Originally Posted By dagobert I didn't want to open a new topic, so I'm going to post this here. It seems Hilton plans to open a new hotel at Val d'Europe next to Disneyland Paris. <a href="http://finchannel.com/news_flash/Travel_Biz_News/119634_Hilton_Worldwide_to_Introduce_Two_New_Brands_to_France_in_Val_d%E2%80%99Europe/" target="_blank">http://finchannel.com/news_fla...9Europe/</a> So in the next years there may be three new hotels, two owned by Disney and one double branded hotel owned by Hilton. I just hope there will not be too many rooms, since Village Nature is also opening in a few years.
Originally Posted By leemac ^^ That project was signed up back in last December. It is a Florida-based developer called Finergy that is behind the project. It is a very small development - just 250 rooms between the two hotels (they will be split between two buildings either side of a small parking lot). The hotel has been specifically approved to service the Town Center development that is next to the shopping center. The hotels will be just north of the mall and La Vallee Village.
Originally Posted By dagobert I must have overread the hotel room number. 250 is not that much. How many rooms do the new Disney hotels have? Are they already approved?
Originally Posted By leemac <<How many rooms do the new Disney hotels have? Are they already approved?>> TBD - likely to be similar to the Disneyland Hotel (496) and the Cheyenne (1,000). Not approved and not likely to be submitted for approval for a while either. All very early days.
Originally Posted By dagobert I'm still not sure about the new hotels. That would mean 1500 rooms more for the whole resort and DLP already struggles to fill the rooms during off season. First they should improve the parks and then they should think about new hotels.
Originally Posted By leemac The usual generic exterior shots of the hotels can be found here: <a href="http://www.finergygroup.com/subs/projects.php" target="_blank">http://www.finergygroup.com/su...ects.php</a>
Originally Posted By leemac <<First they should improve the parks and then they should think about new hotels.>> That is the plan - to be honest I don't know why Gas opted to mention to analysts and the press that further hotels were being considered. That isn't in the current five year plan - I'd be surprised to see any new Disney-branded hotels before 2018.
Originally Posted By dagobert Thanks for the link. It looks okay and I guess it was designed to fit into Val d'Europe. Good to know that the parks got the primary attention. Maybe DLP will also get a new attraction in the next years. But since nowadays nearly each new ride is based on a character, franchise or movie, I'm not sure if DLP should get something new, except for Fantasyland. And I guess Indy will never make it to Paris.
Originally Posted By dagobert Leemac, do you have any background information you can share about the leaving of one of the ED SCA directors. It seems he wasn't that happy about TWDC's new startegy in using the parks for promoting the franchises.
Originally Posted By leemac Only what I'd said on the other thread. Antoine Jeancourt-Galignani has been on the supervisory board since the very beginning when the company was founded back in '89. He subsequently became chairman of the supervisory board in '95. He is not a young man - 75 or so. EuroDisney SCA has not made any disclosure to Euronext relating to a resignation of a director and therefore I don't know what is happening. It may be that Jeancourt-Galignani has publicly commented that he wishes to step down but has not formally done so. The supervisory board exists solely to protect the interests of shareholders and ensure that they receive enough information from the management board in order to discharge that responsibility. It is not the role of the supervisory board to manage the business on a day-to-day basis and therefore if Jeancourt-Galignani has commented on "using the parks to push franchises" then I've no idea what he hopes to achieve. I've no idea what he is actually referring to either.
Originally Posted By dagobert Thank you. So it's a very strange move. Let's wait and see what's going to happen. Since TWDC bought the debts, I do understand that they want to dictate the way, but Disney already had the last word in decisions due to the set up of the company. However I can imagine that the next years will be pretty exciting for DLP with new attractions on the horizon.
Originally Posted By leemac <<Since TWDC bought the debts, I do understand that they want to dictate the way, but Disney already had the last word in decisions due to the set up of the company.>> It is complicated but in reality bringing the debts into the group has no implication on the management of the business or the ability of TWDC to exert influence. TWDC doesn't have "the last word" - that rests with the supervisory board that has 8 independent directors - only Jay and Tom are regarded as not being independent. TWDC can't railroad the supervisory body into a decision. TWDC does have the management contract to operate the resort and is able to influence decision-making through its directors and shareholding but the supervisory board can stop them overreaching their authority - basically acting ultra vires. Ultimately the key number is 39.8% which is TWDC's holding in the SCA - the supervisory board exists to protect the 60.2% other shareholders. TWDC does not have any additional voting rights and therefore can only block specific resolutions put to shareholders (25% is the minimum shareholding in order to block) - they can't force through resolutions as you need a minimum of 50% + 1 vote for even normal resolutions. TWDC's only ability is to push through resolutions is where shareholders opt not to vote. All complicated corporate governance stuff!
Originally Posted By dagobert It's indeed complicated. But the Annual Report of TWDC always says that TWDC has 51% effective ownership in DLP. I guess it would be a lot easier, if DLP would be operated as a part of the WD Parks & Resorts Division. Or completly independent, like TDR. So if ED SCA plans to add a new attraction each year after Ratatouille, there have to be plans already and construction has to start next year, since it usually takes two years to build a ride.
Originally Posted By leemac <<It's indeed complicated. But the Annual Report of TWDC always says that TWDC has 51% effective ownership in DLP.>> That is a specific accounting term in order to determine whether the entity should be consolidated into the group financial statements. FIN 46(R) if you fancy some light bedtime reading. TWDC's equity interest is 39.8% - that is the key number.
Originally Posted By dagobert >>>That is a specific accounting term in order to determine whether the entity should be consolidated into the group financial statements. FIN 46(R) if you fancy some light bedtime reading. TWDC's equity interest is 39.8% - that is the key number.<<< No thanks, I guess that's not going to be my next light bedtime reading. Just out of interest, why isn't Disney, especially DLP, using sponsors anymore to fund attractions? Money is always an issue in Paris and that would help, at least a bit, to save some money.
Originally Posted By leemac <<Just out of interest, why isn't Disney, especially DLP, using sponsors anymore to fund attractions? Money is always an issue in Paris and that would help, at least a bit, to save some money.>> Not through lack of trying but there is no market any more for specific attraction sponsorship. Japan has always had a strong sponsorship market which is why virtually every major attraction is sponsored at TDL and TDS. Companies like to be associated with the parks and it is a good quid pro quo as they get a lot of benefits like admission media, lounges etc. Those Japanese companies are also not bothered by the type of attraction that they present - so Dai-ichi Mutual Life Insurance Co. presents Journey to the Center of the Earth (and BTMRR at TDL). In Europe even back in '89-'92 it was difficult to get attraction sponsorship that wasn't related to an industry - Hertz are happy to present Main Street Vehicles and Ford present Autopia but even long standing global Disney partners like Kodak and Coca-Cola weren't interested in specific attractions. DLP has 12 partners - many of which were not part of either the original 12 (Amex lost the global deal, BNP didn't get the renewal, Esso dropped out, Europcar lost out to Hertz and IBM, Philips and Renault all opted not to renew). IBM and Renault both sponsored specific attractions but opted not to renew. Now most sponsors are happy to have an official product associated with the parks - like the Official Coffee or Ice Cream Brand (virtually always providing the brand is exclusively sold at the resort) but few are interested in sponsorship any more. There is still both global and local teams that are responsible for signing up marketing alliances but the days of large scale sponsorship are long gone. The Chevy deal for the new Test Track is a real anomaly.
Originally Posted By dagobert Okay, I didn't know that. Hasn't Opel, the German car manufacturer, returned to DLP and replaced Ford? I always thought Ford is a bit out of place at DLP, because they will always be associated with the UEFA Champions League than with themeparks. Opel makes more sense, since they belong to GM, which sponsors WDW. Is Opel only providing the cars, or are they back sponsoring Lights, Motors, Action, like they did when it opened? Does Disney have global sponsors, like Coca Cola, or can each park chose the beverage company? Another example would be Kodak, they are also present at every Disney resort. Or did they drop out due to their financial problems?
Originally Posted By leemac <<Does Disney have global sponsors, like Coca Cola, or can each park chose the beverage company?>> There are global deals like Coca-Cola and Kodak - those cover every park and resort except TDR. Kodak is a unique deal as it covers opaque product support too - all of the digital image capturing for attractions and the Photopass system (including in-park photographers) are all supplied by Kodak. The Kodak deal is currently unaffected by the chapter 11 filing. It looks like Kodak will get interim funding to continue working on its bankruptcy plan for the next year. However those type of agreements are rare these days. Disney signed up a Mastercard deal last year that covered just EMEA, Russia and CIS - so Disney has official deals with both VISA and Mastercard depending on the location. I thought Ford were still sponsoring Autopia but that may have lapsed. I thought the Opel deal was just to be the "official car" - I think DLP committed to using the Ampera electric car as a showcase for the tech.
Originally Posted By dagobert I don't know about Ford. The official website says that Ford is sponsoring Autopia. <a href="http://www.disneylandparis.at/parks/disneyland-park/lander/discoveryland/attraktionen/autopia.xhtml" target="_blank">http://www.disneylandparis.at/...ia.xhtml</a> But Ford is not listed as official partner, but Opel is. <a href="http://www.disneylandparis.at/partner/index.xhtml" target="_blank">http://www.disneylandparis.at/...ex.xhtml</a>
Originally Posted By dagobert @ Leemac: I know it's off topic and I'm not sure if you know any of the WDW employees, but recently I've seen a WDW documentary on Travel Channel about Christmas at WDW. In that documentary they showed how the Gingerbread House at the Grand Floridian is made and the pastry chef sounded like a German or Austrian. I didn't find any good informations, because I couldn't find the name of the cook. So my question is,are there any Germans or Austrians working for WDW, besides in EPCOT? Thank you!
