EuroDisneyland
1.Paris was selected as the location for EuroDisney , because of Friensh proposal,
included spending $53 million to improve highway access to the proposed site and
perhaps speeding up a $75 million subway project. Also, explanations for location
choice included Marne-la-Vallee's close proximity to one of the world's tourism
capitals (it is 20 miles from Paris), and approximately 300 million people throughout
France, Belgium, England, and Germany were within a day's drive or high-speed
train ride. Good transportation was another advantage mentioned; one of the
train/RER lines of the Paris Metro subway ran to Torcy, located in the center of
Marne-la-Valle. In addition, the French government promised to extend
this line to the actual site of the park. The park would be close to A-4, a modern
highway that runs from Paris to the German border, as well as to a freeway that runs
to Charles de Gaulle airport. Finally, the chunnel between France and England was
expected to be completed near the time of EuroDisney's opening.
2.The deal of the century, as many called EuroDisney, came under protests from
all sides. Communists and intellectuals protested heavily. Ariane Mnouchkine, a
theatre director, described it as a "cultural Chernobyl." "I wish with all my heart that
the rebels would set fire to Disneyland," thundered one intellectual in the French
newspaper Le Figaro. "Mickey Mouse," sniffed another, "is stifling individual-ism
and transforming children into consumers." Other criticisms of the park cited the
project as an-other attack on France's cultural landscape, already under siege from
American movies and music. The theme park was damned as an example of American
neoprovincialism. Never ones to suppress their emotions, the farmers of the Marn...