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

[MR.Dis]

Animal Kingdom has been my wife's favorite park for years. People have a poor memory, as it is an untapped gem waiting for some TLC. Pandora officially opened in 2017, so I went back and checked the attendance for 2018. Per AECOM, Animal Kingdom had the second highest attendance in all WDW with over 12 mm guests. The issue is and has been lack of attractions. What they have is good to very good, just very limited. If a family is sending upward of $150 per person, you better darn well give them a full days of entertainment.

 

[flyerjab]

I will say that WDW currently feels like it has some slack. The attendance softening from 2019 peaks is making the entire resort feel quite pleasant. The only reason Dino even sees 20 minute waits is that the park has a bare bones 10H operational day.

Now actually feels like an acceptable time to close/renovate some things without bursting the bubble.

But your greater point is quite valid. They need to prepare for the wave they are about to generate and that does require forward looking actual capacity expansion. Something they are achieving with Magic Kingdom and half heartedly nudging the needle at 2/4 parks.

I’m a bit surprised the DAK project became so anemic, it’s quite a bit less than what they did in 2017 park wide. But I guess the powers that be saw what happened to DAK when it didn’t do anything for going on 7 years now and wanted to get ahead at DHS.

Correct! Leading up to Pandora, they added Tiffins/Nomad Lounge (absolute home runs), added Harambe Marketplace, added expanded shopping areas on Discovery Island, added the ToL roots and the ToL projection shows, attempted the Sunset Safari, built up the viewing area in Asia for the oft troubled Rivers of Light (which I found to be beautiful when it worked) and an additional animal exhibit in the Gorilla Falls trail. When Pandora debuted, this now allowed attempt number one at a full day into night park. Oh yes! They also took almost two years to add a pavilion at Flame Tree Barbecue.

So yes, when Pandora was added they really tried to expand capacity and have a full day park with a night time show. This time, they are updating/adding a newly themed land with 2 popular IPs. This will really draw people into this side of the park, without any thing else to address a capacity increase. Unless with their guest modeling they almost certainly do is telling them that after the first several years + Covid that numbers have fallen and they need to do this to increase attendance back to where it was when Pandora debuted.

To this I say go for broke with another night time show, add the Bali dancers and music back to Asia, add the streetmosphere back to Pandora and announce the addition of the flume ride in Harambe. The one big issue that DAK had is that Harambe shuts down at night from a ride and animal perspective. Africa needs some substantial food guests to do/ride at night. That would help balance things out for a full day experience.

 

[JackCH]

Correct! Leading up to Pandora, they added Tiffins/Nomad Lounge (absolute home runs), added Harambe Marketplace, added expanded shopping areas on Discovery Island, added the ToL roots and the ToL projection shows, attempted the Sunset Safari, built up the viewing area in Asia for the oft troubled Rivers of Light (which I found to be beautiful when it worked) and an additional animal exhibit in the Gorilla Falls trail. When Pandora debuted, this now allowed attempt number one at a full day into night park. Oh yes! They also took almost two years to add a pavilion at Flame Tree Barbecue.

So yes, when Pandora was added they really tried to expand capacity and have a full day park with a night time show. This time, they are updating/adding a newly themed land with 2 popular IPs. This will really draw people into this side of the park, without any thing else to address a capacity increase. Unless with their guest modeling they almost certainly do is telling them that after the first several years + Covid that numbers have fallen and they need to do this to increase attendance back to where it was when Pandora debuted.

To this I say go for broke with another night time show, add the Bali dancers and music back to Asia, add the streetmosphere back to Pandora and announce the addition of the flume ride in Harambe. The one big issue that DAK had is that Harambe shuts down at night from a ride and animal perspective. Africa needs some substantial food guests to do/ride at night. That would help balance things out for a full day experience.

This is exactly why I keep harping on the flume coming to AK… it fits perfectly and addresses a BUNCH of needs.

 

[Timothy_Q]

Other enhancements across DAK could still be coming in time for Tropical Americas like they did for Pandora

Entertainment, restaurants and other small updates don't get announced 3 years in advance