Eurodisney
Summary:
In April of 1992, the magical world of Disney introduced EuroDisney, located just 20 miles east of Paris, France. This theme park was considered to be the greatest and most lavish park to date, trumping Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida and Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Before opening the doors in Europe, Disney was introduced in Tokyo, Japan, where it was an instant hit with more than 14 million visitors in just two years. However, Disney was shocked when their lavish new theme park wasn’t the success story they were hoping for. The prices were much too high for European visitors, limiting them to the number of days and number of activities they were able to enjoy in the park. For example, the article explains that a night for a hotel could range from $110 to $380, not including the price for park passes, food, souvenirs and any other expense there might be. With that being said, financial losses quickly became massive, amounting to nearly $900 million by 1994. It was clear that expectations were not being met and EuroDisney needed to make improvements fast. In 1992, EuroDisney tried to take care of immediate problems, such as cutting hotel rates, introducing cheaper meals at restaurants and revamping their advertising efforts, but there were more factors to take into consideration.
A former Disney executive explained in her opinion that, “We were arrogant- it was like ‘We’re building the Taj Mahal and people will come- on our terms.’” This is something that many people in France picked up on. For example, “The French see EuroDisney as American imperialism- plastics at its worst,” which goes to show why French visitors were steering clear of the new theme park. The French seemed to be bothered by the fact that early advertising was focusing on the glitz and size of EuroDisney, rather than the magic, rides and attractions that they had to offer. Although there were many uncontrollable, unpredictable and natural events that took
In April of 1992, the magical world of Disney introduced EuroDisney, located just 20 miles east of Paris, France. This theme park was considered to be the greatest and most lavish park to date, trumping Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida and Disneyland in Anaheim, California. Before opening the doors in Europe, Disney was introduced in Tokyo, Japan, where it was an instant hit with more than 14 million visitors in just two years. However, Disney was shocked when their lavish new theme park wasn’t the success story they were hoping for. The prices were much too high for European visitors, limiting them to the number of days and number of activities they were able to enjoy in the park. For example, the article explains that a night for a hotel could range from $110 to $380, not including the price for park passes, food, souvenirs and any other expense there might be. With that being said, financial losses quickly became massive, amounting to nearly $900 million by 1994. It was clear that expectations were not being met and EuroDisney needed to make improvements fast. In 1992, EuroDisney tried to take care of immediate problems, such as cutting hotel rates, introducing cheaper meals at restaurants and revamping their advertising efforts, but there were more factors to take into consideration.
A former Disney executive explained in her opinion that, “We were arrogant- it was like ‘We’re building the Taj Mahal and people will come- on our terms.’” This is something that many people in France picked up on. For example, “The French see EuroDisney as American imperialism- plastics at its worst,” which goes to show why French visitors were steering clear of the new theme park. The French seemed to be bothered by the fact that early advertising was focusing on the glitz and size of EuroDisney, rather than the magic, rides and attractions that they had to offer. Although there were many uncontrollable, unpredictable and natural events that took