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Disney Company, French Banks Bail Out Disneyland Paris...Again

Disneyland Paris: Bloomberg is reporting that the Walt Disney Company and two French banks have once again bailed out Disneyland Paris, which had been dealing with potentially door-shuttering debt for several years.

From Kenny Hitt
Posted June 9, 2004 at 7:21 PM
Bloomberg is reporting that the Walt Disney Company and two French banks have once again bailed out Disneyland Paris, which had been dealing with potentially door-shuttering debt for several years.

Read the article

What was that about fiscal growth this year, Mister Eisner?


Comments in chronological order. Most recent at the bottom. Scroll down to respond.

From Philip Curds
Posted June 10, 2004 at 11:53 AM
It is important to remember that Disneyland Paris has a complex ownership structure. One of the Saudi royal family members owns most of the park, whilst various financial intermediaries, primarily banks and private equity vehicles own the remainder. I believe Disney Inc. based in New York owns somewhere between 15 and 20 per cent of Disneyland Paris. Thus, although the news is negative from a rating perspective, the property value allows the debt ratios to be far lower than actually forecasted by many news networks. This is because much of the property portfolio outside Paris can be leveraged against the existing long-standing debts acrued from poor ticket sales. Though, it is true, that Disneyland Paris has been a poor performer in the European themepark marketplace. Note, that those themepark operators in Spain, Six Flags and Universal have had far more success than that of Disney in France. This is a combination of poor management, climate differentials, heavy taxation concerns and a lack of visitors purchasing season tickets. Holiday sales have also begun to dry up in recent months. The future unstable but a closure of Disneyland Paris is extremely unlikely in the short to medium term.

From Sergi Cecconi
Posted November 21, 2004 at 11:42 AM
I believe they made a major mistake by placing the park in Paris in the first place. Sure, Paris is unbeatable when it comes to communications and location, but first of all it's always rainy and or freezing. Who wants to spend a day at the park with bad weather? Notice the location of the two American parks : California and Florida. Does that ring a bell ? Another point, the cost of life is extremely expensive in Paris, and that makes British visitors to be able to go to WDW in Florida for about the same price. And then there's also the fact that the French never truly wellcomed the park, feeling it was a bit of an American intrussion, and thus the poor season pass sells. On the other hand the Universal park in Tarragona, spain, (www.universalmediterranea.com) has been a major success. The weather is nice Mediterranean, very much like California, communications may not be as good as in Paris but British folks manage to come here on vacation every year by the thousands (Ryanair, Virgin..) and what's more important : locals would welcome Disney with open arms and all the possible excitement. All in all I think it's time for a good park move.

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