Financial Structuring at Euro Disney
Financial structuring at euro Disney 1984-85 Disney negotiates with Spain and France to create a European theme park. Chooses France as the site. 1987Disney signs letter of intent with the French government. 1988 Selects lead commercial bank lenders for the senior portion of the project. Forms the (SNC). Beings planning for the equity offering of 51% of Euro Disneyland as required in the letter of intent. 1989 European press and stock analysts visit Walt Disney World in Orlando. Being extensive news and television campaign. Stock stars trading at 20-25 percent premium from the issue price.
The layout of Euro Disneyland Euro Disneyland is determinedly American in its theme. There was an alcohol ban in the park despite the attitude amoung the French that wine with a meal is God-given right. Designers presented a plan for a Main Street USA, based on scenes of America in the 1920S. Eisner decreed that images of gangsters and speakeasies were too negative. Thiug made more ornate and Victorian than Walt Disney’s idealized Midwestern small town. Main Street remained Main Street. Steamships leave from Main Street the Grand Canyou Diorama en riunte to Frontierland.
It was replaced by a gleaming brass and wood complex called Discoverland, which was based on themes of Jules Verne and Leonardo da Vinci. Eisner ordered $8 or $10 million in extras ti the “ Visionarium ’’, exhibit, a360-degree movie about French culture which was required by the French in their original contract. With the American Wild West being so frequently captured on film, Europeans have their own idea if what life was like back then. In Fantasyland, designers strived to avoid competing with the nearby European reality of actual medieval towns, cathedrals, and chateaux.
The park is criss-crossed with covered walkways. Eisner personally ordered the installation of 35 fireplaces in hotels and restaurants. Children all over Europe were primed to consume. Even one of the intellectuals who contributed to Disney-bashing broadsheet was forced to admit with resignation that his 10year-old son ” swears by Michael Jackson ” At Euro Disneyland, under the name ” Capital Eo,” Disney just so happened to have a Michael Jackson attracting him. Disney expected to serve 15000 to 17000 meals per hour, excluding snake. Menus and service system were developed so that they varied both in style and price.
There is a 400 seat buffet, 6 table service restaurant, 12 counter service units, 10 snack bars, 1 Discovery food court seating 850, 9 popcorn wagons, 15 ice-cream carts, 14 specialty food carts, and 2 employee cafeterias. Food service will reflect the fable’s country of origin: Pinocchio’s facility having German food; Cinderella’s French; Bella Notte’s, Italian and so on. Many Europeans don’t care much for very spicy food, Tex-Mex recipes were toned down. A special coffee blend had to be developed which would have universal appeal. Hot dog cart would reflect the regionalism of American tastes.
