News Primeval Whirl, Stitch's Great Escape and Rivers of Light permanently closed

[JohnD]

Currently, a key thing to do when visiting Rafiki's Planet Watch is the animation drawing class. Current schedule (subject to change) is 10am, 10:45am, 11:30am, 12:15pm, 1:45pm, 2:30pm, 3:15pm, 4pm, and 4:45pm.

The class takes about 25minutes. An animator shows step-by-step how to draw a Disney or Pixar character. It is open to all ages but is a little beyond the ability of very young children. (They are given classic coloring book pages and crayons if they want.) Everyone else comes away with a free drawing if they participate.

I agree the animal attractions are worth visiting, but I also think AK needs more attractions. For a long time, the only rides small children could ride were the safari, Triceratops Spin and later Na'vi. Compared to over 15 attractions they can ride in MK. Even Epcot has 7 all ages rides.

When I'm asked the best parks for children, I say MK and AK. MK is obvious. What AK lacks in rides, it makes up for in the live shows, animal walking trails and Rafiki's which includes the petting zoo.

 

[mikejs78]

Attractions also aren't built in a vaccum. The whole of WDW is an operational juggernaut, and for a new attraction to be added, it needs to be inserted into that juggernaut - electrical grid, park operations, utilidor access, etc. Even the land use is more complicated than WDW then elsewhere -WDW is basically a swamp that has been engineered to the max to support what's there.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Attractions also aren't built in a vaccum. The whole of WDW is an operational juggernaut, and for a new attraction to be added, it needs to be inserted into that juggernaut - electrical grid, park operations, utilidor access, etc. Even the land use is more complicated than WDW then elsewhere -WDW is basically a swamp that has been engineered to the max to support what's there.

Those issues aren’t really different than anywhere else, particularly in Central Florida. Disney owning the local electric company makes electric service easier. The utilidors don’t get expanded so they’re largely a non-issue.

 

[Jon81uk]

Pre-pandemic, when I compared Disney building to Universal building using site (de)construction as the starting point. Universal was faster, but, not by much. And there were several projects Disney built as quickly as Uni. But, people often exaggerated the difference.

The Potter lands were each 2.5 years. Pandora was 3.5 years. But several people on these forums kept saying that Potter took 2 years and Pandora took 4 years, changing the one year difference to two years.

The bigger issue with Pandora was the time of announcement through to time of opening was so long.
As Universal doesn’t make official announcements until construction is almost finished it makes all their projects feel quicker.
Although the construction time might not be too bad, overall project length is Disney’s issue.

 

[Jrb1979]

The bigger issue with Pandora was the time of announcement through to time of opening was so long.
As Universal doesn’t make official announcements until construction is almost finished it makes all their projects feel quicker.
Although the construction time might not be too bad, overall project length is Disney’s issue.

Agreed. That's one thing that Disney could learn from not just Universal but every other park out there. Don't announce til after the planning stage and construction has started. Imagine the hype they could get if they changed the way they announce things. Why not start building something new before D23 and then announce it as opening a year or 2 later.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

Agreed. That's one thing that Disney could learn from not just Universal but every other park out there. Don't announce til after the planning stage and construction has started. Imagine the hype they could get if they changed the way they announce things. Why not start building something new before D23 and then announce it as opening a year or 2 later.

People would endlessly speculate and search building permits, etc if they just started building without an announcement, it would create great buzz.

The downside would be that a lot of people have to save for a few years to be able to afford a Disney trip, the earlier they announce the earlier people get excited and start saving.

 

[Jrb1979]

People would endlessly speculate and search building permits, etc if they just started building without an announcement, it would create great buzz.

The downside would be that a lot of people have to save for a few years to be able to afford a Disney trip, the earlier they announce the earlier people get excited and start saving.

I disagree a bit with your last point. I don't think new attractions really bump attendance like it does to regional parks.

 

[lazyboy97o]

People would endlessly speculate and search building permits, etc if they just started building without an announcement, it would create great buzz.

The downside would be that a lot of people have to save for a few years to be able to afford a Disney trip, the earlier they announce the earlier people get excited and start saving.

Except the people complaining about timelines are the ones seeing permits and work, so they still know something is happening before this closer date that would change perception. People don’t talk about how quickly the Skyliner was built even though it’s announcement was held off.