Euro DiSney Disneyland Paris is operated by French company Euro Disney S. C. A. , a public company of which 39. 78 percent of its stock is held by The Walt Disney Company, 10 percent by the Saudi Prince Alwaleed and 50. 22 percent by other shareholders. The senior leader at the resort is chairman and CEO Philippe Gas. history The complex was a subject of controversy during the periods of negotiation and construction in the late 1980s and early ’90s, when a number of prominent French figures voiced their opposition and protests were held by French labour unions and others.
A further setback followed the opening of the resort as park attendance, hotel occupancy and revenues fell below projections. The complex was renamed from Euro Disney Resort to Disneyland Paris in 1994. In July 1995, the company saw its first quarterly profit. A second theme park, Walt Disney Studios Park, opened to the public 16 March 2002. 1. the problem of Euro Disney and solution intro Does Mickey Mouse have a beard? – No. Does this mean that French men seeking work with the Disney organization must shave off their moustaches too? It depends. body neoprovincialism what do people think of Euro Disney? People everywhere are wondering whether Europeans would like the American recreation. For all its concern about foreign cultural invasion and its defense against the pollution of the French language by English words, France’s Socialist government has been untroubled about putting such a huge American symbol on the doorstep of the capital and has been more concerned about its social effect. It made an extraordinary series of tax and financial concessions to ttract the theme park here rather than let it go to sunny Spain. The theme park itself will be only part of a giant complex of housing, office, and resort developments stretching far into the next century, including movie and television production facilities. As part of its deal with the Disney organization, the government is laying on and paying for new highways, an extension of Paris’s regional express railway and even a direct connection for the high speed TGV railway to the Channel Tunnel.
The TGV station is being built in front of the main entrance of Euro Disneyland, and is scheduled to come into service in 1994. If Euro Disneyland succeeds — where theme parks already in France have so far failed — a second and even a third park is likely to be built by the end of the century. Financial experts say that Euro Disneyland, the first phase of which is costing an estimated $3. 6 billion, is essential to Disney’s overall fortunes, which have been hit by competition and declining attendance in the United States.
French intellectuals have not found many kind things to say about the project. The kids, however, will probably never notice. Sleeping Beauty, Snow White, Peter Pan, and Pinocchio all come from European fairy tales or stories and are as familiar to children here as they are in the United States. To a French child Mickey is French. To an Italian kid he is Italian. The Disney management is stressing this tradition in an apparent response to suggestions that it is culturally insensitive.
Although the concept of the theme park is closely based on the original Magic Kingdom in California and Walt Disney World in Florida, “Euro Disneyland will be unique in a manner appropriate to its European home,” the company says. “The legends and fairy tales which come from Europe figure prominently in the creative development of the theme park. ” Officials point out, for example, that Sleeping Beauty’s castle, the central feature of the theme park, is based not on Hollywood, as some might think, but on the illustrations in a medieval European book.
Also, a 360-degree movie, based on the adventures of Jules Verne, features well-known European actors. The Disney organization does seem to focus a bit too much on hair. “Main Street, USA”, the heart of Euro Disneyland, it promises, will feature an old time “Harmony Barber Shop” to deal with “messy hair and hairy chins” — and perhaps even offending mustaches. One difference from California or Florida: Parts of Main Street and waiting areas to get into the attractions will be covered over as a concession to Paris’s rainy weather. Euro Disneyland’s short distance to Paris is a definite attraction.
Anyone tiring of American or fake European culture can reach the Louvre art museum by express railway in less than an hour — from Minnie Mouse to Mona Lisa in a flash. Communications figured largely in the Disney organization’s decision to site its fourth theme park near Paris. The site is within a two-hour flight of 320 million Europeans. The opening of Eastern Europe is another prize for the company, which thinks that millions of people will put Disneyland at the top of a list of places to visit on their first trip to Western Europe. How to succeed in Shanghai? Bench marking Tokyo Disney land What’s happening in Japan Tokyo Roof is one of hundreds of amusement parks, sports centers, and resorts opening all over Japan as this hard-working nation brings its characteristic efficiency and intensity to the newly serious business of play. There is a leisure boom in Japan, and like many national trends here it is largely a government-led phenomenon. Under pressure from the United States and other trading partners, who complain about the labor force working too much, Japan is working hard at the notion of working less hard.
Japanese workers labor about 200 more hours per year than the average of their American counterparts, according to figures from Japan’s Labor Ministry. With school in session every weekday plus Saturday morning 10 months of the year, Japanese students have almost 60 more class days annually than their American peers. But now government and big businesses are vigorously promoting the concept of “leisure”. Some companies require employees to take longer vacations, and others are moving to eliminate the traditional Saturday workday so that people will get out and relax.
But there is a problem for people with free time in a tightly packed country where land is dear: There aren’t many places to play. Designing cities according to the traditional concept that hard work is a moral duty, those who rebuilt Japan after World War II left almost no room for recreation. Today, according to the Ministry of Construction, Tokyo has about 2. 5 square meters of park for each resident. To make up for the lack of public parks, the private sector is devising all sorts of new entries in the leisure market.
They include: indoor ski resorts, with mountains made of crushed ice inside huge buildings complete with chair lifts and ski schools; indoor mountain-climbing centers, with artificial peaks and cliffs; all-night golf courses, with brightly colored balls and blinking red lights atop the flag stick; golf driving ranges layered four stories high in the heart of the city, with towering green nets to keep the balls from smashing windows in neighboring office buildings.
Scores of amusement parks have opened since Tokyo Disneyland arrived in 1983, and 200 more are proposed or under construction. Targeted at not only children but also young working singles, many amusement parks are pushing thrills. One Tokyo attraction has six roller coasters (???? ), which can spin 360 degrees, while whipping around the track. AThere was a bar hanging from the top of the tower, and I seized it for balance.
I struggled uselessly to respond to the instructions of my coach, who was shouting above the roar of the fan to tell me how to ride the wind funnel up and down, left and right, by bending various limbs. Eventually I acquired just enough control to move over to the exit platform. With my blood pressure going crazy but my pride intact, I exited the tower, only
