Jim Hill strikes again PART II-Night Kingdom?

ClemsonTigger

Naturally Grumpy
"Then why don't you head on over to that Southern American-themed enclosure where you can frolic with some penguins?"

Does anyone know where Southern America is? Is that like Alabama? They have penguins?

For $520 million it does sound like more than just a back door to AK. At Sea World it seems as though they take their core - sea life - and make it an exclusive experience. But I never thought of AK as Disney's core. More like MK or even EPCOT. Although I'm not sure how you could turn those concepts into exclusive experiences.

Here's how:
http://abd.disney.go.com/abd/en_US/destination?name=HollywoodDLRLandingPage
 

DisneyLeo18

Active Member
sorry i forgot to add.. i work in the shareholder business and just completed a job for The Walt Disney Company. They dont have a shareholder meeting next week as im sure you know if anyone here holds stock in disney.
 

tomm4004

New Member
Right, "observe up-close lions & hyenas as they go through their nocturnal hunting routines?" Are they actually going to kill other animals for food? Besides, don't lions creep along in the brush while hunting? Lions in captivity are fed and don't tend to hunt much, I think. The night-vision goggles at AKL are fun for a few seconds, but the novelty wears off quickly. I'm assuming this new idea is far more exciting.
 

mikeanabean

Active Member
OK, If Jim Hill is so full of $%^# why do we keep talking about his articles or why do people post his stuff????? As for this rumor (and that is what it is) I think it is idiotic and would be very foolish for Disney to build. With the economy the way it is and what it might be $300 for 8 hours is a bit much. Disney would not make enough money to cover its own expenses or turn a profit. Thats my 2 cents or in Disney World it would be $15 worth.
 

Master Yoda

Pro Star Wars geek.
Premium Member
I thought Eisner was out of office! This is SO Eisner in SO many ways! I hope this plain-out-awful idea never comes to fruition. What is the repeat value? If this is considered the “next theme park” will it stand in the way of us getting the next traditional park? Why Disney!? WHY!!? :shrug: I know we all can think of SO many better ideas to use $520 million on…..and this craptastic idea is certainly NOT one of them. :cry:
Right now WDW simply does not have the attendance to support a traditional 5th gate. It does however have plenty of people with money to burn that will pony up more that 4 times gate price for an all inclusive and exclusive park experience and keep a park like this at 100% capicity year round.
 

kcnole

Well-Known Member
First off, its only going to cost 520 million dollars to build, that's fairly cheap for an entire park. I don't see that number being correct.

Secondly, I'm glad this sounds like something I have absolutely no desire to visit. I was worried that Disney would go the niche route and come up with something so extraordinary that I, a poor peon would be forced to max out my credit cards just to go. Lucky me, I wouldn't be interested in this if it were 60 bucks a night (not including food).

Now maybe in execution it'll be much better than it sounds on paper, but it sounds like a completely horrific idea and something that really goes against the Disney experience. Luckily, it sounds like the park will be built fairly cheap (520 million is nothing for Disney if that number is correct) and hopefully won't hurt the addition of new rides and attractions for the other more family friendly parks.
 

Enderikari

Well-Known Member
Right now WDW simply does not have the attendance to support a traditional 5th gate. It does however have plenty of people with money to burn that will pony up more that 4 times gate price for an all inclusive and exclusive park experience and keep a park like this at 100% capicity year round.

God I love when blinding flashes of the obvious/common sense hit the boards. Thanks Yoda!
 

durangojim

Well-Known Member
We'll probably do it, my wife and I did Discovery Cove and had a great time, so to do something in a similar vein from Disney sounds like it would be fun. It definately seems that this isn't marketed towards everyone and that's too bad. For those of us who choose to try it, it will probably be a great time.
 

ClemsonTigger

Naturally Grumpy
To add to the list of reasons why this WOULD work (if done right)

MVMCP/MNSSHP/MPPP $50
Keys tour $60 Backstage $200
Dive in The Seas $150, Aquatour $100
Sunrise Safari $55, Sunset Safari $150 + required AKL concierge stay

All of these current programs are very popular...so why wouldn't a greatly expanded Sunset Safari without need for concierge stay not work.

I'm not saying that this is necessarily my personal preference for the next expansion/capital expenditure. But I have NO DOUBT that it will be successful.

I hope I am around here long enought to hear a heated discussion on why an idea might work and might be successful instead of why it is sure to fail! :eek:
 

Gorjus

Well-Known Member
isn't it bad enough that we have to live in a society where the only way a person can escape reality and get some magic, is if they have the privilege to attend?


It defeats the purpose of everything that is "Disney" and uses its brand to take advantage of the rich and discriminate against the poor.


Disney, get your priorities straight!!!!


I have no comment on the rumor. It is a rumor and there are tons of them a day. I wanted to disagree with your above statements.

Having privilege is not how you get to Disney. Hard work, financial success and saving is how you get to Disney. Anybody can be a millionaire in this country. But that would have to be your priority and you would have to take the steps necessary to achieve it. Not everyone thinks that all the steps are worth it.

No one is discriminating against the poor. Everything does not have to be the same for everyone. Everyone has an equal opportunity to be financially successful in life. Those who strive and achieve it have earned the right to pay for nicer things. It is not discrimination.

Disney has its priorities right: making money for the stockholders. In Traditions, they teach you that a successful business is like a 3 legged stool. The needs of the company, the cast, and the guests must all be met equally to be successful. If you pay each cast member $50/hour, they will be happy, but the cost to the guests would be huge and people wouldn't come to the park and business would fail. If you tend to the guest and make the price of admission really inexpensive, you wouldn't be able to pay the cast and cover the cost of running the business. By the same token, if it is only about the business, cast and guests would run and down would go the business. So, you find a happy medium.

It is ok to have nice things that people are willing to pay for anad others are willing to strive for.
 

tomm4004

New Member
Did you have breakfast today???..... He meant South America the continent... Not Southern (United States of) America...

Thanks for the chuckle though!!

Sorry, but every reader knows what he meant and every reader knows I was being sarcastic. Well, almost every reader.

I agree that the price tag is not outlandish considering what people fork out for other activities. It's not that much more than the princess tea, and it doesn't have a bat cave.
 

ClemsonTigger

Naturally Grumpy
I have no comment on the rumor. It is a rumor and there are tons of them a day. I wanted to disagree with your above statements.

Having privilege is not how you get to Disney. Hard work, financial success and saving is how you get to Disney. Anybody can be a millionaire in this country. But that would have to be your priority and you would have to take the steps necessary to achieve it. Not everyone thinks that all the steps are worth it.

No one is discriminating against the poor. Everything does not have to be the same for everyone. Everyone has an equal opportunity to be financially successful in life. Those who strive and achieve it have earned the right to pay for nicer things. It is not discrimination.

Disney has its priorities right: making money for the stockholders. In Traditions, they teach you that a successful business is like a 3 legged stool. The needs of the company, the cast, and the guests must all be met equally to be successful. If you pay each cast member $50/hour, they will be happy, but the cost to the guests would be huge and people wouldn't come to the park and business would fail. If you tend to the guest and make the price of admission really inexpensive, you wouldn't be able to pay the cast and cover the cost of running the business. By the same token, if it is only about the business, cast and guests would run and down would go the business. So, you find a happy medium.

It is ok to have nice things that people are willing to pay for anad others are willing to strive for.

But isn't it in the Constitution? ....life, liberty....and the right for everyone to be able to go to WDW, have concierge treatment and have FP's for every ride? :brick:
 

sanctumsolitude

Active Member
If this was an after-hours Animal Kingdom thing, I think it would work. I could see people going to an Adventurer's Club inside Animal Kingdom at closing time and beginning the personalized, intimate adventure from there after all of the other guests have left. Besides, investing $520 million into an expansion of Animal Kingdom that both allows for higher attendance for the day park and the expensive intimate adventure at night makes more sense than $520 million for a new park alone.

But if it is a separate park... I am not so sure about it. I would need more information.
 

durangojim

Well-Known Member
I have no comment on the rumor. It is a rumor and there are tons of them a day. I wanted to disagree with your above statements.

Having privilege is not how you get to Disney. Hard work, financial success and saving is how you get to Disney. Anybody can be a millionaire in this country. But that would have to be your priority and you would have to take the steps necessary to achieve it. Not everyone thinks that all the steps are worth it.

No one is discriminating against the poor. Everything does not have to be the same for everyone. Everyone has an equal opportunity to be financially successful in life. Those who strive and achieve it have earned the right to pay for nicer things. It is not discrimination.

Disney has its priorities right: making money for the stockholders. In Traditions, they teach you that a successful business is like a 3 legged stool. The needs of the company, the cast, and the guests must all be met equally to be successful. If you pay each cast member $50/hour, they will be happy, but the cost to the guests would be huge and people wouldn't come to the park and business would fail. If you tend to the guest and make the price of admission really inexpensive, you wouldn't be able to pay the cast and cover the cost of running the business. By the same token, if it is only about the business, cast and guests would run and down would go the business. So, you find a happy medium.

It is ok to have nice things that people are willing to pay for anad others are willing to strive for.

Totally agree with what you said. Besides why are there Value, Moderate, and Deluxe resorts if everyone should be treated the same. I think there was a place like that at one time, it was called LeninLand:lol:
 

sittle

Member
Sorry, but every reader knows what he meant and every reader knows I was being sarcastic. Well, almost every reader.

Actually... It's really hard to discern sarcasm on internet... with the lack of body/facial expressions and gestures, there isn't really a way to discern if someone is being sarcastic or is just misinformed/uneducated... (in your case I thought the later..)

Try a smilie.. they help in cases of sarcasm sublime sarcasm or a nice "*sarcastic*" is always helpful

Sorry your not misinformed or uneducated, I simply misinterpreted your statement. I do apologize...
 

PhilharMagician

Well-Known Member
I am not sure what to even think. Could this park continually be 100% capacity? Yes, but is that enough for it to be profitable?

Just the cost of employing 4000 people at an assumed total cost of $100 per day salary plus insurance, disability averaged for all would be $400,000 per day and this number is most likely low. The park would run @ 60% capacity for the first 2 years which would be $360,000 per day income using the $300.00 per day admission #. This is not including overhead like electric, water, sewer, free food for guests, food for animals, maintenance and the list goes on and on. The third year they would have an operating income of $480,000 and finally $600,000 starting the forth year. I look at these numbers and find this story hard to believe. I am not sure what WDC requires the ROI for a project like this, but it would be well past my lifetime unless they add more guests of dramatically increase pricing.


Would I visit the park? Probably, but it would depend on the total cost for my family. It is tough thinking about a 1/2 days worth of entertainment for $1000.00 +.
 

jt04

Well-Known Member
Here is my concern, if they are going to build this away from the current AK property (staying away from the expansion pads associated with the park itself) then I have no problem with it. But if it is going to use AK property and not at least be available to day guest in some manner (walkways, shops, eateries) then it will be tragic. Because of AK's need for space, every bit of it's real estate is crucial for the future growth of the park.

Now if it is to be a smaller park to be built behind AK Lodge with safari trucks that have a seperate entrance to the savannah for night safaris, all I have to say is it has a lot of potential. They will need a few more attractions as JH must not have gotten word on everything they are planning. Either that or they are going to have to import one heck of a lot of very hungry hippos.

Hyenas! :eek: :sohappy:
 

Register on WDWMAGIC. This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.

Back
Top Bottom