: Euro Disney: From Dream to Nightmare* - Case Study Example

Walt Disney is recognized as one of the best theme parks in the world. The popularity of Disney in the United s helped the company establish an international expansion plan. The company was able to successfully penetrate the Japanese marketplace. The firm setup a royalty deal in Japan. The royalties generated in Japan exceeded the income generated in the Florida and California parks. The popularity of the Japan Disney led to the further expansion of the company into Europe by establishing Euro Disney in Paris.

The company had high hopes for the Euro Disney operation. The firm expected to receive 11 million visitors per year. The Euro Disney project differentiates itself from the Japan project because in Japan the company created an identical replica of the US Disney, but in Paris the firm utilized a different approach. The design of the park incorporated many adoptions of French and European culture. The reason that Disney did not utilize the full American model it used in Japan is because of cultural conflicts between the American and French cultures.

There is wide antagonism in France towards American popular culture. The French culture is threatened by the global hegemony of the English language. The official language of Euro Disney was not English, it was French. Some of the adoptions incorporated into the Euro Disney operation included Disney emphasizing the European heritage of many of its Disney characters and storylines. For example Cinderella lived in a French Inn and Snow White home was in a Bavarian village. The company created new attractions that were customized to the Euro Disney Park including Discoveryland and an Alice in Wonderland attraction.

Another major change between the US operation and the Euro Disney was the offering of food items. In America Disney mainly sold fast food items which were easy to prepare and could be delivered fast. In France Disney used a restaurant cuisine eating model. The company since its inception in the United States had a no alcohol policy. In Euro Disney the company lifted its no alcohol policy and wine and beer was allowed to be served at Feastival Disney. Euro Disney was affected a lot by the culture and the labor laws of France.

In the United States the company had specific dress codes and grooming requirements. These requirements were not well taken by the employees since they violated the labor laws of France. The rules and regulations of Disney violated the individual and collective freedom of the employees. The company had to lift those requirements to the general employees and it only applied them to personnel that had roles in theater type work. Another major constraint that Disney faced in France was weather complications during winter.

The extremely cold weather affected the attendance of the park and its operational processes. Another issue during this season was that for Europeans it was cheaper to pay for a two week vacation in Disney Florida than the price of a five day stay at Euro Disney. Overall the general perception of the public was that they did not know when they were visiting the park whether Euro Disney was an American, French, or European park.