Future WDW Additions/Expansion

[DarkMetroid567]

Put another way, Disney balked during Covid and is paying for it now. Universal kept going during Covid and is about to enjoy those dividends.

Exactly.

Though those dividends, at least financially, are still premature. Epic should be a success (and I’d bet on it) but it isn’t yet!

 

[HandsomePete]

This is on Disney for being too full of themselves and now they have to sink or swim.

They’ll swim.

That said, do I think they have the right people in the right director/VP seats in Orlando to make the case to push forward through this? No. Something will probably end up getting cut.

Put another way, Disney balked during Covid and is paying for it now.

Almost every hotel company would kill for Disney’s hotel occupancy about now so “paying for it” is a bit relative.

 

[TheUniC6]

They’ll swim.

That said, do I think they have the right people in the right director/VP seats in Orlando to make the case to push forward through this? No. Something will probably end up getting cut.

Someone on WDWMagic thought that what might get cut is the door coaster. It's a fun idea, but not what DHS needs to increase capacity in a meaningful way. Something like a boat ride or omnimover would fit the bill better. Villains should be happening because there is a lot of Lighting Lane potential with that one They also speculated that for whatever reason Disney seems to really want Cars to happen. Maybe because it's just vehicles going around on a track that doesn't really need to be themed heavily?

 

[Freak]

Someone on WDWMagic thought that what might get cut is the door coaster. It's a fun idea, but not what DHS needs to increase capacity in a meaningful way. Something like a boat ride or omnimover would fit the bill better. Villains should be happening because there is a lot of Lighting Lane potential with that one They also speculated that for whatever reason Disney seems to really want Cars to happen. Maybe because it's just vehicles going around on a track that doesn't really need to be themed heavily?

So they are looking to cut Monsters Inc, the one ride I would actually get my butt to Disney to see, but they want to keep Cars?

WTH kind of crack is Disney smoking!?!?

 

[OrlLover]

So they are looking to cut Monsters Inc, the one ride I would actually get my butt to Disney to see, but they want to keep Cars?

WTH kind of crack is Disney smoking!?!?

Typically most posters WDWMagic are Sooners so I would take anything said there with a grain of salt.

They pick the worst cast scenario and run with it.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

The economic problem is just different than Covid though, as the things they will be using will cost more to produce these attractions. On top of that, it’s possible they are expecting less guests over the next 4 years for various economic and political reasons, along with international tourism spiraling. Universal I do believe was smart going ahead with Epic in Covid and Disney staying pat may not work out in the longterm. If they continue that strategy, that’s extremely risky, albeit I can kind of understand it this time around.

But, Potter being built in 2008-2010, and epic being built in Covid and possibly thriving, should teach them a lesson. Will see.

 

[Jake S]

The economic problem is just different than Covid though, as the things they will be using will cost more to produce these attractions. On top of that, it’s possible they are expecting less guests over the next 4 years for various economic and political reasons, along with international tourism spiraling.

just about all of these things also happened with covid, though.

 

[HandsomePete]

They also speculated that for whatever reason Disney seems to really want Cars to happen.

So they are looking to cut Monsters Inc, the one ride I would actually get my butt to Disney to see, but they want to keep Cars?

WTH kind of crack is Disney smoking!?!?

An old post but…

It’s like they’ve… just spitballing here… turned attraction development over to the marketing and sales people and are going to learn some lessons the hard way in a few years.

My guess is they’ve worked themselves into a tizzy over 1) young family demographic trends despite there being easily explainable macro-level reasons and 2) having no Cars presence at WDW for what is one of their highest grossing merchandise franchises. Because *points back up at my quote*

 

[Parkscope Joe]

An old post but…

My guess is they’ve worked themselves into a tizzy over 1) young family demographic trends despite there being easily explainable macro-level reasons and 2) having no Cars presence at WDW for what is one of their highest grossing merchandise franchises. Because *points back up at my quote*

It does feel like something they've been doing since th 2000s though. I mean WDW management turned down several original concept Beastley Kingdome ideas over the years leading up to Pandora, so is it WDI that now has a marketing focus?

 

[Mad Dog]

Seems like they 'have' to go forward with AK expansions. The park has been losing attendance since the effect of Pandora's opening has worn off. AK really needs more and new attractions....DHS needs capacity, but the long lines are down a good bit since SWGE has matured. So DHS isn't as critical as AK. MK really doesn't need new attractions, though that would be nice, so if anything is placed on hold it could be MK.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Seems like they 'have' to go forward with AK expansions. The park has been losing attendance since the effect of Pandora's opening has worn off. AK really needs more and new attractions....DHS needs capacity, but the long lines are down a good bit since SWGE has matured. So DHS isn't as critical as AK. MK really doesn't need new attractions, though that would be nice, so if anything is placed on hold it could be MK.

DAK is going to suffer under Epic opening. I expect Epcot to also falter as their expansion plans were cut back.

 

[Mad Dog]

Already more cracks in the tariff news. Electronics and I phones from China are now exempt (Washington Post). There may be more stuff once the dust settles. Some of these product and supply concerns affecting theme park attraction builds may end up being moot.

 

[GA-MBIT]

Put another way, Disney balked during Covid and is paying for it now. Universal kept going during Covid and is about to enjoy those dividends.

Well, hopefully they will. We still have to see what actually happens with Epic long-term. A new park at this scale is unprecedented as of the past two decades. I'm curious to see how Epic does specifically around August; post-back to school season and pre-HHN, without APs and priced as the most expensive park in the Orlando market.

If Disney expansions do end up being cut, I wouldn't be shocked to see some Universal plans going a similar way. Zelda, Creature, Great Hall dinner theatre, etc.

 

[OrlLover]

Already more cracks in the tariff news. Electronics and I phones from China are now exempt (Washington Post). There may be more stuff once the dust settles. Some of these product and supply concerns affecting theme park attraction builds may end up being moot.

So all this stuff is just wait and see game.

Disney wasn’t caught flat footed and knew the potential consequences of the election.

 

[AustinT]

Remember from D23: "Dirt is moving. I just want to be clear about this: We ARE doing everything you've heard here."

The amount of faith Disney park fans have in the company has got to be an all time low. They know it though, which was the reasoning for all that talk of promises and things definitely happening while at D23. But if they do decide to cancel some of the few plans that some park fans were excited about...Doesn't that just completely erode any sliver of faith people had left? That level of negativity and resentment could cause some Disney fans to actively root against the company and prop up the competitor as we've seen happen in the movie space for a few years now. I'd argue that creating such a larger turn amongst the community is one of the more dangerous things they could do that could haunt them for many years to come.

 

[Mad Dog]

Remember from D23: "Dirt is moving. I just want to be clear about this: We ARE doing everything you've heard here."

The amount of faith Disney park fans have in the company has got to be an all time low. They know it though, which was the reasoning for all that talk of promises and things definitely happening while at D23. But if they do decide to cancel some of the few plans that some park fans were excited about...Doesn't that just completely erode any sliver of faith people had left? That level of negativity and resentment could cause some Disney fans to actively root against the company and prop up the competitor as we've seen happen in the movie space for a few years now. I'd argue that creating such a larger turn amongst the community is one of the more dangerous things they could do that could haunt them for many years to come.

It might happen in fandom circles. But I doubt the General Public follows or pays attention to these announcements.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Well, hopefully they will. We still have to see what actually happens with Epic long-term. A new park at this scale is unprecedented as of the past two decades. I'm curious to see how Epic does specifically around August; post-back to school season and pre-HHN, without APs and priced as the most expensive park in the Orlando market.

If Disney expansions do end up being cut, I wouldn't be shocked to see some Universal plans going a similar way. Zelda, Creature, Great Hall dinner theatre, etc.

This is what me and a few others have been worried about for the past few months since they revealed the ticketing structure.

I think Disney understands that they need new projects throughout the parks, but I wouldn't be surprised to see some of the more ambitious plans adjust or cut.

I do think this tariff stuff is starting to blow over though, definitely not an issue long-term.

 

[Jake S]

definitely not an issue

well, I wouldn’t go that far!

 

[Tobias]

well, I wouldn’t go that far!

Yeah, to carry over a bit of what I said in the Switch 2 thread, there is such uncertainty with the tariff situation that one can't think in the long-term here. This current 90-day period already feels like an eternity with how things are revolving around to this very minute. Not to mention, if companies felt things were going to be a-o.k. in the long-term...we wouldn't be having this conversation now would we? And yet, here we are.

It's ironic. Disney had so many opportunities to build things but they didn't, and when they finally do want to build things...we get tariffs and most likely supply chain issues, plus a big ol' drop in international tourism with an ever-growing list of reasons not to come here. If you don't have dirt moving already for something, it would not surprise me if there's a change in plans for some of those projects.

 

[AustinT]

I do think this tariff stuff is starting to blow over though, definitely not an issue long-term.

Like others have said, with the current week to week uncertainty around trade and tariffs, big companies like Disney can't plan ahead like they need to. Many of the decisions they need to make are long-term, but those things need be be either set into motion or changed now. Uncertainty is just as bad as bad trade news. Now Disney is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Maybe they've learned from pumping the brakes during covid, but we'll see later this year if attractions do close as expected or not.

It might happen in fandom circles. But I doubt the General Public follows or pays attention to these announcements.

I"m not sure. I'd argue that many of the places the GP gets their news from online IS from people in these hardcore fandom circles. Look how rapidly whatever influencers have been saying about Epic has been spreading online even outside to non-theme park circles. Piss of those people, and you impact all the people consuming content down the line from them.