Park Paradise

Disneyland Paris - Christmas Season Begins 

@Disney_ParisEN

Disneyland Paris - 20th Anniversary UPDATE

@Disney_ParisEN

News has come flooding in over night that Disneyland Resort Paris has planned to extend their 20th Anniversary (as expected) by a minimum of 6 months, but no doubt it will last for the entire 2013 season. This would tie up to the expectations that the 20th Anniversary would be used as a marketing campaign until the completion of the new Ratatouille dark ride which is due to open in April 2014.

This is exciting news, as hopefully it means Disney Dreams will be performing on the same schedule in 2013, giving fans a second chance to catch it. It truly is a stunning show and like nothing else ever created by Disney Imagineers.

More news as it comes…

Disneyland Paris - Disney Takeover BREAKING 

A new report claims that the Walt Disney Company is considering a full buyout of the Disneyland Resort Paris, a move that could radically transform the fortunes of the European attraction.

According to sources that spoke to Time Magazine, discussions have been ongoing for some time within Disney about acquiring the 60 percent of Disneyland Paris’ parent company, EuroDisney S.C.A., that it does not already own. This would enable it to invest more heavily in improving the resort’s performance and increasing its profits.

Disneyland Paris has long been the “black sheep” in Disney’s global theme park empire. Walt Disney World, the Disneyland Resort and the Tokyo Disney Resort have all performed solidly despite difficult macro-economic conditions, and Hong Kong Disneyland has begun to increase attendance after a weak first few years in operations. However, the French resort has been consistently weighed down by its huge debt burden.

In May, Disneyland Paris reported a fall in attendance at its theme parks during the first half of its financial year. The number of visitors to Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney Studios fell by 1.5% when compared to the same period a year earlier, to 6.9 million. There was a larger drop in hotel occupancy, which fell by 3.6% to 79.8%. Overall, this resulted in a net loss of €100.8 million, some €21 million higher than the loss last year. However, it is key to note that these substantial losses can be attached to the massive restoration projects which took place before the start of the 20th Anniversary including an entire re-paint of the beautiful castle. Furthermore, costs were expected to rise with investment and cost being poured into the resorts brand new nighttime spectacular…something the resort was lacking to draw additional guests.

EuroDisney S.C.A. still has an enormous debt mountain of close to €1.8 billion, and is obliged to meet objectives set by its lenders. If it fails to do this, it will be forced to cut costs or seek further investment from the Walt Disney Company. The report claims that if Disney acquires the remaining shares it would clear down the enormous debt at a much more rapid pace to bring the resort back to profitability and increase attraction capacity to draw bigger crowds….this could see a drastic improvement to the Studios park which currently lacks a “full day” of rides and attractions. Furthermore, with Disney’s full investment it seems more likely that a third park could be coming our way sooner than hoped as Disney tries to establish Disneyland Paris to the same standard as their other worldwide resorts.

Disney has already loaned EuroDisney S.C.A. €150 million, which will be used to install a new dark based on Pixar’s Ratatouille at Walt Disney Studios. The resort is planning further investment in the park, which currently suffers from a lack of attractions and restaurants when compared to neighbouring Disneyland Paris.

The company has made no comment on Time’s report to date.