Just when I was about to delete his site off my bookmarks for inactivity, Michael Barrier returns with an excellent essay on Disneyland Paris. Barrier is always insightful:
Walt Disney’s original Disneyland, when it opened almost fifty years ago, was itself reminiscent of a department store of the classic kind. Those stores provided amenities—think of the recitals on the huge organ at Wanamaker’s in Philadelphia—that didn’t contribute directly to profit but made visiting a store more enjoyable and encouraged customers to come back, as well as spend more while they were there.
and observant:
Perhaps as a reflection of its financial strains, Disneyland Paris was fraying around the edges—chipped paint, dirty toilets, litter —when I saw it. Walt Disney would have tolerated none of it.
Well worth a read.