BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

Euro Disney Planning Blockbuster New Attraction For 2024

Following
This article is more than 6 years old.

Theme park operator Euro Disney has revealed that it plans to open “a major new attraction” in 2024 as part of a $2.4 billion (€2.1 billion) investment drive following the takeover of the French resort by media giant The Walt Disney Company.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the resort on the outskirts of Paris. It is Europe’s most-visited tourist attraction with 13.4 million guests streaming through its ornate iron gates last year. The complex comprises seven on-site hotels, two convention centres, a 27-hole golf course and two parks – the Walt Disney Studios and the fairytale-themed flagship Disneyland Paris.

Their parent company Euro Disney was listed on the Euronext exchange until June when Disney took full ownership of the company in a $2.30 (€2) a share offer.

As part of its preparation for the takeover Euro Disney produced a new ten-year forecast to 2026 and its filings state that “capital expenditure included in the business plan represents a total of €2.1 billion over the period. This includes in particular the renovation of two hotels and attractions, as well as a major new attraction in 2024.”

The capital expenditure was revealed in British newspaper the Daily Express last week but the plan for the new attraction has only just come to light.

Euro Disney

Euro Disney has not publicly announced the new attraction and the details of it are not yet known. It was disclosed in the cash tender offer document which was issued in connection with the takeover and there is good reason for this. The documents considered Euro Disney’s future plans and likely performance in order to evaluate the company’s share value for the de-listing.

They add that the capex “includes major investments in hotel rehabilitations at the Hotel New York and the Disneyland Hotel, as well as Marvel-themed attractions and entertainment at the Walt Disney Studios.”

In 2009 Disney paid $4 billion to buy Marvel Entertainment, creator of super heroes such as Spider-Man and the Hulk, and its use of the characters in theme parks is subject to certain restrictions due to an existing agreement with NBC Universal. This applies to Walt Disney World in Florida and Tokyo Disneyland but Disneyland Paris is exempt and it is making the most of it.

Last month it announced a special ‘Marvel Summer of Super Heroes’ season for 2018 which will feature meet and greets with characters and new shows. One is understood to be a replacement for CinéMagique, the Hollywood-themed show in the Studios park which shuttered in March.

“We will have shows that explore the thrilling, spectacular dimension of the Marvel universe, as well as interactive entertainment offers that will allow guests to meet their favorite super heroes,” said Moira Smith, senior show director for Disneyland Paris.

Its Hotel New York, which is currently styled on the big apple, is even getting a heroic makeover. Concept designs show that it will feature models of super hero costumes in display cases and walls adorned with artwork based on Marvel comics when it re-opens in 2020 as ‘Hotel New York – The Art of Marvel’. It is likely that this will be just the start.

Disney

One rumoured development is that the Disneyland Paris Tower of Terror freefall ride will get an update based on Marvel’s blockbuster Guardians of the Galaxy movie series. The first instalment was released in 2014 and stars Chris Pratt as the leader of an outer-space super hero team which includes a talking tree and a raccoon voiced by Bradley Cooper. They team up to deliver an ancient artefact to the Collector, an inter-galactic kleptomaniac played by Oscar-winner Benicio Del Toro, and of course it doesn’t go to plan.

The sequel premièred in April and sees the team reunite to take on a living planet played by eighties icon Kurt Russell. It is a stand out performance which makes an almost omnipotent character seem down-to-earth thanks to Mr Russell’s sincerity. Without it, the character and the movie would have failed to grab the audience’s attention.

Instead, both movies have been commercial and critical successes. It is testimony to the inspired casting choices, skilful writing and direction by one of the movie industry’s brightest talents, James Gunn.

Mr Gunn began his career as a screen-writer at independent studio Troma but has quickly risen to become a Hollywood heavyweight thanks to his treatment of the Guardians series.

Most sci-fi movies have plot holes aplenty but no stone is left unturned in the tight and snappy Guardians scripts. Then there’s the characters which are far from generic spacemen and aliens. The movies take them seriously but never in a self-indulgent or overly reverent way.

The key to this is that each character represents a distinct and familiar personality type from the quiet and brooding heavy to the stylish and aloof go-getter who cuts to the chase and, of course, the out going have-a-go-hero. The raccoon is the boastful brains behind the team who speaks its mind, even at the most inopportune times.

They are personalities that anyone can relate to and it draws viewers into the story so much that by the end of the movies you forget that most of the team are aliens. Music is cleverly used to drive the plot forward and lure in older viewers as the hero was abducted by aliens in the 1980s with his only connection to earth being a Walkman.

The films are filled with disco classics like ‘Ain’t No Mountain High Enough’ by Marvin Gaye and the Jackson 5’s ‘I Want You Back’ which gives even more for an adult audience to relate to. Adding to the atmosphere, the action takes place against a psychedelic backdrop which evokes imagery made famous by legendary British sci-fi artist Angus McKie in the pages of 1980s fantasy magazine ‘Heavy Metal’.

It has paid off as the two Guardians movies have grossed a total of $1.6 billion worldwide according to industry analyst Box Office Mojo. Given the far-fetched subject matter they could have easily been busts if they hadn’t had Mr Gunn’s care and attention and the same is true of the theme park attraction.

Fans of Disney parks are renowned for their die-hard support of classic rides so updates are rarely well-received. ‘Guardians of the Galaxy – Mission: BREAKOUT!’ had its work cut out for it as it replaced one of the most beloved rides in the Disney California Adventure park.

The Tower of Terror was a 199 feet terracotta-colored skyscraper designed to look like a faded Art Deco hotel. It was meticulously themed to the sci-fi television series the Twilight Zone with a queue winding through an overgrown garden into a cobweb-covered lobby complete with luggage standing at the reception. An old TV showed an ominous black and white video in the style of a Twilight Zone episode where guests mysteriously disappeared in the hotel’s elevator.

No sooner had that set the scene than you got strapped into seats in a cage-like elevator which rocketed up a shaft in pitch darkness. An impressive effect then made it appear as if stars were surrounding the lift before the big shock: giant windows opened up to reveal a view of the park down below. You then hurtled down faster than gravity before getting fired back up to repeat the ordeal.

The ride was a game-changer when it made its début at Disney World in 1994 and Mission: BREAKOUT! is equally pioneering. It doesn’t just immerse guests in the environment from the movies, it moves the story forward and makes them a part of it. Crucially, thanks to Mr Gunn’s involvement, it shares the same attention to detail and pacing as the movies. This is what sets it apart from any other ride and makes it one of the most ground-breaking attractions in the modern history of the theme park industry.

The hotel now looks like a steam-punk fortress as it’s meant to be a museum containing the artefacts which the Collector has harvested from all over the galaxy. It is based on the museum which was home to one of the most memorable scenes in the first Guardians movie as it contained hundreds of giant glass cases holding surreal characters from Marvel folklore. A giant cocoon? Check. A dog in a Russian space suit? That was in there too along with countless weapons and outré objets d’art. The columns of cases seemed to stretch endlessly upwards and somehow a similar effect is created in the lobby of the ride.

Most theme park queues are the definition of tedium but Mission: BREAKOUT! is an exception. The cases contain intricately detailed models from the Marvel movies which sometimes move when you least expect it. The plot sees the guests being shown around the collection and riding a lift to the top to view the Guardians themselves who have been captured by the Collector. No expense has been spared.

This story is told through a video, shot especially for the ride, which plays on a giant screen in the lobby of the tower. It features the same calibre of visual effects as the movies as well as all of the main stars. Not many other theme park rides can boast an Oscar-winning actor introducing the attraction to guests in the queue.

Joshua Sudock/Disneyland Resort

Like the movie, music is integral to the ride as the Walkman has now become an exhibit which is snatched by an intricately-detailed animatronic model of the raccoon. It tells guests that it has broken out of its case and wants their help to ride to the top of the tower and rescue its team mates. That sets the scene for getting strapped into seats in the elevators but there aren’t many other similarities with its predecessor.

A projection shows the raccoon plugging the Walkman into a stereo and then you’re off. Accompanied by ‘70s disco tunes the elevator rockets upwards and falls time after time as the raccoon supposedly struggles to control it. This time the story continues throughout the ride. Instead of looking at a black wall as the elevator hurtles through the shaft it now stops on its way in front of pin-sharp screens showing the progress of the raccoon and the Guardians’ escape plan.

The scenes were shot especially for the ride and feature the same actors as the movies with the same standard of special effects. The breakout plays out in real time as you’re on the ride which makes it seem like you’re part of the proceedings. Giant aliens, which have broken out of their cases, attempt to thwart the escape in comedic fashion putting guests in the surreal situation of laughing and screaming at the same time.

Ingeniously, some of the songs and scenes are random so the Guardians may face different pitfalls each time which encourages repeat rides.

Of course, in the end it all comes good for the Guardians and the guests. Even the inevitable shop at the exit has been carefully thought through as it sells classic toys from the 1970s and 1980s like the Spirograph and Simon Says. As with the movie, this attention to detail has paid off.

Just weeks after opening in May Disney announced that Mission: BREAKOUT! had become the highest-rated thrill ride in the whole of its California resort. Queues of nearly three hours were not uncommon over summer.

Joshua Sudock/Disneyland Resort

Indeed, it has been so popular that it even spawned a Halloween edition which swapped the scenes on the screens in the lobby and ride to tell the story of one of the team members being left behind after the others broke out.

Given the popularity of the Guardians movies in Europe a makeover of the Tower of Terror could play a key part in helping Euro Disney hit its targets. The company’s filings show that it projects 4% annual revenue growth until 2026 with an 11.3% underlying profit margin by the end of period rising to 15% four years later.

It has got off to a strong start. Last month it launched a 440 acre carbon neutral nature resort designed by Disney in partnership with holiday park operator Pierre & Vacances. In time for Euro Disney’s birthday this year some of its classic attractions have also been given a sprinkling of pixie dust.

The Star Wars simulator has had a 3D update as Forbes revealed in 2014, an explosive finale has been added to its mine train roller coaster and there is a new parade featuring a mechanical fire-breathing dragon.

Peter Welch, VP of marketing and sales for Disneyland Paris in the UK and Ireland, told Forbes that “the 25th anniversary clearly is resonating. There’s the investment in the new shows, the new parade and I think like any business, it’s probably not one factor. When the stars are aligned you get a momentum.”

Testimony to this, in the six months to 31 March 2017 attendance rose 5% on the same period the previous year with revenue increasing $21.7 million (€19 million) to $712 million (€623 million) and occupancy up three percentage points to 81%.

Last year theme parks generated $17 billion of Disney’s $55.6 billion revenue and although Euro Disney’s tally only came to $1.5 billion (€1.3 billion) it acts as a beacon for the brand in Europe.

As Forbes has reported, Euro Disney’s latest blockbuster attraction, which is themed to the Oscar-winning movie Ratatouille, alone led to the creation of 200 new jobs with 4,000 people contributing to it.

Over the past 25 years the resort has had more than 320 million visits during which guests spent around $91 billion. This generated 6.2% of France’s tourism revenue and $8.1 billion in taxes. Last year 49% of its visitors came from France followed by Britain which provided 17% of the total. Euro Disney is now the largest single-site employer in France with 75% of its 15,000 staff coming from the country, 18% from elsewhere in Europe and 7% from the rest of the world.

It is the magic touch which the French government envisaged when it signed an agreement with Disney in 1987 to develop a European house for the Mouse. One of Disney’s objectives was to develop far more land than the space on which its theme parks would sit.

It needed more land so that it could maintain standards throughout the entire resort from the parks to the surrounding hotels and even the roads and nature reserves. This strategy stems from when Walt Disney bought land for Disneyland in California and soon after it opened in 1955 motels and restaurants began springing up next to it spoiling the fantasy theming of the resort.

To prevent a repeat of this in France Disney requested a vast plot of land almost a fifth the size of Paris. It was originally home to five villages and huge beet fields which had been earmarked for development. These plans were frozen following the 1973 oil crisis but were put back on the drawing board with a wave of Disney’s magic wand. It got what what it wanted but it came with a catch.

The government agreed to sell the land to Disney provided that the majority of it was developed in accordance with its own vision. To ensure that it benefits the local area, and isn’t rushed through, the government only sells land to Disney in stages once previous plots have been completed.

This relieves pressure on Euro Disney and it has a wide window to develop the land since its 1987 masterplan with the French government expires in 2030. It has been allocated a total of 5,510 acres and although only half has been developed so far, the aim is to get through all of it.

Despite having more visitors than any other tourist attraction in Europe Mr Welch says Euro Disney still has room to grow. “New markets, like the adult market, have great potential. For us, historically, or traditionally, it has been the family market but the family of today is very different to the family of 25 years ago so that changes as well.” Euro Disney is changing to suit it and with Marvel characters on its side it has more than enough punching power.

Follow me on TwitterCheck out my website