For the Walt Disney Corporation, the decision to invest in Disneyland Paris was one of the most important location decisions it had ever made. The decision was in two parts. First, should Disney open one of its famous theme parks in Europe at all? Second, if so, where in Europe should it be located? The decision to locate in Europe was influenced partly by its experiences at Tokyo Disneyland, which had been a tremendous success. In Europe, however, there was already a well-established market in holidays to Disney in Florida. For holiday-makers in the UK especially, Florida was only slightly more expensive than travelling to what was then called Euro Disney, with the added benefit of better weather. Also, said some critics, ‘Why build a fake castle on a continent full of real castles? Why build a theme park on a continent which is already a theme park?’ If any doubts troubled Disney, it overcame them. At least two sites were considered – one in Spain and one in France. The advantage of France was that the demography of Europe means that by locating its theme park 30 kilometres east of Paris, it is within relatively easy travelling distance of millions of potential customers. Spain is geographically less convenient. There was also an existing transport infrastructure in this part of France, which was made even better by the French government as an inducement. The French government also offered Disney numerous other financial inducements. Spain, geographically more isolated and reputedly unable to match the French government’s inducements, had the critical advantage, however, of better and more predictable weather. What perhaps was not forecast at the time was the initial hostility of the French media to what some regarded as cultural imperialism. Also, initially not all the European (largely French) staff were as amenable to the strict dress and behaviour codes as were their equivalents in Disney’s US locations.

● Summarize what you see as the major factors influencing the Walt Disney Corporation’s decision to locate near Paris.

● What difficulties do you think the Disney Corporation must have faced in the early days of running Disneyland Paris?

● When transferring a service operation of this type between national or regional cultures, how might the design of the operation need to change?