No Limey Love for Disneyland Paris

The British have had problems with the French since the time of Henry II (great-grandson of William the Conqueror) in the 12th century.

Now they have problems with Disneyland Paris, too.

In today's issue of British newspaper The Independent, Christian Sylt takes a dim view of the park's prospects for profitability. He recounts the strike staged by park employees in December 2009 to protest a proposed pay cut. The strike forced Disney to cancel the park's daily parade, prompting guests to boo the employees and capture the entire embarrassing event on film (which of course was posted to YouTube within minutes).

The strike, amazingly enough, was the lesser of Disney's public relations problems: two Disneyland Paris employees, a chef and a cook, later committed suicide, one blaming, in part, Disney's recently instituted cost-saving measure of using frozen instead of fresh produce in some recipes.

The general public, however, cares more about rides and attractions than labor disputes. Disney hopes the three new attractions it opened last week in the Paris park will drag attendance out of the doldrums. Sylt is skeptical: as proof he cites a report by a Disney fan site owner that the new rides 'drew audible boos' (I've never heard an inaudible boo).

For those who like to delve into Disney's financial issues, the article is a good place to learn more about the woes that beset Disneyland Paris, but Sylt's slant is clearly with the audible boo crowd.

MORE: The Independent (Christian Sylt)

Jeff Lange Takes Great Disney Pictures (and Sells DVDs, Too)

Jeff Lange sells park tour DVDs. He also takes amazing pictures.

You don't have to buy one of his DVDs to enjoy the eclectic set of images he posted recently on his business site, JeffLangeDVD. The images include shots of the nearly completed La Hacienda de San Angel in Epcot, the Toy Story Midway Mania refurbishment in Hollywood Studios, and some lovely new items at The Art of Disney (one of which is shown in the picture to your left).

The focus, though, is on La Hacienda, and in addition to the pictures, Jeff shares a short video that pans across the upper part of the restaurant visible behind the construction barriers. It looks like it was taken across the 'street' from the steps of the Mexican pyramid.

I've never had the pleasure of watching one of Jeff's park tour DVDs, but he sure has a lot of them (well over a hundred, though I didn't count carefully). For people not living close to the parks, they're undoubtedly the next best thing.

MORE: Jeff Lange DVD (Jeff Lange)

Obituary: Harrison Price - The Man Who Told Disney Where to Put His Parks

Margalit Fox, a prolific obituary writer for The New York Times, announced yesterday the death of famed research economist Harrison "Buzz" Price from chronic anemia on August 15 at the age of 89.

Walt Disney consulted with Price about where to situate his theme parks. In 1953, Price identified a rural area of citrus groves in Anaheim, California, that he thought would be an ideal site for Disneyland. Walt took his advice.

Years later, Price was consulted again about where to put the even bigger Disney World. As everyone knows, he selected swampland near Orlando, which at the time must have seemed quite startling to Disney planners, who had probably expected Price to recommend New York City, the other major contender in his feasibility study.

Price's death has been covered on other Disney blogs, most notably last week on SamLand's Disney Adventures. Sam has many more pictures and details.

MORE: New York Times (Margalit Fox)

Will Laura Go Back One Day, Come What May, to Blue Bayou?

Blue Bayou is a sad Roy Orbison song about him having to work hard so he can return to his baby left behind on Blue Bayou. Somehow, Disney got pirates out of that.

Laura, titular author of the blog LaurasMiscMusings, ate at Disneyland's Blue Bayou restaurant for the first time last Friday. The Blue Bayou is in New Orleans Square, near Pirates of the Caribbean: in fact, as Laura points out, you can see the boats from that ride gliding past as you sit at your table.

Those boats, unfortunately, may have been the best part of the meal. Laura complains about the pricy, limited menu, and declared her Buccaneer's Beef Short Ribs bland, tough, and salty. (Had the ribs been not bland but barbaric she'd have had quite a pirate on her plate.) Laura also didn't care for the cheesy potatoes that came with the ribs.

Will Laura go back one day to Blue Bayou?

Yes! But for the atmosphere (dark, candle-lit) not for the food.

I've never been to Blue Bayou myself, and so I can't offer a culinary defense - but Laura is pretty persuasive and her post includes many more details of the restaurant to help you decide, come what may, whether Blue Bayou will be part of your next Disneyland day.

(With apologies in advance to the family of Roy Orbison.)

MORE: Laura's Miscellaneous Musings (Laura)

Captain Hook, aka Mike Scopa, Lets His Readers Share Their Disney Triggers

I capped yesterday's edition of the Disney Dispatch with a horrific headline about the Disney Vault as imagined by Saturday Night Live. I may lost half my readership (and I wish her well). Black vans with mouse ears on their antennae have been cruising past all morning.

Today, let's trade nasty for nostalgia. Nothing is more nostalgic than the sights, sounds, tastes, and other sensory 'hooks' that remind you of Disney World when you're not there.

In his AllEars blog, The View from Scopa Towers, Mike Scopa presents Part 2 of his popular series about the strong but often strange mental triggers that unlock Disney memories. In Part 2, Mike lets his readers share their triggers - or hooks, as he calls them - and the haul is quite diverse.

Their hooks range from the auditory (the whistle of the Liberty Belle steamship) to the olfactory (books burning in the Library of Alexandria on Spaceship Earth) to the salivatory (Dole Whips!).

One of my hooks is the sound of the monorail doors opening and closing, and the canned voice of the announcer instructing everyone to 'take small children by the hand'. If I'm with my daughter, I always take her by the hand - even though she's now ten years old and absolutely hates it.

Mike will keep publishing hooks as long as readers keep sending them in. Why not send him yours?

Mike Scopa has gotten hullabaloo here before, most recently in the August 16 edition for Hook, Line, and Mickey: What Triggers Your Disney Memories?, the first part of this series.

MORE: The View from Scopa Towers (Mike Scopa)