News D23 Expo 2019

[Stripes]

While this used to be somewhat true, if anyone thinks Disney is going to announce something on par with a new park... you're delusional. IMHO. My best uneducated, non-insider guess is the black box ride, with them calling it "revolutionary to the theme park industry".

I think there is a very real possibility of a fifth gate announcement. The stars are as lined up as they'll be for quite some time. Each WDW park will have very attractive offerings (reduces risk of cannibalization), tax act has reduced risk of capital investment (perhaps temporarily), Disney needs to expand capacity dramatically to keep WDW financially healthy, and Universal is building a third park.

It's absolutely not a "Black box" announcement. That would go in the regular parks presentation.

I'm not saying it is a fifth gate announcement, but the odds are higher than you seem to think. IMO.

 

[Steph15251]

A little history, Universal comes to Orlando -> Disney quickly builds MGM
1993 Universal announces a second gate -> 1995 Disney announces DAK
2010 Universal opens WWOHP -> 2011 Disney announces Pandora
2015 Disney announces SWGE -> Universal announces Nintendo
2019 Universal announces a third gate -> 24 august secret announcement

If history tells us anything both companies swing back with the same force. You just don't reply with a IP land to a new universal gate....

MGM opened before Universal and DAK opened before IOA but now it seems like Disney takes it time building stuff

 

[Franklin47disneyguy]

Between the large land purchase, Uni’s new park, good economical conditions and theis secret announcement. I think its posible.

 

[rle4lunch]

Tick tock. I think DoubeJ is probably on to something... really want to hear if any insiders can allude on this...

 

[Ravenclaw78]

I know this is the WDW forum so everyone here is focused on a particular theme park in Orlando, but the Walt Disney Company is massive and has many divisions beyond Parks, and even Parks includes several other theme parks and the cruise line. Even given the timing of the addition coinciding with Universal's non-announcement announcement, in my opinion the likelihood of this having anything at all to do with WDW is slim at best.

 

[deWild]

In regards to this secret project, I feel like everything Parks related will be mentioned during the Parks & Resorts presentation. I wouldn’t think they would spend an hour talking about a new land.

I get the feeling this “project” is larger in scale. A fifth gate is unlikely. But with Virgin’s acquisition and expansion of the South Florida railways for high speed rail, I wonder if Disney has planned a new, multi use TTC Hub for somewhere centrally located on property? I feel like this has been hinted at before, I just can’t remember where.

 

[larryz]

No one who knows anything at all thinks that a fifth gate is even being discussed at the moment, let alone being ready for an announcement.

Maybe they get pushed that way by Epic Universe in the future, but I honestly doubt it.

Hmm. Brand new poster throwing cold water on new gate idea.

Disney shill, perhaps?

 

[larryz]

It's a new cruise ship, isn't it? The Disney Epic

That would be... wait for it...

Spoiler

Just wonderful. No, not "epic." Did you really think I was going to say "epic"?

 

[Dwebble]

Hmm. Brand new poster throwing cold water on new gate idea.

Disney shill, perhaps?

Nah, just a realist.

I don't think there's any prospect of us being a few weeks away from the reveal of a new park with absolutely zero concrete news- absolutely nothing Disney does is that leak-free, let alone something that would drive as much interest as a new park.

Don't get me wrong, I'd be incredibly excited (significantly more so than for Epic Universe), but I don't see it.

 

[britain]

As I mentioned in the DL forums:

1) It sounds corporate-wide. Not a studios thing, or a parks thing.

2) Announcing what it is (probably with a press release) on Thursday the 22nd, but having a presentation about it on Saturday is odd. It's almost as if there will be some sort of unavoidable, visible manifestation of the project on the floor Friday morning, so they better announce it beforehand, even though they won’t really talk about it until Saturday.

3) If it was a model, it would be included in the parks presentation, so the unavoidable display probably isn't anything like that. Some new interactive product? New wearable tech? A DisneyCard (hey, if Apple can get into the bank game...)

Or maybe Pal Mickey 2.0!!!

 

[Kamikaze]

If its parks related - its a new park. If it was anything less than a park, it would go in the regular Parks panel. But I doubt its something parks only.

What could it be? Celebrating WDW50 throughout the entire company maybe? I'm not sure what else they could have thats both 'secret' and big enough to warrant its own panel.

Maybe they are making Iger CEO for life.

 

[britain]

It could just be that "Secret" is just Disney's magical way of saying "TBD"

 

[EricsBiscuit]

I know this is the WDW forum so everyone here is focused on a particular theme park in Orlando, but the Walt Disney Company is massive and has many divisions beyond Parks, and even Parks includes several other theme parks and the cruise line. Even given the timing of the addition coinciding with Universal's non-announcement announcement, in my opinion the likelihood of this having anything at all to do with WDW is slim at best.

If they don’t respond with significant new WDW announcements, it will look like they’re scared of Uni.

 

[britain]

If they don’t respond with significant new WDW announcements, it will look like they’re scared of Uni.

If the DO respond with significant new WDW announcements, it will look like they’re scared of Uni. If they stay the course and do what they're already planning on doing it shows they don't care what widdle universal is doing down the street.

 

[Dwebble]

If they don’t respond with significant new WDW announcements, it will look like they’re scared of Uni.

If they do respond with significant new WDW announcements, they'll look reactive and behind the market.

Uni's got ahead of them on this one, and there's no getting around it.

 

[EricsBiscuit]

If the DO respond with significant new WDW announcements, it will look like they’re scared of Uni. If they stay the course and do what they're already planning on doing it shows they don't care what widdle universal is doing down the street.

If they do respond with significant new WDW announcements, they'll look reactive and behind the market.

Uni's got ahead of them on this one, and there's no getting around it.

You’re both right. I guess they should just announce what they already planned on announcing.

 

[britain]

What could it be? Celebrating WDW50 throughout the entire company maybe? I'm not sure what else they could have thats both 'secret' and big enough to warrant its own panel.

I agree, though one anomaly in the past was that Star Wars Land was announced by Iger at the end of the 2015 studios presentation (since it fit the topic of Star Wars movies) and then Chapek shared some more info about the lands in the parks presentation.

Possibly this secret presentation is a parks thing that gets followed up on with more info in the parks presentation Sunday.

But I still think this is a unique corporatey thing that doesn't fit well in any other bucket.

 

[nickys]

There have been a few reports of yet another DVC survey asking about whether members would buy in different areas, including Hong Kong, Tokyo, Breckinridge, Vail, Maui, Oahu, Bahamas, New Hampshire, New York, Lake Tahoe, San Diego and more.

I thought they’d given up on that idea, but maybe not. Another non-WDW possibility.

 

[Franklin47disneyguy]

New domestic/international destination?

 

[jt04]

Flamingo Crossing IHOP.