Buyers Flock to Disney's 'Copycat' New Town at Val d'Europe, Paris

When Disney decided to open outside Paris it resolved not to repeat its expensive mistakes - for example, at Anaheim, in California, where the failure to buy enough land hindered expansion. So Disney became a developer, optioning 2,000 hectares (5,000 acres), including chunks of the existing communes of Chessy, Coupvray, Bailly-Romainvilliers, Magny-le-Hongre and Serris. When Disneyland Paris opened in 1992 the local population was 5,000: now it is more than 20,000. Ten per cent are “cast”, or Disney employees. “There will be 90,000 residents in 2030,” says Bertrand Ousset, vice-director general of EPA, the government development agency that is partnered with Disney. “This is one of the last Paris suburbs to be developed. Technically it's Sector IV of Marne-la-Vallée, but that's not catchy so it became Val d'Europe.”

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