1. Team 2
Randy Antonuccio
Evan Finkelstein
Jennifer Kayal
Amanda Meyrick
Jason Sammartino
Case Study: Euro Disney – The First 100 Days
Background:
Walt Disney started his vision with a pen and a mouse. In 1955, Walt’s dream of
an amusement park that was clean and organized came true and Disney Land emerged.
Soon, Disney World opened in Florida, and Tokyo Disney became the company’s first
excursion across the Atlantic. With the success of California, Florida, and Tokyo, many
expected the Disney charm to continue. When Euro Disney opened in Paris in 1992, the
standard model of Disney theme parks, long considered to be a recipe for guaranteed
financial success, soon ran into trouble. Disney faced new problems in daily operations,
and thus forced Disney to look into their standard model of gold.
Euro Disney Pros:
There are several pros for Disney to open a theme park in Europe. The first
would be the overwhelming response of the Parisians that took a poll and responded that
they wanted a Disney park, giving Disney the demand to fill. Another pro would be the
employment opportunities that a park could offer, allowing for more then 30,000 jobs
that would give Disney a major profit. The French government was willing to provide
the necessary contractual concessions, i.e. infrastructure to reach the park from different
areas of Europe. Another huge advantage of opening a park in Europe was the number of
tourists that visit Europe every year, 50 million to Paris alone. Disney would have a huge
competitive advantage over other theme parks making its global awareness widely
available.

2. Euro Disney Cons:
The translation of American culture into European culture was the biggest issue.
A failure to modify Disney’s standard to better fit the unique needs of European
customers was a problem. Restaurants were not prepared for the eating habits and times
of European customers. By not selling alcoholic beverages in the park, Euro Disney
forced customers to leave the park to purchase them. Until Euro Disney, every Disney
theme park was locally owned and operated. Euro Disney was the first Disney Park that
had a significant amount of foreign ownership. Euro Disney’s strategy was to have
ownership through newly structured companies in order to have larger share of financial
return, while bringing in as many local investors as possible to reduce risk, the company
owned a 49% share in Euro Disney. This resulted in management by remote control
where decisions were often made by managers unfamiliar with daily operations of the
park, and who did not have a strong understanding of the culture and the market. This
made it harder to accurately understand the European Disney market, as well as reduced
their ability to respond effectively to concerns by European shareholders.
Decision:
We believe it was a good decision to build Euro Disney despite its initial start up
problems. This decision was based on the market potential, demands for a Disney park in
Paris, and also the amount of government support. Disney was no stranger to entering a
foreign market with its previous success in Tokyo Disney, and it’s global branding
awareness of Disney products. The demand for another Disney park was needed, and
Disney saw a perfect opportunity to fill that need. When you look at the overall picture,
Euro Disney has the potential to become a successful follow up to the other 3 Disney

3. parks. It is clear that America and Europe have very different cultures. If Disney can
realize that American trained French managers would have a greater understanding of the
European way, then Disney will be able to make a more profitable and successful park.
Service Across Cultures:
Based on the Disney case, we see that the company needs to focus on certain
areas before extending outside of the US. It should develop a better understanding of the
European market, and meet the needs of its visitors. European investors should be a
given a bigger role in planning and the decision making to provide more of a European
perspective in managing the operations of the park. Disney should also focus on
customer service as a whole. A greater effort should be made to identify and retain cast
members that are compatible with the corporate values of Disney. Services should be
made better to fit the needs of the multi-cultural European customer base.
Communication in the workplace should be created to bridge the gap between American
management and European cast members.
Conclusion:
By entering the European market, the Walt Disney Company is proving to the
world that it has the will and potential to continue to spread the Disney vision that Walt
himself started in 1955. The opening year cracks of Euro Disney should be seen as a
learning experience, and will help Disney in its future endeavors, if they should choose to
expand onto another continent. The key to the success of Euro Disney will lie in the
balance of the European market blended with the American appeal.