Disneyland Paris
Disneyland Paris is an entertainment resort in Marne-la-Vallée, France located about 32 kilometres (20 miles) east of Paris. It encompasses two theme parks, seven Disney-owned hotels, two convention centers, a golf course, and a shopping, dining and entertainment complex. Opened on 12 April 1992, the resort is operated by Disney Experiences, a division of The Walt Disney Company.
Location
It is the second Disney park outside the United States, following the opening of the Tokyo Disney Resort in 1983, and the largest. Disneyland Paris is also the only Disney resort outside of the United States to be completely owned by the company. Disneyland Park, opened in 1992, is the original theme park of the complex. A second theme park, Walt Disney Studios Park, opened in 2002.
The resort is located on approximately 2,100 hectares (5,200 acres) of land which is being developed under a master agreement with French governmental authorities. About half of the land as been developed, including a planned community, Val d'Europe.
Disneyland Paris is Europe's most-visited tourist destination,[2] and the largest single-site employer in France with 17,000 employees.[3][4] It generated $343 million in profit for Disney in 2023.[2] By 2022, 375 million people had visited the park.[5][6]
Ownership[edit]
The Walt Disney Company announced a €1 billion plan (equivalent to US$1.25 billion at the time) to rescue the financially struggling Disneyland Paris resort, the Financial Times reported on 6 October 2014.[7] The park was burdened by its debt, which at the time was calculated at about €1.75 billion (US$2.2 billion), roughly 15 times its gross average earnings.
Up to that point, Disney only held a minority ownership stake in the resort. In 2017, the company purchased 9% of Euro Disney S.C.A., buying 9% from Kingdom Holding[8] and issued a tender offer of €2 per share for the remaining stock. This brought The Walt Disney Company's total ownership to 85.7%.[9] The Walt Disney company also invested an additional €1.5 billion to strengthen and develop Disneyland Paris.[9] In June 2017, Disney completed its tender offer and at the time owned over 97% of Euro Disney.[10] It then implemented a full buyout of the shares they did not already own.[11] In 2018, after taking full control of Disneyland Paris, Walt Disney reported its plans to invest €2 billion (US$2.47 billion) into the Disneyland Paris resort.[12][13][14]
History[edit]
Seeking a location for a European resort[edit]
Following the success of Disneyland in California, plans to build a similar theme park in Europe emerged in 1966 with sites in Frankfurt, Paris, London or Milan under consideration.[15] Under the leadership of E. Cardon Walker, Tokyo Disneyland opened in 1983 in Japan with instant success, forming a catalyst for international expansion. In late 1984 the heads of Disney's theme park division, Dick Nunis and Jim Cora, presented a list of approximately 1,200 possible European locations for the park. Britain, France, Italy and Spain were all considered. However, Britain and Italy were dropped from the list due to both lacking a suitable expanse of flat land. By March 1985, the number of possible locations for the park had been reduced to four; two in France and two in Spain. Both nations saw the potential economic advantages of a Disney theme park and offered competing financing deals to Disney.
Both Spanish sites were located near the Mediterranean and offered a subtropical climate similar to Disney's parks in California and Florida. Disney had asked each site to provide average temperatures for every month for the previous 40 years, which proved a complicated endeavour as none of the records were computerised.[16] The site in Pego, Alicante became the front-runner, but the location was controversial as it would have meant the destruction of Marjal de Pego-Oliva marshlands, a site of natural beauty and one of the last homes of the almost extinct Samaruc or Valencia Toothcarp, so there was some local outcry among environmentalists.[17][18] Disney had also shown interest in a site near Toulon in southern France, not far from Marseille. The pleasing landscape of that region, as well as its climate, made the location a top competitor for what would be called Euro Disneyland. However, shallow bedrock was encountered beneath the site, which would have rendered construction too difficult. Finally, a site in the rural town of Marne-la-Vallée was chosen because of its proximity to Paris and its central location in Western Europe. This location was estimated to be no more than a four-hour drive for 68 million people and no more than a two-hour flight for a further 300 million.
Michael Eisner signed the first letter of agreement with the French government for the 20-square-kilometre (4,940-acre) site on 18 December 1985, and the first financial contracts were drawn up during the following spring. The final contract was signed by the leaders of the Walt Disney Company and the French government and territorial collectivities on 24 March 1987.[19] Construction began in August 1988, and in December 1990, an information centre named "Espace Euro Disney" was opened to show the public what was being constructed. Plans for a theme park next to Euro Disneyland based on the entertainment industry, Disney-MGM Studios Europe, quickly went into development, scheduled to open in 1995 with a construction budget of US$2.3 billion.[20] The construction manager was Bovis.[21]
Entertainment shows[edit]
Electroland Festival[edit]
On 8 July 2017, Disneyland hosted its first-ever EDM festival entitled Electroland, in celebration of Disneyland Paris' 25th anniversary. Steve Aoki, NERVO & Michael Calfan were the main highlights of the first edition.[88] The second edition of the festival was held on 29 and 30 June 2018, which featured Afrojack, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Klingande, Robin Schulz, Bob Sinclair, Mosimann and Lovely Laura & Ben Santiago. The third edition was held over a span of 3 days from 5 July through to 7 July in 2019. The theme of the third edition was based upon Disney's movie The Lion King. The lineup included Steve Aoki, Nervo, Showtek, The Magician, Nicky Romero, Alesso, Armin van Buuren, Nora En Pure etc. Disneyland also announced the fourth edition of the 3-day festival in 2020 starting from 4 July.[89]
Disney Junior Dream Factory[edit]
In July 2021, Disneyland Paris launched a new show; Disney Junior Dream Factory, which lasts 20 minutes and whose theme is 'dare to believe in your dreams and they will come true'.[90] The show includes characters like Mickey, Minnie and Timon. It also features characters like Disney Junior's rising stars Vampirina and Fancy Nancy Clancy, joined by the Dream Factory crew.[91] To enable as many people as possible to take part in the story and the theme of the show, Disneyland Paris presents a French sign language version of the show every weekend.[90]
Together[edit]
In July 2023, Disneyland Paris introduced its new show 'Together' which includes Dory, Coco, Buzz Lightyear and all the characters from Pixar films.[92] It is a cine-concert that features a live orchestra with actors on stage, music extracted from the movies and original compositions.[93]
Regional impact[edit]
Disneyland Paris is considered to be Europe's leading tourist destination.[94] It is also the driving force behind the urban and economic development of the Val-d’Europe conurbation.[28]
Disneyland is also one of Europe's leading private tourist destinations with nearly 15 million visitors every year.[95] After 25 years of its opening, Disneyland Paris recorded 320 million visits in 2017.[96] The same year, it was reported that Disneyland Paris benefited the French economy by €66 billion in added value since its opening in 1992.[97] It was also noted that Disneyland Paris contributed to the French economy through producing 56,000 direct and indirect jobs in 2017.[96]
Besides, Disneyland Paris contributes to the sector of tourism in France.[98][96] Indeed, tourists visiting Disneyland Paris generate 6% of tourism revenue in France and 17% of sales in the Ile-de-France region.[99][100] In 2023, it was reported that more than 375 million visitors have been to Disneyland Paris with an average of 50% French and 50% foreign.[95]
Environmental sustainability[edit]
Since 2019, plastic straws and bags have been replaced by paper equivalents and bags made from 80% recycled plastic.[101][102] This is not the site's first eco-responsible initiative.[103] Indeed, in 2013, it launched a program to optimize water management.[103][104] Since 2013, the park has had its own wastewater treatment plant, enabling it to produce 2,100 m3 of water a day from its wastewater. On-site treatment enables ecological and economical management.[105] Being the only theme park in Europe to have this kind of installation, Disneyland Paris has saved over 2 million m3 of drinking water since launching the system.[106]
In 2022, Disneyland Paris announced that a total of 82,000 solar panels would be installed, generating 36 GWh of electricity per year.[107] The system will cover 17% of the tourist park's electricity needs and already includes 46,000 photovoltaic panels.[108][109] The project is expected to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 890 tonnes of CO₂ yearly.[109]
In September 2023, Disneyland Paris renewed its involvement in World-Clean-Up Day, the world's largest environmental clean-up campaign. Accordingly, Disneyland Paris encouraged its team and Disney VoluntEARS to take part of the initiative.[110]
Sponsorships and commitments[edit]
Ever since the opening of the park in 1992, Disneyland Paris has been a partner of the Pièces Jaunes operation.[111] Indeed, the park also organizes visits for hospitalized children.[112][113] On 18 May 2022, 500 hospitalized children and adolescents were invited along with their families to spend a day at Disneyland Paris.[111]
Awards[edit]
In 2020, Disneyland Paris was named 'Europe's Best Family Park' at the European Star Awards.[114] The same year and at the same award show, Disneyland Paris managed to win other categories such as 'Best Dark Ride or Media Based Experience', 'Best Large Park' and 'Best Live Entertainment'.[114][115]
In 2022, Disneyland Paris won the World Travel Awards' title of 'Europe's Leading Theme Park Resort'.[116] Disneyland Paris already won the same award in 2016, 2017,2020 and 2021.[116] Also in 2022, Disneyland Paris won the title of the best 'European Amusement Park of the Year' during the Parksmania Awards.[117][118] Spider-Man W.E.B Adventure was awarded the 'European Top New Attractions' by the Parksmania Awards as well.[117][118] Designed specifically for the 30th Anniversary of Disneyland Paris, Disney D-Light was honored with the title of Best Live Entertainment 2022 at the Park World Excellence Awards held in London on 14 September.[119]
Notable incidents that have taken place at Disneyland Paris in France. The term incidents refers to major accidents, injuries, deaths, and significant crimes. While these incidents are required to be reported to regulatory authorities for investigation, attraction-related incidents usually fall into one of the following categories: