If Disney wants to "lower Attendance" then Build a 5th Park..

bjlc57

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
If Disney truly wants to " lower attendance" to avoid over crowding in the parks.. Build a 5th Park for the "overflow.." and not price us out of the parks on a whole.. because right now.. I am coming to the park One More Time.. and after that.. Disney can kiss my grits.. i just hope that I can have a great time and not be totally ticked off the whole time I am there..
but this theory of over crowding.. Fine.. you have more money then anyone.. Build a 5th park. and since you have so much money.. DO IT IN A YEAR and not drag your butt about it..
but do not tell us that this is about "overcrowding".. it does not fly with anyone.
 

DonniePeverley

Well-Known Member
If they weren't going to build a fifth park when the parks were reaching record attendance numbers, they certainly aren't going to build one now.

Although there is an argument, that lending is at it's cheapest it's ever been and now maybe a good time to invest to get people back.

However, the problem for Disney is they have a new CEO, who probably wants to impress his shareholders so probably won't be investing heavily anywhere.
 

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
They still have loads of room in the existing parks to add things that would take the stress off overall. But, they can't. They no longer even have the imagineers that a capable of creating that many new things. Even if you advocated for them to build a nostalgia park by rebuilding attractions that once existed they don't have the people that have a single clue with the ability to even recreate 50 year old technology. They cost to much to have on staff. Maybe someday, if they keep going, but first they need to fill the parks they have.
 
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Splashin' Ryan

Well-Known Member
Yea unfortunately Disney doesn't care about lowering attendance, they would rather have one guest spending twice the normal amount than 2 guests spending the normal amount in their parks because it creates better per guest spending revenue which is what they continually cite for stockholders.

And while building a 5th park would create more revenue in the long run, in some twisted way of thinking, the execs and stockholders now see investment as bad because the parks are already profitable, which isn't a sustainable way of doing business but it's their way.

I don't think we have to look very far to see that it would be a good decision, I'm pretty sure I read somewhere (correct me if I'm wrong) that Shanghai DL was already profitable despite being a multi-billion dollar project.

I'm also in agreement here with many others that the company already seems to be having a tough time maintaining 4 parks and 2 waterparks at the moment and that a 5th park would only exacerbate these issues.
 

TYOTimer

Well-Known Member
However, the problem for Disney is they have a new CEO, who probably wants to impress his shareholders so probably won't be investing heavily anywhere.
Good ole Chappie is an issue with this, but, we need to also remember: Iger is still there as Chairman, and is causing issues even when it comes to the smallest thing. If he doesn’t leave in December as planned, and isn’t forced out, and I don’t believe he will, I think this is only going to get worse.
 

GhostHost1000

Premium Member
If Disney really wanted to spread out the crowds (as they should) they should expand existing parks and open up way more people eater shows and attractions. They haven’t even reopened all the shows from before the pandemic and they seem to like replacing/redoing existing rides moreso than designing and expanding with new ones. Their thought process behind that other than cost is mind boggling

the fact is there are a ton of things Disney could do to help control and manage crowds in the parks or even in building a 5th gate, but they want to focus more on making money in Genie+ rather than the guest experience.
 

Castle Cake Apologist

Well-Known Member
Um.... Disney doesn’t want to lower attendance.

They do, actually... Just not out of any concern for the guest experience. I believe Iger himself said the goal is to price some segments of people out to reduce attendance and avoid having to add capacity. The idea is that you cater to a wealthier crowd and they spend more per guest, so no revenue is lost from lower numbers.
 

GimpYancIent

Well-Known Member
They do, actually... Just not out of any concern for the guest experience. I believe Iger himself said the goal is to price some segments of people out to reduce attendance and avoid having to add capacity. The idea is that you cater to a wealthier crowd and they spend more per guest, so no revenue is lost from lower numbers.
Cold, Hard but there it is!
 

drizgirl

Well-Known Member
They do, actually... Just not out of any concern for the guest experience. I believe Iger himself said the goal is to price some segments of people out to reduce attendance and avoid having to add capacity. The idea is that you cater to a wealthier crowd and they spend more per guest, so no revenue is lost from lower numbers.
I understand the argument. They are free to reduce capacity at any time. It’s 100% on them.

I’m waiting and will believe it when I see it.

I believe they want to maximize catering to the big spending guests. But I believe they want the lower spending guests as well.

APs spend some of the least per visit and they could have discontinued that as a start. But you’ll notice they are on their way back at both resorts. Even in spite of claiming they were being discontinued at DLR.
 
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monothingie

I ❤️ Bob
Premium Member
Disneys ideal guests are families with household incomes of $200k-$300K. People who are uber-wealthy aren’t going to Disney. It’s no surprise that virtually everything Disney offers in terms of up charge events, merchandise, food, hotels, DVC, etc is catered to this demographic. These are the people that will spend a week or two in Disney, drop $15K and do it again next year. It’s the reason why all the deluxe resorts are fully open and the moderates and values are only partially. It’s the reason why they know Genie++++++ and new AP prices are going to work for them. They know exactly who’s spending the money, what they’re willing to tolerate, and what they want in terms of services/options for their trips to Disney.
 

SteveAZee

Well-Known Member
If Disney truly wants to " lower attendance" to avoid over crowding in the parks.. Build a 5th Park for the "overflow.." and not price us out of the parks on a whole.. because right now.. I am coming to the park One More Time.. and after that.. Disney can kiss my grits.. i just hope that I can have a great time and not be totally ticked off the whole time I am there..
but this theory of over crowding.. Fine.. you have more money then anyone.. Build a 5th park. and since you have so much money.. DO IT IN A YEAR and not drag your butt about it..
but do not tell us that this is about "overcrowding".. it does not fly with anyone.
So, let's say it costs $10B to build a new park (based on the recent costs of Star Wars, Toy Story Land, etc.) and WDW increases attendance of 50M people/year to 60M... (4 parks to 5 parks is a 25% increase but you want the crowds to be lower overall so let's say it's a 20% increase instead), then spreading the $10B over 60M guests is $167/guest, but it could be spread over a few years to cover a return on that investment. That's how much profit (not revenue) they would need just to cover the cost of building it, never mind maintenance, cast members, etc to maintain the new park on a yearly basis. And that's just to break even. The increase in ticket prices would probably be a lot more painful than what we're already seeing.
 

ChrisFL

Premium Member
Ignoring all other factors...say OP is right. So let's say they were to build a 5th park...they'd have to make it a park people will want to visit in droves in order to counteract the crowding at the existing parks.

What do you theme it as? The only theme park style around the world that isn't at WDW is DisneySea and that cost around $4 Billion to build in 2001 money, and it doesn't scream Disney mascots and kiddie stuff like most people going to WDW expect.

Lands:

They could do Zootopia. Maybe some other lands on popular IP, but WDW has an issue where they keep copying the same IP into their different parks (Nemo, Toy Story, Little Mermaid, etc.). Do they do that again? They can't do Avengers Campus due to Universal.

So to me it isn't as simple as "build a 5th gate" without realizing a lot of the lands, IP's and attractions are already at WDW in some form or another.
 

erasure fan1

Well-Known Member
The reason a 5th gate doesn't work with Disneys plan, is because of cost. They want to lower attendance because fewer guests, spending more equals less costs overall. That means it's a double win. Revenue stays about the same, payroll and overhead is down, profit then is way up. Win, win. A 5th park would just add a ton of overhead that would negatively impact margins. Like what was said earlier, its not about the guest experience.
 

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