(take 2)
Disney scraps indoor park plan
Last Update: 10:25 PM ET Oct 5, 1999 NewsWatch
BURBANK, Calif. (AP) -- Walt Disney Co. is closing its five Club Disney indoor play parks at shopping centers and has scrapped plans for more of the sites because of disappointing results.
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Updated:
10/6/99 4:57:10 PM ET
The family play centers in Thousand Oaks and West Covina, Calif., Chandler and Glendale, Ariz., and Lone Tree, Colo., will close Nov. 1, Disney said Tuesday.
The centers had opened in 1997 as test sites for as many as 100 such play parks Disney considered opening nationwide. The company would not disclose how much it invested in the project.
Disney "concluded that a broad rollout of the clubs will not meet the company's return requirements for the capital that would be invested in the business," said Art Levitt, president of Disney Regional Entertainment, the division that operated the centers.
The parks, roughly half the size of a football field, were aimed at families with children 10 and younger. Attractions included computer games, art projects, party rooms and fashion shows in which children could dress up as Disney characters.
The company said it will try to transfer the clubs' 750 employees to other Disney jobs. Consumers with annual passes or prepaid tickets will receive refunds, Disney said. |
