‘¢ Revenues increased 6% to € 284 million
‘¢ Theme parks attendance and hotel occupancy increased driven by strong Halloween and Christmas seasons
‘¢ Negotiations with trade unions successfully completed

This first quarter revenues report covers the quarter up to 31st December 2006, reporting increased sales of € 284.1 million from € 268.5 million in the same period last year. The Theme Parks sector saw the biggest surge with sales up almost 10% to € 153.6 million from € 139.8 million in 2006, thanks once again to special offers for local French guests, merchandise sales and the slight increase in ticket price.

Even more impressive, perhaps, is the rise of Hotel occupancy by 5.8 percentage points, measuring the amount of rooms filled over the quarter. This amounted to around 29,000 extra room nights compared to the same period in 2006, and helped give the Hotels and Disney Village sector an overall rise of 8% to € 108.7 million.

In his traditional statement to shareholders, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Karl Holz appears satisfied with the results and confident the good news will continue into 2007:

“We are pleased that our business continues to improve with both strong park attendance and hotel occupancy as well as increased guest spending. This improvement is consistent with the trend of our last three quarters.
This quarter’s performance is encouraging for fiscal year 2007, and we look forward to commemorating the 15th-year since we first opened the gates of Disneyland Resort Paris. We will celebrate this anniversary by unveiling exciting new entertainment and attractions, which include the spectacular Disney’s Once Upon a Dream parade in the Disneyland® Park and the opening of two new attractions, Cars Race Rally and Crush’s Coaster in the Walt Disney Studios® Park.

We are also pleased to report that we have reached agreement with our labor unions on two important matters: the 2007 salary plan and the amendment of our 35-hour workweek agreement. We have built a solid foundation for our cast members as the agreements strike a balance between our cast members’ expectations and the Group’s need for increased flexibility to accommodate our guests’ visiting the Resort at different periods of the year.”

The report also gives an update of the upcoming events for the 15th Anniversary, similar to that recently given in the latest Shareholders Club newsletter:

In fiscal year 2007 we will commemorate the 15th anniversary of Disneyland® Resort Paris.
As a backdrop for the party, the Disneyland® Park’s Sleeping Beauty Castle will be decorated with delicate sculptures of Disney Characters and 15 birthday candles. Each night, the candles will sparkle to life during Candleabration, a birthday show featuring favorite Disney Characters.

In the Disneyland Park, Disney Characters will star in the all-new Disney’s Once Upon a Dream parade. The parade will feature famous dream moments from Disney stories. Throughout both the Disneyland Park and the Walt Disney Studios® Park, there will be even more opportunities to meet Disney Characters, including the new Disney Characters’ Express that transports a trainload of characters several times daily down Main Street to meet guests in front of Sleeping Beauty Castle and at other special locations.

Two new attractions will open at the Walt Disney Studios Park during the celebration. Crush’s Coaster family thrill ride plunges guests into the underwater world of Disney/Pixar’s hit animated film Finding Nemo. This experience will transport guests into the adventurous world of Nemo and his ‘surfer’ turtle friend … Crush. Nearby, Cars Race Rally, inspired by Disney/Pixar’s Cars, lets guests of all ages take a ride on the famous Route 66.

A positive report such as this bodes well for the rest of financial year 2007, with the final two quarters in particular hoped to be particularly remarkable. However, the resort may yet face disappointment with its First Half 2007 results in April, since the first three months of the Second Quarter leading up the start of the Anniversary on 1st April lack their usual seasonal celebrations and may be avoided by guests postponing their visit until later in the year.

The next Combined General Meeting of Shareholders is scheduled for 21st February 2007.

You can read the first quarter results in full here (PDF).

Follow DLP Guide on Twitter and Facebook for Disneyland Paris news and updates as they're posted.