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Disneyland Paris: General Discussion

Benzin said:
If the park hadn't been the absolute disaster it became as it opened maybe rides that were meant to be built (Indiana Jones & Fantasyland dark rides) would have happened. Granted those would've been clones more than likely.

@Benzin can you please elaborate further on which rides became nothing more than a concept.I like hearing about the history and unbuilt attractions of Disneyland Paris.Providing in depth information on the unbuilt rides and attractions would really facinate me. I have heard briefly about a Little Mermaid Dark Ride that was proposed to be built opposite The Lady & The Tramp restaurant in the Fantasyland section of The Magic Kingdom Park. As for Frontier Land I have heard about an unbuilt clone of The Splash Mountain flume ride. All I know about the clone is that it would have been built adjacent to the now derelict Woody’s Roundup Village. I also know that if Splash Mountain project ever occurred the Frontierland railway station would have been relocated. Finally for the indoor Jungle Cruse like Jeep attraction that would have stood in Adventure Land. I know very little about this cancelled ride. What I do know is that the environment would have been similar to the Jungle Cruse at other Disney parks. The sole major difference was planned to be that you would explore the Jungle by Jeep rather than by boat.
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Unsurprisingly visitor numbers are way down at DLP right now, apparently the parks are operating on a cap of 25,000 per day - this has not been met once since reopening and crowds are light.

Currently there are three onsite hotels open with the Disneyland Hotel due to open in September. However this has now been pushed back to December.

Furthermore Cheyenne will be reclosing over the winter, and Sequoia Lodge won’t reopen until at least May 2021.

Tough times for DLP right now.

 
This whole series of events must feel like such a kick in the teeth to DLP, so soon after finally seeming to find its footing somewhat after the Walt Disney Company buyout in 2017; I really do feel for them.

Sadly, I think this has impacted parks that rely on international tourism far more profoundly than theme parks that draw from a more regional audience, as I know that parks like PortAventura and the Florida parks are suffering from similar issues.
 
Matt N said:
This whole series of events must feel like such a kick in the teeth to DLP, so soon after finally seeming to find its footing somewhat after the Walt Disney Company buyout in 2017; I really do feel for them.

Sadly, I think this has impacted parks that rely on international tourism far more profoundly than theme parks that draw from a more regional audience, as I know that parks like PortAventura and the Florida parks are suffering from similar issues.
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Not wanting to go off subject but PortAventura appears to be doing well at the moment, they've just opened two more hotels bringing the current total to 5 (Hotel Gold River, Hotel PortAventura, Hotel 'The Callaghan's, Hotel Colorado Creek and Hotel Mansion de Lucy) with only Hotel El Paso and Hotel Caribe being closed. Plus construction beginning on Hotel Colorado Creek's expansion and a new attraction.

It does appear to be worrying times for Disneyland though. Most parks at the moment are on 30-40% capacity and selling out so if Disneyland are on 25% and not hitting that then it's slightly concerning, especially considering they're now re-closing hotels too.
 
siralgenon said:
Not wanting to go off subject but PortAventura appears to be doing well at the moment, they've just opened two more hotels bringing the current total to 5 (Hotel Gold River, Hotel PortAventura, Hotel 'The Callaghan's, Hotel Colorado Creek and Hotel Mansion de Lucy) with only Hotel El Paso and Hotel Caribe being closed. Plus construction beginning on Hotel Colorado Creek's expansion and a new attraction.

It does appear to be worrying times for Disneyland though. Most parks at the moment are on 30-40% capacity and selling out so if Disneyland are on 25% and not hitting that then it's slightly concerning, especially considering they're now re-closing hotels too.
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I thought PortAventura had slashed opening hours due to low attendance?

Anyway, I never knew the park was only on 25% capacity; very worrying, if that’s not being hit... at least they have Disney backing them financially, I suppose.
 
Matt N said:
I thought PortAventura had slashed opening hours due to low attendance?

Anyway, I never knew the park was only on 25% capacity; very worrying, if that’s not being hit... at least they have Disney backing them financially, I suppose.
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It's not due to low attendance, the parks are full on most days, it's just with no shows and limited capacity there's no need to keep PortAventura Park open as late as 10pm so it got shortened to 8:30pm. Which I *think* is still one of the latest opening times I Europe at the moment.
 
Trouble with Disney is it depends heavily on foreign tourists who are not travelling. Unlike more regional parks who are getting a boost from staycationing. Even PA which has a strong UK visitor presence still takes a large proportion of its visitors from domestic audiences.
 
I imagine Disneyland Paris does very well from British tourists, I know when I’ve been it’s clear there are a lot of British people, compared to other European theme parks.

And with the new Travel quarantine restrictions I can’t see anyone from the UK visiting or even planning to visit anytime soon.
 
I think Disney was always going to be hit hard by this pandemic. It's a lot of money to visit and more of a vacation than a theme park trip. People aren't travelling in big numbers and don't want to wear masks all day in a place like Disney. It's supposed to be a magical experience and it's probably the least magical it's ever been through no fault of its own.

The capping of the numbers is interesting too. UK parks are supposed to be doing this too but judging by queue times I'd say this soon when out of the window.
 
The likes of Alton Towers are 100% capping numbers.

Alton usually accommodates 20 to 25,000 guests a day in the last week of the summer holidays.

This year? Half that.

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AstroDan said:
The likes of Alton Towers are 100% capping numbers.

Alton usually accommodates 20 to 25,000 guests a day in the last week of the summer holidays.

This year? Half that.

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The only time I’ve known them hit capacity in recent years is Fireworks 2016. Even if Alton Towers is only letting in the rumoured 12,000 guests, that is still higher than what an average day in 2019 was (I think someone calculated that to be about 10,000 guests). I’m not saying that’s a bad thing, because distancing can clearly still be pulled off with this number on park, and more guests in will also mean that the park recovers more quickly financially, but I don’t think they are capping numbers to quite as much of an extent as some other parks abroad.
 
AstroDan said:
Rubbish.

I've just done a 2 week road trip through France, Germany and the Netherlands. Want me to share my photos from some of the parks there?



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I was under the impression that quite a few parks in Europe were pretty heavily capped attendance-wise in comparison to Towers, but as you’ve actually been to the parks, I’ll take your word for it!
 
Matt N said:
I was under the impression that quite a few parks in Europe were pretty heavily capped attendance-wise in comparison to Towers, but as you’ve actually been to the parks, I’ll take your word for it!
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Indeed some were, such as Europa-Park and Walibi Holland. However others were clearly not capping attendance and basically running as normal.
 
AstroDan said:
The likes of Alton Towers are 100% capping numbers.

Alton usually accommodates 20 to 25,000 guests a day in the last week of the summer holidays.

This year? Half that.

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To be fair I didn't state which UK parks and I have it on good authority that Blackpool has been way too crowded in the last few weeks. Towers luckily is huge so they can spread crowds more easily.

You do have to feel sorry for these parks, both abroad and at home, though as some won't be capping numbers in fear of going out of business. Which is worse? Breaking covid rules or losing their entire business? Neither is good but you can see why some will be allowing more in.

What a S****** of a year it has been eh?
 
Benjsh said:
To be fair I didn't state which UK parks and I have it on good authority that Blackpool has been way too crowded in the last few weeks. Towers luckily is huge so they can spread crowds more easily.

You do have to feel sorry for these parks, both abroad and at home, though as some won't be capping numbers in fear of going out of business. Which is worse? Breaking covid rules or losing their entire business? Neither is good but you can see why some will be allowing more in.

What a S****** of a year it has been eh?
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I think the larger parks have a slightly easier job in terms of welcoming guests.

Phantasialand was pretty horrible to be honest - it didn't feel any different to normal and that park is very small. Europa-Park was definitely quieter - you could tell that by the smaller queues for food, rides - everything. Efteling was also quieter than normal, but the park is so huge it just soaks people in.

The Puy du Fou didn't feel much quieter either.

I think the Disney relying on international guests thing is totally accurate. Parc Astérix are probably doing less badly.
 
AstroDan said:
I think the larger parks have a slightly easier job in terms of welcoming guests.

Phantasialand was pretty horrible to be honest - it didn't feel any different to normal and that park is very small. Europa-Park was definitely quieter - you could tell that by the smaller queues for food, rides - everything. Efteling was also quieter than normal, but the park is so huge it just soaks people in.

The Puy du Fou didn't feel much quieter either.

I think the Disney relying on international guests thing is totally accurate. Parc Astérix are probably doing less badly.
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Take away parades, fireworks and change the meet and greet regulations and suddenly Disney seems very very overpriced if you didn't think it was anyway which plenty obviously do.

I can see them changing tactics soon and saying to hell with it. They must be losing shed loads. I know they are the richest operator on earth by far but they must be bleeding big style by now.
 
Benjsh said:
Take away parades, fireworks and change the meet and greet regulations and suddenly Disney seems very very overpriced if you didn't think it was anyway which plenty obviously do.
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Yep, I think Florida and Paris are going to struggle for a while if they can't offer the mass gathering experiences of firework shows and parades. Particularly as so much of the focus is on seeing the front of the castle for the projection show elements. Its not like Disney to cut ticket prices (its usually the hotel, dining or overall package that gets discounted), but I think there will be some kind of discounting needed soon.
Once California state feels they can re-open more I think that park will bounce-back easier as it is slightly more regional and less reliant on the long-distance visitors that Paris and Florida usually get.
 
During the quarterly call, Disney stated that WDW at least is making a net positive contribution, so in Florida at least they’re still making money. Given those parks seem to be rather empty, DLP could quite feasibly also be making money.

The debt repayments might scupper that though.
 
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