Disneyland Paris, originally Euro Disney Resort, later Euro Disneyland, is an entertainment resort in Marne-la-Vallée, a new town in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France, located 32 km (20 mi) from the center of Paris and mostly lying within the commune of Chessy, Seine-et-Marne. It is operated by Euro Disney S.C.A., a public company of which 39.78% of its stock is held by The Walt Disney Company, 10% by the Saudi Prince Alwaleed and 50.22% by other shareholders. The resort's senior leader is chairman and CEO Philippe Gas.
Home to two theme parks, seven hotels, and a shopping, dining and entertainment complex, the resort is the second Disney resort to open outside the United States, following Tokyo Disney Resort, and the first to be owned and operated by Disney. It was the subject of controversy during the periods of negotiation and construction in the late 1980s and early 1990s, when a number of prominent French figures voiced their opposition and protests were held by French labour unions and others. A further setback followed the opening of the resort as park attendance, hotel occupancy and revenues fell below projections. In July 1995, the company saw its first quarterly profit.
The resort opened on 12 April 1992 with the Disneyland theme park, and has since added Walt Disney Studios Park. With 15,405,000 combined visitors to the parks in the fiscal year of 2009, it is France's and Europe's most visited themed attraction.
Read more about Disneyland Paris: History, Financial, Attendance and Employment Status, Name Changes, The Complex, Incidents
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“[The] elderly and timid single gentleman in Paris ... never drove down the Champs Elysees without expecting an accident, and commonly witnessing one; or found himself in the neighborhood of an official without calculating the chances of a bomb. So long as the rates of progress held good, these bombs would double in force and number every ten years.”
—Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)