![]() With Spain a relatively poor and lower population country compared to its northern neighbor, Valencia’s projections relied heavily on French guests and Jim’s time in London had made him acutely aware that French National Pride would see them rally behind Monsieur Bugs. “We’ll have entire cruise ships full of visitors coming from every port in the Med!”Įven so, the news left him and Dick Nunis secretly shaken. He pointed to the favorable climate in Pago that let the park stay open and hospitable year-round and highlighted the advantages of being in a port city. Jim worked to calm the board, assuring them that there would be plenty of traffic for both parks and that the Disney Name would continue to carry weight. Cries of “We should have gone with Paris,” returned to the lips of those in the company and on the board who’d pushed for the Paris location. The Disney board reacted with alarm to this, fearing that the Warner World would cut deeply into Disneyland Valencia’s margins even as the park became profitable. The world, including the Disney board, watched with baited breath as the French Parliament angrily debated the plan, eventually approving it on a narrow vote in the spring of 1994, with groundbreaking beginning immediately in spite of protests. They’d managed to keep the negotiations secret by using third party intermediaries, and as such, caught the world, including Disney and even including the French people (which caused political drama), by surprise. Plans for a Paris Resort would ultimately be made moot in the fall of 1993 when Warner Brothers announced a partnership with the French government to build a Warner Movie World on the very site east of Paris that Disney had once considered, with the French Government giving Warner a sweetheart deal to help develop it. Similar thinking drove them to explore Marcelles, France, though may wondered if this was too close to Valencia now that express train services were spinning up between France and Dénia. Other European locations were explored in Italy, Greece, or even the USR near Odessa on the Black Sea, all sites that could be easily accessible to Disney Cruises. Disneytown London would prove highly successful, though the sheer size and central location of Paris made it a tempting second target, even as Pearson pushed back on any suggested Paris resort, instead recommending something “more central” like Berlin, though it was no secret that Berlin being farther from London than Paris undoubtedly factored into their thinking. ![]() While Resorts & Recreation had been pushing for a Paris Disneytown, for obvious reasons, Pearson PLC, which had absorbed a couple of billion dollars in costs and debt related to Port Disney and Disneyland Valencia, had insisted on a London location, and specifically earmarked some land adjacent to their Chessington World of Adventure Park. They even broke ground on their first international Disneytown in London. The openings of Port Disney Phase II and the Disney-MGM Hollywoodland resort had begun bringing in critical liquidity to shore up park margins and the new Disneytowns, save for the struggling St. He’d been on hand for the opening of Port Disney Phase II, taking particular delight in the opening of the Kermit’s Swamp water park and getting soaked, still wearing his suit to the amusement of all observers, on the inaugural launch of Gonzo’s Daredevil Log Jam flume ride. He cut the ribbon on new parks from small Disneytowns to the new Disney-MGM Hollywoodland Resort in WDW. He’d worked with him on an ongoing long-shot deal with the LA Rams. He’d helped Ron Miller negotiate deals on the Anaheim Angels and Anaheim Avengers, gaining critical board of directors buy-in. All of this, in turn, was filling hotel rooms and making major shareholder Bill Marriott quite happy.Īltogether, Jim was settling in well to the new acting chairmanship, and the board was giving him high praise for his handling of the company and his ability to stand out even in Frank’s long shadow. Similar economic improvements in Europe were leading to an increase in attendance to Disneyland Valencia, which was quickly approaching the break-even point. And as the recession tapered off and economic stimulus measures from the Federal Government spurred an uptick in the economy, recession-weary Americans responded by taking vacations, including vacations to Disney resorts, big and small. Even An Alien in the Family had surpassed expectations. ![]() Jurassic Park had been a phenomenon and Spider-Man 2 had performed very well. ![]() ![]() 1993 had, by all metrics, been a highly successful year. Chapter 18: Chairman of the Board (Cont’d)Įxcerpt from Jim Henson: Storyteller, an authorized biography by Jay O’BrianĪs the box office numbers for The Little Mermaid continued to tick steadily upwards, Acting Chairman Jim Henson counted it the icing on the cake for a successful year in the job. ![]()
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