Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts Tres

[mahnamahna101]

So this is what the proposed DHS makeover is:

Star Wars Land
1. Star Wars E-ticket
2. New Star Wars show
3. Star Wars M&G
4. Star Wars play area or spinner (you know TDO will try and do this)

Pixar Place
5. Cars dark ride (D-ticket)
6. Mater's Junkyard Jamboree
7. New play area to replace HITSK (I would guess Up or Bug's Life)
8. Monsters Inc coaster (E-ticket)

Muppets (I don't think they'll have to remove the Muppets)
9. MuppetVision upgrade
10. Muppet restaurant
11. Potentially a Muppets dark ride

Other
12. New Sunset Blvd ride
13. Little Mermaid show replacement

I know that would probably be too expensive for one makeover but if TDO used $1.5 billion wisely, I really believe they could put most of this into the park, and it would completely change DHS!

I might actually stay at a Disney hotel if they added all of this to DHS since I love the park but there simply isn't enough to do!

 

[Goofyernmost]

It's probably safe to say that the replacement will be less costly, but without knowing what that replacement is, it's hard to say definitively that it will be worse. Radiator Springs Racers is a great ride that anchors a great land, but the $340 million price tag is obscene. If I had to chose between Indiana Jones Adventure and Space Mountain or Radiator Springs Racers, I would take IJA and SM every time.

Wouldn't a lot of that $340mil be development costs. Design and engineering etc. that would already be done for an exact clone. I could see that cloning as is would possibly be cheaper then doing the development for a modified version. At today's costs I don't think the $200mil would be out of line to clone it.

 

[culturenthrills]

Even if they are inaccurate (and they are estimates, so okay, that's reasonable to believe), I'm pretty skeptical that they are off by like 25-35% and that DHS is only drawing 7M a year. That basically means that the most respected numbers in the industry are basically made up out of thin air.

That people are not spending that long in the park (and thus not spending as much on food and merch) is certainly believable and would be concerning to TDO. Of course, I'm not sure how getting rid of half the park to add a few rides solves this. It would require adding to existing capacity, not replacing.

Looks like once again Disney will be removing more than what they are putting back. Both stunt shows and muppets eat thru alot of people a day and provide a chance for you to get off your feet in ac or shade.
Shows serve a purpose.
Unless these new rides are giant capacity people eaters they are still gonna have a problem with lack of stuff to do.

 

[PhotoDave219]

So this is what the proposed DHS makeover is:

..... Snip.....

According to? Source? Where the hell are you getting that?

 

[Goofyernmost]

I have it from a reliable source (my cousin, he's never lied to me) that they are going to rip out everything past Star Tours, all of the backlot plus SoA. LMA, plus many restrooms (replacements to be announced at a later date, but speculation is many privately placed trees and bushes ) and build a Pooh Playground of gigantic proportions along with additional benches.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Just because you don't like Osbourne Lights, doesn't mean that a lot of people don't, its supposed to be quite popular and has certainly developed a following for many.

Guess what? No one outside the Orlando Sentinel would write anything on it.

And they may not care beyond whatever is announced.

 

[marni1971]

Not necessarily....



This is almost becoming comical at this point, especially given Lee's track record.

Certain things are beyond comical...

 

[ScoutN]

Guess what? No one outside the Orlando Sentinel would write anything on it.

And they may not care beyond whatever is announced.

Sure they would. National News outlets would write articles raving about what is coming. Kinda like what happened with those NakedBluePeople.

 

[marni1971]

@WDW1974 have you heard anything about a Terminator replacement? Seems like it is prime for something new. Thanks!

That's staying for the foreseeable. Expect more upgrades soon.

 

[culturenthrills]

Yep ... but I am wondering what Disney will do to their other Studios breadwinner -- SWW's -- when they embark on this massive makeover. ... The Ozzy and Sharon Lightacular will be history. There is nowhere for them to stick them (their current location is because they paved all of the backlot sets for LMA) now. ... But what of SWW's? I would guess they'll continue them, but they may be scaled back a bit because of space and construction issues.

If they get rid of the Osbourne Lights they might as well kill off Christmas completely at WDW. It is amazing how much they have taken away from Christmas while other Florida parks keep expanding their Christmas offerings. Of course, DL resort seems to keep adding to their's.

 

[asianway]

This is sacrilege, I know, but I do wonder if TDO is overestimating the appeal of Star Wars. SWW are huge, filled parking lot huge. But I think their limited nature feeds the mystique. Dressing up in costume, lining up at 5:00 a.m. for merch, there's a certain amount of "geek cred" that comes from attending SWW. That gets lost when anybody can buy the exact same T-shirt or pin 365 days a year. Same goes for a year-round meet-and-greet with Darth Vader or Greedo--will it be as cool/popular when everybody who visits WDW can do it?

Don't misunderstand, I think the E-ticket will be huge. But I don't know if Star Wars can ultimately move merchandise on a daily basis the way Cars and Princesses and Harry Potter seem to. Was Tatooine Traders ever really that busy outside of SWW? Because, if Cars Land is the model, we'll be looking at 3 or 4 clones of it.

Let's rewind the clock for a minute, remember Star Tours II opening weekend? Huge extended queues on SoA with a temporary shade structure...

Way I recall it
Fri day 1 SoA queue needed nearly all day(ride temporarily closed during Lucas dedication in the morning)
Sat day 2 SoA queue needed in the morning only
Sun day 3 SoA queue not needed at all, line rarely overflowed extended queue but never needed to turn the corner by Pizza Planet gate

I know Star Tours MGM edition has a huge capacity with the 6 simulators and it was ultimately a reskin of a 20 year old attraction, but it was something new opening during the time where the most rabid fans were there. A ride that requires you to ride at least three times to see the whole thing.

You may be on to something there.

 

[culturenthrills]

One other thing I wanted to mention.

Several have written how DHS empties out in the evenings. I agree. I've seen this many times over the years and even written how my family enjoys late dinners at Mama Melrose's because, when we finish, that entire area of the park is empty. It's not a new phenomenon.

However, having been to Uni a lot recently, I'm amazed that the same thing happens in many IOA lands, even after WWOHP. Except for through traffic, Toon Lagoon, Jurassic Park, and the Lost Continent are empty at night. Even Seuss Landing is pretty empty, with only WWOHP and Super Hero Island retaining crowds at night.

All I'm saying is if DHS has a problem, it could very well be that IOA has a similar problem. It could explain why Comcast still has a lot planned for IOA.

Part of that is due to the lack of a nighttime show and early entry for HP in the morning. The Studios is busier in the evening due to their nighttime show. That is why they are looking at adding a lagoon show to IOA.

 

[djlaosc]

That's staying for the foreseeable. Expect more upgrades soon.

I thought that I had read on here about new 4k screens? (possibly from Hollywood?)

 

[|Q|]

There will be considerable P&R announcements because they need it to really justify D23 Expo continuing. There is a lot of doubt as to whether this may well be the last one and there are factions in the company determined that it goes forward ... so you'll hear things unlike the waste that was the 2011 Expo.

Do you think they're going to show something Paris-related stuff? Like, maybe, at least, a Ratatouille ride model? ^_^

 

[Nubs70]

And let's not forget how Disney counts guests. Someone visiting on a Saturday EMH morning for literally three hours and then spending the rest of the day at the Pop Century pool and the MK gets counted as a guest of the Studios the same as someone who spent the entire day there.

This is an aspect Next-gen will allow TDO to define. The visitor will ping into the park then ping into their room, showing the guests location over time.

 

[Joe]

Anymore news on a possible technology festival during the winter months at Epcot Center? Or any news on a new possible DVC at Anaheim aka Tomorrowland Tower?

 

[Funmeister]

Let's rewind the clock for a minute, remember Star Tours II opening weekend? Huge extended queues on SoA with a temporary shade structure...

Way I recall it
Fri day 1 SoA queue needed nearly all day(ride temporarily closed during Lucas dedication in the morning)
Sat day 2 SoA queue needed in the morning only
Sun day 3 SoA queue not needed at all, line rarely overflowed extended queue but never needed to turn the corner by Pizza Planet gate

I know Star Tours MGM edition has a huge capacity with the 6 simulators and it was ultimately a reskin of a 20 year old attraction, but it was something new opening during the time where the most rabid fans were there. A ride that requires you to ride at least three times to see the whole thing.

You may be on to something there.

I have mentioned before that DHS never met park attendance projections from the opening of ST2.0. To the point that numerous ADDITIONAL billboards and Lynx bus wraps were purchased to continue to promote. ST2.0 was a nice and needed upgrade but did and does not have the attraction expected. Maybe with the support of a mini-land it could do better but I am not sure. I think they should have gone with the rumored upgrades similar those to StormRider at TDL. More physical effects within the cabin.

Will be interesting to see how this is going to play out.

Hopefully they will not be cheap versions where they are "studio-ized" with unthemed areas to look like a working studio.

 

[lebeau]

You know why this is done, right? It's because people like yourself question every rumor from trusted sources. The internet community is rabid and they don't understand that things change. If you look at it objectively, Jay Rasulo has a worse track record of information than anyone that's perceived as a trusted insider on here.

You ask me, the internet could use a lot more skepticism when it comes to rumors. Not less.

 

[CDavid]

This is an aspect Next-gen will allow TDO to define. The visitor will ping into the park then ping into their room, showing the guests location over time.

You don't really need Next-Gen to accomplish that, though, since your KTTW card that you used to enter AK at 9:17 is the same one you used to open your room door four hours later. Whether they did or didn't, they easily could have tracked this for many years.

 

[lebeau]

Don't misunderstand, I think the E-ticket will be huge. But I don't know if Star Wars can ultimately move merchandise on a daily basis the way Cars and Princesses and Harry Potter seem to. Was Tatooine Traders ever really that busy outside of SWW? Because, if Cars Land is the model, we'll be looking at 3 or 4 clones of it.

This is the thing. Star Wars merch is everywhere and has been for decades. I don't need to buy it at an overpriced gift shop unless it is something really unique. And with as much Star Wars stuff as is out there, it takes a lot to make anything Star Wars unique. It's all been done. Sure, it will sell. But supply has been meeting demand for a long, long time.

Potter was the opposite. Demand was huge and there was virtually no supply. Outside of Universal and the online WB store, there still isn't that much HP stuff out there for fans.

I don't know if Disney is overestimating the appeal of SW. But I know a lot of fans here do it all the time.