Could Formula 1 be coming to Disneyland Paris?
Published reports in France have the Formula 1 wanting to move the French Grand Prix from Magny Cours to Paris. And Disneyland Paris appears to be the preferred site. The French prime minister is on board. Disney appears to be on board. F1 likes the site.
So what's the hold-up? Hey, it's Formula 1! As always, the hold-up is money. Disney doesn't want to pay the estimated $31 million in expenses to run the race, and is waiting for the French government to step up instead. And heaven forbid that F1 pays to run its own races.
Hey, if this happens, I might actually have to fly across the Atlantic for this one. Since the U.S. Grand Prix went belly up (again, over money), Canada's been the closest F1 race. I've long wanted to see the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, but the combination of an F1 race and Disneyland Paris might be too much for me to resist. (Even if it'll likely be run on some lame parking-lot course.)
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If they do go to Disney Paris and do the race there, they might as well bring the U.S. back into play and put a race to WDW in Florida. Florida already has its fair share of races like Daytona 500 and Sebrings 12 hour race. How great would it be if F1 came there too. The airport could handle the extra guests and Disney and the Orlando area Attractions would become a popular destination during that week before and after the race. I think it would make a prefect family vacation deal with and F1 race tagged on.
So parking, and working within the exiting crowd flow, is a problem with putting massive event like this within a theme park resort.
Granted, there's still a fair amount of space at WDW (have no clue about DLP), but Disney's decision to build the oval at the end of the MK parking lot doomed that race. An F1 track, if purpose built, would need to be located a fair distance from the parks (at either WDW or DLP) in order to ensure maximum flexibility on scheduling.
In Disneyland though, as far as my knowledge of the resort grounds goes, they have enough room to build a couple of more parks, so they do have enough to build a track for an F1 race and other races what it most likely then would be used for. Just what their traffic is like....no idea
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I am all for Disney F1 and I think it would bring alot more people to Disney and F1. It would be a very wise move for both parties to make it happen. Also there is so much land to build a great track out their.