Report from the Shareholders Roundtable - 27th November 2014

[Jonjo]

This is a report of the latest Shareholders Round Table meeting is taken from the Disneyland Paris Guide website who translated it from the original French from "uncle scrooge" from the Disney Central Plaza forum.

On Wednesday, 27th November 2013 Disneyland Paris held one of its regular shareholders roundtables where shareholders can speak to the CEO of the company (Philippe Gas) about issues they feel important - any issue at all.

"This was more of a general chit-chat than a long Q&A session with no specific details given at all.

"Philippe Gas (CEO) started off by speaking about financial figures for a few minutes, but much faster than he has done on previous occasions. Some Qs asked included:

""Would it be interesting if other major players in the entertainment industry (Universal , Paramount, Merlin Entertainment) moved into the sector to develop its appeal? " Philippe think it could be beneficial but the opportunity has not yet presented . Note that the idea of " Nature Village " goes a little in this direction.

""Can we increase safety of attractions in the parks?" For attractions, the law requires monthly checks. Disneyland makes these same checks twice per day!

"For serious issues that may affect the park (eg. terrorism) undercover work is being down with all the authorities concerned in France, but also abroad to prevent them.

"Smoking in parks: Gas said that "Even though smoking is a result of antisocial behavior of those who will always do what they want, some guests smoke without not even knowing that it is forbidden in parks. "Could we not mention the ban on the park maps, facilitating the work of CMs to show guests written evidence?" Philip confessed his skepticism but noted the idea and didn't say it couldn't happen.

"Main St. Barbershop - They often turn people away due to being too busy. "Wouldn't it make more sense to hire a second barber adding more revenue?" Not a problem he had been made aware of, will be addressed.

"There were no specific announcements about specific future attractions but rather just general statements about Gas' vision of the future.

"Disneyland Paris is a wonderful place but during construction and then subsequent management have taken a view of a fill-in-the-gaps look to the future, refurbishing hotels and adding attractions. He doesn't want to do/fix things retrospectively but think about the future and the longevity of the parks. This previous mentality meant lots of money spent again and again with little visible results - it is just a case of maintaining what's already there.

"Disney Dreams was produced in this vain - instead of several small shows, they created one big show that could last for years.

"Gas said shareholders should rest assured that after the renovation of the hotels there would be updating of major rides (eg. Phantom Manor, Pirates of the Caribbean, Star Tours) and an increase in sustainability, followed by the return of live shows.

"The economic crisis has hit the three main countries who visit DLP (Spain , Italy, France) very hard. But crises are not eternal and Philippe awaits the recovery and hopes that DLP will be ready and waiting when people have money to spend again.

"Gas thinks it is time to withdraw a policy of aggressive promotions, such as the discontinuation of free tickets.

 

[Ware Bears]

Thanks for posting I especially like this

Disney Dreams was produced in this vain ..... they created one big show that could last for years

 

[tennisfan]

The future looks bright for the parks. I look forward to see where they go from now

 

[gorby321]

."The economic crisis has hit the three main countries who visit DLP (Spain , Italy, France) very hard.

I am surprised that either Germany or UK are not in top three.

 

[Jonjo]

I am surprised that either Germany or UK are not in top three.

Attendance from UK guests has slightly increased, with less UK visitors to WDW, so maybe people are going to DLP for a short break instead of WDW for their normal two week Florida holiday. German visitor numbers have decreased since marketing in Germany was reduced quite considerably a few years ago.

 

[tennisfan]

I am surprised that either Germany or UK are not in top three.

The UK might not be in the top 3 due to not being in the Euro which has been hit heavily this year

 

[kizzabel]

Thanks for posting. Great to see how DLP are going beyond the requirements for safety checks, its unfortunate that accidents still happen but I would feel more assured having read that part of this article and human error is very much so a big part of accidents.
Good to see a commitment to the long term improvement of the park and not just the stick-a-bandage-over-a-problem method

 

[ThBa]

German visitor numbers have decreased since marketing in Germany was reduced quite considerably a few years ago.

I have to tell you that there is no and I have to say it again.... no advertising for DLP here in Germany !



It is such a shame and most of the German people must think that it is easier and cheaper to go to the moon than to DLP.

 

[Jonjo]

I have to tell you that there is no and I have to say it again.... no advertising for DLP here in Germany !

I knew that they reduced their advertising budget in Germany, I never knew they ceased it entirely. That's such a great shame.

 

[ThBa]

I knew that they reduced their advertising budget in Germany, I never knew they ceased it entirely. That's such a great shame.

Well....I´m the only one who promotes them.