Hollywood Tower Hotel drops in with high speed

[jbradway]

When I was at WDW a few years ago, I was surprised how many tourists from the UK were there. They're pretty easy to spot since they love soccer jerseys and look like they could really use some sun. The point is that I didn't understand why Disney would expand in Europe in the first place. They probably should have focused on building up WDW and marketed vacation packages with discounted airfare from Europe. I imagine the airfare from CA to Orlando isn't much different than airfare from London, Paris or Frankfurt to Orlando. I wouldn't have built a Disney resort in another country unless it was a completely risk free and guaranteed cash cow. Even as sweet as the HK deal was, it's just too much capital outlay to build an entire resort and have it ready on day 1.

[jortlaban]

what does this have to do with the topic????

DLRP was built near paris because it is very central, the tot has always been an original design for WDSP, but because of financial problems they are now un-original and should redesign something allready meade for them?????

come on. Most european are glad to have a disney resort near, as most europeans can't afford a trip to DLR or WDW.... and as for the ToT... most people in europe have never been on one of the american towers, so it still is original (also since it will be used as the "castle of WDSP") and even the people who've been to the states love the fact that the ToT is finaly being built, even it it is or isn't a cloned ride or that it is "just" the DCA design.... I hapen to like that one, nice and quick, instead of the boring fun-for-only-the-first-time 5th dimension...

[Homer]

I think he meant "why not build it in England instead of Paris?" instead of having two of them.. which in a sense, it's my gripe about HKDL's reason d'etre. If I am not mistaken.. HKDL and TDL are now the two Disneyland parks closest to each other, and while I do not think HKDL will take away business from TDR, I do feel in the long run, HKDL will take western visitors away from TDR in regards to economics.. Cheaper to do HKDL than TDR, especially for Australians and the entire population of China.



But that's exactly what's happening at DLRP right now.. Let's face it, Paris has proven to be a hard market for a DL park. I think it would have done much better in Spain or the UK. What saddens me the most is how demoralized the WDC has become since Euro Disney's financial failure to produce the big profits they had hoped, to the point that now every thing they do is at lower standards than those the creative machine within Disney is capable of. Thank God OLC still provides a way for Disney to shine at it's best. TDS is a living testament of what Disney's imagineers are capable of, and even if TDS is not producinig bigger profits than anticipated, at least it is still making money for OLC, unlike Euro Disney SCA's dilemmas...

Good points. It's really a shame that Disneyland Paris isn't doing very well because it does seem like a beautifully landscaped park with unique attractions. I do agree that France isn't the most ideal place to put a Magic Kingdom in because I doubt many people think of Disneyland first when someone mentions France. The UK probably would have been a much better market population wise. Would the UK's weather effect the park at all? That's what I am wondering.

I also think they made a big mistake of adding a crappy second gate to the resort. I think Disneyland Paris should have been a single park resort until they actually managed to make decent profits like Anaheim or Tokyo or Florida. They should have expanded Disneyland Paris before building another park that is more dead than a movie theatre showing "Glitter." Tokyo was pulling in 17 million visitors a year until they finally opened a second gate but France opened a second gate park while Disneyland Paris was pulling in around 10 million a year. Even Disneyland Anaheim pulled in around 14 million the year before California Adventure opened too. I think Disneyland Paris' problems were mostly made due to poor planning and quick fixes that in the long run fixed nothing.

[Tron 2.0]

First, they were contractually obligated to build a second park by 2002. They met that obligation.

Second, Euro Disney, the company, would be doing fine if it weren't for the fact that the Resort was packed with too many hotel rooms from opening. When you think about it, the fact that the Resort opened with more than two hotels is pretty mind boggling, especially since there was only one Park to visit.

Because of this, they are saddled with too much debt. The Parks are a success, though.

--Mark

[Tron 2.0]

I think Disneyland Paris' problems were mostly made due to poor planning and quick fixes that in the long run fixed nothing.

Actually, Disneyland Paris is probably the best when it comes to not trying to band-aid their parks with quick fixes.

In fact, if there's one thing Disney could have learned from Disneyland Paris in the opening months of California Adventure it would be that quick fixes don't work.

Every addition to Disneyland Paris has been well planned and thought out.

--Mark

[Sir_Cliff]

I must say that one thing that strikes me when looking at pictures of DLP is how gloomy the miserable weather Paris enjoys for a good part of the year makes the park look. Poor weather would be a similar problem in the UK, but the park would be without the central location for continental Europe.

I have to say that, having visited Barcelona in the middle of winter, I think they should have built it in the location near Barcelona that was originally looked at. It would have been less central than Paris, but it would have enjoyed reasonable weather all year round, faced far less cultural resistance and still been reasonably well-connected by air and train to the rest of Europe. From what I understand, those who supported the Spanish location reasoned that Spain was considered a sunny holiday vacation for Europeans in much the same way Florida is for Americans and thus they'd have a better shot at pitching it to tourists as a resort destination.

It was sheer lunacy building that big of a resort outside of a city packed with hotels and tourist attractions and which is just far enough away to be inconvenient for regular travel to and from the city during a multiday vacation. In Barcelona, though, I think they could have pulled off a reasonably-sized resort destination on the basis of the warm climate and Spain's existing reputation for beach/resort style holidays.

[TDLFAN]

First, they were contractually obligated to build a second park by 2002. They met that obligation.

They did. Cheaply. But let me ask... if you are bleeding profusely, would you slash your wrist if you were told to do so by 5pm?? Personally, I feel EuroDisney SCA committed suicide by not revising their contractual requirements. They can have the most beautiful DL park on Earth, and they DO! But I never see the crowds there unless it is a holiday. Those parks are never bursting at the seams with people. That is why adding new rides to WDSP won't change a thing!

Euro Disney, the company, would be doing fine if it weren't for the fact that the Resort was packed with too many hotel rooms from opening. When you think about it, the fact that the Resort opened with more than two hotels is pretty mind boggling, especially since there was only one Park to visit.

Because of this, they are saddled with too much debt. The Parks are a success, though.

--Mark

Well I don't know how much a success the parks are if you take out the expenses of operating the hotels and take in concideration how much the parks alone are raking in versus how much they cost to operate. But in regards to the over abundance of hotels.. that was Eisner's own fault. He pushed for those hotels. He got them. Even before Euro Disney opened.. they knew they were in trouble because the reservation backlog was anemic. However... over building hotels was not the only reason for the financial problems the resort saw right off the gate. Europe's economy too was going through a time of depression in the early 90s if I recall... That pretty much impacted the attendance levels at the resort when it opened.

[Sir_Cliff]

They did. Cheaply. But let me ask... if you are bleeding profusely, would you slash your wrist if you were told to do so by 5pm?? Personally, I feel EuroDisney SCA committed suicide by not revising their contractual requirements. They can have the most beautiful DL park on Earth, and they DO! But I never see the crowds there unless it is a holiday. Those parks are never bursting at the seams with people. That is why adding new rides to WDSP won't change a thing!

I never understood why they didn't revise the contracts rather than pushing ahead with a second park they couldn't afford to build. Surely, considering all the well publicised troubles DLP had been through, they would have been able to get out of this obligation at least in the short term. Who knows, maybe they felt a second park, however crappy, would give the resort a boost?

[Pinocchio85]

Anyone have any new construction pics? I'm curious to see how it is coming along.

[jortlaban]

found these at dlrp.fr