A History of Disneyland Paris

Disneyland Resort Paris is a leisure complex of the Walt Disney Company developed through a European company called Euro Disney SCA (which holds more than a third of the resort), then through Euro Disney Associates.

The name of the complex during the opening on April 12, 1992 through 1994 was known as the Euro Disney Resort although often cited in advertising as Euro Disney. On the first of October 1994, the name was changed to Disneyland Paris and the complex as a whole was named the Disneyland Paris Resort. In 2002, with the opening of Walt Disney Studios Park on March 16, the first theme park was renamed Disneyland Park while the complex took the name of the Disneyland Resort Paris.

The area covers 19.43 sq km (1 943 ha), thirty-two kilometers east of Paris, in the new town of Marne-la-Vallee, on the territory of the village of Chessy. A train station was funded by the French State, the RER A line was extended at the expense of the region and the motorway leading from the A4 to the park.

Euro Disney SCA developed the image of the complex of Walt Disney World Resort, along with many of the activities around the theme parks.

In 2007, profit stood at 1.22 billion euros; up 12% .The parks (Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios Park) are the top European tourist destination with 14.5 million visitors in 2007.

Thanks to the success of American Disneyland Park in California, which opened in 1955, the Walt Disney Company began seeking new sites to establish other parks. This led to the opening of the Walt Disney World Resort in Florida in 1971, then to the Tokyo Disney Resort in Japan in 1983.

The idea of a Disney park in France is a very old dating to the late 1970s, the firm Walt Disney Productions had begun negotiations with Datar but negotiations had been unsuccessful. In January 1984, during a trip to the United States of Édith Cresson, then Minister of Foreign Trade and Tourism, his chief of staff, Patrick Subremon, was introduced by Charles de Chambrun the Minister of Foreign Trade of Charles de Gaulle to one of the largest U.S. real estate developers, who at a lunch asked about the political and social situation of France.

The next day, Patrick Subremon meet at the 40th floor of Bank of America with Ray Watson, president of Walt Disney Productions and Frank Stanek and the first Disneyland abroad since Tokyo Disneyland was conceived. They spent long hours together at which the French, who do not speak English, discovered the business philosophy of Disney and its culture. Subremon discovered the outline of an ambitious project in Europe, where Disney was looking for flat land of 500 hectares, located near a hub of communication and an international airport, in an environment able to host more than 10 million visitors each year.

Édith Cresson, became the current President of the Republic but the number of people with knowledge of the project is minimized and will remain so, only the secretariat of the New Towns, the investment bank Lazard, financial issues , and the Cabinet Bourdais for a study on locations knew of the plans besides those in the Disney company. The Interior Minister, Gaston Defferre, eventually also was made aware in spring 1984, when helicopters chartered by the U.S. begin to fly over territories of potential settlement, this unusual activity did not go unnoticed.

Meanwhile, French negotiators began, secretly, while Michael Eisner and Frank Wells the newly appointed head of Disney, following their strong stock market battle over Diseny are interested in a Disney presence in Europe and began in late 1984 to look seriously into the idea of a “Euro Disneyland. The heads of the division of theme park of Disney, Dick Nunis and Jim Cora, tare presented a list of almost 1,200 possible locations in Europe.

Beginning in 1985, French newspapers discover the project while Carl G. Bongino, vice president of Walt Disney Productions is received by the Prime Minister, after having submitted a dossier detailing the intentions of Disney and three potential sites in France, one in Ardeche, one in the Var and the last in the East of the Paris region. The French create an informal working group, without legal existence, including a dozen people representing the state in particular and the Region Ile-de-France. The composition, at the time was secret, but among them: Gérard Mestrallet of Banque Indosuez, Patrick Subremon the Ministry of Tourism, Jean-Noel Chapalut high official in charge of new towns, Michèle Dayras and Chief of Staff RPR Regional Council of Ile-de-France, Michel Giraud.

In March 1985, after an initial screening, only two Spanish and two French sites are maintained as viable candidates. In Spain, government and the press are enthusiastic of the idea of getting the future park and say loud and clear that Mickey prefers the sombrero to the beret. They decide to “package” and align subsidies to attract the attention of Uncle Scrooge.

Faced with the Spanish competition, the four main members of the working group decided to restore negotiations with the project. One of them went to California, but the Americans only listen in total silence. But by dint of perseverance and persuasion, the French negotiator manages to restore the negotiations.

But the situation is serious, Spaniards have a very important push in their case, however, the French negotiator arrives to postpone things until the end of September the period allowed by Disney to present a solid financial proposal. Therefore, the French, putting aside their political sensitivities, are now jn front and progress in beating concessions, but this time too fast. Michel Giraud, president of the Ile-de-France, gives a serious push for the extension of RER, and the French government provides subsidies for loans to 9.75% – at the time inflation was very high – and promises tax relief. But in haste because of leaks of information are catastrophically in the press, in the middle of negotiations, information leaks such as France being willing to 24 square kilometers to Disney for the project.

In October, the French proposals are solid and in time for the visit of the purchasing manager of Disney at Rungis, to ensure that the region has the capacity to feed without logistical difficulties the ten million visitors. Rungis visit marks the end of negotiations. He leaves satisfied and on 12 December 1985, eight executives of Disney come to Paris, including Richard Nunis, the director of the division “Amusement Parks,” and Jim Cora, the chief of negotiations.

The sites in Spain for them had the advantage of climate and proximity to the Mediterranean. But the proximity of Alicante was found abandoned when it was blowing strong winds every year for several weeks. Similarly, the French site near Toulon was rejected because of the geology of its subsoil was too hard. Finally, Barcelona was not chosen because of its situation in Europe as too eccentric, attractive summer holidays but too little winter – terrorist threats from ETA also contributed to exclude it from the list. This site was viable, however, since the park Port Aventura settled there and later, Universal bought the park and named it Universal Mediterrannea, which it then sold.

At this point in1985 Disney Paris was officially going to be made with agreements made between France and Disney all that would be needed would be for the park to be constructed.

Works Cited:

Anthony, Robert (1993). Euro Disney: The First 100 Days. Harvard Business School.

Lainsbury, Andrew (2000). Once Upon an American Dream: The Story of Euro Disneyland. University Press of Kansas.

Monsieur Mickey or Señor Miqui?: Disney Seeks a European Site.” – BusinessWeek, July 15, 1985