In a rather exciting piece of new, the Walt Disney Company has successfully taken full ownership of Disneyland Paris.
In order to take full ownership, France’s laws require Disney to own more than 95% of the stock. After offering a buyout to existing shareholders that ended last week, Disney reached 97.08% ownership which will now allow them to take full ownership of the entire resort for the first time in its 25 year history. The remaining shareholders will see their shares automatically redeemed at the price of €2 each.
Before the buyout, Disney stated that this deal “affords maximum flexibility to shareholders, addresses the group’s financial needs and reflects its ongoing support for the long-term success of Disneyland Paris”. To this end, Disney said it will support Euro Disney’s recapitalization to the tune of 1.5 billion euros. This follows a 2014 rescue plan in which Disney committed to at least 1 billion euros over 10 years.
Disneyland Paris racked up a net loss of 858 million euros (over $900 million) in 2016 after the terrorist attacks in Paris in late 2015 led to a downturn in the tourism industry across France. Additionally, the European economy hasn’t been been kind to businesses across the continent. In 2015, the company recorded a net loss of 102 million euros. The financial saga of Euro Disney is frequently discussed in most writings about the resort, including the recently released “Building Magic – Disney’s Overseas Theme Parks” and the earlier “Once Upon an American Dream: The Story of Euro Disneyland“.
I hope this means that they will redo the Studios park from its original theme of concrete.
SENSATIONNEL… Passionnant… Je ne peux guère contenir mon excitation…Cela résoudra certainement tous les problèmes qui ont été en proie à ce parc depuis son ouverture. Mieux vaut tard que jamais, n’est-ce pas? Qu’en est-il d’une attraction Brave Little Toaster aussi?
This is fantastic news for me as a DLRP fan. What should have been solved 20 years ago is finally happening now. But it is not over yet because the AMF in France has to support the takeover. But I guess that is just a formality now. Cheers to a bright future for this beautiful but often neglected resort!
Thank goodness for that. It’s such a shame that it began to get so neglected and hopefully it can now be updated and returned to it’s original glory!
Not a minute too soon. My husband and I have been going to Paris for nearly 15 years and decided to go to Disneyland Paris the last two days of our trip last month. The entire experience was so bad I literally lost my will to live. There is a Long list of The bad experiences we shared and I have been preparing a major review for trip advisor giving the park the worst rating possible. But now that I have heard that Disney will bring the magic back to Paris Disneyland then I will hold off my review. Disney will have to start repairing the Disneyland resort. The country has not been good and it’s caretaking . Look closely you can see where the wood is rotted. And I might suggest having exchange students from America go over there because even though someone can speak for languages it doesn’t always convey the right meeting. We did ask for a US representative while we were there and they laughed at us. Even when the manager gave us an unlimited fast pass after my husband shared the problems we were having that didn’t even work. Had we not paid for four star accommodations at Disneyland resort we would’ve checked out and gone to the real Disneyland and headed right for Paris. I work with marketing and if I could help Walt Disney World in anyway bring the magic back to Disneyland Paris I would offer my services. Disney is our history. Our American history.
I’m not surprised they laughed at you, asking for a “US representitive”. Disneyland Paris isn’t a US embassy. Europeans have a joke about Americans being very entitled when they’re abroad and you clearly fitted that stereotype precisely. No wonder they laughed. Why on earth would you ask for a “US representative” at a theme park in France is beyond me.
Yeah, but ask any European and they will tell you that the French are rude to everyone dispite country of origin. Read reviews on trip advisor you will see comments from Brits as well commenting on the rude employees.
With a company called Disneyland I would expect Disney to have an American Representive. We were given the impression that it was owned by Disney.
I burst out laughing when I read this post – no wonder Americans have such a bad reputation!
I went to the Louis Vuitton store in NYC and asked for a French representative because the American employees could not pronounce the brand right.
I went to Mcdonalds and asked for a French Representative because my French fries weren’t crispy enough!
A US representative?!?!? Hahahaha. Well, I would have laughed too. You probably gave them a story to tell each other in the bar that night anyway. Entitled and uncultured Americans abroad. Fantastic.
“…convey the right meeting.”? Yes, hard to convey the right meaning when you don’t use English words properly to someone of a different language. It was probably hard for them to translate when you use incorrect words.
And if you want to help with marketing, apply online to work for them. People are pretty aware of their brand. Seriously, what made you think that they would have a US representative there? Because, “Our American history”?
And you would have left the resort to fly to California to go to Disneyland and then after, fly back to Paris? You are why Europeans don’t like us.
I wish that Disneyland Paris will add a soarin attraction and tron light cycle power run coaster in discoveryland.
Don’t jump the gun. They still have to apply to the AMF for the mandatory takeover, it could still get rejected! 20th of June we will definitely know.
My husband and I went there for our 25th wedding anniversary and have never been back. It was horrible.
In 2019 we will celebrate our 50th anniversary. Maybe now we will go back. Especially if you send us money for plane tickets and the rest.
I’m not surprised that Disneyland Paris has had attendance problems since opening. Why in the world would you choose to build in a country that is notoriously hostile to American culture. They should have built in Spain which was the other option on the table. Better weather and friendlier people would have gone a long way to draw tourists from other parts of Europe.
Every time I’ve been to Spain it’s poured with rain. Every time I’ve been to DLP it’s been dry, bright, sunny and warm.
Coulda, woulda, shoulda.
Of course, now in hindsight it would make more sense to put the park in Spain. But turn back time 30 years. Barcelona wasn’t the tourist hot spot of today, cheap flights across Europe didn’t exist, the concept of a theme park resort was unknown to Europe (cue financial catastrophe with the DLP hotels). So at least you needed a destination that lots of people could reach by car within reasonable driving hours – and people from countries with enough money to spare for a visit to Disneyland: France, UK, Germany, Switzerland, BeNeLux, etc. And don’t forget Paris as a top tourist destination for US citizens – so lots of potential guests around the corner atop of that.
So besides the climate and appeal of a park near the coast, Spain was simply too poor and too remote to be considered less risky than France.
Brilliant news. Hopefully it’ll mean DLP won’t be looked down on as a ‘second class’ park by so many people any more.
I cannot understand that so many people are complaining about DLP. It is *not* a copy of any of the American parks. I’ve just been in Anaheim and even there, the Railroad, the Monorail and the Mark Twain were not running. I had to experience two break downs (Indiana Jones and Cars) and in California Adventure the remodelled Tower Hotel was closed. The rest of California Adventure is nice, but it is definitely *no* park in which I got a real Disney feeling… And the “best” of all: It cost $174 for both parks for one day! And no compensation was offered for the closed attractions…
DLP costs 81€ which is ok for what is offered, in my opinion. I also never experienced any unfriendly cast member, so I really don’t know what many are complaining about.
On the other side, it’s true that DLP has been treated as the “ugly stepchild” in the past regarding renovations or new attractions. I just hope this will get better now that it’s in the hands of WDC …
We were recently there in March. The only complaints I have are with the hotel resorts… but I am not impressed with the standard of clean and upkeep in Europe to begin with. The staff was very friendly. I felt safe because security checkpoints were stationed before Downtown Disney and the Parks… so everything was enclosed. The food could have been better. The park was clean and inviting. I would go back tomorrow if I could.
We just got back from two full days at Disneyland Paris to celebrate my husband’s 56th birthday. We are big Disney fans (and shudder, Americans). We both grew up in the west part of the US and as children spent many happy visits to Disneyland. Throughout our 30 years of marriage, we have spent two major anniversaries with Disney (Anaheim and Orlando). So we are not Disney “virgins.” This was our first visit to Disney Paris and we loved it! Sure some of the rides broke down. But we were given fastpasses to come back. Luckily in every case (it happened to three rides – Buzz Lightyear, Big Thunder Mountain, and Ratatouille) they were up and running on our second go round. We loved the differences in Disney with a French accent. The Jules Verne/Steampunk inspired Discoveryland enchanted us. And really enjoyed the Discovery and Liberty arcades. Of course it’s not the same but it was awesome in its own version. We are constantly amazed at the number of people that travel and expect every other location on the planet to be just like where they came from. We enjoy the difference. Or as the French might say, “Viva la difference!”