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[ford prefect]

Just recently Euro Disney SCA have been holding monthly Round Table meetings for shareholders.  There are 25 places available at each meeting and places are open to anyone who is a current member of the shareholders club.

I had booked a place for the most recent meeting.

The meeting took place in the Grand Central Station conference room in Hotel New York and was hosted by Phillipe Gas (CEO) and Greg Richart (CFO).

I arrived at 5.45 for a 6pm start and chatted with other guests and M. Gas and Mr Richart over drinks and canapes.

We then sat at the table. I was very impressed to see that simultaneous translation was available and that the meeting (although conducted in French) would be translated into English for myself and the 3 other non French speakers attending.

Whilst no definate news was forthcoming M. Gas hinted strongly about new restaurants in the Studios Park and "paying close attention" to attractions for the forthcoming years.

Much of the discussion centred on the quality of the product (ie the show) and value for money.

The consensus of the meeting was simply that standards had slipped (Davewasbaloo would be pleased to hear!!!) and that the quality of the shows were unsubtainably poor.  That said, budgetry restrictions made it difficult to return to the quality of Tarzan and The Lion King.

Much was made of the value for money for guests and Mr Richart suggested that the exceptionally cheap offers were unsubtainable and were as a resuslt of a swift reaction to the recession.  I took this to mean that DLP panicked when the bookings were not very good.

The next great  topic was the variety and quality of merchandise.  M. Gas informed the meeting that this has been an ongoing issue and that they were beginning to change things and to try to return to a selection of appropriately themed merchandise different in each shop to improve the shopping experience.

He took onboard my issue that there was no choice of merchandise and that therefore people will spend less.

I also raised the point that there is no point holding an annual pass at the moment simply because the discount structure was negated by the hotel prices and other internet prices.  This point received a round of applause.

The financial state of the company was discussed with several investers expressing their concern about the debt repayment.  Mr Richart assured the meeting that Eurodisney was on target to meet its obligations.

The Villages Nature project was discussed.  M. Gas was very enthusiastic about this project however he stated that the delay was being caused by land rights issues.

The meeting was very insightful and interesting.  I believe in M. Gas.  He wants to turn the resort around, but as he pointed out it takes time to make and set plans and one can't undo ongoing works.  I think the future looks alright.

[luke85]

Thanks for the info, it's comforting to hear that the powers-that-be are aware of the problems that we as guests are all too aware of. Lets hope Mr. Gas puts his words into action soon and get the resort up to speed once again

[RnRCj]

Thanks for the report! A very interesting read. :wink:

That said, budgetry restrictions made it difficult to return to the quality of Tarzan and The Lion King.

This is a huge shame, but surely cutting back on things like the Central Plaza show and the character train would help to return great shows like these. :?:  

Whilst no definate news was forthcoming M. Gas hinted strongly about new restaurants in the Studios Park

This can only be good news. We've been going on about the lack of restaurants for years now - very glad Mr Gas is aware of the problem. Although if we see one more buffet service restaurant I think I will explode. :lol:

The next great  topic was the variety and quality of merchandise.  M. Gas informed the meeting that this has been an ongoing issue and that they were beginning to change things and to try to return to a selection of appropriately themed merchandise different in each shop to improve the shopping experience.

He took onboard my issue that there was no choice of merchandise and that therefore people will spend less.

This is also good to hear. Did he give any idea of how long it would take to change all the merchandise? I really hope this does actually happen.

[smurfy74]

i used to work in an office with buyers and depending on exactly what the disney buying department is doing you are really looking at a minimum of 12 months to be realistic. My guess would be somewhere near 2012 - any coincidence in what else happens that year???  :lol:  :lol:  :lol:

[stepintothepink]

It's good to see issues like this being addressed. I noticed how limited the merchandise was. It's very similar in Florida, where you can get almost anything in every shop! It's all the same stuff, just rebranded for each park which is a shame.

[dagobert]

Very interesting. I really hope that they will change their merchandise. It is really cheap at the moment. We have been there last week and we didn't buy many things. They offer in each shop the same things.

[ford prefect]

This is also good to hear. Did he give any idea of how long it would take to change all the merchandise? I really hope this does actually happen.

He said the lead time is 18 months.

[Malin]

The consensus of the meeting was simply that standards had slipped (Davewasbaloo would be pleased to hear!!!) and that the quality of the shows were unsubtainably poor. That said, budgetry restrictions made it difficult to return to the quality of Tarzan and The Lion King.

I'm finding it hard to believe the ignorance of this Management Team. If they feel the entertainment is poor, why on earth are they keeping it running. If your working in a Restaurant and you serve up crap food, you simply don't send it out, it should be the same policy when it comes to some of the rubish shows Disneyland Paris has been presenting lately. This is the Disney name you are representing above your door, don't cheapen the brand anymore with these dire stage shows. If you can't present something on par with Tarzan or the Lion King, than don't bother.    

Whilst no definate news was forthcoming M. Gas hinted strongly about new restaurants in the Studios Park and "paying close attention" to attractions for the forthcoming years.

When he says more Restaurants for the Studios, is it wrong to hope one of these is table service, and not more Buffet's. And can we hope if Management are going to start concentrating on attractions, it will look into updating Pirates and Star Tours, its alright building Toy Story Land etc, but don't forget your already existing line up of attractions need some TLC.

[CafeFantasia]

Do these guys have an e-mail address that's available? Or can we write some feedback for them to read at the Round Table Meeting?

[ford prefect]

I'm finding it hard to believe the ignorance of this Management Team. If they feel the entertainment is poor, why on earth are they keeping it running. If your working in a Restaurant and you serve up crap food, you simply don't send it out, it should be the same policy when it comes to some of the rubish shows Disneyland Paris has been presenting lately. This is the Disney name you are representing above your door, don't cheapen the brand anymore with these dire stage shows. If you can't present something on par with Tarzan or the Lion King, than don't bother.  

I said the consensus of the meeting, not that of management.

Before I continue I would like to stress that I do not represent Eurodisney, neither am I employed or connected to or by them other than as a guest and an owner of some shares.

I  believe that M. Gas was surprised by those (including myself) who derided the quality of the shows. I get the impression that he believed the team were doing a good job with limited resources.

It is naive to believe that one can simply change a show that takes months to plan, rehearse and stage.  Performers' contracts and advertising are all limiting factors.  The entertainment team will probably have realised thatthe show is a bit rubbish fairly early on, but by then it was too late.

Entertainment history is littered with examples of bad ideas gone too far. Google Minipops or Eldorado for very high profile TV shows!

Do these guys have an e-mail address that's available? Or can we write some feedback for them to read at the Round Table Meeting?

Look at the corporate site:

http://corporate.disneylandparis.com/index.xhtml

[ed-uk]

Well the Shareholders round table meeting is certainly worthwhile. It's good that EuroDisney gives the opportunity to shareholders to voice their concerns in a constructive way. But when we're going through the worst recession in 60 years and your company is losing money and budgets are tight, if your EuroDisney management how to you maintain standards if you have high levels of debt to pay off? How do you avoid cuts? If we were living in a booming world economy things would be different. It's going to be a challenge. Disneyland Paris has always struggled to make money, even in the so called golden age which some people on the forum like to refer to.

[HildeKitten]

I also raised the point that there is no point holding an annual pass at the moment simply because the discount structure was negated by the hotel prices and other internet prices.  This point received a round of applause.

I both agree and disagree with that statement.

I agree that that the hotel discount can be on the useless side.  If you look around online and via travel agents you can indeed often find better deals than what you get via the AP.
Especially for Belgians, because if I book with my AP discount, I don't get entrance tickets for the people in the room that do not hold an AP meaning that every morning we need to go to guest relations and get a ticket there at AP discount, which can make it really expensive.
During the most expensive times the AP, from my experience, will be worthwhile for a hotel booking, outside that it's best to just check the travel agent really.
Of course, if you have a room full of AP holders, I think it could be worthwhile still, I'll get back to you on that after my friend Sam and I have booked for Halloween 2010.

I disagree on the point that if you do a lot of daytrips a year, the AP will pay itself and pay off.
You don't pay parking, you get discount on merchandise (I end up buying something every time although admittedly I hardly ever spend more than € 20 in total, but I do take advantage of being there and the discount for birthday presents for friends and such) and food.  For me personally it's been paying off nicely but I can see how people going about twice a year find no use for it at all.

I was glad to see a lot of new merchandise in the park on February and that not every shop sold the same thing.  I saw some things I didn't see anywhere else, which was nice.  Of course there was a wide range of things that were sold everywhere but there was variety at least.
They also renewed some old ranges, which was nice to see too (the food bowl for cats has gotten a make-over, I got one for my cat who loves it although I'm sure he just loves it for the size and the fact he can stuff his entire head in, I doubt he paid attention to what's on it  :lol: ).

[disneymom]

I miss also a little bit more better quality merchedising. In WDW they got at least one shop with high quality products, like good real juwelery and watches. We like this kind of things and if we are spending a lot of money for it. In DLP they don't really got something like this. Last year we could find in the shop at Sequioa Lodge a nice limited watch and alarm clock.

Disneymom

[HildeKitten]

They do have more expensive and I'm guessing better quality jewelry in Merlin l'Enchanteur in Fantasyland, and I think there's an upscale jewelry cart in one of the Arcades, but that's it I suppose.
I think there is more around in Disneyland Paris but it's just so had to find we don't notice it, and that's bad too because what doesn't get noticed doesn't get sold.

[smurfy74]

from the jewellery store in Main Store i was given some sparkly mickey hands cuff links and every time i wear them people comment on how nice they are as you dont often get bejeweled mens handcuffs