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BREASTFEEDING

Disneyland Paris apologises after mother stopped from breastfeeding at the park

Disneyland Paris, Europe's biggest tourist attraction, has apologised to a mother after two members of its security staff ordered her to stop breastfeeding her baby in public.

Disneyland Paris apologises after mother stopped from breastfeeding at the park
Photo: Jaime Reina | AFP

Another female visitor drew attention to the incident on Sunday, tweeting indignantly that two security agents had “prevented a mother from breastfeeding her two-year-old baby on the grounds that it shocked foreign clients. In France, in July 2021!”

The tweet was accompanied by a picture of the two agents standing over two women sitting on a bench, one of them holding a small baby. In another tweet, the witness said the mother was Australian.

Responding to the messages, on which the French government was copied, Disneyland said Tuesday it “profoundly regrets this situation and present once more our apologies to the mother in question”.

The agents’ actions were “not compatible with our regulations and our values”, it said, insisting “there is no restriction on breastfeeding at Disneyland Paris”.

It also added that it offered “different places” at the site “for those who prefer a dedicated place” to nurse their children.

In its first Twitter response to the incident on Monday, Disneyland had struck an unapologetic tone, saying only that mothers had the use of special rooms “with suitable and comfortable material such as special breastfeeding seats”.

It changed its tune after being castigated on Twitter by France’s minister for citizenship, Marlene Schiappa, who was previously minister for gender equality.

“Dear @DisneylandParis, breastfeeding a baby is not an offence. It’s good that you have dedicated rooms but no-one knows when and where a baby will be hungry,” she wrote.

“Don’t you also start stigmatising mothers, it’s hard enough like that elsewhere,” she added.

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DISNEYLAND PARIS

Disneyland Paris to build Star Wars zone in €2 billion upgrade

The Walt Disney Company on Tuesday announced a €2 billion expansion of its Paris amusement park which will add a new Star Wars-themed zone to the huge site.

Disneyland Paris to build Star Wars zone in €2 billion upgrade
Disneyland Paris. Photo: AFP
It's great news for fans of Europe's most popular theme park. 
 
In addition to the new Star Wars zone, Disneyland Paris will also build new areas devoted to its hit animated film “Frozen” and the Marvel comics franchise (Spider-Man, The Hulk, X-Men) as part of the makeover, which will take several years.
 
The work will start in 2021 and significantly expand the park, which is Europe's most popular private tourism destination with 320 million visits since it opened in 1992. 
 
A new artificial lake at the site in Marne-la-Vallee, in the eastern Paris suburbs, will become a hub for live entertainment shows.
   
French President Emmanuel Macron hailed the investment as a “very strong commitment” to France after talks at his office with Disney chairman and CEO Bob Iger.
   
“Your confidence shows that France is back!” tweeted the business-friendly president, who has made reinvigorating the economy a top priority.
   
Disneyland Paris accounts for 6.2 percent of France's tourism income alone, according to the Walt Disney Company, which described the expansion plan as “one of the most ambitious development projects” in the park's history.
   
The US entertainment giant took back full control of the park last year after buying the 14 percent of shares it did not already own.
 
Despite its popularity, Disneyland Paris is burdened by heavy debts that surpassed a billion euros in the financial year to September 2016, and has made a loss almost every year.