IAmFloridaBorn
Well-Known Member
My one appreciation for Kong unlike Diagon Alley was that it didnt replace an attraction!
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A Spirited Perfect Ten
- Thread starter WDW1974
- Start date
Who knows? I'm waiting to see if anyone does a breakdown on exactly who owns homes or is living at Golden Oak. Is that too obvious?
MerlinTheGoat
Well-Known Member
I hope so as well, thanks in advance for any info you can dig up. I'm not really into the Universal side of the rumors and speculation to know who is in the know over there (besides HateToFly), but i've heard speculation from apparently trustworthy people within the past few months that plans have changed drastically very recently for the ride. In one of the Kong threads, they indicated in some posts that the previously leaked plans and blueprints were no longer accurate and should be disregarded as the ride had changed rather drastically recently. And the way it was being hyped indicated that it was changed for the better and would be something much more ambitious (this new information perhaps lending some credence to that possibility). I very much hope they're right and it's not just fanboy excitement from Uni's fanbase.
I'll be surprised if Avatar gets an extra attraction. And I really hate to say this, but unless the budget increased alongside the hypothetical third attraction, I don't know if it's such a good idea to have a third one anyways. I'm all for more rides and attractions (don't get me wrong as i'd love to have a huge healthy budgeted Avatar Land with three rides or so), but not if the budget remains the same and causes the other two rides to be increasingly watered down and made inferior. I'd rather have at least one or two good rides than three mediocre to bad ones is what i'm saying basically, don't wish attractions to cannibalize one another's budgets without more money being allotted to ensure they remain as good as possible. And you rarely hear about budgets being increased after construction has already begun. I'm already worried that the budget isn't enough as it is. I've little to no interest in the Soarin 2.0 ride (cited on plans as an "E ticket"), my only interest besides the land's no doubt very pretty scenery is the boat ride (AK needs some slower paced rides anyone can enjoy, though i'm troubled since the plans label it as a C ticket).
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I wonder if they had to get rid of Crazy Gary in order to pay her more for her PhD in Texting and Cupcake Parties?
I'm very scared because a very intelligent source pegs her salary at well over $100 K a year. This is Disney where they start PR folks today still in the $40-50K range. Like I said, scary ...
LithiumBill
Well-Known Member
THIS.
I could easily be considered a pixie duster, and in the past was always on the the side of the BRAND. We visit Orlando just about every year (my mom lives in FL and we have a timeshare...) We always visit WDW, at least 3 parks, normally 4 days a trip. Guess what, we are going back in JAN 16 (we were there in Nov 2014) and we are not stepping foot on WDW property. Going to Uni for 2 days and that is it. We have BURN OUT! and I love WDW, i am the guy telling all my friends, that walking down mainstreet makes me feel young, reminds me of my dad who is now past... But after years of basically the same stuff, even me - the certified Disney champion, is just MEH with it.
PhotoDave219
Well-Known Member
Yeah, everyone knows Disney likes to have meetings. And meetings. And meetings. Either that or the executives in charge of green lighting stuff in Glendale just simply don't get that when you have 30% growth in 10 years, you're going to need places to put those people.
And I would argue that Uni is only growing because they had nowhere else to go but up. When Blackstone owned them, they were neglected as bad as DHS/DAK are today. Looking at USO, they went from 6.85M visitors in 2003 to 7.06M in 2013. (MK went from 14.04M to 18.58M in the same time period) They essentially have to invest because for years, they were flat out ignored.
I want some extra info. My UNI sources are basically never wrong and I sure hope this info isn't designed to stop the ALL UNI CAN DO IS SCREENZ crowd. I'd love it if that info is correct!
I would be surprised bordering on shocked, which is why I've kept it under wraps for months. There's no way it was added into the $500 million (before overruns) budget. They would have had to get extra funding. I just can't believe that happened unless it was always intended and simply put off due to all the NGE spending.
Doing HKDL? If so, feel free to drop back with observations/thoughts/musings ... see how many Chinese folks are singing Hakuna Matata!
Except, of course, the fact that the actual ride does ... well, suck.
Thanks for your opinion and welcome back!
BrianLo
Well-Known Member
A correction, Quantum is returning in 2017, they'll have already completed a season in Shanghai. Originally I was planning a to do both it and SDL a year or so ago... back when there was some semblance of hope it would be opening in 2015. Disney could support way more than 4 cruise ships, I don't think they need to be one of the big boys, but they are so niche with only 4 ships in that market (which is becoming more and more global). Even 6 ships doesn't really cut it.
As to the point about SDL impacting financials? Just ask @ParentsOf4, you don't really need a "positive" impact so much as a halt in spending year over year to spin the resort in a positive light. They will definitely do just that.
Those wait times are all inflated by MM+. Mermaid would never have a 25-minute wait without it. And I can tell you that based on four trips to WDW in the last 12 months that the average wait time of Pirates has gone from walkon-10 minutes to 25-45 minutes. That is the NEW normal.
BrianLo
Well-Known Member
I always suspected that "something" changed when Cameron finally gave the go ahead. I suspected that something was just a serious plussing to the boat ride, but who knows... maybe there was some nebulous promise about a third attraction in a phase two (that likely will never happen).
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Maybe they accidentally created a third attraction for Pandora...
A quick glance at the orange county property appraiser site shows that, amazingly around 1/3rd seem to be from owners in Brazil.
GoofGoof
Premium Member
I don't disagree with any of this.
I was responding specifically to a post that stated someone from Disney actually said they see Orlando as a mature market. While we can all draw the conclusion that they feel this way based on the slow pace of building if they actually start making this claim publicly it's a pretty ominous statement. When a company publicly calls a market they operate in "mature" it's usually either to explain why they are not investing any more in that market, explain less than stellar results in that market or to prepare for an exit from that market. The results have been pretty good for several years now at WDW and I seriously doubt they are planning an exit from Orlando so if execs from TWDC are calling Orlando a mature market it's probably a sign they don't plan to invest much there. It also directly contradicts the billions spent over the last few years on MM+, FLE and now Avatar. Forget about whether we like those investments or think they should have invested more. These are corporate executives who rarely speak "off script". Analysts would come down pretty hard on them if they tried to justify large capital spend on a mature market.
GoofGoof
Premium Member
Not to sound too glass half full, but Mine Train did get added later in the project for FLE. Not this late, but it's not totally unprecedented. Early on James Cameron seemed to imply multiple attractions (more than 2). I always thought maybe the 2 rides and a walkthrough or something. Your theory on NGE spending makes a lot of sense. Maybe it got cut and is added back now. Any idea if this would be a minor ride or something more substantial?
doctornick
Well-Known Member
Well, WDW1974 said "attraction" not "ride" so it's entirely possible that the third attraction is something like a plussed walking path (if indeed it was added). The aerial views show pretty clearly the Soarin' type ride and boat ride footprints, but little work has been done elsewhere to suggest another ride. Doesn't mean one couldn't occur, but it would probably either be (1) very simple, like a flat ride or (2) not opening until after the rest of the land.
PhotoDave219
Well-Known Member
Maybe, just maybe, that somewhere along the lines Glendale began to realize that with the crowds theyre drawing and the profits theyre making, that they simply cant do this stuff on the cheap anymore?
Or am i wishfully thinking?
Or am i wishfully thinking?
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Seven Dwarfs Mine Train was not added. It was swapped out for other parts of the project.
Cesar R M
Well-Known Member
speaking of capacity, I always wonder why they put so few people in each of the Peter Pan rides. I seen tons of single riders using a single "boat". While the line of people waiting is staggering high.
Doesnt help that almost 70% of the capacity seems to be for FP (when I was there, 7 out of every 10, were for FP ), in the minimum 50%...