Hello everyone, here’s the news of the month on Disneyland Paris!
First of all, let’s start by the bad news
1. Crowd attendance and Management
The Attendance at the destination is simply catastrophic, July and August did not exceed 15,000 visitors on the two parks while the maximum threshold of filling is 25,000 visitors during the Covid period (120,000 in normal times).
The causes of the lack of visitors are numerous. Culturally in the summer, the French leave everywhere in the territory, except in Paris and its region which is flooded by tourists during this period. At the same time, the absence of tourists due to border measures due to the health crisis.
Finally, visitors do not see the Offer/Price ratio. Unlike the United States where they have to deal with the same crisis, here there are no parade float and few characters on the parade route. Not to mention the company’s policy of offering the Entertainment and only the Entertainment year-on-year, that directly impacts Disneyland Park where its last two new attractions are Buzz Lightyear Laser Blast in 2006 and Space Mountain in 1995. Visitors to the site find themselves enjoying an empty park of visitors and whose attractions are from another time. And there, the destination finds itself trapped in a bad long-term strategy due to lack of means to develop to make up for the mistakes of Walt Disney Studios Park. This park, with the closure of the Land Backlot to transform it into a Marvel Land, which is still hoped to open in 2021, also finds itself trapped with a chronic lack of themes and scales since its inception with extensions that have struggled to make up for the lack of supply in restaurants, rides, shops, and decorations. This park in which can not come to just stroll as the Disneyland Park is victim of the lack of offers. Visitors do not come despite the latest new, ratatouille in 2014.
The absence of the parade is the element that French visitors take from their visits, combined with a development policy based for more than 6 years on The Entertainment impossible to offer in this period of Covid . All this makes Disneyland Paris a destination with aging attractions offered at an entry price that is not justified for a European park.
2. Show & Covid
This summer, Disneyland Paris worked to present a summer season with two shows. The Lion King and Jungle Book Jives. While the Lion King was able to offer performances for 3 weeks, the Jungle Book Jive unfortunately could not be presented despite a debauchery of means to guarantee its success. The cause is simply sanitary within the teams, even if all the precautions behind the scenes as well as on stage have been taken, with physical distancing for example.
We will not return to the lack of communication of Disneyland Paris which puts visitors at fault in their forecasts and organization. Indeed, it took more than a week to officially announce that the shows were not being played and that the season was coming to an end.
We find ourselves in the same situation as during the early closure on Friday, March 13 in the evening instead of Sunday, March 15 in the evening as communicated by the management of the Walt Disney Company. A closed destination, no release by Disneyland Paris, letting tourists arrive at the Resort for the weekend while the parks were closed.
The policy of silence to avoid any bad press at the expense of the visitor. It’s disgraceful!
I don’t think we care for the image and keep the visitor loyal with that attitude.
3. L’Europe sans libre circulation
3. Europe without free flow
One of the reasons for the drastic reduction in the number of visitors, especially foreigners (more than 55% of the clientele), are the constraints associated with the covid when returning to their countries.
On this map you can see to date, the European countries for which to return may prove too restrictive to justify a visit to France and therefore to Disneyland Paris.
4. Répercussions
4. Repercussions
The impact of this lack of visitors is many.
> Cheyenne Hotel closes
> Postponement of the opening of hotels
– Disneyland Hotel for December 8, not October,
– The new Marvel Hotel: not until March 2021,
– Disney’s Sequoia Lodge and David Crockett Ranch. Opening still not scheduled to date.
> Disney Village (Downtown Disney) opens 5 p.m. to 10 p.m.
Note that Annette’s Diner restaurant also serves lunch in addition to evening service int he Disney Village
> Disneyland Park
– Weekdays: 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
– Saturday: 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
– Sunday: 9:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.
– Holidays: 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m.
– Extra Magical Time from 8:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. (Early opening for hotel residents)
- Retrait du Extra Magical Time.
> Walt Disney Studios Park
– Weekdays: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
– Weekends: 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
– Holidays: 9:30 a.m. to 6 p.m.
– Withdrawal of Extra Magical Time.
In addition to the limited hours of Walt Disney Studios park on weekdays (why not open it at night from 5pm to 10pm?). In addition to park closures when the sun does not yet know how to set, closures are also numerous in the parks. Disneyland Park can have some days of the week no quick service restaurant open in Frontierland and Adventureland. In another example, this weekend, when the park closed, some Shops of Main Street USA were closed before.
The hardest part for hotel residents is that when the parks close at 6pm the kids are still full of energy, and it is normal to see on-site resident visitors strolling through the Disney Village at 10pm, even though it is closed.
From 4 October, 23 of the 67 food points (snacks, restaurant, quick service,…) will be closed throughout the Resort.
Maintenant passons aux bonnes nouvelles !
Now the good News !
As you will have understood, there are very few people in the parks if you come during the week. Indeed, in one day you can make all the attractions of the destination! A very profitable ticket if you go to a theme park only for its attractions. But the Weekends are crowded because the Parisians are back.
But above all, Halloween is coming, the decorations arrive by the thousands like last year!
Main Street USA
Frontierland
Fantasyland
For this season the photo points will be halloween themed, and if Mickey and his friends will be in costumes, the Disney villains will also be in the party! And of course some cakes will also be for purchase with a merchandising of seasons. See you from September 26th to November 1st!
Thank you for your loyalty.
See ya real soon !
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