Disneyland's total acreage (accessible areas add up to 114 acres), but it should be along the same measurements as DisneySea (which is 176 acres overall).

[Jorn]

Originally Posted by TDLFAN

I can live with that, but can someone offer the actual acres measurements? I am really curious to know.

Well, getting the ACTUAL measurements might be a bit too difficult (what do you count as inside-park and what as outside-park?), but it's always fun to Google Earth and Photoshop around and get an estimate comparable overview of the four Magic Kingdom-style parks (Hong Kong Disneyland wasn't build on the satellite images yet).

I've taken screengrabs of all the four parks at an eye-height of 1.5km (about 0.93 miles) and placed them next to each other. Then I've tried to colour in the actual in-park property; taking the railway as major guide (if they had any encircling the entire park...Tokyo!) and excluding showbuildings as much as possible. If you do this, you'll get the following result (click for bigger version):



What we can clearly see is that at least Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland (due to it's strange shape) have the smallest sizes. The Magic Kingdom seems bigger than Disneyland Paris', however note that the Magic Kingdom railroad travels along Fantasyland quite a big distance from the actual walkable area (in the north of the MK). However, this land is available for expansion, so it could just as well be that Magic Kingdom's acreage is the biggest.

Keep in mind that we must trust the height variable of Google Earth's images in order for this comparison to be solid

[pussnboots]

Originally Posted by Jorn

Well, getting the ACTUAL measurements might be a bit too difficult (what do you count as inside-park and what as outside-park?), but it's always fun to Google Earth and Photoshop around and get an estimate comparable overview of the four Magic Kingdom-style parks (Hong Kong Disneyland wasn't build on the satellite images yet).

I've taken screengrabs of all the four parks at an eye-height of 1.5km (about 0.93 miles) and placed them next to each other. Then I've tried to colour in the actual in-park property; taking the railway as major guide (if they had any encircling the entire park...Tokyo!) and excluding showbuildings as much as possible. If you do this, you'll get the following result (click for bigger version):



What we can clearly see is that at least Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland (due to it's strange shape) have the smallest sizes. The Magic Kingdom seems bigger than Disneyland Paris', however note that the Magic Kingdom railroad travels along Fantasyland quite a big distance from the actual walkable area (in the north of the MK). However, this land is available for expansion, so it could just as well be that Magic Kingdom's acreage is the biggest.

Keep in mind that we must trust the height variable of Google Earth's images in order for this comparison to be solid

That doesn't seem right somehow? I used to play around with Google Earth to compare the sizes of the parks too (ah, that's where the time went), using the zoom bar thingy for scale, and Disneyland seemed positively tiny — which it is. In your graphic, it looks about as big as the other parks. In fact, they all look pretty much the same size.

[nathan detroit]

Originally Posted by pussnboots

In your graphic, it looks about as big as the other parks. In fact, they all look pretty much the same size.

But don't they say that size doesn't matter?

[malice]

Originally Posted by Jorn

no love for hong kong?

[Jorn]

Originally Posted by malice

no love for hong kong?

I mentioned it in my original text:

Originally Posted by jorn

(Hong Kong Disneyland wasn't build on the satellite images yet).

[TDLFAN]

In regards to the picture above.. I wonder if those shots were done from the same altitude. I also question why some parts of TDL were not highlighted...like the entire front plaza within the gate. But at first look, it does seem possible that DLP is the biggest... but then again, the shape of TDL is so odd that it may may it to appear smaller. One thing I will say for DLP, it does have more walking areas and a more intimate feel over TDL and I like that. ON that photo as well, we can see the MK and DL simply being similar in size.. and we all know that is not correct.
I will also argue that in some shots, some attreaction buildings were left out and some were included. They are part of the experience that guests see in a ride and they should all be included in the shaded areas of these pictures. I will also argue that the entire forest area behind the MK is included in the shaded area where there is nothing to see for guests.
As for HKDL.. hmmm.. we know it is the smallest but should have been included in the shot just for fun.

[pussnboots]

So far I haven't managed to get permission to post this graphic, so a link will have to do, but here are someone else's findings. I'm not sure how accurate they are — is Hong Kong Disneyland that small?! — but it seems a little more on the money.

[Jorn]

That picture does indeed look a bit more realistic, since my own evaluation of the picture I made was also that something wasn't right...

Originally Posted by TDLFAN

In regards to the picture above.. I wonder if those shots were done from the same altitude. I also question why some parts of TDL were not highlighted...like the entire front plaza within the gate.
...
I will also argue that in some shots, some attreaction buildings were left out and some were included. They are part of the experience that guests see in a ride and they should all be included in the shaded areas of these pictures. I will also argue that the entire forest area behind the MK is included in the shaded area where there is nothing to see for guests.
As for HKDL.. hmmm.. we know it is the smallest but should have been included in the shot just for fun.

I agree with the fact that the altitude doesn't seem right, but that's Google's fault
I opened Google Earth, located the four parks and then used the altitude indicator at the bottom right to set the eye-height on 1.5km for all four parks. I imagined you would get a representative view all the park sizes, but apparatently that's not the case.

Also concerning the colored parts; I decided to include only the parts WITHIN the rail road, as said earlier, so the show buildings outside these tracks don't count. Toon towns or Fantasyland expansions do count, since this is where the guests can explore, however front plazas don't count again (notice that not only Tokyo's front plaza wasn't included, but DLRP's either, even though the gates are under the Disneyland Hotel) The part of WDW's Magic Kingdom's Fantasyland is questionable indeed, as mentioned, but since it's inside the tracks I've decided to color it.

And finally, Hong Kong should be included, but there aren't any good aerial images of the park, especially not those for whom you can alter the altitude.

Perhaps, if someone wants to do a better job, you could take the Space Mountains, which have known diameters, and set the picture scales accordingly. However, this took too much time yesterday evening for the simple thing that I wanted to show

[Jorn]

And here we have proof of Roy E. Disney himself that England was considered for "EuroDisney", but the weather AND the central location of Paris gave it it's higher hand.


http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=wfWEcVp3M_M