Disney expands its reach
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February 25, 1997: 12:11 p.m. ET
The entertainment giant opens what some call a "miniature magic kingdom"
From Correspondent Casey Wian
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LOS ANGELES (CNNfn) -The company calls it Club Disney, an interactive playground for kids. The first such center is a 25,000- square-foot playhouse that Disney Chairman Michael Eisner just helped open outside Los Angeles.
For eight dollars, kids can climb through a maze of tunnels, animate their own cartoon, enter the Wizard's Lab, play a variety of computer games, and more.
"Club Disney has been designed as a multi-unit business and our plans are to roll it out in communities around the country and probably someday internationally," said James Rasulo, senior vice president of Club Disney.
(QuickTime Movie 437K)
Rasulo says Club Disney will be cautious as it expands -- a lesson learned from the Discovery Zone, a similar company that in 1995 had more than 320 indoor playgrounds and a quarter-billion dollars in revenues. Last year, Discovery Zone filed for bankruptcy and closed a third of its sites after struggling to keep customers. (QuickTime Movie 681K)
Analysts expect Disney to avoid those mistakes.
"Discovery Zone is a little bit like a movie theater that doesn't have a change of films very often. Club Disney is an entertainment company at its roots," said George Rosenbaum, CEO of Leo J. Shapiro & Associates.
One parent who agrees said, "Look at Discovery Zone. I like it but they don't offer as much as this and Disney marketing and everything. For sure, it's going to be a big hit."
But Discovery Zone isn't giving up its fight for the family fun market. The company expects to recover from bankruptcy this summer. At the same time it plans to roll out new attractions although it won't say specifically what they are. Discovery Zone also says it's looking to form alliances with Hollywood studios.
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