Originally Posted By Malin The operator of the 2 Disney amusement parks in Japan says it posted its biggest quarterly sales decline because of the March 11th earthquake. Oriental Land said on Friday that sales in the April-June period stood at around 620 million dollars, down 43 percent from a year ago. The company had to close Tokyo Disneyland and Tokyo Disney Sea for more than a month after quake-triggered liquefaction damaged parking areas and rolling blackouts restrained operations. Oriental Land said the number of visitors fell significantly even after the 2 facilities reopened, causing both sales and profit to decline. Source: NHK World <a href="http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/english/05_31.html" target="_blank">http://www3.nhk.or.jp/daily/en..._31.html</a>
Originally Posted By dagobert It will take some time until the resort will be back at former attendance numbers. It's amazing the OLC still makes a profit even after that terrible earthquake and the decline in attendance, while DLRP has more visitors than ever and is still losing money. The debts are killing the European resort.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo I was thinking that Dagobert. I really would love to go to Tokyo, but as there are still more quakes and after shocks, I think I will leave it for a while.
Originally Posted By Malin Dave earthquakes happen all the time in Japan. Thats a danger your going to face anytime you visit. From what I have heard the recent aftershocks have had minimum effect on Tokyo. I really don't think you should be concern about earthquakes since this will always be a risk when visiting Japan.
Originally Posted By davewasbaloo I know they are always a risk, I grew up in California Malin, I am no stranger to quakes, but the biggest I ever had was smaller than the big one. And given I am in regular contact with people that live there and have no agenda, I am more willing to follow their advice and wait for the latest seismic movements to calm down and allow them time to sort out the local infrastructure (which is likely to take a year).
Originally Posted By dagobert Good to know that we are pretty save here in Europe. IF DLRP had to close both parks for over a month, do you think the resort would have to close for good? Or would TWDC step up and invest a lot of money to keep it operating? With all the debts repayments it will take a long time until ED SCA makes a profit. According to Wikipedia, in 2005, the Walt Disney Company agreed to write off all debt to the Walt Disney Company made by Euro Disney S.C.A. Does someone know how big the debts were before?
Originally Posted By Malin I'm traveling to Tokyo in November so I'll be sure to report to you any problems or issues I come across in regards to infrastructure. Although from what I gather nothing from a tourist stand point is of major concern. And since I'm only visiting tourist hotspots and not any local towns or areas. I really fail to see this as a concern right now. Maybe your itinerary is different to mine. Its important to realise Tokyo sits on top of 3 tectonic plates. Scientist still think a deadly Earthquake could hit directly underneath Tokyo in the next 10 years. And how long exactly are the aftershocks in Japan expected to last. Its this kind of unpredictable force that will not make it any safer no matter how long you put off visiting Japan. Sorry I don't mean to lecture anyone. But from where I stand I just don't see why we should be more worried about Earthquakes now to any other time. Dave I hope in the near future you will get to experience Japan. I know from reading your FaceBook Status updates that the current situation in Japan is not the only reason your unable to visit at the moment. But the wait will be worth it trust me.
Originally Posted By dagobert I lost track about Japan at the moment. Are there still smaller earthquakes going on? And how is the nuclear power plant doing?
Originally Posted By Malin I often consider in regards to the debt situation what options Euro Disney has to re-finance its loans. Surely if it was to pay smaller amounts it could start making an actual profit.
Originally Posted By Malin Japan had a 6.4 earthquake this week. So activity is still very much frequent. Although this kind of scale of earthquake wasn't uncommon before the March the 11th Earthquake. And I remember last year visiitng and watching live news reports about a earthquake that hit northern Japan while I was in Osaka that was a 6.2 I believe. Fukishima is still not stable and will not be until the end of the year. I still think the plant is having its fair share of problems and concerns. But the situation has vastly improved on what it was a few months back.
Originally Posted By dagobert >>I often consider in regards to the debt situation what options Euro Disney has to re-finance its loans. Surely if it was to pay smaller amounts it could start making an actual profit. << I don't know if it is possible under French Law to creat a "bad company", like General Motors did in the US. The "bad company" could take over all the debts and the new company could restart and purchase the assets of the old corporation.
Originally Posted By TDLFAN Even after all the drop in profit..which still is a very strong performance on OLC's part, the parks opened looking like a million bucks, with new shows and events that only WDW would dream of being capable of offering.. so I have no reason to panic for them.. And Davewasbaloo.. there are quakes in Japan often. That's their every day living over. Postponing your trip to Japan just because you are concerned about quakes is simply silly. Just in the past three weeks I have experiences very small tremors, like the ones I always experiences before the big one and tsunami. In other words.. if you use the earthquake excuse to not go, you never will, and it will be a shame to miss out on the best Disney park experience possible on this Earth.
Originally Posted By fkurucz >>I often consider in regards to the debt situation what options Euro Disney has to re-finance its loans. Surely if it was to pay smaller amounts it could start making an actual profit.<< I suppose they could reorganize under some form on bankruptcy. I'm not sure what BK laws are like over there.
Originally Posted By The Goddess Mara I'm going back in October. Miss the place terribly. I've been in small quakes in Tokyo before, as has everyone who visits often. If the Japanese government hadn't been a puppet of the nuclear energy companies, the quake would have been a BIG quake that killed lots of people and no more than that. As terrible as that would have been, it would not have involved the continuing horror and uncertainty due to the leaking of radioactive material--which is still ongoing. Both the nuclear companies and the government lied to the public about the level of safety, and continue to do so. The price for their lies is going to be a lot more people dying in the next decade. In the meantime, both the economy and our Japanese friends could use a boost from tourism, and I plan to do my part.
Originally Posted By Witches of Morva ORDDU: Not wanting to scare or anger any of you ducklings out there, but here is a very recent article we came across just today, in regard to the Nuclear radiation leakes in Japan. It's a harsh dose of reality. The article comes from a web footed site called Prisonplanet and was created by a man named Alex Jones. Here is what the article said: Fukushima is now far and away the worst nuclear disaster in all of human history. Chernobyl was a Sunday picnic compared to Fukushima and the amount of cesium-137 released at Fukushima this year so far is equivalent to 168 Hiroshima bombs. The crisis at Fukushima is far, far worse than you have been told. We are talking about multiple self-sustaining nuclear meltdowns that will not be fully contained for years. In an attempt to keep people calm, authorities in Japan (and around the rest of the world as well) have lied and lied and lied. Over the months that have passed since the disaster began, small bits of the truth have slowly started to come out. Authorities are finally admitting that the area immediately surrounding Fukushima will be uninhabitable indefinitely, and they are finally admitting that the amount of radioactive material that has been released is far higher than initially reported. It is going to take the Japanese years to fully contain this problem. Meanwhile, Fukushima will continue to blast all of us with high levels of cesium, strontium and plutonium and will slowly kill millions of people around the globe for years to come. These days, the mainstream media does not talk about Fukushima much. The reality is that there have been a whole lot of other disasters for them to talk about. But just because Fukushima is a nightmare that is playing out in very slow motion does not mean that it does not deserve our full attention. To get an idea of just how nightmarish Fukushima has turned out to be, just consider the words of nuclear expert Steven C. Jones…. By way of comparison, the Chernobyl nuclear disaster that occured in 1986 in the Ukraine, Russia- heretofore the worst nuclear disaster on record- burned for 10 days and cumulatively killed an estimated 1 million people worldwide. The Fukushima, Japan nuclear disaster has 5 nuclear reactors burning, 2 in partial meltdown and 3 in full meltdown- and they’ve ALL been uncontrollably burning since March 11th. Its been over 3 months and this nuclear disaster remains completely out of control. In fact, some industry estimates cite the possibility that these meltdowns will be contained (optimistically) in 1-3 years, at the very earliest. The amount and intensity of the radioactive fallout from this particular nuclear disaster will assuredly kill hundreds of millions of people worldwide over time. Japan itself is, of course, the epicenter of this radioactive contamination that has spread out from these reactors. Keep in mind that radioactivity from the Chernobyl disaster deeply contaminated 77,000 square miles. So if Fukushima is many times worse, what does that mean for us?
Originally Posted By Malin Its interesting reading. But if millions around the World are going to die anyway which the article appears to suggest. Whats the point in putting off that trip to Japan any longer. Right now like Fukai I plan to visit Japan soon. Give a boost to tourism and show my support. I don't really know how serious the Fukushima situation is or continues to be for Japan. All I know is that no travel ban is in place by my own Country for me not to travel. And if the article provided by the witches has any truth. It looks likely millions of us are going to be effected by the fall out. So what difference would visiting Japan make if its already in the atsmophere?
Originally Posted By TDLFAN ORDDU.. look at it this way.. no one seems concerned about radioactivity in the Tokyo area and the increased attendance at TDR is another indication that people in Japan want to put this tragedy in the past and move on. I respect that. Frankly.. we should be more horrified with the bad unhealthy choices people make on their own.. like those gaijins that go to Japan and spend their time there eating fried and fatty McDonald's food instead of the healthier japanese choices... Now THAT is distressing!!!
