Disneyland Park, originally Disneyland, is the first of two theme parks built at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, California, opened on July 17, 1955. Having achieved success in America and Hong Kong, they thought France would be an easy nut to crack. But it wasn't!
In this post, know about the 10 points where Disneyland miscalculated their entry into France.
Disney failed to ask the people of France what they thought about Disney park being set up in Paris. Many French people thought that this was a capitalistic invasion of their beautiful countryside by America.
CEO asked to use only English language while conversing in meetings
Disney’s cast member guidelines prohibited facial hair, jewelries and certain kinds of hairstyles which angered French people. They thought Disney was trying to take away their liberty.
Out of three theme parks, all over the budget 100 million dollars set up before Disneyland came to France, 2 went bankrupt and 1 was under financial ruin. But Disney was overconfident about its success in France.
Eisner, The CEO had a very high stake in Disney, of about 49%. Rest was in the hands of French Government.
French Government started dropping hints that they won’t allow a full invasion of Disneyland into France.
During the construction phase, there were increased protests from the public. They throwed eggs, ketchups and waved ‘Mickey Go Home’ signs at certain events.
Fireworks during night shows at Disney bothered the nearby village people
Disney banned wine from the French theme park. (And wines are very very integral to the French culture)
The name ‘Euro Disneyland’ did not go well with the people of Europe. Eisner later stated that ‘Euro’ for Americans is Glamorous but for Europeans it means Business, Commerce and Currency and hence it faced lots of backlashes.
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