London Shareholders' Round Table 10 April 2013

[Jonjo]

The next Club Actionnaires Shareholders' Round Table meeting will be held on Wednesday 10 April 2013 at 5:30 p.m. in Central London. This will be the first Round Table meeting held outside of France and will be a great opertunity for UK shareholders to ask questions to Philippe Gas the CEO of Disneyland Paris and Mark Stead the resorts Chief Financial Officer.

Shareholders have been sent an email today inviting them to attend the meeing where they will have the opportunity to meet with Philippe Gas and Mark Stead to discuss of the financial performance, recent news, events of as well as future projects at Disneyland Paris.

The meeting will be held in English and will last approximately of 90 minutes. To register you need to call the Shareholders Club.

Places will be assigned on a "first come, first serve basis" up to 25 participants and priority will be given to Club members who have not recently participated in a roundtable.

I have called the Shareholders Club this afternoon and have booked a place to attend. If you are unable to attend and wish to have a question asked I will be more than willing to ask it on your behalf.

 

[Madhattermad]

How do you become a UK Shareholder?!

 

[Jonjo]

How do you become a UK Shareholder?!

Have a look at this thread which should explain it all.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2399133

The rules were changed late last year and you now need 100 shares in Euro Disney SCA to become a member of the Shareholders Club.


If anyone else is going would you like to meet up for a drink after the meeting?

 

[netimka]

I wish I could go...but too far away from London... have a great time Jonjo and let us know all the gossip and news you will hear... what a great experience it will be...

 

[bonhoga]

Hi, if you can raise the double bed issue [why would anyone need 2 double beds. i need someone to explain this to me, DLRP or not!!!!! It just makes no sense....when would any person/family need two double beds???????] And also no shuttle buses for Davy Crockett , when will they introduce a shuttle bus?

 

[Jonjo]

Hi, if you can raise the double bed issue [why would anyone need 2 double beds. i need someone to explain this to me, DLRP or not!!!!! It just makes no sense....when would any person/family need two double beds???????] And also no shuttle buses for Davy Crockett , when will they introduce a shuttle bus?

I'll ask these for you but I think the reply will be...

The hotels were designed on the standard American principle of hotel operations where bedrooms have two queen sized beds as standard in their bedrooms. US visitors are quite shocked when they stay in the UK hotels to only find one double bed in a room.

A shuttle to Davy Crockett Ranch is due to start once the Villages Nature project is complete.

 

[katiesam]

Hi Jonjo,

I don't know if this has been covered/answered elsewhere but are there any plans to introduce more benefits for shareholders now that the number of shares needed to join the shareholders club has increased and it therefore costs more to be a member?

 

[kizzabel]

Great question katiesam.

Would love to know if they have plans to lessen the scrums and also if they plan to have more characters wandering around unscheduled.

I know these two questions are at odds but the nasty side of DLP is IMO during scrums with tired kids and impatient parents and also as regards my second question I feel DLP was so much more magic when you could just bump into 5 or 6 characters in Town Square which we did in 2010 but now its less frequent (or maybe I just need to go more!!)

Would also love to know if there is any plans for the wasteland that is east of BTMRR. Would love to see something done with Woodys Round Up and the theatre. Frontierland looks the part, its just a pity that this section is desolate.

Also is there any word on new hotels? I would love to see something shiny and new.

Im immensely jealous Jonjo! Would love to make it over to the round table from Ireland but alas I had to sell my shares (begrudgingly). Hope you have a great fact finding mission and get all the details for us!

 

[katiesam]

Thanks Kizzabel I wasn't sure if I might have missed discussions about this already but even though I've not managed to visit the forum as often these last few months, I think I'd have caught talk of any major new shareholder benefits!

If DLP need any suggestions, I'm sure we could all come up with a long wishlist! One wish would be a way for those of us who are unable to travel so frequently to get hold of limited edition merchandise without having to resort to paying over the odds on ebay! Perhaps through the mail order service or by being able to place orders in advance. (I've not thought this through fully - it's late! - but the idea is there! )

I agree that the character scrums are a very disheartening part of a trip. Some of us who travel without kids like to get photos with characters too (much to the surprise of some people in the parks!), which is difficult when pushy parents shove their kids to the front and give out dirty looks to everyone else! But often, those of us who are polite and try to wait our turn (adults and kids alike) are still left waiting when the cast member has steered the character away! The organised character meets are much better.

To keep on topic, I've got a few more potential questions for Jonjo:

1) I wonder if you're able to ask whether there's any chance of park opening/closing times and ride closures being announced further in advance?

The last trip I made was very short notice (and the one before that was high season) so we weren't affected but it would be very disappointing to book a trip and find out that a lot/favourite rides were going to be closed. A few months ago, we thought we might be able to manage a March trip before our APs ran out in April. For various reasons, this didn't happen but we'd have been really disappointed/annoyed if we had booked as there seem to have been loads of scheduled closures this month (and that's before the weather-affected ones!)

2) Can we have more of the cube-shaped trees planted on the hills near the castle? One of the DLP fan twitter accounts (I forget which one it was as I follow so many! ) recently posted photos comparing the castle as it used to be with how it is now and the difference was immense. Now that the castle has been repainted, repaired and is argueably even more of a focus now that Dreams is such a huge success, it would be lovely for the landscaping to match.

3) Would it be possible to have greater variation in the merchandise in the park? It would be nice for different lands to have more unique things for sale. I know that there is a bit of this already - Buzz Lightyear laser blasters available in Discoveryland for example - but generally speaking, you can go in any shop and find mostly the same things as in the other shops. I think having more variety could encourage people to visit different shops and lead to more being spent (therefore more revenue for the park) - I know in the past we've stopped looking in shops as everything was the same as what we'd already seen.

I've just re-read that the meeting is approximately 90 mins so I think I'll leave the questions there for now! I'd have been very interested in going too but it's rather far to travel from the North East!

 

[cherrymarzipan]

I love katiesam's questions especially the last which is along the same lines as my suggestion on the "What would improve DLP for you" thread. If people thought each shop would have unique merchandise they would browse them all and buy more (boosting our shares!). Also brilliant idea to plant more square trees. I had wondered what it was about old photos that looked different.

I too would like to know what additional perks might be proposed now for the tougher SC conditions. Personally I would like longer Salon Mickey hours and not being a huge fan of sugary items, some savoury pastries offered too.

Are there any figures on the average number of shareholders in the park on any one day? Just wondering if there were sufficient to warrant a small parade/Dreams viewing area?

Thinking about the Studios I find the (ladies) loo situation there intolerable at even moderately busy times to the extent that it puts me off that park at times. Will the new Ratatouille ride area include a new (hopefully large) block of toilets?

While on the subject of lavatories, disabled facilities are not well thought out. We have a, now adult, disabled son and quite a few of the disabled toilets, especially in the Studios are within the "normal" blocks. I always feel slightly uncomfortable having to lead my nearly six foot son through a queue of women to the disabled cubicle at the back and usually find it is in use anyway due to said queue. Even worse, my husband will need to assist me at times with our son so we all have to troop through. Separate, independently accessed, facilities are far more dignified. Less important, but why do those independent disabled loos we do have, which are in the Disneyland Park, only have the old, useless, hand dryers when all the normal blocks had fast drying units installed years ago?

I suppose the big questions have to be the lack of shows and other underused areas in the Disneyland Park.

Wish I could come to the meeting, I'm actually coming to London on 12th but will be travelling back from France on the 10th. Thank you for any questions you can put forward.

 

[markpsych]

we've stopped looking in shops as everything was the same as what we'd already seen.

Likewise

 

[DLPdaft]

cherrymarzipan are you aware of the large toilet block near the Tower of Terror shop? I didn't know they existed before last month, and they were always empty (and clean), even when all the other Studios toilets had queues out the door of the ladies'.

 

[cherrymarzipan]

cherrymarzipan are you aware of the large toilet block near the Tower of Terror shop? I didn't know they existed before last month, and they were always empty (and clean), even when all the other Studios toilets had queues out the door of the ladies'.

Thanks, I'll check them out next week!

 

[katiesam]

Great questions everyone I think the meeting needs to be longer than 90 mins to fit them all in!

Jonjo - if there isn't time for all the questions, do you have the opportunity to leave a list for them to get back to you with the answers at a later date?

Which leads me to wonder if there'd be any scope for a permenant method for shareholders to ask questions/raise issues/make suggestions. Perhaps an official shareholders forum or a dedicated email address? Does anything like this already exist?

I like cherrymarzipan's suggestion for longer Salon Mickey opening hours. Unfortunately, I haven't yet had the opportunity to visit but we're hoping to visit in a few months time. I had wondered when we'd fit it in during our day so longer opening hours would definately be beneficial. I can imagine a little break mid-afternoon/early evening would be very pleasant.

A parade/Dreams viewing area for shareholders also sounds like a great idea. It would be lovely to know we had access to a good viewing spot without having to stake out the pavement an hour in advance!

I too would like to see more shows brought back to the park. I'm a relative latecomer to the DLP magic (first visit was in 2010!) but I keep reading about shows from previous years and wishing they were still on! The 3 times I've visited, the Chaparal (spelling?) Theatre in Frontierland had been unused, which seems a great shame. Also the stage in Videopolis would be a great space to have more shows.

Would it also be possible to have more entertainers around the park? Perhaps a DLP version of the Dapper Dans or street magicians around Main Street? I don't think they'd attract the same scrums as characters but would add to the atmosphere. It would also help to alleviate boredom in long queues. (Perhaps they already do this in high season?)

One other suggestion (this time from my Mum) is for the addition of canopies around the park so that there are more places to shelter from the sun or the rain depending on the season! I'm not a fan of umberellas as I always seem to be the unwitting victim of someone who can't control theirs so we've headed for shops or the Arcades in Main Street before but they can sometimes get a bit crowded!

 

[katiesam]

Another couple of quick questions:

Any possibility of bringing back the chance to have a personalised brick in the pavement between the parks? Seems like a good way to bring in money and I know I'd love to have one if the price wasn't too extravagant.

Also, any plans to have the lockers under Main Street station back in operation?

 

[Jonjo]

Jonjo - if there isn't time for all the questions, do you have the opportunity to leave a list for them to get back to you with the answers at a later date?

Which leads me to wonder if there'd be any scope for a permenant method for shareholders to ask questions/raise issues/make suggestions. Perhaps an official shareholders forum or a dedicated email address? Does anything like this already exist?

I will be sending them by email in advance of the meeting. So those they can not answer on the day or need more detailed replies will get answered later.

If you have any Shareholder questions/raise issues/make suggestions just email the Shareholders Club, that is what they are there for. If they do not know the answer they will pass it on to a department that does.

 

[aliscrapper]

Thank you so much Jonjo for voicing all our questions on our behalf to the shareholders round table.

Could you ask about the possibility of a photopass like they have in WDW for the DLP photographers photo's with characters. I know they trialled something similar but haven't read whether they plan to put in something like this in the long term. Also when we went to Meet Mickey the DLP photographer was just finishing for the day and we found a lot of the time we queued to have our photo taken and no official photographer. This seems to be a recent thing??

 

[katiesam]

I will be sending them by email in advance of the meeting. So those they can not answer on the day or need more detailed replies will get answered later.

If you have any Shareholder questions/raise issues/make suggestions just email the Shareholders Club, that is what they are there for. If they do not know the answer they will pass it on to a department that does.

Thanks Jonjo, that's great

Look forward to seeing what you manage to find out

 

[HFJohnson]

I've just realised this is coming up this week - wish I could go along!

Others have already mentioned the poor organisation of character meets so the only other thing I would like to ask about is their smoking policy. Personally I think smoking should be completely banned in the parks however until they decide to introduce this (if they ever do) I would like to know what they plan to do about the prevalence of smoking outside the designated areas. This is one of the most common complaints I read about in trip reports and I think we would all like to see the CMs being more proactive.

Looking forward to hearing how it went!

 

[jillrobinson]

You already have a long list, but if you get the chance:
Reading here and on another forums including the french DCP forum I know I'm not alone in thinking that this Summer seasons prices are rather high, couple this with the lack of shows, specifically the loss of Tarzan and Fantillusion, is he not worried that returning guests myself included are going to come away pretty disillusioned with DLP, that's if they bother to book at all.

Is there any chance we can have more notice of refurbs and closures, 6 months would be nice.

Can we have an ETA for Ratatouille

Hope you enjoy the experience