A year after his untimley death Michael Jackson is back in 4D form at Disneyland Paris. As predicted by those in the know  at www.dlrp.today way back in April the Francis Ford Coppola produced film ‘Captain EO ‘ has now taken the place of Honey I Shrunk the Kids in Discoveryland in the Disneyland Park.

Originally this was a staple favourite in various Disneyland Parks through the 80’s and 90’s  coinciding with the height of  Michael Jackson’s commercial success  and at the time of being made was ,on a per minute basis, the most expensive film every made at a whopping $1.76 million per sixty seconds.

Captain EO returns to Disneyland Paris

The 4D refers to the fact that as  well as the 3D screen effects there are physical effects in the actual auditorium - I won’t spoil it for you.

I wont spoil the story for you  - so worth checking out.

It looks as if Captain Eo is being rolled out relatively very quietly across the globe with Disneyland Tokyo getting it’s grand opening on the 2nd July 2010.

Usually our friends at Disneyland Paris are fairly forthcoming with info on changes to the parks but this was not the case this time and we had to request information ourselves  - maybe they do not want anything to detract from the New Generation Festival….Either way its definitley another reason to get over to Disneyland Paris this Summer  - Don’t forget the up to 40% discount offer closes for bookings on the 20th July and is selling fast……..

Best Short Breaks Tour Operator 2010

ShortBreaks Ltd has been selling short breaks holidays since the company’s inception late 1998 and there really is nothing more important to us than striving for quality of products and service and there is nothing more rewarding than being acknowledged for this and we have just been able to add another award to those we have been given in the past.

Last Saturday, 5^th Jun I attended the workshop organised by Atout France UK, France Tourism Development Agency based in London formerly known as Maison de La France, at the newly opened Park Plaza Westminster Bridge Hotel and they couldn’t have chosen a better venue.

This contemporary, design-led hotel is situated in London’s South Bank, within walking distance of the city’s most iconic attractions, including Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament, the London Eye and the London Aquarium and it is a delightful hotel place for such professional event!

Atout France did a fantastic job and the whole organization was absolutely faultless. A superb business workshop and a delightful and vibrant gala evening event. The whole package was outstanding!!

The workshop had over 90 French Exhibitors from Regional Tourist offices, accommodation providers to leisure, culture and transport suppliers all with the purpose to promote their products, destinations and services.

It was a great opportunity for me to be there and meet many of these exhibitors in the light of our future developments and potential business opportunities.

The peak of the workshop culminated with the evening special event French Travel Trade Awards 2010. The French Travel Trade Awards give special recognition to 8 operators for their contribution to the promotion of the destination France in various categories and take into account innovation, initiatives and general dedication to France in the programmes.

The evening event was held at the pillar-free ballroom which was superbly decorated for the event with a kind of seductive touch provided by the dancers dressed in a “Chicago Musical” whom kicked off what was an incredible and thrilling night for ShortBreaks.

Celebrity host of the night was Gyles Brandreth who was funny and entertaining and presented all the 8 awards.

After a delightful meal with plenty of wine served by the impeccable staff, I could already feel the pressure and tension when Giles Brandreth went back to the stage to read the programme. The award ceremony started with a massive boom as the first award presented was for the Best Short Breaks Tour Operator 2010 where ShortBreaks appeared amongst the 4 nominees.

After few minutes of suspense, the name of the winner was disclosed and guess what? We did it!!! You can only imagine my delight, felicity and pleasure. It was unbelievable, surprising, and incredible!!

French Government Tourist Office

ShortBreaks has been awarded Best Short Breaks Tour Operator 2010 beating tough competition all those demonstrating strong commitment and creativity during the very challenging economic climate of the past 2 years. I had the honor to go on stage and collect the award in front of a very excited audience and it felt awesome!! I can only describe it as the cherry on the cake!!

And how do the winners normally celebrate their successes? Of course with some good champagne!!!

In fact the party which kicked off after dinner was absolutely magical!!

The opening of two massive curtains at the end of the ballroom unveiled one of the most amazing display of flute glasses I have ever seen.

The golden colour of the champagne, its intense perlage and delicate smell raised the party to a completely different level and I can still see the amazed and astounded faces of all the guests watching at that phenomenal spectacle.

It goes without saying that we should all be proud of this great achievement and it wouldn’t have been possible without the work, commitment, dedication and professionalism that all the staff at ShortBreaks put into their your daily work.

The ShortBreaks name is up there with the best in the industry and it is imperative to continue providing and constantly improve the quality of service our clients are experiencing now. It is crucial to our ongoing success to stay ahead of the game and I can say, hand on heart, that we will do our best to stay where we belong…at the top!

Whilst I may be getting a little ahead of myself , I am sure the the England Team can follow Rafael’s Nadal’s example by visiting Disneyland Paris the day after winning a major sporting event.  According to ESPN Nadal celebrated his victory at The French Open on Sunday by visiting Disneyland Paris and checking out attracions and teh charaters from Disney’s New Generation Festival.

Rafael Nadal celebrates in Disneyland Paris

Apparently he tried out Pirates of the Carribean and It’s a Small World -  fairly tame rides  - I certainly feel the England team shudl celebrate with some more robust attractions  - Spaced Mountain - Rocked and Rolled Rollercoaster or maybe a quick go on Tower of Terror - any other ideas gratefulyy received.

This is a rant so bare with me  -

Eurostar Disney Holidays from £95pp Kids under 7 stay & play for free!   -  if you can find this price on the site that’s prominent on Google  - be aware it doesn’t include passes to the park . What type of holiday to Disneyland Paris doesn’t include park passes - surely that’s the minimum you’d expect.

Bruges is a compact city so to sell a break based on a hotel that’s non central is pretty difficult -  unless you are just trying to get a quick buck and are happy for your clients to be spending a proportion of their time travelling by taxi each way each day  - again it’s just wrong.

Don’t make your lead in city break  prices seem low by not including extras….and when we are talking about extras we are are talking about things like ….breakfast - every city break should include it end of story.

There’s always some smart marketing justification for the above  but in the end it’s just about making the price seem low enough and then adding these ‘extras’ in later on , or dealing with the customer relation issue later on.

It doesn’t just affect perception of  the company concerned but the whole sector/city etc.

I suppose that I shouldn’t be surprised  - we are now used to flying to cities that aren’t actually the ones that we think we are going to - and we are now getting used to the fact that taking a piece of luggage on a holiday is an extra that needs to be paid for  - even though you are going to Florida for two weeks.

Short Breaks Ltd is not perfect and issues do occur but I can say that we do our utmost to ensure that we don’t market oursleves in this way - at times this can be to our detriment but I strongly believe that it’s teh right thing to do.

Yesterday’s release of Euro Disney’s first half figures highlights a few problems that Disney face in operating Europe’s most visited attraction in the current climate. Overall their revenues have fallen 7% to 519 million Euros against the same period last year (their financial year starts in October).

Philip Gas, Euro Disney’s Chief Executive specifically mentioned that visitors from the UK and Netherlands contributed to the decline. Disneyland Paris have traditionally relied on UK visitors to fill the Parks in the Winter months and have done so by offering prices that overcome the possibility of inclement weather.

Over the last two years or so Disney have increased their prices substantially partly to balance the effects of the strength of the Euro against Sterling (most UK Tour Operators pay them in pounds) to capitalise on the very good year they had when they first introduced Kids Under 7 Stay and Play for Free  and also to build in a margin incase they needed to discount to stimulate business.

In doing so they have priced themselves out of the market especially given the economic situation this has also been compounded by Eurostar’s decision not to run a daily service direct to Disneyland Paris during non peak times ( the reasons for which are a whole other blog) - reducing the ease of reaching the resort. The size of Disney as an organisation means that there is much less flexibility   in reacting to these challenges. Whilst we at Short Breaks have seen growth in our Disney sales again this year we experience how unpredictable the market is and are able to react at short notice Euro Disney can’t.

The New Generation Festival and the bringing to the fore of the Pixar characters is definitely a good thing and with the release of Toy Story 3 will definitely have a positive effect on the Disneyland Parks.

Disneyland Paris New Generation Launch

To be fair even in these times Disney have continued to invest heavily in the guest experience at the Parks and the Toy Story Playland with it’s  3 major new attractions will again give value to guests. Once again though there is a downside the launch of the 3 attractions has been delayed due to bad weather in December/January where they were unable to lay cement foundations, this in turn has meant that they will be forced into extra marketing spend to launch the New Generation Festival and the new attractions seperately.

At present there is still good availability in the peak months of July and August which may be causing a few sleepless nights at Disneyland Paris but does help Short Breaks in that we specialise in the late sale market , so are well positioned to benefit.

It’s not all doom and gloom Disneyland Paris will reap the benefit of their investment the question is how long will it take?