Defunctland: The Failure of Euro Disneyland

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Defunctland travels to just outside of Paris, France to discuss the failure of Disney's biggest gamble, Euro Disney Resort.

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Music:
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License

[EnsignGeneric]

I think the French might have forgiven everything wrong with Euro Disney if Michael Eisner had simply agreed never to try to speak French ever again.

[mrf]

Did Disney really think that banning wine from a theme park based in France was going to go over well?

[vanilloia]

8:20 reminds me of when walmart came to germany and tried to ban labor unions, employees dating, as well as implementing greeters and daily chants of 'Walmart!Walmart!" at morning meetings, only to be met with a very stern "we don't do that here" by germans.

[ZGryphon]

There's something very fitting about Euro Disneyland's opening having been disrupted in part by a French railroad strike. _All_ significant historical events in western Europe have to be complicated by a French railroad strike. It's a rule.

[BarographSoup]

the fact kevin made subtitles exclusively in french, and the fact I've seen no one comment on it, is probably a bigger injustice than Euro Disney ever was. Kevin is a comedic mastermind who can make the existance of normal, uncomedic captions hilarious

[BriAngel]

long ago, the 3 disney parks lived together in harmony. then, everything changed when Michael Eisner attacked.

[ApocK]

"My only fear is that we're too successful" is the shareholder meeting equivalent of saying "my main weakness is that I work too hard."

[The.Culture.Consultant]

The way Eisner's voice cracks at 'EuroDisney' has something eerily foreboding, knowing now how much a stone it was around his neck.

[averynelson]

Here's another problem: Europe HAS castles. Everywhere. There are so many of them that the general public response to some of them is, "oh yeah, that place. Eh." So while a European-style castle/palace would be very special in America (which has no European architecture older than about 300 years) and in Japan (which has a distinct architectural culture), it would just come across as an annoying parody of the landscape in Europe.

Edit: it's been three years. My perspective has grown and changed. Some people agree, some people disagree. Overall it's a fun conversation and nuanced in so many ways.

[jamieaiken]

“We didn’t come in and say okay, we’re going to put a baguette and beret on Mickey Mouse.”
*CUT TO*

I choked on my water. Dammit Kevin.

[EccentricGentelman]

When I was a boy, I and my family went to Euro Disneyland right after it opened. I was so excited by the slogan "Come and meet your favourite cartoon characters."
Well I went all over that park and I couldn't find Bugs Bunny anywhere!

[CaitieLou]

Disney: "We uphold the individual freedoms and liberties of the American spirit!"
Also Disney: "NO AFROS OR ASYMMETRICAL HAIRSTYLES"

[HulkSMjr]

“We didn’t come in and say okay, we’re going to put a beret and a Baguette on Mickey Mouse.”
*Insert Mickey Mouse With Beret And A Baguette*
You made me like the video

[artemiswolf]

“It would be like going to a production of Hamlet and everyone looking different than what you expected...”

You mean The Lion King?

[johanwittens]

They made three big miscalculations with Eurodisney:

1. While Disney was common knowledge in Europe, Disney is based on original European fairy tales, and the Disney version was always somewhat seen as the Americanised, commercialised, dumbed down version of that European heritage. Especially on the continent this was true. So many were not really interested in and/or somewhat appalled at the blatant commercialism and attempt to sell us back our heritage. The fairy tales I grew up with were the original, way darker and somewhat scarier ones than the Disney version. And so Disney, especially Disneyland, even as a kid felt incredibly fake, censored and even childish.

2. Many European countries already had lively, vibrant, diverse and locally inspired cartoons, strips and even theme parks already in place. But this was especially true in France and its surrounding countries, where an extremely extensive comic strip industry already existed and still exists to this day. France already had Parc Asterix and others, the Dutch had the Efteling, the Germans phantasialand, and so on. Even little Belgium where I live, already had multiple quite good attraction parks like Walibi, Bobbejaanland, etc. and quite a lot of people loved these parks and grew up with them. So Disneyland often seemed very much like arrogant American imposters trying to sell the "fake" Americanised fairy tale. Disneyland seemed to think they were expanding into a vacuum, when they most definitely weren't, especially not in France or on the continent.

I often think Disneyland would have been far more successful in the UK, since the Brits have always been far closer to American culture than the continent.

3. And lastly, while in the USA a fairytale castle, fantasy scenery, the small town USA and other Disney style scenery might seem quant, in Europe it feels incredibly, massively fake. Every city or town in Europe has ancient buildings, churches, castles and so on. Every day you can walk through ACTUAL medieval or ancient scenery. I can literally walk past buildings 1000y old every day, and there's an actual original castle right in the city center you can see and visit. And this is true all over Europe. So this makes the Disney fake scenery look and feel EXTREMELY fake and makes it look and feel very much like a cheap kitchy imitation. Why on earth would you go there if it feels like a cheap knock off? Especially when there's other parks that are at least as good in their rides, often way cheaper, and don't feel as fake to a European?

Disneyland tried to copy and paste an American style park to Europe, but this was a flawed mindset from the start.

[seanmcmurphy]

I always thought Eurodisney was a weird idea. In addition to the castle, most of Disney’s animated movies, which are the themes for the Disneyland rides, are based on European fairy tales. So Disney is trying to sell back to Europeans a shallow, cartoon version of their own culture, interpreted by Americans. Who thought that would be a winner?

[jonestowndixiecups]

My Dad took my little brother and I to Euro Disney when we were kids. I think I was 8 and my little brother was 5? It rained for the entire trip... One of my very best memories ever was riding Big Thunder Mountain five times in a row and getting absolutely drenched and then going back to the Western themed hotel and eating junk food for dinner while Dad dried our shoes off on the radiator. Thanks Dad. Love you forever.

[infamyinfamy]

I remember this from a British pov. When Disney first announced they were looking at building a park in Europe, everyone, and I mean everyone, assumed it would be built in the South of Spain. Great year round weather. A huge existing tourist base, from France, Germany, UK, Ireland and Scandanavia. Comparatively low wages. When they announced Paris, no one could believe it. They have the same weather as London, wet, grey and chilly except for the middle of summer! I just assumed there'd been some backhanders from the French government, but if even they weren't keen, I don't know what caused this decision.

[xcoder]

As a European, there's only one thing I can say: No matter where they had build the park, any place would have been a better choice than France for so many reason.

[emilyinwards]

My dad still has a t shirt from Euro Disney, refuses to let it get worn out because he can't replace it. This was super interesting as someone who's only grown up knowing Disneyland Paris and thinking it was a success