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Executives admit the company might have been naive in the past. "We had not yet had an on-the-ground experience in a multicultural environment," says ceo Jay Rasulo, a Disney veteran who took the helm of Euro Disney in 1998. "It was really the first park that had the majority of its guests coming from very diverse cultural backgrounds." Still, Euro Disney at first believed that Europeans wanted an American product. They didn't - and lessons have been learned. The refreshment stands sell espresso, and you can now have wine or beer with your sit-down (and often tasty...
When the company swaggered into town to build Europe's first Disney park on old beet fields, confidence was high. "My biggest fear is that we will be too successful," then-chairman Robert Fitzpatrick said. He needn't have worried. Many Europeans decided that Disney's vision of a good time - high ticket prices to get into an alcohol-free park with unbearably long lines and inedibly fast food - didn't match theirs. The company reportedly bled $1 million a day, analysts hinted that bankruptcy was an option and Eisner called the project Disney's "first real disappointment...
...goal in opening the Studios, Rasulo says, "is to increase visits by lengthening the average stay," which is now two days and a night. With both parks open, Disney hopes visitors - an expected two-park total of about 17 million in the Studios' first full year - will stay an extra day and night. More time on-site means more time to spend on meals, rooms and Mickey Mouse ears. "The profit doesn't come from the theme parks," says Mark Abramson, an analyst with Bear, Stearns in London. "The profit comes from the hotels," restaurants and shops, all high-margin...
Euro Disney isn't alone in seeing the European theme-park market as under-developed. This summer, Vivendi will open a new water park and two hotels alongside its Universal Studios Port Aventura park near Barcelona, making it the first competitor on a Disneyesque scale. At least three other large regional parks will launch in 2002. Bear, Stearns' Abramson sees the competition as a positive for Disney because it familiarizes Europeans with American-style theme parks. "Parks here have historically been some small amusement with a juggler and music playing somewhere," he says...
Like them, Disney will need exciting, new attractions to get repeat visitors. Ride enthusiasts expect soon to see a version of the Florida park's popular Twilight Zone Tower of Terror. A third separate operation, possibly a water park, may be built in several years. "Walt Disney said that Disneyland will never be finished," Rasulo says. "We've certainly emulated that here...