Disneyland Paris (DLP) Discussion Thread

[DJeXeL]

Looks like the park has a bit of a maintenance issue......

 

 

 

Source

[COASTER FREAK 11]

YUCK!

[Fat-G]

They've got a lot of work to bring this resort back up to par...

[G$ Kurt]

So with the Florida version of the studio tour closing forever this week, will the Paris version share the same fate? Kind of weird to have the original shuttered while its even more pointless sister ride would continue to operate.

[cfc]

It's a shame that the Mark Twain is in such bad condition. Maybe they would've taken better of it it they'd named it after Gustave Flaubert or some other French author.

[KingRCT3]

Looks like the park has a bit of a maintenance issue......

If only it was only about the Mark Twain... The whole park is falling apart. Even Ratatouille -which is freaking new- always open one hour late almost everyday due to some maintenance issues... BTM has like 6 hour of daily downtime... Phantom Manor has lighting and audio issues... The Motor Action Stunt Show lost his stunts... Downtimes, badshows, 101, broken thing, safety nets on buildings...

 

BUT. This situation might be over. I went there and they have palisades everywhere. Everywhere. POTC came out of a refurb and is running great. Space Mountain and BTM will have their refurb in the next few years. Star Tour II will come. Many many things will happen in both parks and hotels, and it's a relief for us, because DLP slowly became a national shame for enthusiasts like me.

[cfc]

^I hope Paris Disney is rebounding because it is one of their most beautiful parks.

[DJeXeL]

I agree. Sad to see however.

[KBrylczyk]

Looks like the park has a bit of a maintenance issue......

If only it was only about the Mark Twain... The whole park is falling apart. Even Ratatouille -which is freaking new- always open one hour late almost everyday due to some maintenance issues... BTM has like 6 hour of daily downtime... Phantom Manor has lighting and audio issues... The Motor Action Stunt Show lost his stunts... Downtimes, badshows, 101, broken thing, safety nets on buildings...

 

BUT. This situation might be over. I went there and they have palisades everywhere. Everywhere. POTC came out of a refurb and is running great. Space Mountain and BTM will have their refurb in the next few years. Star Tour II will come. Many many things will happen in both parks and hotels, and it's a relief for us, because DLP slowly became a national shame for enthusiasts like me.

 

Looks like I caught it right before the downfall. I did an extra 3 days as an add-on after TPR's 2012 Europe trip and thought the place was gorgeous! Everything was in great condition and I never ran into any big maintenance issues or downtime. Granted, it was still run with the efficiency of a low-ball Six Flags park and the customer service was absolutely disgusting, but they park was in good condition.

 

Looks like in the two years since it's gone to hell in a handbasket. I hope the new GM manages to rebound it and it seems so with what you're reporting. The bad news is the guy that left DLP went to Shanghai Disneyland. Uh oh...

[KarlaKoaster]

Got back from DLP last week and had an amazing time. I was glad to see so many wet paint signs up, buildings being renovated and rides being worked on, but it is sad to see how bad the park did get. There were a few effects not working which annoyed me; magic carpets in Its a Small World, the ghouls in/on the car on Phantom Manor at the end and the watersplash on BTM, and Mark Twain looked TERRIBLE even from a distance.

 

However what they are doing to tidy the place up looks promising and it looks like they are doing it properly (eg, the Newport Bayclub refurb where they are replacing all of the cladding outside, and refitting all 1000+ rooms). Pirates looked great inside too, and WDS has grown a lot since I last visited - the difference in quality between rides like Tower of Terror, Ratatouille etc are like night and day when you compare to the original rides the park opened with.

 

Operations seemed fine to me. There were a couple of late openings, but staff were extremely polite. We stayed in the Newport Bay Club and although our room hadn't been re-fitted it was immaculate and the renovations had absolutely no impact on our stay. I thought food and drink was very good as well and we ate at a lot of the resort's nicer restaurants.

 

I will say that it is obvious that the resort hit rock bottom and that should never have happened. I am happy to see that they are working on fixing the park.

[Belgiumcoasterfreak]

Rumors say that The Walt Disney Company is about to buy all shares of 'Euro Disney' (they always owned only 40 % of al the shares). Upcoming monday, there is a crisis meeting with all the shareholders about the financial state of Euro Disney.

 

Here is the Dutch article (will someone Dutch please translate all of it, because my English isn't that good, like you can tell ).

 

Euro Disney, de beursgenoteerde uitbater van Disneyland Parijs, roept maandagochtend voorbeurs een bijzondere ondernemigsraad samen met als enige agendapunt 'de financiële toestand' van het bedrijf, zo weet persagentschap AFP.

 

De leden van de ondernemingsraad ontvingen vrijdag een uitnodiging voor de vergadering. 'Het klinkt niet goed', zo lieten sommigen verstaan. Er zouden zorgen zijn over de gezondheid van het bedrijf.

 

Euro Disney, uitbater van het themapark Disneyland Parijs, heeft steeds meer last van de crisis. Vorig jaar verloor de groep 1 miljoen bezoekers. In de eerste helft van het huidige boekjaar was er nog eens een daling met 400.000 (-6 procent). Het nettoverlies liep tijdens het eerste halfjaar met 16 procent op tot 103,6 miljoen euro, op een omzet van 339,5 miljoen.

 

Het bedrijf zit al jaren in de problemen. Zo waren twee schuldherschikkingen nodig om het boven water te houden (in 2004 en 2012). In de laatste tien jaar was er enkel in 2008 een winst. Een miniwinst van 1,7 miljoen euro dan nog, tegenover verliezen van veelal ettelijke tientallen miljoenen euro's de andere jaren.

 

De groep kan eigenlijk enkel overleven omdat ze aan een financieel infuus ligt bij de Amerikaanse referentieaandeelhouder The Walt Disney Company. Er steken dan ook geregeld geruchten de kop op dat de Amerikanen het Europese filiaal volledig in handen zouden nemen. Vandaag bezit Walt Disney 40 procent van Euro Disney. De Saudische prins Al-Waleed Bin Talal bezit 10 procent. De overige aandelen zitten bij institutionele beleggers en particulieren.

 

Source: http://www.tijd.be/detail.art?a=9552195&n=3077&ckc=1

[andybarnes84]

Key points:

 

- Last fiscal year attendance 1 million visitors down on previous year, and first half of this fiscal year down a further 6%

 

- Net loss in first half of current fiscal year 103.6 million euros

 

- In the last decade the only profitable year was 2008, 1.7 million euros

 

- Debt restructuring in 2004 and 2012

 

- Surviving due to the WD Company investment (40%) and Saudi Prince Al- Waleed Bin Talal (10%), but doesn't really mention anything about WDC buying the park out fully

 

Having just been there again recently with some family, I continue to find the Disneyland Park to be very impressive, a strong contender for best of it's kind with a few things letting it down such as ride maintenance, toilet cleanliness and some customer service issues, although I have to say that most of the attraction staff were pretty great and working very hard indeed.

 

The Studios Park, despite the continuing investment, is most definitely Disney at it's cheapest and the worst park of all Disney properties. Crush's Coaster is great and actually more intense than you'd think but there's next to nothing inside the ride building (after the lift hill) other than a couple of Jellyfish, Rock n' Roller is again a cheap and lazy version with no "theme" at all, they really should have copied the Florida one. To top it off the music only worked on 2 of 4 rides, and it's then you realise how important the music is to making the ride enjoyable. California Adventure has always been leagues ahead despite it's own criticisms, which have now pretty much been obliterated with Cars Land.

 

Sorry to say that for the money spent on Ratatouille I was left scratching my head and feeling very dissapointed, it's a fun ride but completely lacks the scale an attraction of it's kind should have aimed for. I'm not sure of the actual cost but wikipedia has $270 million? Surely not! Worst thing about it is sitting still watching the screens as you're being chased through the restaurant whilst having a huge and very clear view of the surrounding black floor which reminds you that you really aren't going anywhere and completely takes you out of the motion intended. Bit difficult to explain without riding but hopefully you get the idea.

 

A MAJOR plus though is that a 1 day hopper only cost us £44 per adult ($70) which is insanely cheap compared to it's Californian counterpart at $150 so that helps to put things in perspective, especially considering Europe normally being a bit more expensive.

[1aflack]

I think it says it all that I last visited in 2002 and the only new attraction in the main park has been Buzz Lightyears Astro Blasters. It is a beautiful park but I have simply been on all the rides too many times at other parks. I can't quite believe they got away with it for as long as they did. If you don't build any new attractions when parks like Europa, Efteling, Phantasialand are all investing a lot it's eventually going to come back to bite you. Personally I think this is excellent news, if attendance wasn't dropping they wouldn't do anything.

 

As for the Studios park, the less said the better. I had high hopes for Ratatouille given the incredible price tag and whilst it does look good it doesn't look worth splashing out on a visit for.

 

I've got a 2 year old child who loves all the Disney stuff and I have deceided to spend my money elsewhere this year visiting Europa Park. Would love to come back to the park but I'm not going to blow the £1000 it would cost to visit properly until they build some new stuff and at the minute that doesn't look like it's happening till at least 2017-2020.

[BDG]

Official press release:

 

 

Euro Disney S.C.A. announces a proposal for a €1 billion recapitalization

 

Overall rationale

The proposal is designed to improve the financial position of Euro Disney and enable it to continue investing in the guest experience.

 

Context of the operation

Challenging economic conditions in Europe coupled with Euro Disney’s debt burden have negatively impacted its financial performance. Due to these factors, Euro Disney has been constrained in its ability to make investments in Disneyland Paris

 

Details of the proposal

• • Cash infusion of approximately 420 million euros, made or guaranteed by Disney through capital increases of Euro Disney S.C.A. and of its principal operating subsidiary;
  • Conversion of 600 million euros of part of the debt owed to Disney into equity of Euro Disney S.C.A. and of its principal operating subsidiary;
  • Deferral of all amortization payments of loans granted by Disney until revised maturity in 2024 (currently 2028); and
  • Consolidation of the existing lines of credit granted by Disney maturing in 2014 (which has been already extended by Disney to 2015), 2017 and 2018 into a single 350 million euros revolving credit facility maturing in 2023

 

Objectives of the proposal

• • Improve the cash position of the Euro Disney Group by approximately 250 million euros;
  • Reduce the Euro Disney Group’s indebtedness, currently exclusively owed to Disney, from 1,748 million euros to 998 million euros, reducing its net leverage ratio from approximately 15x to 6x;
  • Improve the Euro Disney Group’s liquidity through interest savings and deferral of amortization of loans until final repayment in 2024.

 

Parties involved

Euro Disney S.C.A. shareholders would have an opportunity to participate in the capital increases of Euro Disney S.C.A. alongside with Disney, at the same price.

As a result of the contemplated capital increases of Euro Disney S.C.A. and in accordance with applicable regulations, Disney would be required to launch a tender offer on Euro Disney S.C.A. shares.

Euro Disney S.C.A.’s Supervisory Board has expressed unanimous support for this proposal.

 

Indicative Timing of the operation and milestones

After the information and consultation of the Workers’ Council and the Shareholders’ approval during the general meeting of ED S.C.A.’s shareholders early 2015, the transactions contemplated by the proposal are expected to be completed in the first semester of calendar 2015.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrV1KvQJDWE

 

 

source: http://timon.disneylandparis.com/corporate/en/

[window]

It will be interesting to see what the €1 billion recapitalization actually means for the park and fans.

 

The dream outcome would be the WDS getting a DCA style makeover. Thats probably too much to ask for considering the horrendous maintenance issues across both parks, the Disney Village, Lac Disney and hotels.

 

Thoughts?

[Fat-G]

The dream outcome would be the WDS getting a DCA style makeover. Thats probably too much to ask for considering the horrendous maintenance issues across both parks, the Disney Village, Lac Disney and hotels.

 

Thoughts?

 

I think for now they need to focus on getting the parks and resorts back up to par with Disney's maintenance standards, which they do seem to be doing. Once that finishes then they should focus on WDS.

[Groteslurf]

14 million visitors a year and they not making profit ? I strongly believe they are making tons of money. They pay royalties to Disney USA so that they have only losses left and don't have to pay any taxes in France. Does this make sense or is this just my conspiracy theory ?

[bert425]

here's the analysis from CNN.Money:

 

http://money.cnn.com/2014/10/06/media/disney-paris-bailout/index.html?hpt=hp_t4

[andybarnes84]

The presenter in the CNN clip mentions that they hardly have any competition but far from it, with so many strong parks around Europe offering much cheaper deals with "Resort" accommodation, I think Disneyland really have to aggressively expand to stand out, otherwise we'll all keep going to Florida for our Disney fix. A ride themed to rats ain't gonna do it.

[Fat-G]

The presenter in the CNN clip mentions that they hardly have any competition but far from it, with so many strong parks around Europe offering much cheaper deals with "Resort" accommodation, I think Disneyland really have to aggressively expand to stand out, otherwise we'll all keep going to Florida for our Disney fix. A ride themed to rats ain't gonna do it.

 

 

You don't necessarily have to aggressively expand, just keep the parks and hotels well maintained and looking beautiful, with nice, respectable employees and you will create a pleasant experience that people will want to come back to.

[KingRCT3]

The presenter in the CNN clip mentions that they hardly have any competition but far from it, with so many strong parks around Europe offering much cheaper deals with "Resort" accommodation, I think Disneyland really have to aggressively expand to stand out, otherwise we'll all keep going to Florida for our Disney fix. A ride themed to rats ain't gonna do it.

Yep, at least for the French people. While some years ago, nobody here knew about Europa Park or Port Aventura (DLP was like the only theme park in the world...), those did some massive campaigns and now it's really in everyone's mind.

[Nrthwnd]

You don't necessarily have to aggressively expand, just keep the parks and hotels well maintained and looking beautiful, with nice, respectable employees and you will create a pleasant experience that people will want to come back to.

 

Totally agree on this. And if they could pull it off in a faster amount of time than usual,

everybody would be surprised when they re-visited the parks, social media all about it,

and then the crowds came back.

 

Just a thought on it.

[Rollercoaster Rider]

The presenter in the CNN clip mentions that they hardly have any competition but far from it, with so many strong parks around Europe offering much cheaper deals with "Resort" accommodation, I think Disneyland really have to aggressively expand to stand out, otherwise we'll all keep going to Florida for our Disney fix. A ride themed to rats ain't gonna do it.

 

 

You don't necessarily have to aggressively expand, just keep the parks and hotels well maintained and looking beautiful, with nice, respectable employees and you will create a pleasant experience that people will want to come back to.

 

 

Maybe a Marvel ride or 2 will help attendance? They can build there since there's no Universal park in Europe

[Nrthwnd]

This seems to me to be the third* version of three Disney parks, that had/have initial startup problems, and

continued to slide in profits, until lately.

 

WDS is adding a new attraction every three years or so, which is certainly picking up

from where they began, in 2002.

 

DCA,we all know what it started out as, and went through in it's successful re-vamp.

 

Hong Kong Disneyland started out wither fewer attractions than the orginal Disneyland (!),

but now it's picked up, and is slowly getting to where it really is a full day park.

 

*And as an Extra Bonus, cleanup and total refurb of Disneyland Paris. Because it needs it.

[window]

I think for now they need to focus on getting the parks and resorts back up to par with Disney's maintenance standards, which they do seem to be doing. Once that finishes then they should focus on WDS.

 

You don't necessarily have to aggressively expand, just keep the parks and hotels well maintained and looking beautiful, with nice, respectable employees and you will create a pleasant experience that people will want to come back to.

 

I totally agree on the maintenance side of things. I was there for 4 days in June and it was very sad to see the state of the whole resort. There were major works taking place at the Disneyland Hotel and Hotel New York. The condition of the The Newport Bay Club was disgusting and whole place looked like a construction site. There is no way it should ever have been allowed to get into such a state. I would compare Newport Bay Club to the Yacht and Beach Club hotels in Orlando, but they are worlds apart due to the complete lack of care taken in Paris.

 

Lac Disney could be a 'buzzing' environment like the Boardwalk, but again lack of maintenance, investment and care have made this into a place that guests simply have to pass by to get to the parks. Where are the boats ferrying people to and from the Disney Village? Where are the food and drinks stands? Where is the live entertainment and street performers?

 

Over half of the buildings in the Disney Village were either faded, had paint flaking off them or rusty signs on the front. The old main entrance gate had started to be taken down over 12 months before my visit, but part of it still stood there rusting away!

 

Maintenance of the entire resort is essential before any 'dream' revamps or major addtions are added to the parks!

 

The presenter in the CNN clip mentions that they hardly have any competition but far from it, with so many strong parks around Europe offering much cheaper deals with "Resort" accommodation, I think Disneyland really have to aggressively expand to stand out, otherwise we'll all keep going to Florida for our Disney fix. A ride themed to rats ain't gonna do it.

 

I think I'm in a similar situation to you Andy. I live in the UK (20 minutes from Alton Towers), but I choose to visit Walt Disney World over Disneyland Paris eventhough it is much more expensive and inconvenient to do so. I would love to get an annual pass for DLP (its less than 3 hours from my front door), but I choose not to due the lack of maintenance and investment in the resort.