Disneyland Resort Paris
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Disneyland Resort Paris is a vacation and recreation resort in Marne-la-Vallée, near Paris, featuring two Disney theme parks, Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney Studios. It is owned and operated by the French company Euro Disney SCA, a public corporation of which 39.781% of the stock is held by The Walt Disney Company, 10% is held by the Saudi Prince Alwaleed and other shareholders hold 50.22%.
The Resort is located 30 kilometers to the east of Paris and is easily accessible by car and the RER (commuter train). The Resort also has its own train station which provides direct links from many French cities by TGV, to Belgium by Thalys trains and to London by the Eurostar. Be aware that the Resort is located in the 5th zone of the Parisian metro system, therefore a special ticket must be purchased in order to avoid a fine and also to be able to exit the station.
History
Construction began in 1988 and the entertainment Resort officially opened as Euro Disney on April 12, 1992, but attendance was disappointingly low. Five hundred thousand guests were expected on opening day, but only a fraction of this number turned out, and the numbers fell further after the first three months. Furthermore, the theme park faced protests by those who thought a Disney park in France would harm French culture with its American influence. Some went as far as to call the project a "cultural Chernobyl." Some believe the park was built larger than it should have been for opening day, and the project carried too much debt. Additionally, the park failed to plan for certain cultural issues such as initially not offering wine in its restaurants and trying to offer more French food on its menus to visitors who were more interested in distinctly American cuisine.
In October 1994, Euro Disney changed its name to Disneyland Paris (later to Disneyland Resort Paris). As a result of the name change, the addition of more attractions, and the retooling of the entire Theme Park complex to better appeal to European tastes, in 1995, Disneyland Resort Paris finally turned a profit. But profits for the park have been small, when it has been profitable at all.
In 2002, Disneyland Resort Paris introduced its second theme park, Walt Disney Studios. The tenth Disney theme park in the world, Walt Disney Studios park opened with the aim of keeping visitors to the resort on property for more days, but the park was criticized for not having enough attractions, many of which were copied from Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World.
That same year, Euro Disney S.C.A. and the Walt Disney Company announced another annual profit for Disneyland Resort Paris. But it has incurred a net loss in the three years following, and the park is still about US$2 billion in debt.
Disneyland Resort Paris has plans to expand over the next few years with addition of several new rides: Buzz Lightyear's Laser Blast will open in Disneyland Park in 2006; a new land, Toon Studios will open in Walt Disney Studios park in 2007; and the long-awaited Tower of Terror will open in Walt Disney Studios in 2008. These new rides are in addition to The Legend of the Lion King Show that began in 2004 and Space Mountain: Mission 2, a 2005 retheming of the popular roller coaster Space Mountain.
Layout
The resort consists of the following:
- Disneyland Park, a theme park modeled on the original Disneyland park of Anaheim, California. It has five themed lands, and the majestic Castle of the Sleeping Beauty at the center. It is the most popular theme park and the most popular tourist destination in continental Europe.
- Walt Disney Studios Park, the second theme park in the resort, with several gated lands. The park is themed around a bustling 1940s working movie studio in Hollywood, and features exhibits on how Disney animated classics are made.
- Disney Village, a bustling and popular shopping complex just south of the two parks. It is the European equivalent of the American Downtown Disney complexes. It features many high-quality restaurants and popular shops and nightclubs.
- The Disneyland Resort Paris hotels:
- Disneyland Hotel and Disney's Hotel New York (four-star hotels)
- Disney's Newport Bay Club and Disney's Sequoia Lodge (three-star hotels)
- Disney's Hotel Cheyenne, Disney's Hotel Santa Fe, and Disney's Davy Crockett Ranch (two-star hotels)
External link
- Disneyland Resort Paris official site (http://www.disneylandparis.com/)
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