It didn't took long to have reactions to my yesterday's article - and not only from DLP fans - and thanks to new insider infos, i think i find out what is the truth behind all this. The good news is that the situation is probably not as worse as you might think. The bad news is that i've been confirmed again that the plan and the dates are true. But the big difference is in the reasons why. Let me tell you more and if you've not read the part one you must read it first HERE for a better understanding.
The dates indicated in this ten years plan - and i'm talking here essentially about the dates related to DLP future attractions - are in fact the dates at which DLP can expect to build these Star Wars and Marvel lands IF Disneyland Paris has to do self financing without the help of the WDC. In two words, it doesn't mean that the WDC has decided to don't give any more money to DLP for future attractions until 2022, it means that for NOW the WDC can't say when they will be able to do it in the future.
My guess is that what happened some months ago when Disney gave this 1.3 billion euros to DLP is probably something like this: "Listen, we give you 1.3B€ to resolve your debt problem for once and for all as well as 200M€ to build the Ratatouille ride but you need to know that we're going to have huge investments both for Shanghaî Disneyland and at our Disney Parks in the U.S which have priority and for which we still need the approval from the banks and the board. So, from now you will have to self finance the future attractions because we can't tell when we will be able to give you money again for future rides". I wouldn't be surprised if the conversation has been more or less close to this.
What is sure is that Disney Parks in the U.S - as explained yesterday - needs to have the approval from the banks and stockholders for the needed budgets to build the new lands that they need to build at DL and WDW. What is also sure, when you need to ask more billions of dollars to someone, is that you're trying to reduce the "bill". In others terms, right after they gave 1.5B€ to DLP it is hard for Disney Parks to say to the stockholders "hey, we need to give one more billion to the park in Paris and we need too four more billions for SDL and our parks in the U.S". And that's probably why the dates on this ten years plan are dates chosen in the option of a self financing by DLP. In other words, and from what i've been told, it is for DLP the "pessimistic option", the option if the WDC don't change its mind and give no more money to DLP in the next ten years.
The good news is that i've also been told that DLP is working on a much more ambitious plan and that it's almost sure that the park will not stay without any new rides until 2022, specially considering what my insider source can hear here and there, and even if no final decision has been taken yet for new rides after Ratatouille. If you ask me what i think, i think that we won't have to wait until 2022 to have new rides at DLP. May be we'll have to wait until the 25th Ann in 2017 or the year after but from what i feel there should be something new in the next 3-4 years after Ratatouille. So, no need to hold anymore your breath until next decade, you can start to breathe again!
Picture: copyright Max Fan
Well this places yesterdays news in a better context and I hope you are the sources are right.
ReplyDeleteGenerally they are!
ReplyDeleteTo be true: I did'nt have any problem with no new atracctions for several years, when they instead of that clean up the park, fix the broken things and end the bazzillions of temporary "solutions" all around - that starts right before you even come near the parks with this senseless bag-controlling since 10+ years under cheap tents.
ReplyDeleteBut it seems, that this isn't on the list either. We will not be in the park for the next year, after visiting it at minimum once a year since it was build - we had even several annual passes in our past but the last year was such a so big dissapointment in EVERY way (5 visits, inkluding christmas ans Halloween), that we stop visiting the resort, until we know, it becomes better.
il y a quand meme un probleme où suis je le seul à trouver que 200 millions de dollars pour un pauvre dark ride est quand meme excessif ???
ReplyDeleteIl y a obligation pour DLP de passer par la maison mère qui sur-facture toutes les attractions alors forcement l'addition est salée !
Si DLP pouvait passer par un autre prestataire, les couts seraient nettement moins elevés et les parcs pourraient avoir des nouveautés plus souvent ! Je suis tres étonné que les actionnaires ne mettent pas leurs nez la dedans et ne gueulent pas !
Quand on pense que le Space Mountain à l'époque avait couté la totalité du parc Astérix ! Et là, 200 millions de dollars pour Ratatouille, qui sera je pense mignon mais quand même enfin, 200 millions !!!!
C'est exact, les prix de Walt Disney Imagineering sont élevés, mais il n'y a pas pour le parc moyen de faire autrement que de passer par eux, c'est contractuel. Cela dit, pour tout ce qui est gros oeuvre le parc fait appel à des sociétés extérieures qui construisent d'aprés les plans de WDI.
ReplyDeleteAlain. I though 2022 is the year a decision on a 3 park will be made. Do you think this slow in investment signals the end of that dream
ReplyDeleteNo, i think that if they can't build the 3rd park for 2022, they will probably do a new deal with the governent and push the date for a 3rd park.
ReplyDeleteI can't believe people are still thinking about a 3rd park!?
ReplyDeleteDon't you think they first should add one or a few attractions at Disneyland (Indy, Splash, Mermaid), since they haven't build anything new there since 1995!!!
And then maybe building quite a lot of new stuff at WDS so it finally becomes a complete full day park (in stead of a 4-hour park).
Since it might take years (or even decades) before all of this will be accomplished, I really hope DLP won't even think about building a 3rd park ... because then the resort will sink deeper than the Titanic! Let's hope they learned their losing-billion-dollar-lesson from the original WDS-failure!
Thanks for the infos. I guess they could do so much to improve the park without spending that much money. For example: Bring back the organized "Meet and Greet" with Characters in the park !
ReplyDeleteI really don't know the answer to this but do they build these rides as quickly as they can or do they take their time a bit? In other words, could they knock off half a year or more on building time for the Ratatouille ride and if so, would this save any money? At least they got one thing right with this new Ratatouille Parisian quarter - a restaurant (and hopefully a brilliantly themed, good tasting one:) which makes this area, (with the shop - again hopefully stocking something a bit unique?!) a 'break-even' zone cash-wise:)...
ReplyDeletehear hear, 'mr Lime'! I have no desire for a lousy and meagre Marvel Park.
First, solve the problems that exist!! Raise the resorts to a healthy profit-generating machine and don't just spend more and more money...
And, then.... build more rides!!!:)
PS.: I'm hedging bets that they market Ratatouille for 2 years, have a new parade and 'celebrations for 25th and possibly entire new night time show (would be nice not just to recycle 'Dreams' for next 20 years!) then a ride a year or two after.
At least DLP is showing some consistancy by waiting so many years for the next huge investment:
ReplyDelete1995: Space Mountain
+ 7 years
2002: WDS
+ 6 years
2008: Tower of Terror
+ 6 years
2014: Ratatouille
... so the next big thing in 2020?
And until then maybe a few smaller investments (incl. a few updates), like they always have done in the years in between (Honey I Shrunk, Buzz Laser Blast, Crush, Cars, TSPlayland, Dreams).
Considering their consistancy over the past 21 years, maybe it's not DLP or WDC who are to blame for the slow growth of the resort, but in stead it are the growing fan communities whose expectations are simply way to high and just not realistic.
This is NOT a sarcastic remark but a true concern. Because the huge Disney and DLP online fanbase is spreading numerous rumours in a very fast way (typically for the internet). Some of them even about totally unrealistic projects. Maybe if all the fans just look at DLP's history, than a 6 or 7 year wait might be just normal.
Personally I have already accepted that impressive rides like Indy Adventure or Splash Mountain simply won't ever make it to DLP, even if they were once planned (a very long time ago). As long as they can impress us with new technologies in unique rides (which Ratatouille promises to be), then I have no problem with giving up some of the classics (like Indy).
One of the original mistakes Disney made was to charge insane amounts for anything Imagineering did. And obviously, that kind of thinking has never stopped within the WDC -200 million for Ratatouille is simply insane, in the end, the ride will probably look quite similar to "Maus au Chocolat" in Phantasialand, Germany (which is itself a near clone of Toy Story MM, of course) - which was build at a fraction of the budget for Rat.
ReplyDeleteAny organisation who pushes the price tag for a simple Dumbo clone like the magic Carpet spinner at TDS to a reported 34 Mio USD should seriously think about its business ethics...
Well, the problem is that these smaller investments that you mentioned Mr. Lime were mostly terrible, like replacing the great timekeeper for the terrible Buzz, destroying the great SM original theme with mission 2... if they instead add new effects to the FL dark rides, like they will do at DL, or build a nice new small ride, the long wait for the next big investment won't be so bad...
ReplyDeleteI also think that what WDI charges for new attractions is an absurdity! And TWDC may also help DLP to save money and finance itself by reducing the royalties that they take from the Resort. By the way, do you know Alain if TWDC still receive royalties of 6% of DLP revenues?
I don't think though that using another company to build new rides at DLP is an option, because by doing that DLP would not be a Disney Resort anymore.
When it comes to no-Disney people, this is not worket at, nor indirectly for DLP or DC, neither possessing stock assets in the companies, then actually the whole topic is leaving the people indifferent, or .... reverse interested. One big player on the market that "would" disapear, is the excelling moment to redivide the yearly customer attendance cake among the other theme park competitors on the European market.
ReplyDeleteAt national and international meetings, within the IAAPA (I'm an IAAPA consultant menber, I can know it...) everybody always is friendly and polite. But do not mistake this. While shaking hands, we ALL think about just one thing : how can I get more profit, ME, not the other one.
Parks eat or kill each other, if the "good opportunity" is there. So, nobody will say this loud, but MOST hope Disney breaks down ! ... ;-) Not that this nessessary would happen, I'm just telling what the real feelings are, behind the curtains.
Cheers , "Giwreh"