IntelInside Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 Spain is European Orlando www.rollercoasterpro.com: Spanish resorts building up to a Costa del Disney Manilva, Spain (England Times) - Disney is drawing up plans for a possible park on the Costa del Sol which could transform the area’s tourist industry. The company has held talks with Spanish officials about building on farmland near the town of Manilva, southwest of Marbella, although the two sides have given different accounts of the venture. Disney said it was in negotiation for various new schemes in Manilva, including a summer camp for children, offering the opportunity to improve their sports and languages. Javier Sansierra, the executive who has been running negotiations with Manilva town hall, denied it planned a full-scale theme park like Disneyland Paris, operated by Euro Disney. “While I completely agree that a Euro Disney would do well in Spain and personally I believe it should have opened here in the first place, there are no plans to open a second or mini amusement park in Spain for the time being,” he said. However, officials in Manilva suggested a more ambitious project was being considered. “The discussions are well advanced,” said Lucy Fernandez, a town hall spokeswoman. “It is at a sensitive stage, so I can’t say too much, but the eventual aim is to open a Euro Disney-type park in four or five years.” Francisco Alvarez, the local tourism officer, who has been closely involved in the negotiations, said: “We have the space here for Disney and are urbanising a couple of large areas for them. I know the company has acquired at least one estate here and we hope they will begin building soon.” It is understood that in return for permission to build a new park in the area, Disney could be expected to contribute towards the cost of a new motorway from Seville to the Costa del Sol. The company had originally planned to open a Disney theme park on the Costa del Sol in the late 1980s. After a long search, it narrowed down its options to a choice between Estepona and Paris. Although Spain’s climate gave it the edge, the company eventually plumped for Paris, largely because of its better communications. Some executives now admit that the site in Estepona — where a 247-acre safari park has since opened — would have been the better option. Other large theme parks in Spain have proved successful. These include the highly rated PortAventura near Barcelona, Warner Bros Park in Madrid and Isla Magica in Seville. Disneyland Paris has been affected by problems ranging from bad weather to cultural differences between the US and France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbalvey Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 ^ Two things: 1. I can't ever see this happening, although I guess it would be cool if it did. 2. I know we said it's ok to post a link to something on RCPro, but that link just points to the main front page, which doesn't include any information about what you posted, so what was the point of that? --Robb Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pvcoasterguy Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 Apparently, two of the final three considerations for Euro Disney were in Spain (and I think in this area of it...) the other, of course, was the France site, near Paris. Just thought I'd say that... Anyway, I agree with Robb- this probably won't happen (at least in the next 10-20 years.) In the beginning, Euro Disney was plagued with problems, something that would act as a deterrent to Disney building again in Europe. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Disney Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 Doubt it'll ever happen. Disney courted Spain during the planning stages for Euro Disneyland only to force France's hand and get the consessions they wanted out of them. It was only a bargaining tactic. As for this idea... I'm not sure I think it's even a good one. I mean... Disney has talked for a long time with different countries (Singapore for instance) about building parks. But most never happen. Plus, with this not even being a park per se... well, I dunno if I buy it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 Disneyland Paris was chosen over many sites across Europe. It is the most accessible place and there is no need for another park on the continent. These are just rumours. Disneyland Paris is only a one or two hour flight from Spain. Why bother putting another in? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
USRoadTripper Posted April 20, 2006 Share Posted April 20, 2006 In planning our trip to Spain, I quickly became aware that anything in the Costa del Sol area isn't really that easy to get to. Plus, while it is a tourist destination of sorts, it's not nearly as much of one as say London, Rome, even Madrid or Barcelona. I can't imagine that they'd put a park in a place that wasn't easily accessible by the masses. Every other Disney park they have built is within a short drive of a major international airport. -Julie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Luxo Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 Disney said it was in negotiation for various new schemes in Manilva, including a summer camp for children, offering the opportunity to improve their sports and languages. They are going to brainwash our children, and force them to live in the Disney Vault! Yeah, I doubt this will ever happen. As previously stated, Spain was on the list for Disney parks in Europe before Paris was selected, and the Spanish park was, for the most part, scrapped. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Louise Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 1. I can't ever see this happening, although I guess it would be cool if it did. This pretty much sums it up for me. It'd be cool to have another Disney resort pretty close to home, especially if they didn't clone too much of the Paris stuff and had a number of different attractions (personally I'd love to see an EPCOT style park in Europe), but as others have said, Spain was considered for the original EuroDisney, and there were reasons why they didn't choose a site there then. Maybe if in the distant future that part of Spain becomes more accessible, and it seems worth it to have a new park so close to Paris, it'll happen, but can't see it being anytime soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 I remember even parts of Scandinavia were being considered for the first Euro-Disney Park.... but Paris won out on that one. Spain would be interesting, and yes, an EPCOT-like theme park would certainly set it apart from the other non-US Disney parks, TDS included. Still, as I always, usually say...Talk is cheap. We'll wait and see, hmm'k? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackcurrent Posted April 21, 2006 Share Posted April 21, 2006 Oh but what if Disney built DisneySea park in Spains amazing sunshine. How nice would that be.. Magic Kingdom in France and disneysea in Spain...yum yum.... im booked already.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nrthwnd Posted April 22, 2006 Share Posted April 22, 2006 ^ Now that would make me diversify my travelling schedule in Europe a bit, lol. No, actually that would make me alter it a LOT, heh heh. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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