DAK 'Encanto' and 'Indiana Jones'-themed experiences at Animal Kingdom

[doctornick]

I'm really surprised at the delay in closing Dinosaur.

I'd heard earlier this year that the plan was to have it offline by January, 2025 (i.e., next month).

My initial thought is that Park Ops pushed back on losing the capacity.

Kali isn't popular during the colder months of the year, so that's one headliner out until spring.

Dinosaur would be two headliners offline.

Everest averages something like an hour of downtime per day, and its last major refurb was spring 2022. So it might need some TLC sooner rather than later.

If Everest had to do multi-week maintenance, that would leave Safaris and Flight of Passage as the only major rides in the park. Safaris would be the only major LLMP attraction too.

I can see how that would affect Park Ops and revenue.

Which all speaks as to why they should be building a TLK ride now and first (or a Pandora expansion) before shutting down things in Dinoland.

 

[EagleScout610]

Yeah, holding off on Zootopia may make sense from a marketing standpoint (align with the new film's release) but doesn't make sense for the park. They should be switching to Zootopia NOW to open it before DinoRama closes. The park needs capacity.

I wonder if they'll have Zootopia open before Dinosaur closes to try to keep at least some of the capacity up. Dinorama the park can do without but Bug and Dinosaur I can imagine would cause issues. Plus I wouldn't be surprised if Bug is closed less than a year like Country Bears were.

 

[erasure fan1]

Which all speaks as to why they should be building a TLK ride now and first (or a Pandora expansion) before shutting down things in Dinoland.

You know it, I know it, everyone but Disney seems to know it. It doesn't surprise me at all. Disney hasn't really ever thought that way. Capacity hasn't been a priority for decades.

 

[Timothy_Q]

Hopefully DAK's much lower LL revenue compared to the other parks will make it a first priority after Villains

 

[Casper Gutman]

Hopefully DAK's much lower LL revenue compared to the other parks will make it a first priority after Villains

In a decade?

 

[The Leader of the Club]

In a decade?

I think we’ll hear about a new DAK project at D23 in 2028 (assuming the cycle continues as it has been)

 

[Timothy_Q]

In a decade?

Villains is supposed to open in 5 years
Next project could open a year later at DAK

 

[BrianLo]

Which all speaks as to why they should be building a TLK ride now and first (or a Pandora expansion) before shutting down things in Dinoland.

Or both!

But unfortunately, DAK is not going to have capacity issues. It’s going to have serious issues bringing guests in the door.

If for some reason it doesn’t, longer hours than 6PM and a night show would both be easy things to do as Dino closes.

 

[Disstevefan1]

Villains is supposed to open in 5 years

 

[BrianLo]

View attachment 829122

Since when did everyone collectively agree 5 years from August is ‘fast’?

Even the notorious Pandora that was announced before imagineering was really aware and got stuck in development purgatory for a while with sticky creatives took 5.5.

We’re already 2 years down from their announced intent (that we know of). 7 isn’t fast, it’s actually exceptionally slow.

 

[JackCH]

View attachment 829122

I think 5-6 years for villains is probably about right. I know Cars if first, but there will probably be some overlap in work. And it’s not like 5 years is fast. But I know this site is cynical about everything.

 

[Horizons '83]

Epic Universe (750 acres) will be complete in less than 6 years since announcement and that was with a delay due to covid. 5-6 years for Villains (25 acres) is brutal.

 

[Marc Davis Fan]

Epic Universe (750 acres) will be complete in less than 6 years since announcement and that was with a delay due to covid. 5-6 years for Villains (25 acres) is brutal.

Wait, putting aside the timeline discussion, where are these numbers from?

I believe the actual EU park is a fraction that size (only taking up part of the plot they re-purchased).

And I’ve never heard acreage numbers for Villains, but 25 would make it 11 acres larger than Galaxy’s Edge…

 

[Horizons '83]

Wait, putting aside the timeline discussion, where are these numbers from?

I believe the actual EU park is a fraction that size (only taking up part of the plot they re-purchased).

And I’ve never heard acreage numbers for Villains, but 25 would make it 11 acres larger than Galaxy’s Edge…

Correction, 750 is the total land, 480 acres were actually developed. Eyeballing the villains land but is most likely closer to 12 to 15 acres. Doesn't really change my stance that is quite a long time if we are expecting 5 to 6 years.

 

[JD80]

Villains probably takes around 3ish years from construction start like anything else they do.

 

[Casper Gutman]

Villains is supposed to open in 5 years
Next project could open a year later at DAK

“Supposed to open,” based on what? Cars, Monsters, South America are imminent attractions that will see substantial progress by the the end of 2026. Villains is a nebulous Phase 2.

 

[Rich Brownn]

Epic Universe (750 acres) will be complete in less than 6 years since announcement and that was with a delay due to covid. 5-6 years for Villains (25 acres) is brutal.

Epic is 110 acres. The entire site is 750 acres.

 

[mysto]

This is what I mean by Lightning Lane being a perverse incentive.

LL isn't the only perverse dis-incentive. AP and DVC have pre-paid, and will pre-pay next year, and the next. Why bother adding?

 

[lazyboy97o]

Correction, 750 is the total land, 480 acres were actually developed. Eyeballing the villains land but is most likely closer to 12 to 15 acres. Doesn't really change my stance that is quite a long time if we are expecting 5 to 6 years.

Universal owns closer to 1500 acres at the South Campus.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Epic Universe (750 acres) will be complete in less than 6 years since announcement and that was with a delay due to covid. 5-6 years for Villains (25 acres) is brutal.

Announcement came after breaking ground.

From ground breaking to opening, it will be 7 years minus 8 months for the COVID pause.