[BDANtheman29]

PARIS, France --As Mickey Mouse gets ready to mark his 75th birthday, his parent company's European operations has put a dampener on the celebrations.

France's Euro Disney reported a 56 million euro ($66 million) annual net loss Monday for the year ending September 2003, up from 33 million euros ($38 million) the year before.

The theme park operator's loss was smaller than financial analysts' forecasts of 59 million euros, according to Reuters.

But its operating profit fell to 132 million euros ($155 million) from 175 million euros ($206 million) a year ago.

The company, which is 39 percent owned by The Walt Disney Company and 17 percent by the Saudi billionaire investor Prince Alwaleed, opened a second theme park outside Paris in March last year -- to complement the original opened in 1992.

But the combined business has been hit by weak economic growth in Europe and a drop in tourism.

The second park failed to meet visitor expectations, with overall visitor numbers falling from 13.1 million a year ago to 12.4 million.

The parent company's iconic symbol Mickey Mouse celebrates his 75th birthday Tuesday.

The character made his debut in the film Steamboat Willie in 1928. The cartoon helped launch The Walt Disney Company, now a multi-billion dollar global media company.
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From CNN.com...
Euro Disney loses its magic
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Find this article at:
http://www.cnn.com/2003/BUSINESS/11/...ney/index.html

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[10 min to wdw]

wow they have got to get attendance up there somehow. thanks for the article.

[BDANtheman29]

I don't know how Disney can pull out of this one.

Brendan

[iluvstitch]

This is truly upsetting. The Euro Disney park is one of the most gorgeous of all and still it fails to draw in the numbers to make a profit!

[effect4_disney]

Ahh it can't close! lol I still haven't been!

Silly Europeans.. they should learn to love Disney and go there everyday, if they don't already! lol

I hope Disney can find SOME way to pull up the attendance, but if it's been doing so bad recently, I doubt it'll get better

[BDANtheman29]

I doubt Disney will close it. They have invested so much time and money, and if they cut that many jobs, a mutiny would rise in Europe against Disney. I think they should add lots of new rides and attractions, and see what happens. It worked well for them at WDW and DLR, so why can't it work across the pond?

Brendan

[Pirate]

Wow, this is horrible!! I love France and I love Disney, very sad indeed!! Well, I hope sooner or later things will pick back up again. I would hate to see this happen, especially at one of the most beautiful countries in the world!! Very mad!!!

[10 min to wdw]

BDANtheman29 said: I doubt Disney will close it. They have invested so much time and money, and if they cut that many jobs, a mutiny would rise in Europe against Disney. I think they should add lots of new rides and attractions, and see what happens. It worked well for them at WDW and DLR, so why can't it work across the pond?

Brendan

well they added a new park already to euro disney (studios) and that didn't seem to help s I'm not sure dumping millions of dollars into the park is the answer. I'm not sure what the answer is aside from maybe making it the largest disney park around and I mean double or triple the size of wdw. then maybe that wold do it but thats a large risk of capital that alot of disney stockholders wouldn't like, along with the fact eisner wants the quick buck and that would be him giving money for a long time.

[minnie*mickey]

i think the main problem is, (and this is just my opinion) i may be wrong but, some Europeans dont really like Americans? From what i know and have heard is mostly British and American people travel to Disneyland Paris and tour there. The big issue in the very begining with this park was some French giving it the snub, so i think in acutallity this park will never become as successful as the other parks will ever do, but again this is my opinion i can be very wrong

[BDANtheman29]

10 min to wdw said:well they added a new park already to euro disney (studios) and that didn't seem to help s I'm not sure dumping millions of dollars into the park is the answer. I'm not sure what the answer is aside from maybe making it the largest disney park around and I mean double or triple the size of wdw. then maybe that wold do it but thats a large risk of capital that alot of disney stockholders wouldn't like, along with the fact eisner wants the quick buck and that would be him giving money for a long time.

Well, look at Epcot, for example. Before they added things like HISTA, Test Track, and the newly added Mission: Space with Soarin' in the near future, Epcot has become a more well-rounded park. Before all of this, Epcot had a limited audience but has expanded to include thrill seekers, such as myself. If this were done at DLP, more people could be willing to go to the parks. By expansion, I mean adding one ride at a time and go from there.

Brendan

[DouglasE]

Obviously, the problem is attendance. The fairytale package did WONDERS for Walt Disney World in Florida. I have read trip report after trip report that definitely indicates this. Why not introduce the fairytale package for Disneyland Paris? Nothing like a deal to bring people out of the woodwork. If they play their cards right and put their best foot forward while the package is in effect, then people will be hooked and will want to return. Also, they will spread the word about their wonderful vacation to all their friends and family. The fairytale package was buy four nights accomodations and get three days free. I believe you got a seven day Ultimate Park Hopper Pass, but only paid for five, or something like that. At least that's how I recalled it. I couldn't go during the time period it was for, but...waddaya think about this as a possible aid in Disneyland Paris' struggle?

[palosheights]

i do remember the boycott of disneyland paris a few years back and that didn't help.

yes getting more people in the park would help trememdously and offering 50 pct off would bring people in and you would make money on the food/souvenoirs etc.

i know whenever i'm at wdw there are more british at wdw than americans. this must cost them twice as much to go to wdw than paris, why?????

andy

[pluto]

effect4_disney said:Ahh it can't close! lol I still haven't been!

Silly Europeans.. they should learn to love Disney and go there everyday, if they don't already! lol

Hey I love disney so Much,,, So MUCH that i would even work for them for free if it ment i could live out a dream.. I live in Europe. UK to be exact.. I want to be there everyday, i cant.. Over in Europe. I find alot of people like myself who really would love to go to Disney but they cannot afford it.. Then the people who can afford it Dont Go cose They either Dont like Disney or they go Else where,.

So i will openly Say that i am offended by that statment.

[effect4_disney]

Wow, sorry I didn't mean to offend anyone by what I said.. I didn't mean literally.. I understand that not everyone could go, and I know that I myself can only afford to go like, once every two years.

I wasn't thinking about it in a financial situation or anything like that, I was just being funny I guess. Sorry that I offended you.

[Gwendolyn]

The biggest problem for Disneyland Paris is that the castmembers and most rides are in French. Ok, most of the rides are multi-langual, but some of them are only in French.

The French language is only spoken in Belgium (southern part), Switzerland and in France and some other smaller regions. But the French are really chauvinistic, so most of them will never visit Disneyland Paris because it's American.

I really love Disneyland Paris, it's soooooooooo beautifull! I think I was born in the wrong country, I should have been born in Disneyland LOL

I have read somewhere that the reason why DLP is now in dept again, is that there are build more (non-disney) hotels in the region.

I can remember that there were only hotels around Paris so you had to take a long RER ride to DLP. Now there are also hotels in the region of Marne-la-Valeé (where DLP is), so you only have to take one or two RER stops.

It's a pity, the Disney hotels ar all so beautifull, even Hotel Santa Fé