Mickey Mess

FOR EXECUTIVES AT EURO DISNEYLAND, IT WAS what they had long wished upon a star to see. The throngs at the $4.4 billion theme park over last week's Pentecostal holiday were so thick that ticket windows were shut for four hours to regulate the flow. All 12,000 parking spots were filled; at one point, sightseers waited two hours to shuffle through the main gate, then an hour more for each attraction.

Finally -- at least momentarily -- it looked as if there was magic in the latest version of the Magic Kingdom. During most of the two months since its opening at Marne-la-Vallee outside Paris, the entertainment complex has been dogged by downbeat news. Euro Disneyland has drawn about 1.5 million visitors, a number that barely matches early projections. The stock of the Euro Disney holding company, once the rage of the Paris Bourse, has posted a 20% decline since opening day. In a letter to shareholders two weeks ago, company chairman Robert Fitzpatrick confessed that there could be "no assurance" of profitability by Oct. 1, when the French fiscal year ends. Last week's attendance crush may be the start of a turnaround, but the finale to the park's shakedown woes is still in Tomorrowland.