Case Discussion Questions

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What assumptions did Disney make about the tastes and preferences of French consumers? Which of these assumptions were correct? Which were not?
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How might Disney have had a more favorable initial experience in France? What steps might it have taken to reduce the mistakes associated with the launch of Euro-Disney?
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In retrospect, was France the best choice for the location of Euro-Disney?

Disney has made certain assumption about the European taste and preference particularly of French consumers which turn out to be flawed because they did not evaluate effectively the cultural differences and preferences of French consumers.
Firstly, Disney followed the traditional policies by forbidding liquor in their theme park, which is astonishingly very commonplace in French culture where wine is complementary with lunches and meals.
Secondly, from Disney’s perspective Monday would be a light day and Friday would be a heavy day proved to be reversed.
Thirdly, Disney assumed that most of the French did not take breakfast so they downsized the restaurants but customers for breakfast turned out to be in greater numbers than expected. There were 350 serving seats for 2500 people. Moreover, they demanded American type of breakfast mostly beacon and eggs as compared to traditional french i.e. croissants and coffee. In addition lunch timings were also an issue because most of the customers want lunch by 12:30.
Fourthly, Disney expected that Europeans would not much longer because it a general notion in Europe that theme parks are places of excursion rather that an extended vacation. This assumption was correct because average duration of the stay in the park is 1 or 2 days by majority of the visitors. Due to this the hotels remained half-vacant throughout the year.

When the Euro-Disney first opened in France, the economic trend of the country is in recession. Similar trends also occurred in other European countries. As a result the disposal income of the European is significantly declined.
Disney has not anticipated the cultural differences, purchasing behavior and preferences that exist between the European especially french. The entire theme is a based on the American model. The French intellectuals quoted it as a cultural Chernobyl. They considered the Disney as a cultural invasion of American culture into Europe. The Disney might have studied their cultural difference and changed their ethnocentric approach while formulating strategies.
When it came for marketing Disney differentiated itself as typical-American style as a symbol of extravagance and bigness. The marketing would have been more successful if the Disney has concentrated on the emotional aspect by creating an image about experience one can get is unique and extra-ordinary. More over the management didn’t handle the public relation well.
The steps that might overcome the problems associated with the launch of Disney are:
Price: Disney should have reduced their price because of the ongoing recession the per capita income has reduced tremendously.
Internal Marketing. The internal marketing error was implementing American team model into France. Right after few weeks of opening of Disney 10% of the employees left because of the misfit into the American workplace style. The dress code and other things basically violated the French labor laws.
Advertising. The original advertising campaigns were aimed at children and featured Mickey or Pluto introducing the rides and parades on offer inside the park. This had worked in America, where many adults had themselves visited a Disney theme park as children. In Europe, however, the Disney brand was associated with magazines, films and toys, not with a day out. To baffled European parents, a "theme park" sounded rather like an ordinary funfair. With the depreciated frank entry into parks seems very difficult.
Disney at first advertised too broadly without considering different national markets. In fact, different nationals prefer different taste and accommodation. Disney might have opened branches in different European countries for facilitating their needs and delivering packages to its own market.
Partnerships: To attract more visitors to the Disney it had to make strong business relationships with different tourism business like hostels, travel agencies and airlines. Through strong partnerships the Disney could have reached to more visitor and delivering tailor-made packages according to the need of customers.
Brand. The word “euro” in America is more glamorous but in Europe it’s linked with currency and euros. So most Europeans have misinterpreted the brand as money making and profit oriented.
Weather: In Euro-Disney winters and rainy seasons crowd is often less as compare to summers. There were more covered walkways and shopping areas. In contrast to Americans Disney customers can tolerate the park’s long lines in good weather but not in euro-Disney specially when it is freezing cold or raining season. Disney might have improved the customer’s management in winter seasons so that the visitors don’t have to stay much longer in the lines.
Answer3.
Disney in France has proved to be a costly mistake in the last two after its opening it has suffered loss of almost 1.03 billion dollars. Despite its steady recovery and is generating profits after a massive changes in the operations and strategic level. It would be an exaggeration to call it a success. The choice of France is due to its strategic location and accessible of other European countries. France was chosen because of the guaranteed financial incentives and improvement in the transport infrastructure by the Government.
From my perspective Spain would be a good choice for the Euro-Disney because its openness to the other cultures. Moreover the climate is also an added advantage.