I had mentioned before that I was getting ready to break some important news online about upcoming changes at Walt Disney World which should be exciting to WDW fans. However, RFID - which was one of the major announcements - was leaked to Al Lutz, who took it and ran with it. RFID is a major, major change if it goes through at Walt Disney World and will change the way the entire ticketing system works. New RFID Tickets are being planned in a way so that they work as Fastpasses, Room Keys, EMH Passes, Dining Cards, etc. The etc part is what's exciting too. Current attractions which are being looked at for being made interactive in some way using your RFID tickets include:
- Haunted Mansion
- Peter Pan's Flight
- Snow White's Scary Adventures
- The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh
- Monsters Inc Laugh Floor
- Space Mountain
- Spaceship Earth
What this highlights, however, is more importantly a change in strategy from inside the Walt Disney Company in regards to Walt Disney World Resort. Initially, there was great concern about the recession and how it would affect the resort, but I can tell you everyone is ecstatic about our numbers throughout Quarter 1 of this year. Walt Disney World Resort has not only weathered the harshest recesssion in well over a decade, but WDW has posted record attendance numbers, consistently posting numbers breaking or nearly breaking prior records on a daily basis for the same calendar blocks from years past.
Meanwhile, the industry is sagging. While the Walt Disney World Resort may not be profitting at the same level it was two years ago, the resort continues to be massively profitable for the company. Many other companies in the theme park industry, both domestically and internationally, are on the other side of that line. And so, I can tell you that attitudes have been changing, and projects which were previously placed on indefinite hold are being cleared once again. But more importantly, major additions are not only being considered, but are receiving initial approvals. This especially important because while other Disney theme parks have faired well, the Walt Disney World Resort has exceeded all expectations for the past several months.
The reason for the change in approach is that the Disney Company views this as a time to be aggressive. While other companies struggle, this is a great time for Walt Disney World to receive serious investments. In doing so, WDW is likely to exit the recession with major new reasons for guests to visit while other worldwide attractions have been unable or unwilling to expand during this time. This would setup WDW for even more profit. Additionally, however, while WDW is a massive area with many different things for guests to do and enjoy, the resort has had capacity issues for the past few months. Expansion is vital to continue growth (and no, I am not referring to a "5th gate").
So let me put this in some hard details for you so that you can see what I'm referring to when I say "aggressive":
- We're currently looking at a new E-Ticket for Epcot with a budget just under $30,000,000. The Wonders of Life pavillion will be open 365 if this gets approval. While Epcot has a massive guest capacity, wait times have simply been higher than preferable - an additional E-Ticket will hopefully pull wait times down for all your favorite attractions.
- We're currently looking at a new E-Ticket thrill ride for Magic Kingdom which will coincidentally expand the park's area for the first time in over 20 years. This will not create a new "land" and is not "Bald Mountain."
- At Hollywood Studios, a new Pixar-based Roller Coaster has the green light and the Pixar Studios area will enter a phase 2 in construction which will expand its border to Streets of America. A new Star Tours experience is on the way, and there's still more...
- At Animal Kingdom, plans are a bit more longterm... but only because Camp Minnie-Mickey's days are numbered.
I also can tell you about some changes planned for the way options work with the Magic Your Way tickets, but we'll save that for another day.
Have a great day everyone.
