Back From the Abyss, Euro Disney Unveils Upgraded Space Mountain

Euro Disney unveiled a major revamp of its Space Mountain ride Wednesday, just months after flat revenue and heavy debt took the company to the edge of bankruptcy.

Space Mountain Mission II, which opens to the public Saturday, sees the decade-old roller coaster upgraded with new passenger cars and a faster launch catapult for an even more stomach-wrenching start.

Gone are the old visuals and conscientiously French theme based on Jules Verne’s novel “From the Earth to the Moon.” Instead, the ride tours the solar system before hurtling out through asteroid showers to skim past supernovas and other astronomical phenomena, portrayed with high-definition video and a host of other new effects.

The launch of the Space Mountain upgrade -- pledging to take riders “beyond the moon, to the edge of the universe” -- comes only months after Euro Disney was itself rescued from a financial black hole, thanks to a $2.2-billion bailout by Burbank-based parent Walt Disney Co.

The deal, struck in September, deferred hundreds of millions in debt repayments and royalties to Walt Disney and gave the go-ahead for a $325-million rights issue that the company recently completed.

The main Disneyland Park east of Paris has never pulled in the 16 million annual visitors promised at Euro Disney’s 1989 stock market launch. The main park and Walt Disney Studios, a second park that opened in 2002 on the same site, together attracted 12.4 million people last year.

That was twice the number of people who climbed the Eiffel Tower, but apparently still not enough -- Euro Disney reported a record $188-million loss for its fiscal year ended Sept. 30.

Chief Executive Andre Lacroix has warned investors not to expect a return to profitability for several years and remains coy about the number of visitors he is now targeting. He said Wednesday that he hoped to see turnstile entries grow “beyond the 12.4 million” in 2005.

The company also is pursuing other strategies to boost profit, Lacroix said. “Attendance is important but it’s also about driving the average spend per guest, driving the margin.”

Euro Disney is pushing more flexible tickets as part of a marketing drive to encourage more people to stay at its Disneyland Resort hotels on site and spend more than one day in the parks.

Lacroix acknowledges that attracting more customers remains crucial if the company is to begin paying off its debt when the first deferrals expire in 2008, while continuing to make a profit.

That is why, armed with research showing that most first-time visitors plan to return, Euro Disney has decided to use almost all of the cash raised in its capital increase on opening a new ride every year.

Next year will see the launch of Buzz Lightyear’s Laser Blast at the Disneyland park, with a new Toon Studios attraction to follow in 2007 and a Tower of Terror in 2008 at neighboring Walt Disney Studios.

Shares of Walt Disney Co. slipped 13 cents to $28.41 on the New York Stock Exchange.