Paris will survive. France will survive. So will the rest of Europe. Mickey Mouse successfully opened his newest home on April 12, a $4 billion, 1,000-acre playground for children and adults 20 miles east of Paris.
Euro Disney, an American confection with French/European touches, will not likely dent the rich French culture, despite continuing whimpers from
”intellectuals” who are anti-Mickey, ranking the world-famous mouse right up there with the Vietnam War.
While not messing up the culture, the theme park will, however, dent the pocketbooks of the 11 million guests expected to visit during the first year of operation and generate $1.2 billion in revenue.
In this flat expanse of the Marne River Valley, convenient to Paris (by car and subway), its two major airports and the rest of Europe, the new cash crop will be tourism. A family of four easily could spend $200 (for a day trip) to more than $2,000 for a deluxe two-night stay.
Disney officials expect 50 percent of the visitors will be from France, followed by England and Germany and then the rest of Europe. Only 3 percent of the visitors are expected to come from the U.S.
Americans are welcome to visit Mickey in his new home, but Michael D. Eisner, Walt Disney Co. chairman and chief executive officer, said Euro Disney would not be marketed in the U.S. because of the easier access to Mickey`s other homes in Florida and California. (There`s another one in Tokyo.)
The accent here is French. It`s true whether Christian says ”Howdy” at the Chuck Wagon Cafe at Hotel Cheyenne; whether Monique smiles a ”Welcome to Billy Bob`s” over the blare of country and western music or Emmanuelle greets you with a perky ”bon jour” at breakfast in the Newport Bay Club, another of Euro Disney`s six themed hotels.
The marvelous pink Sleeping Beauty`s Castle is called Le Chateau de la Belle au Bois Dormant. The accents are real, but the settings within the park are American transplants in the pastoral French countryside. Aside from the accents, you could feel as if you were on the U.S. side of the Atlantic. That`s a big plus for Europeans, who love the U.S. West and get to sample it in the form of a Wild West show and Western-themed hotels.
Visitors on opening day appeared to be enchanted by everything. It wasn`t long into the morning that kids were sporting mouse ears and other Disney goodies. Mainly, the visitors were excited about seeing the sights familiar to the millions of Americans who visit Walt Disney World and Disneyland.
”We didn`t expect it to be so big or so good,” said John and Linda Soden, who had come from Scarborough in England`s Yorkshire district. They brought their three children, John, 4; Tim, 3; and Chelsea, 1.
”For what you get, the prices are good, on the verge of affordable for most people,” said John, a factory worker who booked his family tour package in January. ”It`s like visiting another country for a day.”
`It`s like America`
Dominique and Joel Abjean of Paris were just as enthusiatic. ”It`s terrific,” said Dominique, who had been to the U.S. as a student. ”It`s like a dream, like America.”
David Price, a toy store owner from London, brought his daughter, Kelly, 14. ”We decided a year ago today to come to the opening. I booked the trip last July. We came by train from London and by taxi from Paris because the subway train was on strike.”
Kelly, munching on popcorn, said the park was ”lovely, good.”
”If you can`t enjoy yourself here, I don`t know where you can go,” her father said of this ultimate toy store.
About that time, Mickey Mouse and his handler were besieged by visitors as she escorted him to a television appearance near Sleeping Beauty`s Castle. Mickey posed for pictures.
A young German couple encountered later in a hotel restaurant said they were impressed by the park, the flowers and trees and an artificial lake. Heinz Winter, his wife, Marianna, and their son, ”Andy,” 9, drove from Frankfurt to Euro Disney in six hours.
Winter, a leather buyer, said he found the park to be expensive. ”But the hotel is not so expensive. It costs much more to stay in Paris.”
He criticized the restaurant service and noted a lack of German-speaking employees (Disney calls them ”cast members”), pointing out that Germany is an immediate neighbor.
The lay of the land
As was all Gaul, Euro Disney (second-biggest construction project after the English Channel tunnel) is divided into three parts, covering 1,000 acres of the 5,000-acre site, one-fifth the size of Paris proper.
The first part, Euro Disneyland, is made up of:
Main Street, U.S.A., comparable to other Disney Main Streets, with a City Hall, Main Street Station where the Euro Disneyland Railroad stops, and of course, shops except these have two covered, all-weather arcades.
Frontierland, with Big Thunder Mountain, paddlewheel steamboats, Indian canoes and haunted Phantom Manor.
Adventureland, with an updated Pirates of the Caribbean.
Fantasyland, with Peter Pan`s Flight, Les Voyages de Pinocchio and Alice`s Curious Labyrinth, a maze, especially created for Euro Disney.
Discoveryland, with Le Visionarium, a Circle-Vision 360 production that includes Audioanimatronic characters who tell a Jules Verne story; a turbulent Star Tours ride similar to the ”Star Wars” attraction at Walt Disney World and the 3-D movie ”Captain Eo” starring Michael Jackson.
The resorts
The resort complex, the second part of Euro Disney, with its own half-mile long artificial Lake Buena Vista, adjoins the theme park and consists of six themed hotels with a total of 5,200 rooms.
There are two luxury-rated hotels. The Disneyland, which resembles a turn-of-the-century Victorian hotel much like the Grand Floridian at Walt Disney World, has 500 rooms and 21 suites. The Hotel New York, by American architect Michael Graves, looks like a combination of Gramercy Park brownstones and apartments and has 574 rooms and 36 suites. Room rates range from a high of $367 at the Disneyland in high season to a low of $207 at the New York in low season.
The two first-class resorts are the Newport Bay Club, similar to Walt Disney World`s Yacht Club, with 1,098 rooms; and the Sequoia, a handsome Prairie School design lodge with five smaller buildings in a woodsy park-like setting, with 1,011 rooms. Rates range from $210 in peak season to $142 in low season.
The two moderately priced properties are the Hotel Cheyenne, a colorful movie-set-like Western town with 1,000 rooms; and the Hotel Santa Fe, a mock adobe complex with 1,000 rooms. Room rates run from $142 to $104 in the Cheyenne and $104 all year in the Santa Fe.
All of the hotels have restaurants and other resort amenities. Each of the rooms can sleep four; in the Western properties, there are bunk beds for the kids.
Add to the accommodations Camp Davy Crockett, with 414 log cabins (fully equipped trailers with microwave ovens, dishwashers and other amenities) that can sleep four to six people; 181 forest campsites have water and electrical hookups. Prices are $165 to $108 for cabins and $51 for campsites.
The third major part of Euro Disney, bound to be very popular, is Festival Disney, a California-modern complex designed for dining, late-night entertainment and shopping. The area is tucked away from the hotels, but located between the Hotel New York and the entrance to Euro Disneyland. The night life concept came from Disney World`s Pleasure Island.
It`s at Festival Disney that you`ll find such diverse entities as Hurricane`s, a Key West-style restaurant/disco; Los Angeles Bar and Grill, with California cuisine and gourmet pizzas; Carnegie`s, a New York-style deli; and the Steakhouse, modeled after a Chicago Stockyards warehouse with 1930s decor and old Chicago photos, including a large, not-so-great portrait of the late Mayor Richard J. Daley.
At the Steakhouse, where a prime rib dinner costs about $40 and a porterhouse steak $48, the executive chef is Michael George, a 24-year-old native of Milwaukee who trained at the Culinary Institute of America and who worked as a chef at Chops in Atlanta.
Also a part of Festival Disney are Billy Bob`s, a country and western hangout; Annette`s Diner, an Ed Debevic`s kind of place; and Champions Sports Bar, decorated with U.S. sports memorabilia.
The hot ticket in Festival Disney is Buffalo Bill`s Wild West Show, which seats 1,050 people in an arena for dinner and an entertaining show that features real American cowboys and 18 Native Americans doing stunt riding and featuring ”Buffalo Bill Cody” and the ”Princess of the Winchester Rifle, Annie Oakley.”
The tab for the two-hour show and dinner is about $60 for adults and $40 for children 3 to 10. The menu, printed on a napkin in English, French, Italian and German, includes cattleman`s chili, trailside breads, barbecued chicken, ranch-house smoked ribs and sausages, corn on the cob, roasted potatoes, Granny`s apple cobbler with vanilla ice cream, draught beer, Coca-Cola and campfire coffee.
Among Euro Disney`s 14,000 ”cast members”-62 percent are French, 16 percent are from other European Community countries and the remainder from elsewhere-only the cowboys and Native Americans are exempt from Disney`s dress code of no facial hair and other grooming restrictions. The 60 or so who alternate shows were chosen from 1,000 rodeo riders who tried out. For most, this was their first trip outside the U.S., and for some, the first time out of Texas. The Buffalo Bill show is their only job here.
While Euro Disney is ironing out the kinks in such areas as service and computer glitches-it`s a daunting task training Europeans to respond to Disney demands-there`s no denying that the Disney folks built a beautiful park. Euro Disneyland covers about 110 acres, making it slightly larger than Disney World`s Magic Kingdom but with fewer attractions.
Taking into account the weather here-the park will be open 365 days a year-many attractions are designed with overhangs to protect visitors from the elements while they wait in lines. The project is landscaped with more than 360,000 trees and shrubs. Gardens and flowers are everywhere. There`s even a Mickey Mouse topiary in front of Le Chateau de la Belle au Bois Dormant.
Yes, Mickey is alive and well and living outside Paris, in addition to his other homes. Even the children of the French intellectuals might come to visit him.
PLENTY OF WAYS TO SPEND MONEY
DATELINE: MARNE-LA-VALLEE, FRANCE With 38 places to shop and 49 places to eat, not counting food carts that offer everything from hot bagels and cream cheese to popcorn, ice cream bars and sausages, there are ample opportunities to spend money at Euro Disney.
And never fear, there are kiosks where you can change traveler`s checks and major credit cards are welcome everywhere.
Here is a sampling of prices for souvenir shoppers, or just plain shoppers. Disney T-shirts go for $16 to $33 for a fancy one. A plush Mickey Mouse can cost $16 to $37 for one that`s about 2 feet tall. Euro Disney mouse ears are $4.70, a Donald Duck coffee mug, $6.60. On Main Street U.S.A., you can buy elegant paperweights at Harrington`s for $66 for a big one, $32 for a small one.
The priciest thing on Main Street is at Main Street Motors-a 1908 E.M.F.
(Everitt, Metzger & Flander, Detroit) Gentleman`s Roadster for 470,000 francs, or approximately $90,000. It was not snapped up on opening day.
At Buffalo Trading Co. at Festival Disney, a toddler`s Levi`s jacket goes for $92; a quilted teddy bear is $62; a pair of men`s Levis (made in Tunisia), $71; and a felt cowboy hat, $118.
On the food and drink circuit, a draft beer is $3.40, a rib eye steak, $33; a Coke $1.50 to $2.15 depending on size; a Mickey Mouse-shape pizza with tomato and cheese, $3.40; a hot pastrami and sauerkraut sandwich, $6.40; a hot bagel with cheese, $3; buttermilk pancakes with bacon, $10.40; and a hot dog, $3.75. Plan on spending at least $20 a person for dinner without wine.
Euro Disneyland costs about $107 for a three-day adult pass, $80 for two days and $42 for a day. For children 3-11, the prices are $71, $54 and $28.
(The amounts are approximate because of the fluctuating exchange rate.)
The park is open 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. and some nights until 11. A few nightspots in Festival Disney close at 3 a.m.
Euro Disney is about a $6, 40-minute ride from central Paris (the Louvre) to Marne-la-Vallee/Chessy stop at the park`s entrance on the RER A4 line. There`s also bus service from Charles de Gaulle and Orly Airports. A TGV train stop is planned for Euro Disney in 1994, linking the park with continental trains. The park has parking for 11,500 cars.
Euro Disney is accessible to the handicapped, although not all rides are. Guest relations representatives can help you at City Hall just inside the main entrance on Town Square, or call 64-74-30-00.
Random notes: The poshest hotel is the Disneyland. . . . Most unusual hotel for a Disney park is the Sequoia, designed by a French architect inspired by Frank Lloyd Wright. . . . With the Hotel New York, architect Michael Graves, who did the flamboyant Dolphin and Swan at Walt Disney World, redeems himself. The New York, with its Art Deco touches, is fun. One goof:
The Rainbow Room in the hotel had to be renamed the Club Manhattan because the real Rainbow Room in New York objected. . . . The Hotel Santa Fe gets my award for worst architecture at Euro Disney. One wag described it as ”low-cost housing.” . . . Disney knows how to stage a parade, and those here in France are no exception.
Top attractions: Big Thunder Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Tours, the Visionarium and Alice`s Curious Labyrinth. Also, don`t miss the dragon in the basement of Sleeping Beauty`s Castle.
What`s ahead: Golf Euro Disney, with 18 holes to open this fall, and nine more next year. Then comes Disney-MGM Studios-Europe in 1995.
For reservations: See a travel agent or call 407-W-DISNEY (407-934-7639).
