euro disneyland
on March 24, 1987, Michael Eisner and Jacques Chirac, the French Prime Minister, signed a contract for the building of a Disney theme park at Marne-la-Vallee. talks between Disney and the French government had dragged on for more than a year. At the sun, Robert Fitzpatrick, fluent in French, married to the former Sylvie Blondet, and the recipient of two awards from the French government, was introduced as the president of euro Disneyland. He was expected to be a key player in wooing support from the French establishment for the theme park. As one analyst put it, Disney selected him to set up the park because he is "more French than the French." Disney had been ported extensively by Spain and France. The prime ministers of both countries ordered their governments to lend Disney a hand in its quest for a site. France set up a five person team headed by special adviser to foreign trade and tourism minister Edith Cresson, and Spain's negotiators include Ignacio Vasallo, director general for the promotion of tourism. Disney pummeled both governments with requests for detailed information. "The only thing they haven't asked us for is the color of the tourists eyes" moaned Vasallo. The governments tried other enticements too. Spain offered tax and labor incentives and possibly as much as 20,000 acres of land. The French package, although less generous, included spending of 53 million US dollars to improve highway access to the proposed site and perhaps speeding up a 75 million US dollars subway project. For a long time, all that smiling Disney officials would say was that Spain had better weather while France had a better population base. Officials explained that they picked France over Spain because Marne-la-Vallee is advantageously close to one of the world's tourism capitals, while also being situated within a days drive or train ride of some 30 million people in France, Belgium, England, and Germany. Another advantage mentioned was the availability of good transportation. A train line that serves as part of the Paris Metro subway system ran to Torcy, in the center of Marne-la-Vallee, and the French government promised to extend the line to the actual site of the park. The park would also be served by A-4, hey modern highway that runs from Paris to the German border, as well as a freeway that runs to Charles de Gaulle airport. Once a letter of intent had been signed, sensing that the French government was keen to not let the plan fail, Disney held out for one concession after another. For example, Disney negotiated for VAT or value added tax on ticket sales to be cut from a normal 18.6% to 7%. 1/4 of the investment in building the park would come from subsidized loans. Additionally, any disputes arising from the contract would be settled not in French courts but by a special international panel of arbitrators. But Disney did have to agree to a clause in the contract that would require it to respect and utilized French culture in its themes. The park was built on 4,460 acres of farmland in Marne-la-Vallee, a rule corner of France 20 miles East of Paris known mostly for sugar beets and Brie cheese. Opening was planned for early 1992, and planners hoped to attract some 10 million visitors a year. Approximately 2.5 billion US dollars was needed to build the park, making it the largest single foreign investment ever in France. A French "pivot" company was formed to build a park with starting capital of three billion French francs, split 60% French and 40% foreign, with Disney taking 16.67%. Euro Disneyland was expected to bring 600,000,000 US dollars in foreign investment into France each year. As soon as the contract had been signed, individuals and businesses began scurrying to somehow plug into the Mickey Mouse money machine, all were hoping to benefit from the American dream without leaving France. In fact, one Paris daily, liberation, actually sprouted mouse ears over its front page flag. The 1.5 to 2 billion US dollars first phase investment would involve an amusement complex including hotels and restaurants, golf courses, and an aquatic park in addition to a European version of the magic Kingdom. The second phase, scheduled to start after the gates opened in 1992, called for the construction of a community around the park, including a Sports Complex, and technology park, Conference Center, theater, shopping mall, University campus, villas, and condominiums. No price tag had been put on the second phase, although it was expected to rival, if not passed, the first phase investment. In November 1989, Fitzpatrick announced that the Disney MGM studios, Europe, would also open at euro Disneyland in 1996, resembling the enormously successful Disney MGM studios theme park at Disney World in Orlando. The new studios would greatly enhance the Walt Disney company strategy of increasing its production of live action and animated film entertainment in Europe for both the European and world markets. "The phone has been ringing here ever since the announcement" said Marc Berthod of EpaMarne, the government body that oversees the Marne-la-Vallee region. "we've got 10 calls from big companies as well as small, everything from hotel chains to language interpreters all asking for details on euro Disneyland. And the individual mayors of the villages around here have been swamped with calls from people looking for jobs" he added. Euro Disneyland was expected to generate up to 28,000 jobs, providing a measure of relief for an area that had suffered a 10% plus unemployment rate for the previous year. It was also expected to light a fire under Frances construction industry, which had been a particularly hit by France's economic problems over the previous year. Moreover, euro Disneyland was expected to attract many other investors to the depressed outskirts of Paris. International business machines (IBM) and Banque national de Paris were among those already building in the area. In addition one of the new buildings going up was a factory that would employ 400 outside workers to wash the 50 tons of laundry expected to be generated per day by euro Disneyland's 14,000 employees. The impact of euro Disneyland was also felt in the real estate market. "Everyone who owns land around here is holding on to it for the time being, at least until they know what's going to happen" set Danny Theveno, a spokesperson for the town of Villiers on the western edge of Marne-la-Vallee.
Disney expected 11 million visitors in the first year. The break even point was estimated to be between 7:00 and 8:00 million. One worry was that euro Disneyland would cannibalize the flow of European visitors to Walt Disney World in Florida, but European travel agents said that their customers were still eagerly signing up for Florida, lured by the cheap dollar in the promise of sunshine.
when the French government changed hands in 1986, work ground to a halt, as the negotiator appointed by the Conservative government throughout much of the groundwork prepared by a socialist predecessor. The legalistic approach taken by The Americans also bogged down talks, as it meant planning ahead for every conceivable contingency. At the same time, right wing groups who saw the park as an invasion of chewing gum jobs and US pop culture also fought hard for a greater local cultural context. On opening day, English visitors found the French reluctant to play the game of queuing. "The French seem to think that if God had meant them to Q, he wouldn't have given them elbows" they commented. Different cultures have different definitions of personal space, and Disney guests faced problems of people getting too close or pressing around those who left too much space between themselves and the person in front. Disney placed its first ads for work bids in English, leaving small and medium sized French firms feeling like foreigners in their own land. Eventually, Disney set up a data bank with information on over 20,000 French and European firms looking for work, in the local Chamber of Commerce developed a video text information bank with Disney that small and medium sized companies through France and Europe would be able to tap into. "The work will come, but many local companies have got to learn that they do not simply have the right to a chunk of work without competing" set a chamber official. efforts were made to ensure that sooner, rather than later, European Nationals take over the day-to-day running of the park. Although there were only 23 US next Patriots among the employees, they controlled the show and held most of the top jobs. Each senior manager had the task of choosing his or her European successor. Disney was also forced to bail out 40 subcontractors who are working for the Gabot-Eremco construction contract ING group, which I've been unable to honor all of its commitments. Some of the subcontractors said they faced bankruptcy if they were not paid for their work on euro Disneyland. A Disney spokesperson said that the payments would be less than 20.3 million in the company had already paid Gabot-Eremco for the work on the park. Gabot-Eremco And 15 other main contractors demanded 157,000,000 US dollars in additional fees from Disney for work that they said was added to the project after the initial contracts where signed.
Disney rejected the claim and sought government intervention. Disney said that under no circumstances would it pay Gabot-Eremco and accused its officers of incompetence. As Bourguignon Thought about these and other problems, the previous years losses and the prospect of losses again in the current year, with their negative impact on the company stock price, weighed heavily on his mind.
Disney expected to serve 15,000 to 17,000 meals per hour, excluding snacks. Menus and service systems were developed so that they varied in both style and price. There is a 400 seat buffeteria, 6 table service restaurants, 12 counter service units, 10 snack bars, one discovery food court seating 850, 9 popcorn wagons, 15 ice cream carts, 14 specialty food courts, and two employee cafeterias. Restaurants were in fact to be a showcase for American foods. The only exception to this is fantasyland, which recreates European fables. Here food service will reflect the fables country of origin: pinocchio's facility having German food; Cinderellas , French; Bella notice, Italian; And so on. Of course recipes were adapted for European tastes. Because many Europeans don't care much for the very spicy food, tex mex recipes were toned down. A special coffee blend had to be developed that would have universal appeal.
Hot dog carts would reflect the regionalism of American tastes. There would be a ballpark hotdog (mild, steamed, a mixture of beef and pork), a New York hotdog (all beef and spicy), and a Chicago hotdog (Vienna style, similar to Bratwurst). euro Disneyland has 6 theme hotels, which would offer nearly 5200 rooms on opening day; A campground that holds 444 rental trailers and 181 camping sites ; And single family homes on the periphery of the 27 hole golf course.
Disney faced French communists and intellectuals who protested the building of euro Disneyland. Ariane Mnouchkine, A theater director, described it as a "cultural Chernobyl". "I wish with all my heart that the rebels would set fire to Disneyland" thundered a French intellectual in the newspaper La Figaro. "Mickey Mouse" sniffed another, "is stifling individualism and transforming children into consumers." The theme park was dammed as an example of American "neoprovincialism". Farmers in the Marne-la-Vallee region posted protest signs along the roadside featuring a mean looking Mickey Mouse and touting sentiment such as "Disney go home" "stop the massacre" and "don't gnaw away our national wealth". farmers were upset partly because under the terms of the contract, the French government would expropriate the necessary land and sell it without profit to the euro Disneyland development company. While local officials were sympathetic to the farmers position, they were unwilling to let their predicament interfere with what some called "the deal of the century." "For many years these farmers have had the fortune to cultivate what is considered some of the richest land in France" Said Berthod, "now they will have to find another occupation". also less than enchanted about the prospect of a magic Kingdom rising among its midst was the communist dominated labor Federation, do you Confederation general du Travail (CGT). Despite the job creating potential of euro Disney, the CGT doubted its members would benefit. The union had been fighting hard to start the passage of a bill that would give managers the right to establish flexible hours for their workers. Flexible hours were believed to be a prerequisite to the profitable operation of euro Disneyland, especially considering seasonal variations. However, Disney proved to be a relatively immune to the anti US virus. In early 1985, one of the three state owned television networks signed a contract to broadcast 2 hours of dubbed Disney programming every Saturday evening. Soon after, Disney Channel became one of the top rated programs in France. In 1987, the company launched an aggressive community relations program to calm the fears of politicians, farmers, villagers, and even bankers at the project would bring traffic congestion, noise, pollution, and other problems to their countryside. Such a public relations program was a rarity in France, where businesses make little effort to establish good relations with local residents. Disney invited 400 local children to a birthday party for Mickey Mouse, send Mickey to area hospitals, and hosted free trips to Disney World in Florida for dozens of local officials and children.
"They are experts at seduction, and they do not hide the fact that they are trying to seduce you" said Vincent Guardiola, an official with banque Indosuez, one of the 17 banks wined and dined at Orlando and subsequently one of the venture's financial participants. "The French are not used to this kind of public relations, it was unbelievable". observers said that the goodwill efforts helped dissipate initial objections to the project.
Disney story is the classic American rags to riches story, which started in a small Kansas City advertising office where Mickey was a real mouse prowling the unknown Walt Disney floor. Originally, Mickey was named mortemer, until a dissenting Mrs Disney stepped in. How close Mickey was to Walt Disney as evidenced by the fact that when filming, Disney himself dubbed the mouse is voice. Only in later films did Mickey get a different voice. Disney made many sacrifices to promote his hero mascot, including selling his first car, a beloved moon cabriolet, and humiliating himself in front of Louis B Mayer. "get that mouse off the screen!" was the movie moguls reported response to the cartoon character. Then, in 1955, Disney had the brainstorm of sending his movie characters out into the real world to mix with their fans, and he battled skeptics to build the very first Disneyland in Anaheim, California. When Disney died in 1966, the company went into virtual suspended animation. Its last big hit of that era was 1969's the love bug, about a Volkswagen named Herbie. Today Disney executives traced the problem to a tyrannical CEO named E. Cardon Walker, who ruled the company from 1976 to 1983, and to his successor, Ronald W. Miller. Walker was quick to ridicule underlinings in public and impervious to any point of view but his own. He made decisions according to arguments by quoting Walt like the scriptures or marks, and the company eventually supplied a little book of the founders sayings. Making the wholesome family movies Walt would have wanted formed a key article of Walker's Creed. For example, a poster advertising the unremarkable Condorman featured actress Barbara Carrera in a slit skirt. Walker had the slit painted over. With this as the context, studio producers ground out a thin stream of tired, formulaic movies that fewer and fewer customers would pay to see. In mid 1983, a similar low horsepower approach to television production lead to CBS is cancellation of the hourlong program the wonderful world of Disney, leaving the company without a regular network show for the first time in 29 years. Like a reclusive hermit, the company lost touch with the contemporary world. Ron Miller's brief reign was by contrast a model of decentralization and delegation. Many attributed Miller's ascent to his marrying the bosses daughter rather than to any special gift. To shore Miller up, the board installed Raymond L. Watson, former head of the Irvine company as part time chair and he quickly became full time. Miller sensed the studio needed rejuvenation, and he managed to produce the hit film splash, featuring an apparently but not actually bare breasted mermaid, under the newly devised touchstone label. However the reluctance of freelance Hollywood talent to accommodate Disney's narrow range and stingy compensation often kept his sound instincts from bearing fruit. "Card [Cardon Walker] would listen but not hear," set a former executive. "Ron [Ron Miller] would listen but not act." too many box office bombs contributed to a steady erosion of profit. Profits of 135,000,000 US dollars on revenues of 915,000,000 US dollars in 1980 dwindle to 93 million US dollars on revenues of 1.3 billion US dollars in 1983. More alarmingly, revenues from the company's theme parks, about 3/4 of the company's total revenues, were showing signs of leveling off. Disney stock slid from $84.375 a share to $48.75 between April 1983 and February 1984. Through these years, Roy Disney Junior simmered while he watched the downfall of the national institution at his uncle, Walt, and his father, Roy Disney senior, had built. He had long argued that the company's constituent parts all worked together to enhance each other. If movie and television production weren't revitalized, not only would that source of revenue disappear, but the company and its activities would also grow dim in the public eye. At the same time, the stream of new ideas and characters that kept people pouring into the parks and buying toys, books, and records but dry up period now his dire predictions were coming true. His own personal shareholding had already dropped from 96 million US dollars to 54 million US dollars. Walker's treatment of Ron Miller as the shining heir apparent and Roy Disney as the idiot nephew helped drive Roy to quit as Disney vice president in 1977 in to set up Shamrock Holdings, a broadcasting and investment company. In 1984, Roy teamed up with Stanley gold, a tough talking lawyer and a brilliant strategist. Golda saw that the falling stock price was bound to flesh out a Raider and afford Roy Disney a chance to restore the company's fortunes. They asked Frank wells, vice chair of Warner Bros., if he would take a top job in the company in the event they offered it. Wells, a lawyer and a Rhodes scholar, said yes. With that, Roy knew that what he would hear in Disney's boardroom would limit his freedom to trade in its stock, so he quit the board on March 9th, 1984. "I knew that would hang a for sale sign over the company" said Gold. By resigning, Roy pushed over the 1st of a train of Domino's that ultimately led to the result he most desired. The company was rated, almost dismantled, green mailed, rated again, and sued left and right. But it miraculously emerged with a skilled new top management with big plans for a bright future. Roy Disney proposed Michael Eisner as the CEO, but the board came close to rejecting Eisner in favor of an older, more buttoned-down candidate. Gold stepped in and made an impassioned speech to the directors. "You see guys like Eisner as a little crazy but every studio in this country has been ruled by crazies. What do you think Walt Disney was? The guy was off the G*d dang wall. This is a creative institution. It needs to be run by crazies again". Meanwhile Eisner and wells staged an all out lobbying campaign, calling on every board member except two, who were abroad, to explain their views about the company's future.
"What was most important" said Eisner, "what is that they saw I did not come in a 2 two, and that I was a serious person, and I understood a P&L, and I knew the investment analysts, and I read fortune." In September 1984, Michael Eisner was appointed CEO and Frank wells became president. Jeffrey Katzenberg, the 33 year old maniacal computer stop production chief, followed Fisher from Paramount Pictures. Movie and television studios. "The key," said Eisner "is to start off with a great idea."
Antoine Guervil stood at his post in front of the 1000 room Cheyenne hotel at euro Disneyland, practicing his "howdy!" when Guervil, a political refugee from Haiti, said the word, it sounded more like "Audi". native French speakers have trouble with the aspirated "h" sounds and words like hay and Hank and howdy. Guervil Had been given the job of wearing a cowboy costume and booming a happy, welcoming howdy to guests as they enter the Cheyenne, styled after a western movie set. "Audi" said Guervil, the strain of linguistic effort showing on his face. This was clearly a struggle. Unless things got better, it was not hard to imagine objections from Renault,The French car company that was one of the corporate sponsors of the park. Picture the rage of a French auto executive arriving with his or her family at the Renault-sponsored euro Disneyland, only to hear the doorman of a Disney hotel advertising a German car. Set weather problems Disney faced while hiring some 12,000 people to maintain and populate its euro Disneyland theme park. A Handbook of detailed rules on acceptable clothing, hairstyles, and jewelry, among other things, embroiled the company in a legal and cultural dispute. Critics asked how the brush Americans could be so insensitive to French culture, individualism, and privacy. Disney officials insisted that a ruling that barred them from imposing a squeaky clean employment standard could threaten the image in long term success of the park. "For us, the appearance code has a real effect from a product identification standpoint" said Thor Degelmann, vice president for human resources for euro Disneyland. "Without it we would not be presenting the Disney product that people would be expecting". the rules, spelled out in a video presentation and detailed in a guide Handbook, went beyond height and weight to standards. They required men's hair to be cut above the collar and ears with no beards or mustaches. Any tattoos must be covered. Women must keep their hair in one natural color with no frosting or streaking and they may make only limited use of makeup like mascara. false eyelashes, Islanders, and eye pencil were completely off limits. Fingernails can't pass the end of the fingers. Ask for jewelry, woman can only wear one earring in each ear, with the earrings diameter no more than a 3/4 of an inch. Neither man nor woman can wear more than wondering on each hand. Further, woman were required to wear appropriate undergarments and only transparent pantyhose, not black or anything with fancy designs. Though a daily bath was not specified in the rules, the applicant video depicted a shower scene and informed applicants that they were expected to show up for work fresh and clean each day. Similar rules are enforced at Disney's three other theme parks in the United States and Japan. In the United States, some labor unions representing Disney employees have occasionally protested the company's strict appearance code, but with little success. French labor unions began protesting when Disneyland opened its casting center and invited applicants to play the role of their lives and to take a unique opportunity to marry work and magic. The CGT handed out leaflets in front of the center to warn applicants of the appearance code, which they believed represented an attack on individual Liberty. A more mainstream union, the Confederation Francaise Democratique du travail (CFDT), appeal to the labor ministry to halt Disney's violation of human dignity. French law prohibits employers from restricting individual and collective liberties and less restrictions can be justified by the nature of the task to be accomplished and are proportional to that end. Degelmann, however, Said that the company was well aware of the cultural differences between the United States and France and as a result had toned down the wording in the original American version of the guide book. He pointed out that many companies, particularly airlines, maintain appearance codes just as strict. "We happened to put ours in writing," he added. In any case, he said that he knew of no one who had refused to take the job because of the rules and that no more than a 5% of the people showing up for interviews had decided not to proceed after watching the video, which also detailed transportation an salary. Fitzpatrick also defended the dress code, although he conceded that Disney might have been a little naive and presenting things so directly. He added, "only in France is there still a Communist Party. There is not even one in Russia anymore. The ironic thing is that I could fill the park with CGT requests for tickets". another big challenge lay in getting the mostly French cast members as Disney calls its employees, to break their ancient cultural aversions to smiling and being consistently polite to park guests. The individualistic French had to be molded into the squeaky clean Disney image. Rival theme parks in the area, loosely modeled on the Disney system, had already encountered trouble keeping smiles on the faces of their staff, or sometimes took on the demeanor of subway ticket clerks. The delicate matter of hiring French citizens as opposed to other Nationals was examined in the more than two year long pre agreement negotiations between the French government and Disney. The final agreement called for Disney to take a maximum effort to tap into the local labor market. At the same time, it was understood that for euro Disneyland to work, its staff must mirror the multi country makeup of its guests. Casting centers were set up in Paris, London, Amsterdam, and Frankfurt.
"we are concentrating on the local labor market, but we are also looking for workers who are German, English, Italian, Spanish, or other nationalities and who have good communication skills, are outgoing, speak to European languages, French plus one other, and like being around people" said Degelmann. Stephane Baudet, a 28 year old trumpet player from Paris, refused to audition for a job in a Disney brass band when he learned he would have to cut his ponytail. "Some people will turn themselves into a pumpkin to work at euro Disneyland" he said "but not me."
euro Disneyland is determined Lee American in its theme. There was an alcohol ban in the park despite the attitude among the French that wine with a meal is hey God given right. Designers presented a plan for a Main Street USA based on scenes of America in the 1920s because research indicated that Europeans loved the prohibition era. Eisner decreed that images of gangsters and speakeasies were too negative. Though made more ornate and Victorian than Walt Disney's idealized Midwestern small town, Main Street remained Main Street. Steam ships leave from Main Street through the Grand Canyon diorama and route to frontierland. The familiar Disney Tomorrowland, with its dated images of the space age, was jettisoned entirely. It was replaced by a gleaming brass and wood complex called discover land, Which was based on themes of Jules vernet and Leonardo davinci. Eisner ordered 8 for 10 million US dollars and extras to the "visionarium" exhibit, a 360 degree movie about French culture that was required by the French in their original contract. French and English are the official languages at the park, and multilingual guides are available to help Dutch, German, Spanish, and Italian visitors. With the American Wild West being so frequently captured on film, Europeans have their own idea of what life was like back then. Frontierland reinforces those images. A runway at mine train takes guests through the canyons an minds of gold rush country. There is a paddlewheel Steamboat reminiscent of Mark Twain, Indian Explorer canoes, and a Phantom Manor from the gold rush days. In fantasyland, designers strived to avoid competing with the nearby European reality of actual medieval towns, cathedrals, and chateaux. Well Disneyland Castle is based on germany's new schwanstein and Disney worlds is based on a Loire Valley Chateau, euro Disney's la Chateau de la Belle au bois dormant, as the French and sisters Sleeping Beauty be called, is more cartoonlike West stained glass windows built by English craftspeople and depicting Disney characters. Fanciful trees grow inside as well as a beanstalk. The park is crisscrossed with covered walkways. Eisner personally ordered the installation of 35 fireplaces in hotels and restaurants. "People walk around Disney World in Florida with humidity and temperatures in the 90s and they walk into an air conditioned ride and say this is the greatest" said Eisner.
"when it's raining and miserable, I hope they will walk into one of these lobbies with the fireplace going and say the same thing". children all over Europe were primed to consume. Even one of the intellectuals who contributed to Le Figaro's Disney bashing broadsheet was forced to admit with resignation said his 10 year old son "swears by Michael Jackson". at euro Disneyland, under the name "captain EO," Disney just so happened to have a Michael Jackson attraction awaiting him.
it was Tokyo's nastiest winter day in four years period Arctic wins and eight inches of snow lashed the city. Roads were clogged and trains slowed down. But the bad weather didn't keep 13,200 Hardy souls from Tokyo Disneyland. Mikki Mausu, better known outside Japan as Mickey Mouse, Had taken the country by storm. Located on a fringe of reclaimed shoreline in Urayasu city on the outskirts of Tokyo, the park opened to the public on April 15, 1983. In less than one year, over 10 million people had passed through its gates, and attendance figure that has been bettered every single year. On Aug 13, 1983, 93,000 people helped set a one day attendance record that easily eclipsed the old records established at the two parent US parks. Four years later, records again toppled as the turnstiles clicked. The total this time: 111,500. By 1988, approximately 50 million people, for nearly half of japan's population, had visited Tokyo Disneyland since its opening. The steady cash flow pushed revenues for fiscal year 1989 to 768,000,000 US dollars, up 17% from 1988. The 204 acre Tokyo Disneyland is owned and operated by Oriental land under license from the Walt Disney company. The 45 year contract gives Disney 10% of admissions and 5% of food and merchandise sales, plus licensing fees. Disney opted to take no equity in the project and put no money down for construction. "I never had the slightest doubt about the success of Disneyland in Japan" said Masatomo Takahashi, the president of Oriental land company. Oriental land was so confident in the success of Disney in Japan that it financed the park entirely with debt, borrowing 180 billion yen (1.5 billion US dollars at February 1988 exchange rates). Takahashi added "the debt means nothing to me" and with good reason. According to Fusahao Awata, who Co authored a book on Tokyo Disneyland: "the Japanese yearn for [American culture]". Soon after Tokyo Disneyland opened in April 1983, 5 Shinto priests held a solemn dedication ceremony near cinderella's Castle. It is the only overtly Japanese ritual seen so far in this sprawling theme park. What visitors see is pure Americana. All signs are in English, with only small katakana (hey phonetic Japanese alphabet) translations. Most of the food is American style, and the attractions are cloned from Disney's US parks. Disney also held firm on two fundamentals that strike the Japanese as strange, no alcohol is allowed and no food may be brought in from outside the park. However, in Disney's enthusiasm to make Tokyo a brick by brick copy of anaheim's magic Kingdom, there were a few glitches. On opening day, the Tokyo park discovered that almost 100 public telephones were placed too high for Japanese guests to reach them comfortably. And many hungry customers found countertops above their reach at the parks snack stands. "Everything we imported that worked in the United States works here" set Ronald D. Pogue, Managing director of Walt Disney attractions Japan Ltd. "American things like McDonald's hamburgers and Kentucky fried chicken are popular here with the young people. We also want to visitors from Japan and Southeast Asia to feel they were getting the real thing" said toshiharu Akeba, a staff member of the Oriental and publicity Department. Still, local sensibilities dictated a few changes. A Japanese restaurant was added to please older patrons. The Nautilus submarine is missing. More areas are covered to protect against rain and snow. Lines for attractions had to be redesigned so that people walking through the park did not cross in front of patrons waiting to ride an attraction. "It is very discourteous in Japan to have people cross in front of somebody else" explained James B. Cora, managing director of operations for the Tokyo project. The biggest differences between Japan and America have come and slogans and ad copy. Although English is often used, it's "Japanized" English, the sort that would have native speakers shaking their heads while the Japanese not happily in recognition. "Let's spring" what's the model for one of their highly successful ad campaigns. Pogue, Visiting frequently from his base in California, supervised at 7 resident American Disney managers who work side by side with Japanese counterparts from Oriental land company to keep the park in tune with the Disney doctrine. American it may be, but Tokyo Disneyland appeals to such deep seated Japanese passions as cleanliness, order, outstanding service, and technological wizardry. Japanese executives are impressed by Disney's detailed training manuals, which teach employees how to make visitors feel like VIPs. Post worth ambulating, say the Japanese, is Disney's ability to make even the lowliest job seem glamorous. "They have changed the image of dirty work" say hakuhodo Institute's Sekizawa. Disney company did encounter a few unique cultural problems when developing Tokyo Disneyland:
- the problem: how to dispose of some 250 tons of trash that would be generated weekly by Tokyo Disneyland visitors? - The standard Disney solution: trash compactors - the Japanese proposal: pigs to eat the trash and be slaughtered and sold at a profit
James B. Cora and his team of some 150 operations experts did a little calculating and pointed out that it would take 100,000 picks to do the job. And then there will be the smell. The Japanese relented. The Japanese were also uneasy about a rustic looking westernland, tokyo's version of frontierland. "The Japanese like everything fresh and new when they put it in" set Cora. "They kept painting the wood and we kept saying 'no, it's got to look old'". finally the Disney crew took the Japanese to Anaheim to give them a first hand look at the Old West. Tokyo Disneyland opened just as the yen escalated in value against the dollar and the income level of the Japanese registered a phenomenal improvement. During this era of influence, Tokyo Disneyland triggered an interest in leisure. It's great success spurred the construction of leisure lands throughout the country. This created an increase in the Japanese people's orientation towards leisure. But demographics are the real key to Tokyo Disneyland success.
30 million Japanese live within 30 miles of the park. There are three times more than the number of people in the same proximity to Anaheim's Disneyland. With the park proving such an unqualified hit, and nearing capacity, Oriental land in Disney mapped out plans for a version of the Disney MGM studio tour next door. This time, Disneyland talked about taking a 50% stake in the project.
a few days before the grand opening of euro Disneyland, hundreds of French visitors were invited to a preopening party. They gazed perplexed at what was placed before them. It was a heaping plate of spare ribs. The visitors were at the Buffalo Bill Wild West show, a cavernous theater featuring a panoply of Le far West", including twenty imported buffalo's. And Disney deliberately didn't provide silverware. "There was a moment of consternation" recalls Fitzpatrick. "they just kind of said, the hell with it, and dug in". there was one problem period the guests could not master the art of knowing ribs and aplenty at the same time. So Disney plan to provide more napkins and teach visitors to stamp at their feet. On April 12, 1992, the opening day of euro Disneyland, France-soir enthusiastically predicted Disney dementia. "Mickey! it's madness" reddit's front page headline, warning of chaos on the roads and suggesting that people might have to be turned away. A French government survey indicated that half a million might turn up with 90,000 cars trying to get in. French radio warned traffic to avoid the area. By lunchtime on opening day, the euro Disneyland car park was less than half full, suggesting an attendance of below 25,000, less than half the parks capacity and way below expectations. Many people may have heeded the advice to stay home or, more likely, where determined by one day strike that cut the direct rail link to euro Disneyland from the center of Paris.
Cues for the main rights, such as Pirates of the Caribbean and big Thunder mountain railroad, for averaging around 15 minutes less than an ordinary day at Disney World, Florida. Disney executives put on a brave face, claiming that attendance was better than at first days for other Disney theme parks in Florida, California, and Japan. However, there was no disguising the fact that after spending thousands of dollars on the preopening celebrations, euro Disney would have appreciated some impressively long traffic jams on the auto route.
by the time I had not arrived, Disney World in Orlando was already on its way to becoming what it is today, the most popular vacation destination in the United States. But the company had neglected a rich niche in its business: hotels. Disney's three existing hotels, probably the most profitable in the United States, registered unheard of occupancy rates of 92% to 96% versus 66% for the industry. Eisner promptly embarked on an ambitious 1 billion US dollar hotel expansion plan period two major hotels, Disney's grand floridian beach resort and Disney's Caribbean beach resort, or opened during 1987 to 1989. Disney's Yacht Club and beach resorts along with the dolphin and Swan hotels, owned and operated by tishman Realty and construction, Metropolitan life insurance, and Aoki Corp, opened during 1989 to 1990. Adding 3400 hotel rooms and twelve 150,000 square feet of convention space made it the largest Convention Center East of the Mississippi.
In October 1982, Disney made a new addition to theme park, the experimental prototype community of tomorrow or EPCOT center. E. Cardon Walker, then president of the company, announced that EPCOT would be a "permanent showcase, industrial park, and experimental housing center". This new park consists of two large complexes: future world, a series of pavilions designed to show the technological advances of the next 25 years, and world showcase, a collection of foreign "villages".
Eisner was so keen on euro Disneyland that Disney kept a 49% stake in the project while the remaining 51% of stock was distributed through the London, Paris, and Brussels stock exchanges. Half the stock under the offer was going to the French, 25% of the English, and the remainder distributed in the rest of the European community. The initial offer price of 72 French francs considerably higher than the Pathfinder prospectus estimate because the capacity of the park had been slightly extended. Scarcity of stock was likely to push up the price, which was expected to reach 166 French francs by opening day in 1992. This will give a compound return of 21%. Walt Disney company maintained management control of the company. The US company put up 160 million US dollars of its own capital to fund the project, an investment that soared in value to 2.4 billion US dollars after the popular stock offering in Europe. French national and local authorities, by comparison, or providing about 800,000,000 US dollars in low interest loans and poured at least that much again and infrastructure. Other sources of funding were the parks 12 corporate sponsors, and Disney would pay them back in kind. The "AutoPolis" right where kids ride cars, features coupes emblazoned with the "Hot Wheels" logo. Mattel incorporation, sponsor of the ride, most grateful for the boost to one of its biggest toy lines. The real payoff would begin once the park opened. The Walt Disney company would receive 10% of admission fees and 5% of food and merchandise revenue, the same arrangement as in Japan. But in France, it would also receive management fees, incentive fees, and 49% of the profits. A Salomon Brothers analysts estimated that the park would pull in three to four million more visitors than the 11 million the company expected in the first year.
Other Wall Street analysts cautioned that stock prices of both Walt Disney company and euro Disney already contained all the euro optimism they could absorb. "Europeans visit Disney World in Florida as part of an American experience" said Patrick P. Roper, marketing director of Alton Towers, a successful British theme park near Manchester. He doubted they would seek the suburbs of Paris as eagerly as America and predicted attendance would trail Disney projections.
On January 18, 1993, euro Disneyland chair Robert Fitzpatrick announced he would leave that post on April 12th to begin his own consulting company. Quitting his position exactly one year after the grand opening of euro Disneyland, Fitzpatrick with his resignation removed US management from the helm of the French theme park and resort. Fitzpatrick's position was taken by a French man, Philippe Bourguignon, who had been euro Disneyland's senior vice president for real estate. He was 45 years old and faced a net loss of 188,000,000 French francs for euro Disneyland's fiscal year, which ended on September 1992. Also, between April and September of 1992, only 29% of the park's total visitors were French. Expectations were that closer to half of all visitors would be French. It was hoped that the promotion of Felipe would have a public relations benefit for euro Disneyland, a project that had been a publicist's nightmare from the beginning. One of the low points was at a news conference prior to the park's opening one protesters pelted Michael Eisner, CEO of the Walt Disney company, with rotten eggs. Within the first year of operation, Disney had to compromise its squeaky-clean image and lift the alcohol ban at the park. Wine is now served at all major restaurants. Euro Disneyland, 49% owned by Walt Disney company, Burbank, California, originally forecasted 11 million visitors in the first year of operation. In January 1993 it appeared attendance would be closer to 10 million. In response, management temporarily slashed prices at the park for local residents to 150 French francs ($27.27) from 225 French francs ($40.91) for adults and to 100 French francs from 150 French francs for children in order to lure more French during the slow, wet winter months. The company also reduced prices at its restaurants and hotels, which registered occupancy rates of just 37%. Bourguignon Also faced other problems, such as the second phase of development at euro Disneyland, which was expected to start in September 1993. It was unclear how the company planned to finance its eight to 10 billion French franc cost. The company had steadily drained its cash reserves which was at 1.9 billion French francs in May of 1993, while piling up debt up to 21 billion French francs in May of 1993. Euro Disneyland admitted that it and the Walt Disney company were exploring potential sources of financing for euro Disneyland.
The company was also talking to banks about restructuring its debts. Despite the frustrations, Eisner was tirelessly upbeat about the project. "Instant hits are things that go away quickly, and things that grow slowly and are part of the culture or what we look for" he said. "What we created in France is the biggest private investment in a foreign country by an American company ever. And it's going to pay off."
for a long time, Walt Disney had been concerned about the lack of a family type entertainment available for his two daughters. The amusement parks he saw around him or mostly filthy traveling carnivals. They were often unsafe and allowed unruly conducts on the premises. Disney envisioned a place where people from all over the world would be able to go for clean and safe fun. His dream came true on July 17, 1955, when the gates first opened at Disneyland in Anaheim CA. Disneyland strives to generate the perfect fantasy. But magic does not simply happen. The place is a Marvel of modern technology. Literally dozens of computers, huge banks of tape machines, film projectors, and electronic controls fly behind the walls, beneath the floors, and above the ceilings of dozens of rides and attractions. The philosophy is that "Disneyland is the world's biggest stage, and the audience is right here on the stage" set Dick Hollinger, chief industrial engineer at Disneyland. "It takes a tremendous amount of work to keep the stage clean and working properly." cleanliness is a primary concern. Before the park opens at 8:00 AM, the cleaning crew will have mopped, host, and ride every sidewalk, St, floor, and counter. More than 350 of the parks 7400 employees come on duty at 1:00 AM to begin the daily cleanup routine. Thousands of feet that walk through the park each day and chewing them do not mix; Gum has always presented major cleanup problems. The parks janitors found long ago that fire hoses with 90 pounds of water pressure would not do the job period now they use steam machines, razor scrapers, and mobs towed by Cushman scooters to literally scour the streets and sidewalks daily. It takes one person working a full 8 hour shift to Polish the brass on the fantasyland merry go round. The scrupulously manicured plantings throughout the park are treated with growth retarding hormones to keep the trees and bushes from spreading beyond their assigned spaces and destroying the carefully maintained 5/8 scale modeling that is utilized in the park. The maintenance supervisor of the Matterhorn bobsled ride personally walks every foot of track and inspects every link of to chain every night, does trusting his or her own eyes more than the 2,000,000 US dollars and safety equipment that is built into the ride. Eisner himself pays obsessive attention to detail.
Walking through Disneyland one Sunday afternoon, he peered at the plastic leaves on the Swiss family Robinson treehouse, noting that they periodically wear out and need to be replaced leaf by leaf at a cost of 500,000 US dollars. As his family stroll through the park, he and his eldest son breck stooped to pick up the rare piece of litter that the cleanup crew had somehow missed. This old fashioned dedication has paid off period since opening day in 1955, Disneyland has been a consistent moneymaker.
