A Spirited Valentine ...

Nj4mwc

Well-Known Member
It is not a conspiracy if its true. It does not take much of an effort to hold up a line to allow it to get longer. Do I believe they would do this in an effort to have photos of HUGE opening day crowds a la HP opening? Absolutely. Would I do the same thing if I were an exec? Absolutely. Am I saying this because I want to downplay Pandora? Absolutely not.
Apple and Nintendo do this with every product launch, they short the inventory so all the stories are about a first day sell out, Disney execs would be stupid to not massage the lines a bit to get the best possible crowd pics. The average person is going to see the opening day coverage and that's all they will remember. The average person is not coming to this site or others like it. First impressions are vital
 

doctornick

Well-Known Member
I'm kind of used to Dinorama now. I'd rather real expansion than replacement, although replacement can often be an expansion.

As much as I agree that Dinorama is a blight on DAK, I think the park needs another expansion -- at least adding another ride to Asia and/or Africa -- before closing Dinorama and replacing it. Especially now with longer hours and larger crowds due to Pandora, they can't really afford to lose 2 of their precious few rides for a while.

That said, I wouldn't complain if they dusted off the Excavator plans. Or find some use for the UoE dinosaurs for a family dark ride in Dinoland USA. I certainly would think that they can and should keep a dinosaur area in DAK.
 

HauntedMansionFLA

Well-Known Member
As much as I agree that Dinorama is a blight on DAK, I think the park needs another expansion -- at least adding another ride to Asia and/or Africa -- before closing Dinorama and replacing it. Especially now with longer hours and larger crowds due to Pandora, they can't really afford to lose 2 of their precious few rides for a while.

That said, I wouldn't complain if they dusted off the Excavator plans. Or find some use for the UoE dinosaurs for a family dark ride in Dinoland USA. I certainly would think that they can and should keep a dinosaur area in DAK.
Excavator plans? Were they any good?
 

BrianLo

Well-Known Member
To (slightly) elaborate, there are two timeframes and two projects being looked at for DAK, both before its 30th, one of which is a Dinoland project, which is all but for, Dinoland options include, and are not limited to: a DinoRama gut and replace, a Dinoland retheme, a Theater in the Wild demo... And others.

The 30th... or 25th? Or you mean the plan is to have one in the next five years and a second in the five year period after that.
 

doctornick

Well-Known Member
If they can make Indy fit in an ocean-themed park, they can make Indy fit in an animal-themed park.

While think they could be tortuous and fit Indy into DAK if they wished, it seems silly since (1) there are plenty of other IPs to use in DAK that would be better and (2) Indy could be used easily and more effectively in DHS or Adventureland.

I'm still wishing that someone at WDI could get a variant of Lost Expedition approved to replace the stunt show and the backstage space going into the parking lot.
 

jt04

Well-Known Member
I still think an Adventurers/Explorers land within natural settings could work at DAK. Just might need a much bigger pad than Dinoland offers. Doubt they would ever do it but the possibilities are numerous.
 

JenniferS

Time To Be Movin’ Along
Premium Member
Now that the park is open after dark, Dino-Rama has actually become more valid as an area. Its lightning package is one of the better things about it and does wonders to make the roadside amusement park aesthetic almost charming.
It would be nice if they toned down, or better yet turned off, the annoying sound effects on Primeval Hurl. That part of the park was blissfully silent during our last visit.

It's bad enough that DinoRama looks like the CNE. It shouldn't sound like it too.
 

Mike S

Well-Known Member
So, its senseless fun. But not as bad as Tranformers.. right?
The first Transformers was good though.
To (slightly) elaborate, there are two timeframes and two projects being looked at for DAK, both before its 30th, one of which is a Dinoland project, which is all but for, Dinoland options include, and are not limited to: a DinoRama gut and replace, a Dinoland retheme, a Theater in the Wild demo... And others.
The theater would definitely open up som great space but I really like Nemo. Quite the conflict.
 

BrianLo

Well-Known Member
Indy neither fits the overt (Animals) or the subtext (Conservation, Relationship with nature) themes of AK.

It doesn't fit the overt (Sea), but actually matches the subtext (Exploration) themes of TDS.

Let Indy thrive in DHS and don't homogenize Animal Kingdom in the process. I have a feeling the new theme (and name) of the former will be either Adventure or Exploration.
 

AEfx

Well-Known Member
Apple and Nintendo do this with every product launch, they short the inventory so all the stories are about a first day sell out, Disney execs would be stupid to not massage the lines a bit to get the best possible crowd pics. The average person is going to see the opening day coverage and that's all they will remember. The average person is not coming to this site or others like it. First impressions are vital

Even if there wasn't, erm, manual massaging that day - clearly, Disney wanted to make a statement. They ran nationwide ads during prime-time advertising it, with a specific date - the 26th. I cannot remember Disney ever advertising anything at WDW with a specific date like that. Usually they don't start running things like that until "Now at WDW..." They clearly wanted to make "opening day" newsworthy (even though it had mostly been open for weeks).

I said it in the review thread, but it seems relevant here - Pandora made AK more, well, AK. A better AK, no doubt. It's a positive that the park is finally a full-day affair, it sorely needed more rides, and the quality and money spent is a breath of fresh air. But...it's not a game changer. It's going to draw more guests toward AK, particularly at night. Again, a great thing.

When you realize it's easier already to get into Pandora than it is to ride GoG over at DCA - I think we are also seeing that theme does in fact matter.
 

WDW1974

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
No DLP thoughts yet. Soon.

Just heard from a kind Spirit what I have been saying for many months now. For all the FL projects being tossed around (leaked) these days, if the project doesn't have an internal green light by early in the next fiscal year, it won't be part of WDW's 50th. They do -- believe it or not -- have a sorta road map. While I expect announcements at D23 this summer (when I shall blissfully be on the other side of the globe as bloggers try to get Chris Pratt or maybe even Kevin Feige to talk for 20 seconds -- BTW, there used to be a guy on the Tweeter that would talk with all the fanbois with the same last name ... Kevin's little bro? anyone know?), I would be VERY surprised if they are not focused on Marvel heavily AND recently opened stuff like Pandora. I don't see them giving any hints into WDW projects. That's what the next one is for.

BTW, since y'all love derailing my threads with movie talk, it seems like GotG2, while greatly successful isn't coming close to what Burbank had projected. And Pirates ...well, sadly, I do think with the film doing this well, they will take it as a sign to continue making films to pay Captain Jack's large debts.Especially, when you see how popular the film is in China and Disney having an entire Pirates themed land at SDL.

Oh, and congrats to Robert Niles, who has taken whoring to a new level by attending both whorefests in Orlando and later the one in Anaheim. It takes a lot to do that. It also takes a lot to say Pandora cost $1.4 billion (yet I see no one questioning that like when a dear Spirit said NGE was costing between $2-3 billion ... BTW, real costs are over $4 billion, but spread over so many years and businesses to make it virtually unrecognizable.) Original budget was $500 million. I heard they had approval to go above $600 million years ago, but $1.4 billion?! I don't care how impressive this land may be. If Disney can't bring in projects at half or 2/3rds what they are spending, then maybe it is time to blow WDI's current structure up. Because that's as insane as many of the posters down in the politics forum!
 

huwar18

Well-Known Member
AK has underperformed for 19 years despite most everything there, including Pandora, being well done. At this point failure isn't an option

It is hard to believe it has under-performed. The park is always so crowded and the lines always push over 45 minutes to an hour. I know there are not a lot of rides but that still shows how many people are going to AK. Personally, I enjoy the park. However, it is one I sometimes skip.
 

Kman101

Well-Known Member
I don't see how they can be disappointed in GoTG2 but I know they set insanely high bars. I'm not too worried about it's future. If they consider Pirates 5 a success then GOTG2 was a success.

I wasn't expecting much for WDW at D23. We'll maybe get a date for TSL opening. Wooo hoo? LOL

I'd imagine they focus on DHS overall if they say anything. If GMR is closing August/September for Mickey's takeover, I'd be surprised if that wasn't dropped there.

2019 seems like a better place to focus on WDW's 50th. Anyone wanna place bets on how little they greelit and then attempt to spin it? They need to get a move on.
 

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