What will Disney announce for Disney World at the 2022 D23 expo?

[Dan Deesnee]

I feel that something big has to be coming for this panel. I’m not sure what that is but they have to announce a major attraction/land/development. Beyond Tiana, EPCOT Spine, Play! and TRON (doesn’t really count at this point) they have nothing really major on the docket.

I agree. Some on here think Disney doesn't care about Epic Universe but they absolutely do. Since D23 is every other year, this is kind of their last big chance to steal some thunder.

As for why rumors aren't flying, could be Disney is keeping this more closely guarded. Could also be that with work from home, etc, our insiders are simply not as exposed to the info as they used to be pre-pandemic.

 

[matt9112]

Poor choice.

We are checking my oldest daughter's height before buying Universal tickets wanting to make sure there's enough for her to do.

Poor choice for you in your specific position. As a theme park destination they are doing just fine. I’m not saying they can’t do a better job making more accessible attractions because they definitely can. However they are not even trying to secure that demographic. There’s disney world a few miles away.

 

[doctornick]

Poor choice.

We are checking my oldest daughter's height before buying Universal tickets wanting to make sure there's enough for her to do.

I think more than that is that Uni is missing the diversity of some more relaxing rides that rounds out the experience. I'm not saying they need to build their version of POTC, but more rides like ET would be very welcome.

 

[Andrew25]

Name 3 rides that a child under 2 can go on.

The reality is until Universal has better design choices on the rides that should be family friendly (Spinners, Cat in the Hat, etc) they will continue to be second fiddle. They may not want the parents with young kids, but that's a poor choice.

What bothers me is that Universal has defined themselves as a thrill/young adult/teen destination over the past few years. All they need to do is add a boat ride/omnimover to each park and they can make the parks more enjoyable for the non-thrill/young guests.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Poor choice for you in your specific position. As a theme park destination they are doing just fine. I’m not saying they can’t do a better job making more accessible attractions because they definitely can. However they are not even trying to secure that demographic. There’s disney world a few miles away.

They will remain second fiddle to Disney until they are willing to have more rides without a height requirement. There are poor design choices for rides that should be kid friendly throughout Universal. I refuse to blame OSHA for things like this when Disney has plenty of family friendly attractions without height requirements. Why can't Cat in the Hat be designed without a height requirement if Disneyland's Fantasyland exists?

We criticize Disney quite a bit, we also need to hold the competition accountable for their poor decisions.

 

[bhg469]

They will remain second fiddle to Disney until they are willing to have more rides without a height requirement. There are poor design choices for rides that should be kid friendly throughout Universal. I refuse to blame OSHA for things like this when Disney has plenty of family friendly attractions without height requirements. Why can't Cat in the Hat be designed without a height requirement if Disneyland's Fantasyland exists?

We criticize Disney quite a bit, we also need to hold the competition accountable for their poor decisions.

Give your kid some steroids already.. sheesh

 

[RSoxNo1]

Give your kid some steroids already.. sheesh

Man... a toddler with steroids sounds like an unstoppable force.

 

[Communicora]

Man... a toddler with steroids sounds like an unstoppable force.

 

[UNCgolf]

Poor choice for you in your specific position. As a theme park destination they are doing just fine. I’m not saying they can’t do a better job making more accessible attractions because they definitely can. However they are not even trying to secure that demographic. There’s disney world a few miles away.

I wouldn't go that far -- you don't have a whole area themed towards Dr. Seuss if you aren't hoping to attract small children.

Anyways, I find the Universal attraction lineup incredibly underwhelming. They'd potentially get more of my business if there were 7 or 8 additional rides in the vein of E.T. and Jurassic Park River Adventure.

 

[CalebS]

I remember the buildup to the last several D23 events here. Rumors flying everywhere, insiders dropping hints, and new accounts with mountain of salt needed prognostications. It seems like crickets this time, which means one of three things…..
1. Insiders lost their sources (unlikely).
2. Insiders just don’t care anymore (possible).
3. We aren’t getting anything of substance that isn’t already known (most likely).

imo, ymmv, batteries not included, etc etc.

I would tend to agree that we won’t get anything new of any substance. At Disney’s current construction pace they would have to announce now in order to open by 2025 to coincide with Epic Universe’s opening. I wish they would announce a new E ticket in each of the 4 parks to compete with EU, but they won’t. It will take a major hit in earnings and attendance to wake up the current leadership team

 

[fgmnt]

Although this is good on its face let’s be honest disney SPENDS a lot of on the parks. It’s never been a “man I wish they spent more” to me. It’s always been a why does x cost so damn much.

Capex in Orlando was upside down for the better part of a decade, then Iger followed that up with the blisteringly frustrating financial stewardship of NFL and the Avatar rights and the, in my opinion, obvious misunderstanding of the parks with expansions of Soarin and TSM. That poor financial stewardship was doubled down with two massive expansions that had whole attractions cut, and the coup de grace being the money box in EPCOT.

 

[fgmnt]

The only positive indication I've seen recently here is that @ToTBellHop mentioned that the purse strings for the parks were being "loosened" on the heels of the positive financial report.

I'd like to think that it would mean that some proposed or planned things that had not been funded might now be shifted to being greenlight and will be built in upcoming years. But I wouldn't want to get my hopes up.

That sounds so reactive, that the best you can hope for is just re-starting everything from the 2017 D23 that was pulled before announcement or shelved after announcement.

 

[BlakeW39]

I think if there's anything new it'll be a replacement for Primeval Whirl.

I personally think they need to keep the dinosaur theme though, and that the park should increase its thematic reach into prehistoric life. As the park is supposed to showcase the full breadth of Earth's living and extinct creatures, prehistoric life and, notably, aquatic life, seem poorly represented and underrepresented respectively.

And Universal having Jurassic Park means nothing. Not only are dinosaurs popular beyond that franchise, but JP's depiction of them stands as something closer to movie monsters than anything approximating real dinosaurs.

 

[UNCgolf]

And Universal having Jurassic Park means nothing. Not only are dinosaurs popular beyond that franchise, but JP's depiction of them stands as something closer to movie monsters than anything approximating real dinosaurs.

Especially since the science around what dinosaurs looked like has changed significantly since the original JP was released, and the Jurassic franchise has more or less stuck with the original depiction.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Poor choice or necessary choice? Nothing universal does will ever be fantasyland or the magic kingdom so with that said I think it’s a necessary evil to avoid going toe to toe. At least historically. These days I think there more up to the challenge of competing with disney.

So much of the theme park experience is aspirational, and for kids it’s getting bigger and being able to do things. That sense of growth and wonder is stunted by Universal’s decision to eschew all access attractions. The big issue is that families come in a variety of ages and so that pushes off when people can ride, leaving out a family member of a major chunk of the park experience is a turn off. Half of the rides in Suess Landing have a height limit. Even attractions like Kang and Kodos’ Twirl ‘n Hurl are oddly limited to only two riders per vehicle when other similar rides easily accommodate an adult and two children.

 

[peter11435]

in my opinion, obvious misunderstanding of the parks with expansions of Soarin and TSM.

I would argue those were necessary and beneficial. Both attractions had popularity and demand that drastically overpowered their capacities. Adding new attractions to those parks would have been great but it wouldn’t have fixed that problem. Guests at Epcot don’t suddenly stop wanting to ride Soarin’ just because they can now ride Ratatouille.

 

[Patcheslee]

So much of the theme park experience is aspirational, and for kids it’s getting bigger and being able to do things. That sense of growth and wonder is stunted by Universal’s decision to eschew all access attractions. The big issue is that families come in a variety of ages and so that pushes off when people can ride, leaving out a family member of a major chunk of the park experience is a turn off. Half of the rides in Suess Landing have a height limit. Even attractions like Kang and Kodos’ Twirl ‘n Hurl are oddly limited to only two riders per vehicle when other similar rides easily accommodate an adult and two children.

We didn't consider Uni until DD hit the height to ride everything. Prior to that it didn't make financial sense to visit. We stuck to local amusement parks and rarely visited before she hit 48".

 

[JustInTime]

I feel that something big has to be coming for this panel. I’m not sure what that is but they have to announce a major attraction/land/development. Beyond Tiana, EPCOT Spine, Play! and TRON (doesn’t really count at this point) they have nothing really major on the docket.

Back in the days after Toy Story Mania we didn’t get anything for years and years it felt like. Mostly during the recession.

 

[BlakeW39]

Especially since the science around what dinosaurs looked like has changed significantly since the original JP was released, and the Jurassic franchise has more or less stuck with the original depiction.

Exactly.

In fact, the Jurassic World films have regressed; the dinosaurs introduced in the Jurassic World series are less accurate to modern science than the dinosaurs from the original 1993 film were.

JP just doesn't really concern itself with dinosaurs as animals, and Jurassic Park is not similar to an actual prehistoric landscape. Therefore by necessity, DAK's depiction of a dinosaur age land would be very different from Jurassic Park at IoA.

 

[JustInTime]

I think if there's anything new it'll be a replacement for Primeval Whirl.

I personally think they need to keep the dinosaur theme though, and that the park should increase its thematic reach into prehistoric life. As the park is supposed to showcase the full breadth of Earth's living and extinct creatures, prehistoric life and, notably, aquatic life, seem poorly represented and underrepresented respectively.

And Universal having Jurassic Park means nothing. Not only are dinosaurs popular beyond that franchise, but JP's depiction of them stands as something closer to movie monsters than anything approximating real dinosaurs.

I definitely think we will get a Dinoland announcement