Historyland - Disneyland Paris and Why It Failed
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- čas přidán 28. 09. 2017
- There's no way a Disney theme park could fail, right? Jump back in time to when Disneyland Paris (Euro Disney) opened, and learn why it was a financial disaster, and how it caused the cancellations of other Disney projects in the works.
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Americans also seem to think Europe is one giant country, so assumed everyone from all over Europe would go there. I live in the UK and it's such a nightmare to get there, it's ironically easier and cheaper to go to one of the US parks for me.
Larry Bundy Jr
For short trips Paris is cheaper due to flights but for anything over one week it is cheaper to go to the USA
Larry Bundy Jr we don't think it's one big country, but we sort of forget just how many small countries are there. We are used to the giant USA, and people in the USA can travel all across. However that same distance is harder for Europeans to travel.
Hello you!! .. sorry just needed to say that to mr bundy himself! 😉
You’re right, it’s still way overpriced.. especially the hotels, it should have been built in London as per the original plans, I’m pretty sure the English market would have bought into the park much more than the French too
This ^ is actually one of the top reasons I've heard cited by Disney themselves (kind of extraordinary that this video doesn't mention it).. I don't personally know any Americans who are under any delusions that Europe is "one giant country", but it's true many may not realize that getting from London to Paris is a totally different set of logistical considerations than getting from San Francisco to Los Angeles..
Except that's not even close to true. It costs me less for my family to go to Disneyland Paris for a long weekend than just a flight alone to Florida costs. Manchester to Paris is a 1 hour flight costing from as little as £30 on easyJet. We can go 4 times a year and still spend less than a week in Florida costs. So I'm afraid, sir, you are full of poop.
I liked the presentation but for a 'history' video there was barely any details about the park and issues with opening and the following years. For a video of this length, I barely learned anything.
exactly ...
One aspect that I don't think has been covered is the climate. Many people in Europe (northern Europe especially) associated Disney theme parks with near-year-round sunshine, but the Paris climate is much more varied (meaning, it can be a lot colder and wetter more often). So the idea of spending all that money to go to a Disney park where there was a high chance of it being cold, wet and windy, even in summer, was less attractive than the idea of going to Orlando or Anaheim.
Additionally, the opening of Euro Disneyland coincided with an explosion of much cheaper airfares from the UK to Florida. I think I'm right in saying that Florida became the most popular air travel destination for British people over the early 90s. The pound-to-dollar exchange rate was quite favourable too.
So for a lot of Brits, especially, the Paris park was seen as the inferior Disney option. Why spend all that money going there when for not that much more (relatively speaking) you could go to Florida and get near-guaranteed sunshine, the option of much cheaper accommodation, and all the other attractions in the Orlando area?
That's right. They will still do costumed parades in torrential rain... and people will stand still outside to watch. While they freeze.
Actually there was a lot of media coverage of gun violence in Florida in the 90s, with many stories of tourists in rental cars being targeted (because back then, rental cars were easily identifiable by their front licence plates, which carried large logos of the rental company they belonged to).
There was quite a well-known meme (not that it was called that then) from that time, which was an image of the map of Florida adapted to look like a smoking gun. It does look a bit like one if you think about it - the long vertical part being the handle and the horizontal part in the north as the barrel.
Of course, in reality very few tourists were affected unless they went driving round sketchy areas at night. I don't think many UK tourists were put off.
Lots of info missing sadly. Problems for eurodisney already started well before the project started in the drawing board. The Disney company when selecting places in Europe settled for Spain in the beggining, more specifically in Gandia (near the third biggest spanish city, Valencia) The climate was really similar to Anaheim, it was near the mediterranean sea nd already atracted tourism, the ground was cheap, the people were willing (there was even a welcome during Fallas in 1985 were a huge Disney castle was built as the Falla of the City Hall plaza in Valencia), the politicians for that area wanted the project, and the talks where nearly finished UNTIL central spanish government, being the PSOE at the time, told Disney they didnt want the park near Valencia, but in Seville (it was were the majority of their voters came). Disney told them no, they studied already that place and it was too hot during summers and the ground not good to work with. The central government told them Seville or nothing, they hit a roadblock (the valencian governement actually had secret talks in america with Disney managemnt to see if they could resolve the situtaion in some way, but everything went down the shitter), so they went with their other candidate, Paris. That was helped by being more central to other european countries and becuase it s known that Eisner's wife was pushing hard for it. In 92 the Expo was celebrated in Seville on the gorunds were central governement wanted Eurodisney, and later a theme park was open there called Isla Magica that was a massive failure.
The big problem? France didnt want an american park, they despised the idea from the get a go. They were protests marchs, of the people linving there, to the point of throwing tomatoes to eisner during the breaking ground ceremony.
Its not that europe was not prepared for theme parks, they already had, and were pretty famous (efteling and europa park for example) and in 1995 Port Aventura was built in Tarragona, Spain being a massive success (showing that a greater success would have been EuroDisney in Valencia).
Then yes, you can add the marketing and hotel mismanagementto the equation, but its biggest problem was being located in France and french people not wanting it, adding the super high prices for other european country's families that actually wanted to visit the park but was too expensive for them.
At the end, as you well said, it was not that bad of an ending, changing the name, building space mountain, lowering prices... helped a lot the park to reach the position they are now, and a turn around for franch audiences. But it did a lot of harm to the disney company and other projects they had. What would have happen if the project would have been built finally in Valencia? We would probably still be calling it eurodisney, and disney wouldnt have been in such a dire situation during those first years, lot of history of disney theme parks would have changed.
Also we would have had disney water rides in europe. And Jungle Cruise.
You're spot on. A much better and more accurate version of this park's history. Darn French. Good thing Disney has now bought all shares in the park back from the French government and private investors. Now we finally see some much needed expansions and improvements.
I wish they did choose Spain instead of France tbh. We could've had an European Splash Mountain and Jungle Cruise but I suppose France was the better alternative. And the Paris Disney park has quite a few pros compared to the American parks. I like the Paris Pirates of the Caribbean a lot more than the one in Orlando. Not to mention Paris has some pretty neat walkthroughs
Much more insightful and complete history than the video which I thought did not give proper arguments for the financial issues.
I think Disneyland Gandia sounds better than EuroDIsney, it would have been nice to see but atleast Paris is on the up.
I heard another candidate was rome italy too. But if i remember correctly italians didnt want it
They should have picked Spain. Labor is cheaper and weather is better.
The thing is, the concept of a themed park wasn't new to europeans, there are a lot of great parks all over europe. And that's what hurt Euro Disney, people were just thinking "Why should I spend thousends of DM, Pound, Gulden, Kronen etc. in a french(!) park if we got a very nice park in our own county?" (Efteling, Europa Park, Phantasialand, Blackpool, Thorpe Park etc?)
(Paris simply doesn't have this status that americans put her in. To americans it's this wounderous city of love and light, of artists and intellectuals, this entire boheme thing. To many europeans, it's a city with some nice landmarks, awful traffic and unfriendly waiters.)
I love Disneyland Paris, but you must be lucky with the weather otherwise it can be a rather chilly and dull experience, and the prices are so high, I almost can fly to orlando and stay in one of the budged hotels at disney world for the same price. What also would be benefitial because everything in Disney World is in english.
Christian De W blackpool? can’t think of anywhere i’d hate to go on vacation to more
I've never been to American Disney parks, but being French I know Disneyland Paris by heart (if you have any questions I'll be happy to answer!) It's true that at the beginning, Disneyland Paris had financial difficulties, but it's absolutely not the case anymore, the park is full and the attractions are abolutely crowded... There is also a lot of Asian tourists fascinated by France actually! I must say that I'm really attached to this park, it has a sort of "fairy tale" atmosphere that will always make me remember my childhood...
I absolutely LOVE the retro theme your videos have. Keep up the great work!
I'm so thrilled to discover your history land series (and your channel) I love all things Disney and learning about all things Disney. I don't get to go to the parks often, so the internet videos are a nice escape. I'm also obsessed with the ad bumper you created and using the retro ads in between. very cool touch! : )
I'm really enjoying your series Matt. This was short and concise. Nice job!
🏰🌌
+Bruce Marshall Thank you!!
This is the first video by you I’ve seen and I love the format!!! Keep up the good work :)
always love the retro tv commercials! thanks Matt - can't wait for the shirts! :)
I think one of the main reasons Euro Disney failed at first is, that every European country already has many big Andy established theme parks, like Phantasialand and Europa Park in Germany, Efteling in the Netherlands, and many more. People had childhood memories in those places so they went there with their kids (Like my parents did with me)
Also, driving to Paris takes like forever from any place in Europe thanks to France's strange highway system. Any other country would have been a better choice (Like East-Germany where almost no theme parks are.)
Train tickets and plane tickets for Paris in general are always on the expensive side and going by car is also expensive considering the gas price. At least from where I am from (Italy) there is no point going there when there are plenty of amusement parks much cheaper and closer.
I really really liked this episode. I didn't know much about why Disneyland Paris failed, but now I do! Thanks for the education!
+Alex the Historian No problem, glad you liked it!!!
Nu bygger eurodisney 2 nya områden för 18 miljarder så nog går det bra i paris
The problem with Euro Disney wasn't that it was "too Disney for Europe". The problem has always been that it wasn't Disney enough. It wasn't even owned by Disney until 2014; it was essentially a franchise (I find it baffling that you chose not to mention that enormous factor). It's worth mentioning that since Disney essentially mounted a hostile takeover in 2014 the park has begun to make a profit.
Thanks your publication was very helpfull in a project I'm doing on Disney Paris !!!
Just discovered this channel, great editing, narrating is perfect , subbed 👍💞
Omg the little bumper is awesome!!! It sounds spot on late 80s early 90s!
I've been to Disneyland Paris and stayed at the New York Hotel and it is nothing like the American parks. Staff are not very welcoming towards guests and everything in the parks is overpriced. The park is also expensive to get to from the UK (which is where the majority of the guests come from). The Eurostar is expensive and if you do fly into Paris you'll have to spend more money on transport to the area. If the park had been built in the likes of Spain or in the UK it would in my personal opinion been more successful and more profitable than it is to this day.
The UK would have been a risky choice. It was considered, but the channel tunnel wasn't completed until 1994, so there was no way for Europeans to travel directly by car or train, and people would have had to get a ferry or fly coming in from mainland Europe.
Yes but they knew that the channel tunnel would be completed at some point and that all of the UK is connected via trains and planes.
We have a stereotype in the US that French people are really unpleasant and rude. I haven't been to France so I don't know if it is true.
Very much true!
Oh god, that second add... right in the childhood, it's been over at least 15 years since I saw that one, and I still know it beat for beat.
WOAH! dude those vintage style transitions are amazing!
Disneyland Paris is an amazing park, seriously everytime I am in it I feel like I am in a fairytail 😂 Tony Baxter did an amazing job with it honestly, plus it has the 'most thrilling' space mountain anywhere in the world :)
As a kid I always wanted to go to Euro Disney, as I've gotten older I don't know if I could ever justify the time and expense while in Europe.
Hey Matt! I enjoyed this installment. I decided to right a comment because I have visited Disneyland Paris. And while you haven’t been there yourself, you are right about the beauty of the Park. Disneyland Paris is absolutely stunning. My most vivid memories of the Park are Phantom Manor, an AWESOME Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain in the middle of the Rivers of the Far West, and having an amazing meal at Walt’s - An American Restaurant. The brick of Main Street took my breath away the first time I walked down the middle of the street. Sleeping Beauty Castle also took my breath away. If you ever have an opportunity, I highly recommend it. When I visited, I was in Paris for a week. During the day, I went to museums in Paris. At night, I would take the train east and go to the Park. I knew I’d be there every night, so I bought an annual pass that trip. I loved it.
Maybe it's something that people over there really need to appreciate. Think of this as America's returned gift after France's Stature of Liberty over a century ago, though I'm sure that's far-reaching a thought!
I was very happy when the Walt Disney Company bought Disneyland Paris.
I've been to Land, World and Paris. I'm from L.A. so Disneyland is my native park, and with that said, Disneyland Paris was the most beautiful park! Its castle is gorgeous, the culture from Europe is vastly different and it seeps into the cast members and characters! It is a shame it's had such a rough 25 years, but it genuinely is my favorite park
I love Disneyland Paris I go once a year, came back yesterday from 2018 trip. The upcoming expansion to the Studios Park and 2 billion coming from Disney to improve dlp is massive news. Dlp also made a profit last year and thanks to the 25th anniversary refurbishments the main park is looking absolutely amazing. The future is very very bright 😁😁
We're pass holders and go at least three times a year. The one thing I dislike about DLP; the food. Paris is supposed to be the food capital of the world, but the food at DLP doesn't even come close to the food at WDW.
great video are you going to do these for all the parks that would be cool
This was my first video and i love it great job subscribed!!!
Loving the vintage ads and 80's style
Thank you 😊
Great video! I also remember doing a paper on why Euro Disney failed and one of the issues was branding, They started out as Euro Disney Resort and are now Disneyland Paris. I looked up some stuff on it which was interesting in my research at the time.
What Did Disney Do Wrong?
In the various names for their European theme park complex that Disney worked through before settling on Disneyland Paris there were two words that meant a lot to the people running the company back in the US but meant little - or something completely different altogether - to the customers in Europe.
The first was ‘Euro’ which, despite its positive connotations across the Atlantic meant mainly commerce, bureaucracy, and an increasingly unpopular legal regime in France, the Netherlands, Ireland, and elsewhere.
The second was ‘Resort’ which is associated with either the beach, or a mountain top retreat in Europe. The idea of heading to a theme park or an attraction park, as it might be known locally, and calling it a resort is not something that the local audience will understand. For the marketing team back in the United States, of course, a Parisian resort is exactly what they hoped to sell - but people traveling to the City of Lights don’t expect to find a resort, they expect to find a city; and those traveling to Disneyland just outside of Paris don’t expect a resort, either.
In short, Disney marketed and branded their European location with the sorts of words that would appeal to them back in the United States instead of the sorts of words that would appeal to the people actually visiting the park in Europe.
+Mike Bowser wow that's crazy that you wrote a paper all about this!!!
It was a marketing management class for my MBA and I love Disney and that was a good one to do for companies that failed at branding.
Number 1 reason surely has to be the decision to locate the park in northern France, where its cold wet and miserable, rather than say in Spain where you already have a booming low cost holiday market to tap into. Madness.
I subscribed after watching my first video. I love the format of the Historyland videos.
I know this video is several years old but I just wanted to let you know, this video helped me during my Nana's death back in 2018. Thanks a million man.
🫶
All of this mess could have easily been settled if they had chosen Spain as the location. To bad Michael Eisner was so obsessed with Paris.
It's so bad they had to ditch the name "Euro DisneyLand" to Disneyland Paris.
Great video. I love going to Disneyland Paris and so much of this rings true.
(I also love the 80s/90s VHS-era style cues ... just make sure they don't get in the way of the content too much....)
The greatest challenge Disneyland Paris faces, possibly greater than even weather, is LANGUAGE. The US, Japan, Hong Kong and now China each have a single, unifying language (English, Japanese, Cantonese, and Mandarin, respectfully). But Disneyland Paris isn't really just a "French" park, it's a European Park. So almost everything is both in French and English. In addition, you have many visitors from Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, Spain, etc.
Disney Parks aren't just rollercoasters, they're stories --- which are very hard to convey in multiple languages. Attractions like the Haunted Mansion in Disneyland Paris don't have narration - what language would it be in? French? English? And it's very hard to have a sense of common community or involving the audience when there are multiple languages represented there on any give day.
That said, Disneyland Paris is finally a financial success, but I think Disney went in not fully understanding the challenge of the lack of a single unifying language.
Definitely true, i'm german but speak and understand english rather well, but almost no french. That's really something that takes you out of the context many attractions are presented in, like Phantom Manor or the Tower of Terror. The Staff is great, and mostly multi-lingual what helps a somewhat.
Though it should be noticed HK was also a British colony so they still have English as well, unless they don't use it much at that park.
In all fairness, perhaps someone figured at least providing English might help out those like you in case it made some sense, even if it was just wishful thinking on the part of an American company thinking the rest of the world will follow the same page naturally.
I agree I visited Disbeyland when I was 7 and going gor example on Star Tours and hearing the audience laugh, while nit understanding a thing was quite disheartening.
On the other hand the multicultural feel also had its advantages, for example in one attraction (can't remember which), there was a guy who was supposed to do the safety instructions in 4 languages French, English, German and Italian. So he had everyone who spoke the respective languages raise their hands. When he found out there were no italians, he made a whole bit about how much time he could safe, since he only had to do the instructions in 3 languages of course "wasting" a lot of time on that. I now realize he must have been stalling, but it was hilarious.
This. I remember being a kid, and wanting to go to a some Disney park, but ultimately realizing, that me, a kid from northern finland/sweden wouldn't understand anything there and gave up on begging my parents to take me there lmao
I went back after many years only recently and the difference in the park is definitely there. I hope it continues to grow :)
They definitely should have built this in Spain. As fond as the memories I have of Disneyland Paris are, Spain is cheaper, warmer, and already a prime holiday destination for most of Europe.
also I hate that none of the face characters actually speak.
That makes a lot of sense.
It’s nice to hear some facts about a place I’m visiting in the summer
Perhaps now they could build that Indiana Jones-themed land segment that was originally planned for Disneyland Paris and its own Star Wars Galaxy's Edge next to Star Tours so it doesn't stick like a sore thumb in Discoveryland (now that they own Lucasfilm and all).
This was super interesting. I went for the first time back in jan for my birthday and I found it didn’t have the same magic or quality of what I expect from a Disney Park. Yeah the castle is stunning, one of my favourites but I found the facilities dirty, some of the staff quite rude, they would speak in very rapid French until I would look bewildered and a bit overwhelmed.
That being said I really enjoyed my time staying there and I would go back again, but if it was a choice between Orlando and Paris I would choose Orlando any day as from the UK I can get a 2 week holiday in Orlando for not much more than a few days in dlp
I loved my time at Disneyland Paris. It was absolutely gorgeous, and just... whimsical. While it did have its flaws, I hope to return soon. I went back in 2016, and since then then it’s had some changes. I also have this funny story about stopping right next to the phantom animatronic near the end of Phantom Manor, but I’ll save that for a video I’m working on- (sorry for the plug.)
We first went just after it opened, and stayed at camp davey crocket. There were no signs anywhere, and the coach driver (with just us and another family onboard) got totally lost and ended up touring around Paris trying to find it, so we eventually arrived 4 hours after leaving the Paris airport.
Fast forward 20 years later, we took a day trip there from Paris by train. The locals seem a lot more accepting of the mark now it’s mellowed into something more European.
I love the park. But it is very expensive to visit.
Technically, EuroDisney failed. Disneyland Paris was a success.
jacoblgames Spot on! Disneyland Paris is absolutely incredible! So happy they saved it 👍🏻
Disneyland Paris is still kinda flawed and under standards for a Disney park. But I see what you mean.
The biggest problem is and probably will be is that most attractions in Disneyland Paris are in french, but most europeans doesn't speak french..!
This brings me back when I went when I was 12 not long after it opened in a school trip!
Hi Matt great Video. I'm from Germany and was first time in Disneyland Paris at 1994 short before the Remane from Euro Disney and beginning the Price cuts. The Prices after opening was to high and marketing was to bad. From them I was 18 times there was Time last year for there 25th Anniversary. I love all you Videos I see until now.
Is Disneyland still open
#MatterhornMerch shop goes live when we hit 500 subscribers!!! Also let me know what you think of the new gold matterhorn logo :-)
It’s been going for 26 years now and it’s very convenient for people who live in Paris or England. Love the video
You forgot to mention 2 other things why Disneyland Paris bombed:
1: We already have good quality theme parks all around Europe that have been there forever and are so much cheaper than DLP, so most people didn't think it was worthy enough to go there.
2: Those screamy loud commercials might have worked on Americans, but overall most Europeans are quite down to earth and are allergic to that kind of advertisement.....so that was quite off putting.
Exactly what I thought when he said something about people in Europe not being familiar with theme parks... Yeah, we're not American. That doesn't mean we sit in a dark room and don't have fun. There are plenty of brilliant theme parks in Europe.
yeah Efteling, Phantasialand and Europa Park are way better than DLP at the minute, maybe after the WDS refurbishment it might take them over but there's a lot going on in those parks including F.L.Y and Rulantica opening soon.
this my home park, it's fun every single time, and it's not hard to get there, it is a 16-19 minute drive from the CDG airport and a 45-minute drive from my house which is on the suburbs of Paris, the rides are spectacular, and in my opinion its better to go up to the kiosque to get your tickets. so what if it had problems! it is a very successful park anyway, and if you guys haven't been there you should go! it's super fun and it never gets old.
Awesome video! + 1 subscriber!
Very interesting. Have a nice day now.
2:11 I've Might Go To Disneyland Paris Near The City Of Paris France One Day During My The City Of Paris And Disneyland Paris France Holiday Megatrip Next Year In May 2022 Just In Time For The Theme Park's 30th Birthday Celebrations. Wish Me Luck. Thanks Mate. X
It seems to be working better now as they have expanded the metro to go to the park gates. There's a small town of hotels and other self catering accommodation and a large shopping centre about a mile or two from the parks.
We stopped there on our way to stay in central France, and the new tourist town worked well for a day in disney and a day in Paris.
Like the gold logo.
+So-Cal Theme Park Fan thank you!!
One problem is probably that the idea of staying the night at theme parks is completely uncommon in Europe. With the exception of CenterParks (which are indoor spa resorts), theme parks are something for day visits, birthday parties and such. Few people would want to spend several days in a theme park resort, especially not one that is located in the middle of nowhere next to the highway.
Its the most visited theme park in Europe. How is it a failure?
Just hope they never give up on this park.
Could never afford Florida or Orlando. (I went to Florida once, but can't even remember it)
I've been to Disneyland Paris 30+ times and holds such a special place in my heart.
Wish there was more videos on their rides histories etc.
at least someone agrees, I live in Paris and I go here at least twice a year. its so special
it is actually very busy everyday to be honest especially peak days, most rides average 100+ minute queues
Remember when the Rugrats went to Paris and they just went to a parody of EuroDisneyland instead?
I remember when Disneyland Paris was built, a local French paper called it "a cultural Tchernobyl". 😁
I love the way you edited this video! Just subscribed! :) But I must say it upsets me to see how negative people are about Disneyland Paris in the comments! I have visited DLP 12 times since I was little and have just purchased my fourth annual pass (which are a fraction of the price compared to the American ones haha!). It definitely has a complex history but that doesn't make the park itself any less magical to me! Plus I am confused how people are saying it's cheaper for Europeans to visit the American parks... I have a £80 Eurostar return booked for next month from London direct to DLP! Whilst my return flight for when I go to WDW later this year cost me around £500 haha!
I recall Craig Ferguson of "Brave" questioned WHY anyone would go to EuroDisney in the Winter. Although seeing posts of that and Tokyo Disney in the winter after snowfall, they look beautiful.
But, Hotel New York is being rethemed to a Marvel hotel, so it's not all bad...
Very interesting video!
Former Disney CEO Michael Eisner wrote a book tittled "Work in progress" where he explained that the Spanish government didn't make things easy for him when they were looking for a location for Euro Disney back in 1986. The French Govt offered them free land, reduced taxes and a connection to the subway and the French high speed train system. Eisner's first choice in France was the southern area of the country, with a similar weather as Los Angeles. It was then President Chirac who convinced Eisner to build the park in Paris.
I think Spain would have been a better choice. Semi tropical weather (in both Barcelona and Valencia areas) plus Spaniards love Disney and American culture (not American politics though). Spaniards are also friendlier and more enthusiastic than the French.
Being said that I think Disneyland Paris has the most beautiful Magic Kingdom (have been to all of them except Shangai!). Amazing details, beautiful architecture.
I am very happy to hear that finally Europeans, including Frenchs, love the park. It has become Europe's most visited place year after year.
Euro Disney misses the love of creators that genuinely wanted to make something that'd fit Europe and make people feel like they're in the most magical place on earth. I adore Disney, but so far only the studios have impressed me now that I'm older. Glad to have a new look to Star Tours and pirates of the Caribbean though.
I was at University when EuroDisney opened and had a lot of European friends and NONE of them could understand why Disney decided to build a theme park that was in an area that suffered from high humidity in summer and crappy weather in winter.
Everyone's expectation was that it to be built in southern France or southern Spain, Spain's Balearic or the Canary Islands, southern Italy or its islands Sardinia and Sicily or even Greece etc. All of which had good year-round weather, inexpensive land and a modernising infrastructure. Not to mention great international links from an existing tourist industry that was in decline and would really enjoy the boost.
Instead, they located it in a place that fewer and fewer people wanted to visit. Good one Disney! Even the French don't like Parisians.
Just subscribed! :D
So it's not closed? I thought you said that Eisner had to close it? I thought it closed ages ago.
nope
My only gripe with this is the title. If you refer to something as "failed" then your mind thinks it's at ts end, when in reality Disneyland Paris is still up and running and doing a lot better now as you even say in the video. I think a better title would be "Why Disneyland Paris could (have) close(d)" or "Major Problems that Disneyland Paris Experienced" or something to that effect.
Also, I've been to the Park, the show at the end before closing was really fun and I loved how they used the French versions of songs from Movies that took place in Paris like Beauty and the Beast as well as The Hunchback of Notre Dam. I feel like they could expand upon this and include Native versions of songs (such as having an I see the Light segment in German), especially since it would make sense regarding the location in comparison to the other Disneyland parks.
is it just me who loves the intro?!?!
My first and only visit was the summer 2007 during the 15th anniversary. I was 12 years old and I had ALWAYS wanted to visit (mainly because of Phantom Manor), but it really is a beautiful park. It's a real shame that its history is pretty much the start of where we are today with the desperate decision making to make the parks profitable. But I suppose it's why modern Disney history is complex and fascinating.
Was Historyland originally shown on TV? There seems to be the announcement of an advert break once every couple of minutes ("Coming up next...")
Nope, I made it all myself haha!
My family went there for a weekend when I was little and it was a horrible experience, the park was not clean, only two or tree workers were actually nice and helpful to us, I wasn’t allowed on a ride even though a boy much smaller than me was just let through. The only thing I remember trying in tree days was the dumbo ride and the alice labyrinth. I don’t remember this but my parents told me that my sister and I was pleading not to go back to disneyland so we took a day in paris instead.
It’s really bad then the children its marketed towards doesn’t want to go... xD
Now it's a great park. I love going there
Took them a few decades to rebound from that
Loved the vintage ads..... I’ve been to DLP 5 Times, flown, driven, bus, but I love that I can be there in an hour flight from my local airport. Sadly I think many British fans view it as a “mini”Disney world, most of us would rather go to the USA parks instead, and not adding anything new properly for decades never helped..... I’d go back to dlp whenever I can, but it’s always when I can’t afford to go to WDW...,dlp weather is just not the same, I’ve had a lovely trip in June, but in a cold wet trip, it’s just miserable..and not the same as the California sun or Florida heat . Also Europe is very different, the park needed to be treated differently to its us parks and looking at Shanghai, they understood they needed to plan differently. I can’t wait to go see all the new attractions in the new expansion,
Funny, another video suggested that Disneyland Paris did have teething problems at first, but later solved that and currently the park is doing fine.
They should have built in Spain. Better weather and lower labor costs.
Chalk it up to bad management.
I've been a few times it's good, but Ideally it needs expanding, you can see almost everything in the park in a day if your going during "magic hours" 2 hours earlier than normal customers.
I went to Disneyland Paris and I loved it! We stayed in a cabin and met all the French Princesses and Goofy :) I was also 8 so maybe it wasn’t that great
Another nice job, Matt. I've been to Disneyland Paris and I found it has a certain sadness to it in my opinion. I can't quite put it into words, the American parks just have a genuine enthusiastic spirit about them. You know the second runner-up for location was Spain, which I think is a much better fit culturally. I've been to France dozens of times and, while I love the French people and the culture, it's not really the friendliest as many people know. I think Spain would have been a much better fit because the climate is warmer and the culture is a lot friendlier on the whole. It seems I remember reading somewhere back in the day that French government was going to pay for all or part of the metro line construction out to the park and that was what made the decision for the company in the end. Lastly, I've also been there to the park (DLP) in the winter and it's pretty miserable I don't care what anybody says.
Wouldn't it still flop even in Spain because of the aforementioned recession?
Economic depression when built or not, Disney Paris is mostly a pale shadow of the US parks. We had a nice time, but nice isn't the description I expect of a Disney park. The grounds are beautiful, but too American for somewhere so close to Paris. Most of the track rides are run at almost twice the speed of the same rides in WDW. The only excellent rating I can give them is the shows' blending of French & English-most were done as a conversation between 2 characters with them restating enough of the other language to understand without it feeling repetitious.
Raphael, It still probably would have struggled as a recession affects all. My point was the climate and culture in Spain would have been a much better fit, in my opinion.
mgaip, I agree with your comment on all points. I found the area between Fantasyland and Discoveryland to be particularly sad in vibe. It is not fair to really compare parks against each other, however it is hard not to as you experience them first-hand. Of course we are really spoiled by our 2 state-side MK parks. American enthusiasm and the genuine embracing of the Disney spirit by both the guests and the cast members is really palpable in the Florida and Southern California MKs. The only other park MK I felt it similarly is Tokyo DL.
Spain would have offerd a better climate, so people also could have enjoyed just sitting at the hotel pool (heck, they've could even opend a water park alongside Disneyland) before heading to the park in the calmer evening hours. Also Spain was already an established tourist destination for many europeans, france is not. If they had build Dineyland near the tourist hotspots in spain, many tourists would also maybe considerd a day trip to Disneyland (1-2 hour drive) or hotels on the coast could had offered day trips by bus?
Happy Friday September 29th have a good weekend
I'm Irish, and if I'm splashing out on a family trip to a Disney park, I don't want (what I perceive to be) a watered down version. I want the real deal & full experience, so I go to Orlando. I always perceived "Euro Disney" to be a cheaper version. The word "Euro" makes it sound tacky. And everyone knew Disney only owned 49% of the park. That creates a bad perception, implying they're not hands on. I always pictured it being like Itchy & Scrathy land. Plus, Paris is hassle. I know it's just 1 flight to Paris, but that airport is a pain. There have been horrible long queues any time I've been to Charles de Gaulle.
Orlando is actually less hassle for me. Direct flight from Dublin, guaranteed good weather, 6 parks in Disneyworld, Universal is there too, and I can also do some shopping - I love browsing in Walmart, Target, and Dicks Sporting Goods, etc.
Neither park is cheap, so if I'm gonna spend on a Disney trip, I want to go all in.
I have been to Disneyland Paris a few times and I feel like it is more about the rides than the experience there
I first went to DLP in 2002, at the age of 4. It's still the most magical place on earth to me, even 15 years on :)
1st vid I watched, love the vintage commercials interspersed.
Thanks!
For me the location of Disneyland Paris is quite nice, I live in Holland and it's only a 4,5 hour drive to the parks. The annual passes aren't that expensive, and you have some nice and cheap hotels in the Val d'Europe shopping centre area which are just a 5/10 minutes walk from the parks. And I love the parks, it is still my biggest dream since I was 5 years old to visit Disney World someday, but I'm at least happy that 'our' Disneyland in Paris are gonna get some glorious years now after the darker times
I would think that it would be better just to go to Orlando anyway. You get to go to Magic Kingdom, Epcot, Disney MGM, Animal Kingdom, Typhoon Lagoon, Universal Studios, Universal Islands of Adventure, Busch Gardens, Cape Canaveral, go to the beaches of Miami.
We went just after it opened, it was really expensive and there was far too much in french, we found it cheaper and nicer to go to Florida and have done so ever since. We now live in the states and are now DVC members.
_'ALLOOOOOOO!? DIZNEELAND PAREE, OPEN FOR BEEZNEES! SACRE BLEU, MY CHILDREN NEED WINE!_
Just for info, we're still open and doing good things... come and see for yourself. I'd be glad to meet up if you ever visit 😀
Fun video, but some of your information isn’t necessarily accurate.
I was watching the Disneyland Paris commercial, and I was just like “eesh”
If I'm going to visit Paris, I'm going to visit Paris. The last thing I want to do while in Paris is visit a manufactured Americanized Disney park (and I'm kind of a Disney fan, by the way).
I think problem is also bored attractions and not alot changes like in USA. Now they celebrate 25 anniversary and what they offer? Only 3 desserts and 1 performerce
I LOVE disneyland Paris, I have been there twice and hope to go back next year, it is so great because it is a train ride from so many attractions around Paris too.
yes
5:25 I'm so use to click bait I thought the red heart was put by someone showing that the spire was fake or something.
You would think a Disney park in a high class city like Paris would be an instant success