Blizzard Beach construction

[Bairstow]

I would think the water parks add-on is probably more popular. But there are a lot of folks for whom the 1 day ticket is cheaper. If you are buying a hopper ticket for a week, and only planning on doing 1 water park day, generally it's a better option to get the 1 day ticket.

And of course, there are tons of Florida residents as well (thought I know there are often discounted FL tickets and FL resident season passes for regulars). And of course off-property guests for whom Disney is just one part of a larger vacation.

And no, people are not vacationing just for the water parks. But I just don't like the idea, that sometimes folks on the forums bring up, that somehow the smaller attractions (basically anything other than the main 4 parks) don't need updates, or upgrades, or need to stay relevant or offer a good quality product/value for their customers. Whether I pay $56 for a water park ticket, $15 for a round of mini golf at Winter Summerland (and Santa's 1997 PC), or $99 for a day at the MK, it should be a good quality product for my money, and has nothing to do with what is going on elsewhere in the "world".

So, yes, I'm all for any upgrades or additions to the water parks. But we know that's not happening.

Yep. It sounds like you know the score.
Disney probably knows better than anyone that upgrading and improving their water parks isn't going to increase their attendance. Not all, but most water park guests go to them because they're already at Disney, so improving and upgrading the water parks is "wasted" money to Disney.

 

[unkadug]

I would think the water parks add-on is probably more popular. But there are a lot of folks for whom the 1 day ticket is cheaper. If you are buying a hopper ticket for a week, and only planning on doing 1 water park day, generally it's a better option to get the 1 day ticket.

And of course, there are tons of Florida residents as well (thought I know there are often discounted FL tickets and FL resident season passes for regulars). And of course off-property guests for whom Disney is just one part of a larger vacation.

And no, people are not vacationing just for the water parks. But I just don't like the idea, that sometimes folks on the forums bring up, that somehow the smaller attractions (basically anything other than the main 4 parks) don't need updates, or upgrades, or need to stay relevant or offer a good quality product/value for their customers. Whether I pay $56 for a water park ticket, $15 for a round of mini golf at Winter Summerland (and Santa's 1997 PC), or $99 for a day at the MK, it should be a good quality product for my money, and has nothing to do with what is going on elsewhere in the "world".

So, yes, I'm all for any upgrades or additions to the water parks. But we know that's not happening.

And I agree with you...I didn't mean to sound that I don't think they need to be updated...I was simply stating what I believe that TDO thinks about them.

 

[DisneyGentleman]

Nowadays they don't even let the characters into the parks unless they are the protagonists. Not like the old days where you could meet minor characters like Chef Louis from The Little Mermaid or Evinrude the dragonfly from The Rescuers.

Well there is always Everrude - the guy in shorts and sandals pushing his way through the crowd.

 

[seascape]

If I were TDO I would let Universal go ahead and build their major new water park that will be the biggest and best in the world. then they would get all the local Florida residents and be very crowded. Tourists and vacationers as has been stated previously do no pick where to go based on water parks. I love Blizzard Beach and it has everything my wife and I want. plus as has previously been stated people chose to go to WDW for the theme parks and I would rather have TDO spend on Disney Springs and the 4 existing parks and a 5th gate than on the water parks which are already wonderful.

 

[71jason]

Whether I pay $56 for a water park ticket, $15 for a round of mini golf at Winter Summerland (and Santa's 1997 PC), or $99 for a day at the MK, it should be a good quality product for my money, and has nothing to do with what is going on elsewhere in the "world".

I agree. However, I'd point out both Winter Summerland and Fantasia Gardens need a refurb a lot more than either water park right now. As long as everything is clean and painted and working, I'm ok with the minor attractions not being updated that often. Except for Santa's Commodore 64. That gimmick gag needs to be replaced.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I agree. However, I'd point out both Winter Summerland and Fantasia Gardens need a refurb a lot more than either water park right now. As long as everything is clean and painted and working, I'm ok with the minor attractions not being updated that often. Except for Santa's Commodore 64. That gimmick gag needs to be replaced.

Didn't they just do a 2-month refurb of the winter course?

 

[COProgressFan]

Didn't they just do a 2-month refurb of the winter course?

I think they did. Was it a real refurb or a "we don't want to pay the one 1 CM to staff it and keep the lights on" refurb?

Has anyone been there recently? Is santa's old PC still there?

 

[DisneyGentleman]

Except for Santa's Commodore 64. That gimmick gag needs to be replaced.

Santa's Commodore 64 is a metaphor for everything that is wrong with WDW. Add that to the former car phone and a whole host of other anachronisms.

Taken together it spells "We don't care - just toss money our way and move along".

 

[dgp602]

Exactly. Maybe once Uni decides to compete they'll do a little something, but not much (if anything) before that.

Isn't Wet N Wild a UNI park?

 

[TubaGeek]

Isn't Wet N Wild a UNI park?

Yeah, they recently acquired it, but they haven't done anything to make it their own. Heck, they didn't even change the name to "Universal's Wet 'n' Wild".
I really think it was a land acquisition for future use.

 

[DSMDGA]

By Disney standards, I consider the Water Park & More add on to the Park Hopper option a "bargain". It's cheap enough that we won't mind spending only a few hours at a water park, or just walking through DisneyQuest when visiting Downtown Disney. Compared to the cost of the Park Hopper option we planned to purchase, it adds less than than the cost of a one day ticket for the water parks.

With the AAA discount, it cost us only $26.63 more per ticket to move up from the Park Hopper flat fee option to the Park Hopper and Water Park Fun & More flat fee option. You receive one entry into the following for each day of park tickets you have purchased: Blizzard Beach, Typhoon Lagoon, DisneyQuest, ESPN Wide World of Sports, a round of miniature golf at Fantasia Gardens or Winter Summerland Miniature Golf Course, or 9 holes of golf at Disney's Oak Trail Golf Course.

We purchased 6 day tickets, so for the extra $26.63/person over the cost of Park Hopper tickets we had planned to purchase, we can now make a total of 6 visits to the water parks, DisneyQuest, etc.

 

[COProgressFan]

Santa's Commodore 64 is a metaphor for everything that is wrong with WDW. Add that to the former car phone and a whole host of other anachronisms.

Taken together it spells "We don't care - just toss money our way and move along".

Especially when the cost to fix these issues is almost nothing but would make a huge improvement in show quality. A couple hundred bucks for a better looking computer monitor prop? How much could it be to hire a sound alike voice artist to re-record a line or two from CoP and program it into the show (a couple grand?). They just don't care.