Rumours have been circulating for a few weeks now about the huge delays with the placemaking project, with what was supposedly a one or two month job now due to be drawn out (excuse the pun) well into 2007. Some cite the new flooring as the problem, being insufficent to withstand time and weather when laid down to cover the current asphalt.

Whatever the reasons, the fences next to Art of Disney have been removed as a temporary measure over the park’s busy Christmas season, and should be returned to their places early next year to (hopefully) allow work to continue. For now, we can get a sneak preview at the initial impact of the project, separating the land from the rest of the park and joining it together with a clear, noticable theme.

Strangely, although the Art of Disney Animation section features no barrier to stop guests walking over the dirt, fences have been added around the palm tree islands of the Flying Carpets Oasis. Though their design is hard to make out from the speedy aerial view of the Flying Carpets themselves, they do not initially appear to have an Arabian theme like the lamps installed above.

Today, ‘rocknroller’ on the French Disney Central Plaza forum reports the Oasis area has been opened to the public, comprising three “islands” of palm trees and extra planting. Photos will be available soon.

All photos by Grandmath, Disney Central Plaza forum.

First, scaffolding and the metal supports around the left-hand outcrop of the Tower were removed, revealing its colours and an interesting metal panel. Like the right-hand outcrop, this is yet to be finished underneath, with a final finish and false art deco supports still to come.

Art deco panelling has also spread further across the front of the Hollywood Tower Hotel, some of it with paint and some of it adding fine art deco details such as the small decorations on the panels of the tallest dome tower. With the main shell of the Tower complete, the final of the two towering cranes has now been removed.

The most interesting development recently has been the start of weathering and ageing on the back of Tower. Whilst it was believed this would begin with the final coat of paint or plaster, the first details of dirt and grime have appeared with the Tower still in its pale yellow state, a long way from California’s (Disney Studio 1-style) deep yellow. Whether this could be the final colour, or it is simply the first step in a long colouring process is still unknown.

More major progress slid into view earlier this week when, for the first time, elevator doors were spotted on the openings of the Tower. Disguised by themeing in the final design, these modern elevator doors slide open to reveal the vista into the 5th Dimension to riders of the attraction, before they plummet a second time into the Twilight Zone.

Some openings have thick wooden supports blocking the hole, whilst others are open to the elements and showing off the new doors. With almost exactly one year to go until the grand opening, this marks the very first visible “operational” part of the Tower’s many ride effects and systems, though the doors won’t begin full automatic operation for some time yet. In a similar way to fans watching the launch of repainted rocket trains before Space Mountain: Mission 2 blasted off, fans in California followed every second of the elevator doors’ movement as the attraction entered testing. So prepare to watch this space in 2007…

Photos 1-2 & 6 by Kyoto at DMI, photos 3-5 by thebatman_1 at MagicForum

Centre of events has been the giant, teetering canyon rock. Direct from the McQueen and Doc Hudson race scenes in the Disney-Pixar Cars film, the rock has been converted from CGI to reality, becoming a new icon for the future Toon Studio.

Beginning as little more than an unpromising steel and concrete frame on 29th November 2006, by 10th December 2006 the theme element had gained a thin wire mesh frame and a more detailed plaster shell.

The first colour arrived on 13th December, and just four days later on 17th December the main portion of the rock’s themeing was complete. Since the rock is part of a massive, wind-eroded canyon in the film, shrinking the icon down to Toon Studio size obviously took some planning. According to Dlrp.fr, the sculpting was completed by Atelier Artistique du Béton, whose past credits at Disneyland Resort Paris include Catastrophe Canyon and Le Pays de Contes de Fées. This new creation effectively mixes the two together, giving an authentic canyon look with miniturised detail.

Like some elements of Le Pays de Contes de Fées, the rock has been given an ultra-detailed sculpt to suggest it is much larger than it actually is. The small fallen “boulders” near the bottom and the incredible eroded detail of the tallest outcrop will create an optical illusion from the ride area suggesting the rock is larger and more distant from guests than they realise.

From the main entry courtyard of Toon Studio, the current Animation Courtyard, the rock will clearly also provide the classic Imagineering “weenie” effect, pulling guests towards the area and adding interest and colour to this part of the land. Interestingly, the multicoloured backdrop of Flying Carpets Over Agrabah matches the new themeing perfectly, with its purple edge next to the blue rockwork of Crush’s Coaster, it’s orange centre opposite the ochreous rocks of Cars and the final yellow edge next to its own oasis-themed entrance.

Photos by Dlrp.fr and Disneytheque.com

First reports appeared on DLP.info, who wrote:

“Early Friday December 8, 2006, winds up to 120 km/h were measured and resulted in closures of the Main Street, U.S.A. , it’s a small world promenade (the wide walkway in front of it’s a small world) and all open air attractions, such as Dumbo, Orbitron, Alice’s Curious Labyrinth. Guests were guided around the closed areas respectively through the arcades on the sides of the Main Street.”

However, with a 183-foot tower under construction and hundreds of temporary construction walls, Walt Disney Studios Park was undoubtedly the first concern as the storm whipped into Marne-la-Vallée. Despite each wall section being held in place with breeze blocks and sand bags, construction walls for the Tower of Terror near Studio Tram Tour were first reported to have been blown from their fixings.

At our partner site the MagicForum, member Poppy The Monkey now gives a full run-through of damage to Walt Disney Studios Park from today’s events:

– Nearly all the movie posters on the lighting rigs have gone.
– The starry light effect on Studio 1 has blown away.
– Most of the hanging decorations at the entrance to the WDS have blown down.
– Cars poster is loose on Studio 1.
– Most of the TOT construction fences were blown down along with some in Animation Courtyard.
– The tarps on the TOT were blown loose too.

Poppy The Monkey also gives more details on the safety precedures put in place for guests, reporting “Guests were kept in all attractions for 1 hour from 1pm, and not allowed to leave. Resulting in 2 showings of Animagique and Cinemagique for the same audience or all you could ride RNRC.” Any guests outside of the Studios’ many soundstages were quickly ushered inside Disney Studio 1 and told to remain inside, with multiple performances from CinéFolies and the Edelweiss band entertaining the hostages of the storm. Finally, Poppy The Monkey confirms “Guests were evacuated from the park at 2pm through the backstage areas taking them directly to the Disneyland Park via the cast members entrances.”

At Disneyland Park, the berms and landscaping played their part in protecting the park, though guests were still kept inside as much as possible. MagicForum member thebatman_1 reports Liberty Arcade and Discovery Arcade became the main shelters for windswept visitors, whilst characters huddled outside City Hall amongst the sea of blown-over trash cans.

Whilst the move to close an entire park seems monumental, the presence of heavy construction walls throughout the entire park could have led to far more serious problems in such strong winds. As it was, the damages that were incurred appear to be mostly minor, with many likely due to be fixed within just a couple of weeks.

At this moment, the winds have reportedly subsided and so fears of a repeat of December 1999’s freak storm can be put aside. On 27th December 1999, an intense gale ripped through the resort, causing damage to the roof of Sequoia Lodge and destroying the glass statue of Mickey Mouse created for the Christmas and Millennium celebrations. Worst hit was Davy Crockett Ranch, with one particular incident injuring six guests when a tree fell on their log cabin.

Member EDM at Disney Central Plaza forum reports a special event at the Studios booked by Air France still went ahead this evening, and, should the troubles of the wind not have a 2 day ticket, the parks will open again as normal tomorrow morning.

The business world doesn’t hold much room for humour, so a story like this must come a real treat. A totally unknown company (Center-Tainment) with a current market capitalisation (number of shares multiplied by value) of €35m announcing a vague and boisterous intent to launch a hostile takeover of a vast company (Euro Disney) holding €272m – a company which also comes saddled with over €1.6bn of debt and an incomprehensible management structure intertwined with that of The Walt Disney Company?

Regulator AMF has now requested Center-Tainment to either make a formal bid by this Monday, December 4th, or refrain from any attempt to take over the company for at least six months.

The story has spread further over the past 24 hours, usually teamed with a headline based around a “mickey mouse bid” (such as the original Reuters article we featured yesterday), and has also finally made it to the business pages of UK newspapers. The Guardian‘s report can be found online here, whilst a look at The Daily Telegraph sees it awarded with the Business section front page and a large photo of Le Château de la Belle au Bois Dormant.

The brief report gives an interesting write-up of Center-Tainment’s intentions, explaining: “Mr Werner said Center-Tainment had been formed expressly to buy at least 50pc of Euro Disney shares. After reaching that level, it would replace the theme park’s management, terminate the operating contract with Disney and run the park itself, he said. However he refused to reveal his proposed management team or his financial backers.”

It seems that, should their planned bid miraculously be accepted by all the required parties, Center-Tainment would seek to run the resort with a structure similar to that of Tokyo Disney Resort‘s Oriental Land Company parent. Euro Disney would become almost entirely separated from The Walt Disney Company, paying only for the license to use Disney’s characters, brands and services (such as Imagineering, technical support), with greater independance (and profit) then likely expected by Center-Tainment.

After inaugerating Tokyo Disney Resort with it’s Oriental Land Company parent, The Walt Disney Company became unhappy with subsequently being left out of its huge financial profits and success, and therefore designed the Euro Disney SCA structure to (it hoped at the time) benefit its finances as much as French law would allow.

Ultimately, The Walt Disney Company would have a final say in any takeover bid, and, with watchdog AMF now closely watching proceedings, should the mysterious Center-Tainment step up to the podium and actually make a bid, they’re sure to hit more than a fair few stumbling blocks before they could take the throne of Sleeping Beauty Castle.

Despite this, more details and comment from the firm are now available, including a statement from the CEO that “the aim of the bid was to gain management control and renegotiate the operating licence agreement with Walt Disney Co.”

PARIS, Nov 30 (Reuters) – An obscure Swiss firm with no operations failed to tell baffled Parisian journalists, investors and regulators on Thursday if it is serious about trying to take control of Disneyland Paris.

Center-Tainment AG, which sent tremors through the Magic Kingdom by announcing plans to buy debt-laden operator Euro Disney on Wednesday, called a news conference to launch a bid worth 11 euro cents a share and then drew back.

“Unfortunately our chief legal counsel is sick so we have had to postpone the action for a few days. The official offer will come in the next days,” said Kurt Andreesen, who identified himself as an independent investment banker for the company.

Shares in Euro Disney traded at nine cents, unchanged, after rising sharply on Wednesday on word of an offer.

The purported bid for the loss-making operator of Disneyland Paris, a European cousin of the U.S. Disney theme parks, started with a statement in broken English on Wednesday.

Center-Tainment CEO Ulf Werner, 60, told reporters the aim of the bid was to gain management control and renegotiate the operating licence agreement with Walt Disney Co.

[…]

It was unclear how Center-Tainment intended to overcome the legal hurdles that protect Euro Disney’s management, which is currently delegated to a 100 percent-subsidiary of Walt Disney.

Under Euro Disney’s statutes, the Walt Disney subsidiary has the exclusive right to nominate any new manager should the current arrangements change for whatever reason.

Center-Tainment insisted it could get around these rules if it achieved its goal of obtaining 50.01 percent of the company.

Andreesen said Center-Tainment would be in a position to manage the park “without Walt Disney”, if necessary, although Werner said this was not the company’s intention.

[…]

There was no immediate comment from Walt Disney.

Euro Disney said it had been unable to find out anything about its suitor. “Despite our attempts to obtain information from them, we have been unable to secure material information on this company,” a statement said.

An official at French regulator AMF, who declined to be quoted by name, said earlier the regulator had not been contacted by Center-Tainment.

German regulator BaFin said it had no background knowledge about Center-Tainment, although a bid by a Swiss company for a French one would not fall under its jurisdiction.

Management Control

[…]

Center-Tainment said 45 shareholders, led by an unidentified German company, owned 99 percent of the stock and that the remaining one percent was traded in the market.

Sceptical journalists pressed Werner and his entourage for details on their backers and their own backgrounds, but received vague answers. The company said its executives had decades of experience in the leisure industry, including indoor soccer.

Center-Tainment has a market capitalisation of 70 million euros after more than halving on Thursday, compared with Euro Disney’s 312 million euros. Any purchaser would face an immediate headache over Euro Disney’s debt of 1.6 billion euros.

[…]

Officials said they had bought Orca purely as a shell company for the purpose of mounting a Euro Disney bid.

Andreesen said the company had a plan B in case Euro Disney investors rejected its planned share offer. “Maybe there will be a cash offer, as a next step, if our share offer doesn’t work.”

Article sourced from Reuters.

Center-Tainment chairman confirms Euro Disney bid plan
11.30.2006, 06:43 AM
PARIS (AFX) – Ulf Werner, chairman of Swiss leisure group Center-Tainment AG, confirmed that his company plans to launch a takeover bid for loss-making theme park operator Euro Disney SCA ‘in coming days’.

He will notify Paris bourse regulator AMF today of his intentions, Werner said at a news conference here.

The proposal will be an all-share offer for Euro Disney’s free floating stock, aimed at giving Center-Tainment a 50.01 pct stake, Werner said.

The ratio will be Center-Tainment shares worth 11 euro cents for every Euro Disney share, the company said.

At 12.10 m, Euro Disney shares were steady at 0.09 eur, giving the owner of the Disneyland Paris resort a market value of 350.8 mln eur.

Euro Disney is 39.8 pct owned by The Walt Disney Co, and Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia has a 10 pct stake.

Centre-Tainment, which is based in Zug, Switzerland and is listed in Frankfurt was formed ‘with the sole aim of creating a company able to initiate a share swap offer for Euro Disney’s floating capital,’ it said in a statement yesterday.

The company said it is led by ‘very experienced managers’ who are ‘influential in the leisure industry’.

Last night Euro Disney said it had not been able to obtain any details of the supposedly forthcoming takeover bid, despite requests to the company following press reports about the intended offer.

A report from MarketWatch gives details about what a takeover plan could actually mean for the company:

Center-Tainment AG to make bid for EuroDisney – report
11:58 AM ET Nov 29, 2006
PARIS (MarketWatch) — […] A press release purporting to come from Center-Tainment, and received by Dow Jones Newswires, said the company was created with the sole purpose of launching a takeover bid for EuroDisney.

The release, inviting journalists to Thursday’s press conference, said Center-Tainment is being advised by “very experienced and influential managers of the leisure industry,” but didn’t elaborate.

No-one was answering the German phone number given in the invitation, and only an e-mail return of address was given.

The release said that Center-Tainment “expects very hard resistance” from

EuroDisney’s management and from its main shareholder; the company pledged to put its own management team in charge of EuroDisney if the bid is successful.

The release also said Center-Tainment is engaged in negotiations with other potential, though smaller targets in the European leisure business.

To be successful, a takeover bid for EuroDisney would have to be approved by U.S. Walt Disney Co. because of EuroDisney’s legal status as a partnership by shares.

And here is the Euro Disney SCA statement in full, which was also forwarded to all members of the Shareholders Club early this morning:

Euro Disney SCA Statement

(Marne-la-Vallée, le 29 novembre 2006) Euro Disney S.C.A.’s Management is aware that a company recently listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and based in Zug, Switzerland, has scheduled a press conference for tomorrow to announce its intention to launch an ‘unfriendly takeover offer for Euro Disney’. Despite our attempts to obtain information from them, we have been unable to secure material information on this company.

The Management of Euro Disney remains focused on its daily operations as well as its long-term growth strategy and is committed to building on the progress achieved this past year.

And finally, from Reuters, confirmation that the stock market regulators also know nothing about the bid:

Regulators have no news of a Euro Disney bid
Thu Nov 30, 2006 6:03am ET
PARIS, Nov 30 (Reuters) – Stock market regulators were unable to shed light on Thursday on plans by a little-known Swiss-registered company to bid for theme park operator Euro Disney.

Frankfurt-listed Center-Tainment assembled journalists in Paris on Thursday to announce what it said in a media invitation would be “an unfriendly takeover offer for Euro Disney,” which expressed bemusement over its surprise suitor.

Center-Tainment said in its notice that its share bid for 50.01 percent of the stock would value Euro Disney at 11 euro cents a share, about one third above its current trading level.

The undated note, issued ahead of a news conference, did not say how the bid value was calculated.

An official at French regulator AMF, who declined to be quoted by name, said the regulator had not been contacted by Center-Tainment.

German stock market regulator BaFin said it had no background knowledge about Center-Tainment, although it said a bid by a Swiss company for a French company would not fall under its jurisdiction.

Euro Disney said late on Wednesday it had been unable to find out anything about the purported bid. “Despite our attempts to obtain information from them, we have been unable to secure material information on this company,” Euro Disney said.

Euro Disney shares traded one cent lower at eight euro cents ahead of the news conference on Thursday. Center-Tainment shares were also lower, although in very light volume.

Shares in both companies have risen sharply since Center-Tainment listed in Germany in September. Center-Tainment has a market capitalisation of 140 million euros compared with Euro Disney’s 312 million euros. Euro Disney’s net debt stands at 1.6 billion euros.

Center-Tainment appeared for the first time in the Swiss business registry on May 19, 2006, when it changed its name from Orca and changed its purpose to that of a broad-purpose financial-services and real estate holding company.

The company said on Wednesday it was a holding company for activities in the leisure industry like indoor playgrounds, indoor soccer and leisure parks.

The press conference by Center-Tainment was scheduled to begin at 11am Paris time today. You can find their very basic website here.

French daily Le Monde said that Euro Disney officials have not been contacted by Center-Tainment, but acknowledged that the group is aware of the email sent to the newspaper, apparently in error, reporting the launch of a bid tomorrow.

PARIS, Nov 29 (Reuters) – French theme park operator Euro Disney is aware of a report that it was about to receive a hostile takeover bid but said it had not been approached, amid reports of a pending offer by a little-known Swiss firm.
“We are aware of the rumour that this company is organising a press conference in Paris tomorrow to present a bid, but we can’t say more. We have not been approached,” said a spokesman for Euro Disney on Wednesday .

He was responding to an article in Le Monde newspaper which said Zug, Switzerland-based and Frankfurt-listed Center-Tainment AG was poised to make a bid for the operator of Disneyland Paris.

Center-Tainment said last week it would hold a news conference on Nov. 30 to announce an unspecified takeover. Center-Tainment did not immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comment on Wednesday.

Heavily indebted Euro Disney is 39.8 percent owned by Walt Disney Co. via its 100 percent subsidiary EDL Holding, and 10 percent indirectly owned by Saudi prince Alwaleed. The loss-making company’s banks have a large say in its future, however, through conditions they have set in return for providing the firm with debt financing.

Euro Disney has a market capitalisation of 272.84 million euros, with its net debt of 1.67 billion euros at Sept. 30 giving an enterprise value close to 2 billion euros. Its shares trade at 7 euro cents after a 36 percent decline this year and a 54 percent fall over 2005.

Center-Tainment chairman Ulf Werner said in a statement last week that the target company was itself listed and therefore resistance by management and some shareholders could be expected. Werner said that movements in the Center-Tainment share price gave rise to suspicion that some parties had taken short positions to make a Center-Tainment bid less attractive.

“The target company has, as is proper procedure, already been informed about Center-Tainment’s strategy,” the firm said, adding the target firm’s investment bank had contacted the company and was preparing a defence.

Center-Tainment said that it expected a risk-free gain in double-digit millions if its five-year plan for the target firm was executed and it said it was confident it could finalise the acquisition in 2006. Center-Tainment is a holding company of family entertainment firms that are active in outdoor and indoor activities. Its Web site lists Jack Kaeser and Hermann Wattenhofer as other executives.

At the start of November, Euro Disney said a new Buzz Lightyear ride helped it boost visitor numbers and trim its fiscal 2006 year loss and it was confident it could keep afloat in 2007. The company, which has to meet certain financial targets to stop banks from calling in its debts, said its net loss narrowed to 73.1 million euros from a comparable loss of 92 million euros in 2005.

The operating loss excluding debt-servicing costs narrowed to 2.4 million euros from 31.9 million as revenues grew faster than costs. It said it planned a series of special events around its 15th anniversary and new additions to its Walt Disney Studios Park.

News from Reuters.
What a takeover from this group would mean for Euro Disney is uncertain. Forbes reports shareholders would be offered Center-Tainment shares, but quite how a takeover of a company so heavily in debt and so dispersed (there are more separate operating and holding companies within the group than you could ever imagine) could happen hasn’t yet been answered. The changes would, we can presume, be on the business and ownership side of things only.

The Swiss group has apparently organised a press conference in Paris, whilst Euro Disney are still in the dark, out at Marne-la-Vallée. It seems we’ll have to wait until tomorrow to see if truth lies within this story.