Coronavirus and Walt Disney World general discussion

[GimpYancIent]

Why not?

Absolutely drive-ins do still exist. Now with this COVID19 issue having such an averse effect on brick and mortar enclosed theaters WDW has the space and Disney has the massive film library, hey! why not? Make it a nostalgic themed movie experience. Heaven forbid some imagination is used at Disney! If it is built the guests will come.

 

[Lilofan]

It should come as no surprise that a one day park ticket on the WDW ticket site in 2020 is $120 and the same ticket in 2021 is $109. Less for a ticket but also getting less offerings but still having to pay $6 for a Mickey bar if one is inclined.

 

[MisterPenguin]

 

[Archie123]

Why not?

Several reasons:

1) Drive-in theaters need a very large footprint to allow multiple screens as well as allowing enough spacing of the cars to park to allow people to see the movie without any obstruction. Financially it makes no sense to build any theaters that can't be used in inclement weather and takes so much land to build.
2) People may not be going to the movies now but they will once a vaccine is released and life goes back to some semblance of normalcy. When this happens people will not want to go to a drive-in anymore.
3) The technology of modern theaters is so superior to any viewing experience you can get watching in your car. People will not want to give that up. By the time any new drive-in theaters are built we should have a vaccine and people will already be back watching movies in their theaters.

Again, drive-in theaters exists but they fell in popularity for a reason and even a worldwide pandemic won't cause a demand for new ones to be built.

 

[sullyinMT]

Several reasons:

1) Drive-in theaters need a very large footprint to allow multiple screens as well as allowing enough spacing of the cars to park to allow people to see the movie without any obstruction. Financially it makes no sense to build any theaters that can't be used in inclement weather and takes so much land to build.
2) People may not be going to the movies now but they will once a vaccine is released and life goes back to some semblance of normalcy. When this happens people will not want to go to a drive-in anymore.
3) The technology of modern theaters is so superior to any viewing experience you can get watching in your car. People will not want to give that up. By the time any new drive-in theaters are built we should have a vaccine and people will already be back watching movies in their theaters.

Again, drive-in theaters exists but they fell in popularity for a reason and even a worldwide pandemic won't cause a demand for new ones to be built.

Yeah. They’re fun and nostalgic, but for all the reasons you listed they won’t have some massive renaissance. Even with one screen and doing double features (or ours is “double-sided” and shows one movie/night/side and you choose one of two playing), it would be cost-prohibitive to develop the land for a new one.

 

[Heppenheimer]

Yeah. They’re fun and nostalgic, but for all the reasons you listed they won’t have some massive renaissance. Even with one screen and doing double features (or ours is “double-sided” and shows one movie/night/side and you choose one of two playing), it would be cost-prohibitive to develop the land for a new one.

I would think that with all the malls that have died in the past decade and remained vacant, there must be a lot of empty parking lots that some enterprising film impressario could convert into a temporary pop-up drive in theater.

Around where I live, the two drive-ins that have appeared are located on idle farmland.

What probably will most prevent a drive-in renaissance, though, is that the studios are holding back the release dates of their first-run films until traditional theaters can began to fully operate again.

 

[DisneyDebRob]

I would think that with all the malls that have died in the past decade and remained vacant, there must be a lot of empty parking lots that some enterprising film impressario could convert into a temporary pop-up drive in theater.

Around where I live, the two drive-ins that have appeared are located on idle farmland.

What probably will most prevent a drive-in renaissance, though, is that the studios are holding back the release dates of their first-run films until traditional theaters can began to fully operate again.

Agreed. Our drive in not far from us, although showing classic movies right now and there’s some good ones, I miss the new releases each week. I wasn’t going to theaters before Covid , just always enjoyed the freedom and unique atmosphere of being outside.

 

[HongKongFooy]

California....
As a kid(perhaps at 5 or 6) riding in the car back home at night was a treat:

Along the highway was a drive in that only showed adult XXX films and the screen was positioned and angled in such a way that if you're alert and ready for it you'd get a 2 second glimpse while driving past.

The worst was when some truck or taller vehicle in the other lane would block the view and I'd come home deprived.


I sorta don't think a setup like that would fly these days...... just a wild guess on my part.

 

[Heppenheimer]

California....
As a kid(perhaps at 5 or 6) riding in the car back home at night was a treat:

Along the highway was a drive in that only showed adult XXX films and the screen was positioned and angled in such a way that if you're alert and ready for it you'd get a 2 second glimpse while driving past.

The worst was when some truck or taller vehicle in the other lane would block the view and I'd come home deprived.


I sorta don't think a setup like that would fly these days...... just a wild guess on my part.

The 70s and 80s were... interesting times.

 

[GimpYancIent]

California....
As a kid(perhaps at 5 or 6) riding in the car back home at night was a treat:

Along the highway was a drive in that only showed adult XXX films and the screen was positioned and angled in such a way that if you're alert and ready for it you'd get a 2 second glimpse while driving past.

The worst was when some truck or taller vehicle in the other lane would block the view and I'd come home deprived.


I sorta don't think a setup like that would fly these days...... just a wild guess on my part.

Not just in California but nationally drive-in theaters have (though in limited numbers) "survived for reasons". Costs are not the same as a brick and mortar theater complex and WDW has plenty of vacant parking lot space (maybe the area where the old speedway was, now a "transportation hub" what ever that means) to develop a drive-in theater experience. Due to the evolution of technology and developments in home entertainment brick and mortar theaters may become part of the fossil record before drive-in's.

 

[sullyinMT]

I would think that with all the malls that have died in the past decade and remained vacant, there must be a lot of empty parking lots that some enterprising film impressario could convert into a temporary pop-up drive in theater.

Around where I live, the two drive-ins that have appeared are located on idle farmland.

What probably will most prevent a drive-in renaissance, though, is that the studios are holding back the release dates of their first-run films until traditional theaters can began to fully operate again.

The dying mall is interesting. And with a recent story I saw about "ghost kitchens" being set up in them for catering and DoorDash type operations, it could make for an interesting menu beyond the carney fare any drive-in I've been to offers.

The studio holdback is killing theaters in general right now. We've been to our massive historic theater a few times to watch classics (our kids' first viewing of The Holy Grail was on the big screen), but I can't justify first-run pricing to watch much of what's available right now. Hoping some of the Thanksgiving releases help, but it's a big cat-and-mouse between audiences and studios right now, with the consumer in the middle.

I get it, as they (studios) want big box office numbers, but theaters can't be filled right now (rightfully so).

 

[Horizons '83]

Ah, looks like I entered the movie thread ...

 

[Archie123]

Ah, looks like I entered the movie thread ...

 

[Heppenheimer]

Not just in California but nationally drive-in theaters have (though in limited numbers) "survived for reasons". Costs are not the same as a brick and mortar theater complex and WDW has plenty of vacant parking lot space (maybe the area where the old speedway was, now a "transportation hub" what ever that means) to develop a drive-in theater experience. Due to the evolution of technology and developments in home entertainment brick and mortar theaters may become part of the fossil record before drive-in's.

If both die off, where will teenagers go to make out beyond their parent's protective gaze? Maybe we'll see pay-to-enter drive-in Lovers' Lanes?

 

[DCBaker]

Numbers are out -

 

[Chip Chipperson]

Numbers are out -

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So the most recent 7 days (9/28-10/4) have averages ~138 cases per day more than the previous 7 days (9/21-9/27). I hope that's not a sign that reopening more is leading to another increase.

 

[DisneyCane]

So the most recent 7 days (9/28-10/4) have averages ~138 cases per day more than the previous 7 days (9/21-9/27). I hope that's not a sign that reopening more is leading to another increase.

They've also averaged 5,266 more tests per day (9.7%). Average positive rate is also slightly lower. If people without symptoms or other indications are getting tested, the more that do will always lead to more "cases." I'd be concerned if the positive rate started going up.

 

[oceanbreeze77]

So the most recent 7 days (9/28-10/4) have averages ~138 cases per day more than the previous 7 days (9/21-9/27). I hope that's not a sign that reopening more is leading to another increase.

we'll find out in 2 weeks

 

[GimpYancIent]

we'll find out in 2 weeks

 

[ABQ]

So the most recent 7 days (9/28-10/4) have averages ~138 cases per day more than the previous 7 days (9/21-9/27). I hope that's not a sign that reopening more is leading to another increase.

Can't help but note that average is a bit screwed up by the weirdness which took place between 9/27 and 9/28.