Originally Posted By dagobert >>>Are working conditions that bad at DLP? I know the US parks have union flare ups now and then, but I've never heard of anyone at DL or WDW attempting to kill themselves because their job sucked.<<< I don't know how the working conditions at DLP are. However I have to say that working in a theme park doesn't require a college degree and that means the payment isn't that good. Such tragic incidents happen everywhere and not only at DLP, but since it's Disney, it gets much more attention. I'm a supporter of the unions, I'm even a member, but Austria's union system is completely different to most countries. And France does have a union problem, because they go on strike really often.
Originally Posted By Dr Hans Reinhardt "And France does have a union problem, because they go on strike really often." Often is an understatement.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I'm glad to hear that some Europeans also think that France's labor laws are kind of silly. In the US, they're somewhat of a joke, since their workweek is really short (30 hours?) and they're always upset about something, which really plays into French stereotypes
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>I'm glad to hear that some Europeans also think that France's labor laws are kind of silly. In the US, they're somewhat of a joke, since their workweek is really short (30 hours?) and they're always upset about something, which really plays into French stereotypes<<< I guess I'm not the only European who thinks that way. I don't know their workweek, but in Austria it's 40 hours and for some, like me 38,5 hours. That means my Friday is shorter.
Originally Posted By dagobert Recently Euro Disney SCA CEO Philippe Gas held another Round Table Discussion. Here are the topics that have been discussed. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.dlparisguide.com/2013/11/disneyland-paris-shareholders.html">http://www.dlparisguide.com/20...ers.html</a> This was more of a general chit-chat than a long Q&A session with no specific details given at all. Philippe Gas (CEO) started off by speaking about financial figures for a few minutes, but much faster than he has done on previous occasions. Some Qs asked included: "Would it be interesting if other major players in the entertainment industry (Universal , Paramount, Merlin Entertainment) moved into the sector to develop its appeal? "Philippe thinks it could be beneficial but the opportunity has not yet resented. Note that the idea of "Nature Village" goes a little in this direction. "Can we increase safety of attractions in the parks?" For attractions, the law requires monthly checks. Disneyland makes these same checks twice per day! For serious issues that may affect the park (eg. terrorism) undercover work is being down with all the authorities concerned in France, but also abroad to prevent them. Smoking in parks: Gas said that "Even though smoking is a result of antisocial behavior of those who will always do what they want, some guests smoke without not even knowing that it is forbidden in parks. "Could we not mention the ban on the park maps, facilitating the work of CMs to show guests written evidence?" Philip confessed his skepticism but noted the idea and didn't say it couldn't happen. Main St. Barbershop - They often turn people away due to being too busy. "Wouldn't it make more sense to hire a second barber adding more revenue?" Not a problem he had been made aware of, will be addressed. There were no specific announcements about specific future attractions but rather just general statements about Gas' vision of the future. Disneyland Paris is a wonderful place but during construction and then subsequent management have taken a view of a fill-in-the-gaps look to the future, refurbishing hotels and adding attractions. He doesn't want to do/fix things retrospectively but think about the future and the longevity of the parks. This previous mentality meant lots of money spent again and again with little visible results - it is just a case of maintaining what's already there. Disney Dreams was produced in this vain - instead of several small shows, they created one big show that could last for years. Gas said shareholders should rest assured that after the renovation of the hotels there would be updating of major rides (eg. Phantom Manor, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Tours) and an increase in sustainability, followed by the return of live shows. The economic crisis has hit the three main countries who visit DLP (Spain, Italy, France) very hard. But crises are not eternal and Philippe awaits the recovery and hopes that DLP will be ready and waiting when people have money to spend again. Gas thinks it is time to withdraw a policy of aggressive promotions, such as the discontinuation of free tickets.
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>Sounds like a sensible and reasonable plan.<<< Hopefully. The new management team isn't as bad as expected. We might not see many new rides in the future, but I'm glad that they are working to improve the quality. A few days ago the overhaul of Disney's Newport Bay Club hotel started. This improvement includes a new facade, new restaurants, new rooms and new TVs. Finally DLP brings its hotels to European standard.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Although they continue to struggle, it sounds like the current management team has the best intentions. Maintaining high quality while adding logical improvements seems like a great way to run the parks. Of course we'd all love if they added tons of new stuff, but this seems like the best financial path, and it appears to be paying off nicely
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>Although they continue to struggle, it sounds like the current management team has the best intentions. Maintaining high quality while adding logical improvements seems like a great way to run the parks. Of course we'd all love if they added tons of new stuff, but this seems like the best financial path, and it appears to be paying off nicely<<< Totally agree. First they should focus on improving the current situation and once in a while they should add a new attraction. I prefer a well maintained park instead of new rides loweing the quality of the rest of the resort. DLP always had bad luck. It opened during a recession. TWDC always altered the budget to stay in the limit. The resort opened with way too many hotels. And when the situation finally improved, DLP had to add another park to keep the land rights. And what a surprise WDSP opened during another economic crisis in Europe. In recent years the numbers improved again and three of the most important countries for DLP are facing economic problems. I'm really confident when it comes to the current management. By the way DLP just started to fix the NPBC hotel. The east Wing has already closed and all rooms got cleared.
Originally Posted By u k fan I'm so pleased they are attending to the Newport Bay Club, when I stayed there earlier this year it was in desperate need of attention. I'll go on record as saying that I think DLP needs to add new stuff in addition to working on refurbs as it gives them something to advertise. No one's going to make a special trip just to see some refurbed hotels. Perhaps if the update of Star Tours is ST:11!!!
Originally Posted By dagobert >>> I think DLP needs to add new stuff in addition to working on refurbs as it gives them something to advertise<<< That's why I have written "once in a while". Next year Ratatouille is going to open and I can imagine that opening a new ride every two years could work for DLP. Ukfan, is there a chance you might be at DLP in the first week of January?
Originally Posted By dagobert Here's a new DLP update by the French Disney Gazette website. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.disneygazette.fr/gazette-ratatouille-esplanade-rehabilitation-gaumont-newport-b&bhotel-news-1394.html">http://www.disneygazette.fr/ga...394.html</a>
Originally Posted By dagobert And another pictorial update by PixieDust.be. <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.pixiedust.be/photonewsletter/news30nov1dec2013.html">http://www.pixiedust.be/photon...013.html</a>
Originally Posted By FerretAfros It's interesting to see the art for the new hotel. Although it looks like it will be nicely themed, it's pretty clear that it wasn't Disney that did the drawings, since they focus entirely on the building itself, rather than the people, weather, etc that they tend to put in their drawings to make them look "magical". It will be interesting to see how it turns out, since it will be so close to the Disney hotels
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>It's interesting to see the art for the new hotel. Although it looks like it will be nicely themed, it's pretty clear that it wasn't Disney that did the drawings, since they focus entirely on the building itself, rather than the people, weather, etc that they tend to put in their drawings to make them look "magical". It will be interesting to see how it turns out, since it will be so close to the Disney hotels<<< I guess you are talking about the new partner hotel that is going to be built at Val De France. None of the hotels there looks like a Disney hotel, but they are a good option to save some money. I've never stayed there, but I always get some offers from the Austrian hotel chain Vienna International that operates two hotels there. Both look nice, but they lack theming. I really wonder if DLP needs so many hotels. I mean there are only two parks, but seven Disney hotels and seven partner hotels.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros I agree. Overbuilding hotels led to a lot of DLP's financial issues when it first opened, so I'm always a little skeptical of adding more Then again, this one isn't operated by Disney so there's less of a risk, and having a lot of competition keeps the prices down for the consumer, so that could only be good, right? But if everybody goes to the new hotel instead of the Disney ones, then we're back where we started
Originally Posted By dagobert In recent years there have always been rumours about DLP adding a new Disney hotel. I guess that rumour died with the refurbishment of the current hotels. In my opinion that was the right decicion, because the hotels offered a bad quality for the price and the occupancy rate wasn't that good anymore.
Originally Posted By u k fan Sorry, not to reply sooner dagobert, we won't be at DLP in January, I am hoping to take a trip over sometime next year, but it won't be that early on. I hope you have a great time though. The partner hotels are great I've stayed in all but one of them. The only exception is the Explorers' which I would never visit again. I wouldn't be surprised if Disney did add another hotel at some point, I think they want another premium level property!!!
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>Sorry, not to reply sooner dagobert, we won't be at DLP in January, I am hoping to take a trip over sometime next year, but it won't be that early on. I hope you have a great time though.<<< No problem. Then maybe another time to meet again. >>>The partner hotels are great I've stayed in all but one of them. The only exception is the Explorers' which I would never visit again.<<< I've only stayed once off site and that was the last time. We stayed in a hotel in Val D'Europe and we will stay there in January again, because it was really nice. I know the Vienna International hotels from home. We use that chain in Vienna and it was always fine. So I guess the two VI hotels in Val De France are fine as well.
Originally Posted By dagobert DLP highlights 2013: <a target="blank" rel="nofollow" href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9z-1rkmzvpk&feature=youtu.be">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...youtu.be</a>
