If the resort was having financial troubles since the beginning (almost bankrupting the entire company), why would disney decide to open a second gate? Did they think doubling-down would boost attendance? If so, why do a dull movie Park?
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DP was built with too many hotel rooms... a lot of mistakes were made.
Additionally, there are deadlines for certain projects built into the contract Disney signed with the French government - in particular, the construction of additional gates. To miss those deadlines means the loss of land that's currently being held by the resort. A second park is, as Robert says, mainly about boosting resort stays - but the urgency came from that obligation.
A similar situation is kicking about with a potential third gate at the moment. They've already managed to kick the deadline down the line to 2030, but even then... I'm not sure they'll take the gamble this time, unless they can convince the partners that "third gate" can translate to something less obvious (and cheaper) like an indoor water park.
And why a studio park? Presumably, market research showed the idea had legs. But more importantly, cost - much of the design had been created years earlier at the same time that Disney-MGM Studios in Orlando was being conceived, ready to be pulled off the shelf. And as we've talked about here in the past, soundstages and concrete lots are a heck of a lot cheaper to build than lush, immersive environments.
(Fixing that choice down the line however, when guests aren't enthused to return for a second visit, costs a little more.)
As rough of a start with Disney Studios, the resort in general is one of the most popular destinations in all of Europe.
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Hotels.
You need people planning to stay for multiple days in order to make on-site hotels compelling. And the easiest way to communicate to future visitors that they will need to plan to stay for multiple days is to have multiple gates.