Disneyland Resort Paris

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Click here for more photos of Disneyland Resort Paris
Click here for more photos of Disneyland Resort Paris
© DLRPThe location of DLRP
© DLRP
The location of DLRP

Contents

[edit] General

Disneyland Resort Paris is located 30 kilometres east of Paris and consists of two theme parks: the Disneyland Park and the Walt Disney Studios. There are 7 official and 4 four 'close to the magic'-hotels. There is a 9-hole and 18-hole golf course, a shopping centre, and a town centre, Val d'Europe.

[edit] History

Card Walker, from the Walt Disney Company, had already proposed a European park in 1976. Due to the huge success of Tokyo Disneyland Ron Miller and Ray Watson were sent to France in 1982, then in 1984 Dick Nunis presented the demografic analysis of more than 1,200 possible European locations for the theme park. The places that survived the first selection rounds were France, Italy, Great Britain and Spain. Great Britain and Italy were quickly removed from the list because they didn't have enough flat areas suitable for the construction of the resort.

Spain has a similar weather to Florida (the location of Walt Disney World): a lot of sunshine and little rain. Ignacio Vasallo, director of the Spanish tourist service, offered tax advantages and other benefits which would cover 25% of the initial costs. Unfortunately however, Spain did not have sufficient construction surface for the park. And because of the influence of the 'Mistral'-winds, which causes a flow of cold air and bad weather, Spain wasn't good either.

The French government also tried to lobby The Walt Disney Company. The proposed area, Marneé la Vallee, would be sold as agricultural land, inside the park only 7% VAT (taxes) would have to be paid and they promised to invest $400 million to improve the infrastructure in the area. This included an extension of the underground railway (RER) so it would have a stop in Marneé la Vallee. The benefit of Marneé la Vallee is that it is close to Paris and centrally situated in Europe. The location was only a four hour drive away for 68 million people, and a two hour flight for another 300 million people.

On December 18th 1985, Michael Eisner and the then Prime Minister of France, Laurent Fabius, signed a letter of intent proposing to build a Disney park in Marneé la Vallee on 20 square kilometres of land. On March 24th, 1987, Michal Eisner and Jacques Chirac, now Prime Minister, signed the official 400 page agreement. Part of the agreement was that The Disney Company would build attractions dedicated to European futurists like Jules Verne, H.G. Wells and Leonardo da Vinci. Fairytales would also have to be presented in the European language of origin, like Italian for Pinocchio, however, these conditions were not accepted by the Walt Disney Company. The French government insisted on the use of the French language for the attraction names as much as possible. So, the original name "Magic Kingdom-Europe" was changed to "Parc Euro Disneyland" and the "Sleeping Beauty Castle" became "Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant". But the names of the park areas stayed English, as did all the typical English or American elements. Both French as English became the official language for castmembers.

In 1988 the architectural plan was established for the park and the hotels. 15 Architects from all over the world where invited for a competition. In the final round Michael Graves and Arata Isozaki remained for the Hotel New York, Robert Stern and Jean-Paul Viguier for Hotel Cheyenne and Antoine Predock and Staley Tigerman for Hotel Santa Fe. Every architect was given the task of designing a terrain that corresponded to the European image of the United States of America created by the Hollywood movies.

Construction started on the Disneyland Park, the hotels and Disney Village on 2 August 1988. In December 1990 the information centre 'Espace Euro Disney' opened to show the public what was being constructed. In September 1991 recruitment for Castmembers started. At this stage, there were already plans for the opening of another park, the 'Disney-MGM Studios Paris', scheduled for 1996.

When the park opened at 9.01am on 12 April 1992, it was called Euro Disney Resort, and the Disneyland Park was called Euro Disneyland. The number of visitors wasn't as high as was first hoped. Some blamed it on the large size of the park when it opened causing debts. The park also didn't adapt to the European culture. For instance, the park didn't serve wine, despite France being a wine-loving country. The admission fee was high too. And some French people thought that the park damaged the French culture and landscape.

Because of this, the planned 'Disney-MGM Studios Paris' was cancelled. The name of the Euro Disneyland park was changed to Disneyland Paris on 1 October 1994. Then, more attractions were built, and the park was better adjusted to European taste. In 1995, the year of the opening of Space Mountain, they finally made a small profit. In the following years, profits were small, if there were profits at all. After the opening of the Walt Disney Studios in 2002, the name of the resort was changed to Disneyland Resort Paris, and the first park was renamed Disneyland Park. Four new hotels were opened that year too, but were not constructed and exploited by Euro Disney SCA (the financial company behind the resort) but by third parties.

[edit] Transportation

The resort has a train station with a direct connection to French cities via the TGV, with Belgium and The Netherlands via the Thalys, and with London through the Eurostar. A underground railway station (RER) connects the resort to Paris and surrounding villages. There is also a bus connection with the two international airports of Paris: Charles De Gaulle International and Orly. And, last but not least, the resort is located at the A4 which offers a good connection by car.

[edit] Facts

  • 12 million people visit Disneyland Resort Paris every year;
  • Since the resort was opened, 150 million people have visited it;
  • Disneyland Resort Paris covers 1,943 hectares;
  • The Disney hotels in the resort have a combined total 5,800 rooms;
  • If you include the the non-Disney hotels in the resort, there are 8,000 rooms;
  • The entire resort has 52 attractions in 2 parks;
  • There are 68 places to eat in the entire resort;
  • The resort includes a 27 hole golf course;
  • In the summertime, when the resort is busiest, there are 12,000 employees working in the restaurants, boutiques, parks, hotels, etc.
  • Shortly before the park was opened, The Walt Disney Company decided that the Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant and the Disneyland Hotel should be painted pink. Originally, they were painted white, but that didn't stand out from the greyish French sky.
  • Tall buildings may not be built in the vicinity of the resort, because they could be visible from within the parks, and that would disturb the magic.
  • The watertowers in the villages near Disneyland Resort Paris were replaced by waterpumps, so they can't disturb the magic either;
  • Castmembers for the Disney characters are selected on height. For instance, Donald Duck can't be taller than 1.5 meters, and Goofy has to be taller than 1.8 meters.
  • Castmembers who play the Disney characters are well trained to perfectly mimmick the movements and the autograph of the characters they play.
  • Disney characters are always accompanied by another Castmember, because they are not allowed to talk. This is because it would be very odd if the character talked in a different language, or with a different voice from the character in the movie.
  • Disney characters hold their hands in front of their eyes if something is wrong. The accompanying castmember will then take them backstage.
  • Disney characters aren't allowed to pick children up, only the castmember can do that, if it's necessary.
  • The times and places where the Disney characters are, is tightly scheduled, to prevent a character meeting themselves, which would ruin the magic.
  • The staff in Disneyland Resort Paris are called 'Castmembers', because Disneyland Park is like a filmset, the staff being the actors.
  • If an attraction, boutique or hotel is being built or repaired, it's surrounded by a high wooden fence painted in the colors of its surroundings.

[edit] Financial

Disneyland Resort Paris is run by Euro Disney SCA. The Walt Disney Company owns 39.781% of the stocks, the Saudic prince Alwaleed owns 10% of the stocks, and individual shareholders own the rest of the stocks, 50.22%. In 2005, The Walt Disney Company decided to take over the debts of Euro Disney, to improve its financial position. Euro Disney SCA has also been financially restructured, to release funds for new investments in the resort.

[edit] The Resort

© DLRPThe resort
© DLRP
The resort
  • Golf Disneyland - 9-hole and 18-hole courses.
Offical 15th Anniversary logo
Offical 15th Anniversary logo

[edit] 15th Anniversary

See also the 15th anniversary celebrations article.

From 1st April 2007 to 31st March 2009 Disneyland Resort Paris is celebrating 15 years of the resort being open. There will be a number of things happening at Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios and across the resort to celebrate the anniversary.

At Disneyland Park

At Walt Disney Studios

Across the Resort

  • Extra Magic Hours
  • 15th Anniversary Merchandise
  • Tailor Made Dreams

[edit] External links


Disneyland Resort Paris
Disneyland Park
Main Street, U.S.A. | Frontierland | Adventureland | Fantasyland | Discoveryland
Walt Disney Studios Park
Front Lot | Toon Studio | Production Courtyard | Backlot
Disney Village
Disney Hotels
Disneyland Hotel | Hotel New York | Newport Bay Club Hotel | Sequoia Lodge Hotel | Hotel Cheyenne | Hotel Santa Fe | Davy Crockett Ranch
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