More than 8,000 people signed a petition last year on Change.org urging Walt Disney Co. (DIS) Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Robert Iger to “Save Disneyland Paris.”
The petition, written in six languages, registered complaints about poor maintenance, lousy food and mediocre attractions at the money-losing resort, which opened in 1992. This week, Iger showed he is listening.
A rescue package unveiled Oct. 6 will give Disneyland Paris and its sister park Walt Disney Studios at least 1 billion euros ($1.3 billion) over 10 years to add attractions and spruce up grounds. Euro Disney SCA (EDL) will probably upgrade the Star Tours attraction at Disneyland Paris, according to industry watcher Robert Niles, and the company said it is rejuvenating “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Peril” and “Big Thunder Mountain.”
“They’re going to need to make a significant capital investment,” said Niles, editor of the website Theme Park Insider. “It’s been 20 years.”
Euro Disney said it’s also refurbishing hotels and refreshing icons such as the Sleeping Beauty Castle (Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant). In July, Walt Disney Studios opened a Ratatouille ride and restaurant that have attracted more than 1 million guests, the company said.
More Needed
In the past five years, Euro Disney has spent more than 500 million euros , according to Burbank, California-based Walt Disney, the world’s largest entertainment company.
Mark Stead, Euro Disney’s chief financial officer, told The Guardian newspaper he hoped to bring technology from the U.S. to revamp and add new ride experiences. New blockbuster attractions are unlikely, he said.
More is needed, according to Dennis Spiegel, a theme park consultant in Cincinnati.
Euro Disney parks, especially the Walt Disney Studios, could benefit from attractions based on Marvel superheroes from Disney films such as “The Avengers” and “Iron Man 3.”
The Walt Disney Studios park is “too sterile and industrial looking, it doesn’t feel like a Disney park,” Spiegel said by telephone. “They’re not getting the same level of enthusiasm, the same level of people willing to spend.”
Disney’s California Adventure park in Anaheim, California, is the model to follow. Disney invested $1.1 billion in that park in recent years, including a Cars Land attraction that has helped lift attendance by 34 percent since 2011.
“Our industry lives on repeat visitation,” Spiegel said.
“People want new attractions. Fantasyland, Cars Land, Star
Wars, Avatar Land. It’s more than dropping in a single ride
anymore. My money would be on Marvel.”
