Disneyland...Spain?

[Speedway]

So, lets go back to 1990. The Walt Disney Company are scouting for a site in Europe for the forthcoming Euro Disney theme park. The United Kingdom and Italy are disqualified for the lack of flat open space (too many hills), Germany is not considered due to the lack of tourism from neighbouring European countries, and the selection is narrowed to Spain and France. The reason why France was picked over Spain, I never remember, but it was probably due to the more reasonable climate in France. Anyway. We are The Walt Disney Company in 1990, and we choose where the Euro Disney Resort goes (and a better name!).

What would your Euro Disney be like? What hotels would you have? What attractions would be unique to your park, and what attractions would you clone from other parks? (Remember, Disney's Animal Kingdom, Tokyo Disneysea, Disney's California Adventure and Walt Disney Studios and their attractions have not yet been built)

[figment1986]

Italy.... That way i could have more Sit down resturaunts.. and gteat rides.. and have a brilliant climate... (and Spain became a thrill area anyways..)

[zach1]

It should have been built in Spain. That's not just my opinion. That's what the folks hired to perform a scouting survey determined as well. And just about everyone at WDC agreed. But Eisner had spent time in Paris after college and liked it, so he decided that's where it would go. All this according to DisneyWar anyway...

But when I think of awesome weather, I think of Spain, I think of Italy. Not France. None of my college buddies get excited about spending their summer in France, it's always the Mediterranian countries.

Besides, if I had to pick one European country that would resent a monolith of American culture on its soil, it would probably be France. They seem to like us the least, so we probably shouldn't expect them to pour in their Euros to our theme parks like Americans do.

[Evil Minion]

Ditto.

They should have built Euro Disneyland in Spain like they were planning to. Both the weather & audience would have been warmer. From what I've heard Eisner asked his wife whether she prefered Barcelona, Spain or Paris, France and she said something like " Put it in Paris so I can go shopping in Paris ".

I would have paid for the resort upfront rather than get loans from several creditors. That way if the resort loses money, at least I'm not in debt as well. I would have constructed all the attractions that were never built (Geyser Mountain, The Little Mermaid, Beauty And The Beast, Jungle Exploration, ext) and I would have made the Studio park a full sized theme park, rather than just a land. Also, I would create new parade floats for new parades as opposed to redressing the same floats over and over again.

There's a few things I'd do differently.

[Speedway]

[QUOTE=Evil Minion]From what I've heard Eisner asked his wife whether she prefered Barcelona, Spain or Paris, France and she said something like " Put it in Paris so I can go shopping in Paris ".
[QUOTE]

I don't believe that. I'm not saying your a liar at all so don't get that impression, I'm just saying I think your source is.
Eisner is not that stupid to build a multi-million resort in Paris JUST because his wife wanted to be nearer to the shopping. Disneyland Resort Paris could have been the end of The Walt Disney Company in a way, and Eisner wouldn't have relied on his wife's shopping tastes on where to place it. The resort could have been completely different had it been in Barcelona.

[Morrigoon]

As I understood it, it had to do with the fact that the company partnering with Disney on this park was a French company. But with labor and so much else in Spain being so much cheaper, the better weather, and the lack of protesting French farmers, I would have put it in Spain.

[TDLFAN]

Spain offers much better reasons to have been the host of EuroDisney, but I don't think the tourist climate would have been all that great. Even Universal has had a rough time getting high attendance numbers at that spanish theme park Port Aventura they operate there, if they still run it that is.

[Speedway]

Port Aventura is still owned by NBC-General Electric-Universal, and is marketed in the UK as - Port Aventura, Part of Universal Parks and Resorts.

[Adventurer]

Spain has better weahter, but France is better overall in terms of it's central location, and well, I just love the French language (even though I took Spanish is high school and university).

[Zarniwoop]

France is good, but I'd prefer Nice area.. there's better weather and it's already a leisure destination.

[poupouille]

If I remember correctly France was chosen because the french governements offered a better deal (in terms of infrastructure buildings and land price). And I think the fact that France is more central for the big european countries like England and Germany also played a big part.

[Olivier]

Originally Posted by poupouille

If I remember correctly France was chosen because the french governements offered a better deal (in terms of infrastructure buildings and land price). And I think the fact that France is more central for the big european countries like England and Germany also played a big part.

That's right. For exemple, the french government supplied the RER Station (regional express trains) to link to Paris in 30 minutes, but also the international TGV station (High speed trains) that takes travellers to London/Ashford, Belgium, etc ... and soon Germany.
Well I assume, having Disneyland Resort Paris in my country is a matter of pride.
However if I were Italian for exemple, I would certainly have voted 'Italy'. and so on.

[TDLFAN]

Originally Posted by Olivier

Well I assume, having Disneyland Resort Paris in my country is a matter of pride.

Funny how sentiments change as that didn't seem to be the feelings among the French as the opening of EuroDisney was approaching... "American Chernobil" was used quite often by the press to critisize the coming of Disney to Paris. ...And I was not amused when I could not attend the opening day ceremonies on Apr 12, 92, when the RER workers went on strike in protest of EuroDisneyland's opening. Also, I agree that the French should be proud to have DLRP in the heart of their country, but I truly wonder how many French citizens besides those who love Disney, actually feel this way. It's not like I see the French running to DLP and embracing it the way the Japanese have embraced Tokyo Disney Resort, and in Tokyo...the pride does show.

[Evil Minion]

Well, it's true that as a whole the french opposed the theme park but some liked the idea.

Olivier, what did you think of the idea originally ?

[Olivier]

Originally Posted by Evil Minion

Olivier, what did you think of the idea originally ?

Well, when I first heard about Disneyland coming to Marne la Vallée, I was very happy, but I didn’t have any idea of what a Disney park was actually... So I said: cool, I’ll get there some day! And one day I went there, and... I’m still here today talking about it.
I wouldn’t say that all the French feel proud about it, but at least, everyone feel that Disneyland Resort Paris is now part of the landscape, and nobody can ever imagine the resort close. It’s now also seen as a major french tourism icon like the Eiffel Tower, or Le Louvre, it draws more than 12 millions visitors a year, yes, more than both of the above monuments...
There are families who discovered the park 13 years ago with their kids, now kids grew up and now come with their girlfriends or boyfriends or even with their own kids... Disneyland Paris now has a History.

Regarding the “cultural chernobyl” (not american chernobyl! ), well I know this has been much discussed, but I would like to memind you that this was absolutely NOT the opinion of the whole population but the opinion of ONE person. That makes a big difference.

There may be Disney opponents here, but there are Disney opponents in the USA too.