The broad overall view of its difficulties in Paris attributed them to European resistance to American corporate imperialism. The park was considered an incongruous element in the French landscape. Euro Disneyland was considered in the media as a symbol of American ethnocentrism and cultural imperialism. It was perceived as a threat, a cultural showdown of American supremacy in modern technology and its applications. At the same time, there was a fear of an American takeover of the leisure industry in France when the public was spending a large portion of its disposable income on it.
The success of Disney parks is premised on repeat business rather than on attracting visitors from evermore-distinct land. There is usually an enormous pay off in retaining existing customers rather than attempting to grow by attracting new ones. Lack of customer oriented service and the objections of European intellectuals convinced European visitors not to return. The park builders discounted all cultural aspects of their venture. They chose to ignore specific publics they were targeting. The management team in Euro Disney repeatedly assured French critics that they knew the business and refused many cultural pointers offered. Disney managers assumed that Europeans do not spend too much time for breakfast and lunch so that the restaurants were downscaled. Long lines in front of the restaurants were not convenient for the visitors. The gift giving requirement of the French visitors were different from what Disney expected. Europeans do not feel that they need to return with souvenirs of visited places. The cultural values of France, Belgium or the Netherlands resemble those of the US in many respects but people are socialized to a particular paradigm. Culture transmits values that are priorities for sorting out and implementing one code of behavior rather that another. The French and other Europeans do not champion children or family values.