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So, they obviously did their research. But what went wrong?

The French resistance was one problem. In the early days of Disneyland Paris the French government were hardly supportive. In fact, the French in general are often incensed by the fact that their way of life is slowly eroding away.

So much so, in fact, there were protests from Parisians at the opening of Disneyland Paris protesting the fact that Disneyland Paris was an intrusion on their centuries of culture.

Fact: However much you try, Mickey and Minnie are not French.

So why build a park in France? Well, there are about 370 million reasons – those being prospective visitors. France is well situated for 70 million people to get to the park with just a four-hour car drive, and only a 2-hour flight for a further 300 million people.

Yet, with such potential, attendance targets were hugely optimistic. A tenth of the expected visitors arrived on opening day and an average of only 25,000 a day thereafter as opposed to the predicted 60,000.

With eight resort hotels, shorter-than-forecast queues and shows that people weren’t interested in, people were having no problem cramming as much of the park as possible into a single day to avoid the expense of staying overnight.

Consequently, during the winter in particular there were luxurious hotels with hundreds of staff ready and waiting to bow to the needs of... well... nobody.

Built over budget and with no notable income to pay off $1 billion in loans, Disney were fast losing patience in the resort. By 1994, Walt Disney threatened banks saying that loan repayments must be restructured otherwise Disney would walk away and close the park.

Eventually, the banks surrendered and Disney at last could invest properly into the park with flagship rides such as Space Mountain which catered for the European market more effectively, and by summer 1995, the park had broke even with profits of £22m.

Big guns like Space Mountain helped the resort become more popular.

Despite recovering and putting themselves in good stead for the future, Disneyland Paris soon became Disneyland Resort Paris, a park of – let’s say – Titanic proportions.

Sounds exciting when I say it like that, doesn’t it? Sadly, by Titanic I mean plagued with bad luck, and as lumbering and unresponsive when heading towards [metaphorical] icebergs.

Of course, icebergs aren’t a problem for Walt Disney Studios, but that’s just about the only thing that isn’t. While car park enthusiasts rejoiced at the prospect of an entire park being a 50 acre hard-standing, the park lacked the individuality and character people associate with Disney, and that vital ingredient; rides.

Of course, smaller theme park chains are veritable speedboats compared to Disney. If they see an iceberg, their agile jet-powered vessel will cheekily swerve around any frozen obstacles, yet the unwieldy cruise ship that is Disney will go ploughing straight into the iceberg with spectacular effect.

Now, on the face of it Walt Disney Studios may look like it cost no more than a out-of-town cinema, but you have to remember that there is the whole infrastructure to go with a theme park – the staff, the restaurants (or, in WDS’s case, trailers), the operating costs. So, while your new park will be a new source of revenue, you have to make sure people want to visit. Disney Studios was like driving a juganaught through Alton Village when a Smart Car would have done the trick.

One of the many attractions at Disney Studios - walking around a bit

You’d think that after ten years, Disney would have a comfortable idea of what people want from a theme park. But no, Walt Disney Studios opened and the public stayed away.

You see, this is a great example of completely misjudging who’s visiting your park. Smaller parks install smaller rides – if they make a mistake and install something people have no interest in (e.g., Eclipse), they can at least tipex out the mistake and make amends within a reasonable timeframe.

Disney’s ‘quick’-fix is too little, too late, and the next major attraction isn’t due to open for years yet. Hardly a sprightly response to the disastrous attendance at Disney Studios. Continues...