Disney buys 1000 acres of land

[dreamfinder]

Just curious as to why now. I’m not familiar with land costs in central Florida but I would think they would be at the high end of the scale at the moment.

It may just be that a large plot of connected/adjacent land came up for sale all at once. Not terribly familiar with the FL real estate market, but if they want/need a certain type of land in a large parcel, there may not be many sales opportunities. I seem to recall the parcel they have with the Nature Conservancy was added onto a few times as they bought more land from other secondary sellers.

 

[UpDog71]

I feel like this has to do with a potential station that aligns with the Virgin Brightline Train. Maybe not on this newly purchased site, but offsetting to allow for station construction on the existing land.

 

[MisterPenguin]

A Pokémon land done right would absolutely be on Harry Potter's level or surpass it. The Pokémon IP lends itself to any and every ride, show, VR/AR, interactive queue, restaurant, parade, etc... you could imagine EASILY. You could have a Pokémon land half the size of Epcot and not be stretched thin.

If Comcast pumps money into Pokémon and Mario lands it would make Harry Potter look like an appetizer.

I would think Nintendo lands, if done right, would be hugely successful like the Potter lands.

But, by the time they're built, WDW would have added six new E-Tickets to their parks plus some other new stuff not yet officially announced. WDW will still be way ahead. Rather than siphoning people from WDW, this theme park war is only going to increase Orlando tourism to new heights.

Barring an economic downturn...

 

[larryz]

Barring an economic downturn...

You mean like the Dow dropping 3,000 points in just over two months?

 

[MisterPenguin]

You mean like the Dow dropping 3,000 points in just over two months?

You read the news, too?!

 

[Kamikaze]

There's enough demand from the college program though to pad out whatever they can't find locally.

They don't have space or demand to fill the ~8-15k CMs needed for an additional park from the CP.

 

[Kamikaze]

You mean like the Dow dropping 3,000 points in just over two months?

https://psmag.com/economics/the-stock-market-is-not-the-economy
https://www.npr.org/2018/06/21/622361967/how-relevant-is-the-dow-jones-as-a-measure-of-the-economy
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/dow-jones-20-000-peter-armstrong-1.3929025

 

[larryz]

https://psmag.com/economics/the-stock-market-is-not-the-economy
https://www.npr.org/2018/06/21/622361967/how-relevant-is-the-dow-jones-as-a-measure-of-the-economy
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/dow-jones-20-000-peter-armstrong-1.3929025

The Dow dropping is just an indicator... let's give it six months or so and let's see...

 

[PorterRedkey]

Instead of a 5th gate I would take:

1) A new land for AK
I know AK just got Pandora, but the 20 year old park needs more attractions.

2) Expansion of Adventureland/Frontierland @ MK
An Adventureland expansion would balance the addition of the new Tron E-ticket and add space to a land that has been cramped by the addition of the Aladdin spinner.
A Frontierland addition that removes the dead end @BTRR would help with traffic flow and add capacity.

3) Add new counties to the World Showcase in Epcot
It has been over 25 years since we received a new pavilion. Nuff said.

4) Develop an Indy mini-land at DHS.
SW:GE will be so popular, DHS will need more attraction to handle the crowds.

5) Replace the shows at DHS.
These show have worn out their welcome. New show = new interest and shows are people eaters.

This are my top 5. However, I would also like a retracking of Space Mtn., a redo of Imagination, expansion of Kali, Yeti fix, CoP new scene, MK Theater, redo Fantasyland facades, new Epcot entrance (remove tombstones), Fantasmic refurb or new show, and a SW expansion (I know it hasn’t opened yet, but it will need it).

All of these things should be done (and more) before a 5th park is even considered.

 

[The Pho]

They don't have space or demand to fill the ~8-15k CMs needed for an additional park from the CP.

Maybe not solely but that's why I said they could use the college program to fill what they can't find locally. And with Orlando growing steadily, with 3.2% population growth this year alone which is the second highest in the state and one of the highest in the country, they most certainly could find 15,000 employees. By the time a new park could even open if they started work today, assuming a 5 year construction for Disney, would have the Orlando area growing by about 500,000 people.

 

[Missing20K]

Which happens first, a 5th gate or Yeti repair?

 

[MisterPenguin]

Which happens first, a 5th gate or Yeti repair?

A 5th Gate full of rides with working AA Yetis, but the one on EE is still broken.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Yet everyone complains about overcrowding. Which one is it?
There is a demand and a shortage of capacity.

In a way...both are true...and yet neither are.

I just don't think that's true. The parks are busy and crowded. Saying that Orlando is over-saturated would imply that there are empty parks or parks that just aren't crowded. While this may be true during certain days during the year, it's definitely not true for the vast majority of the year. Disney can open a 5th park and it won't be empty or a failure and Uni can open a 3rd park and it won't be empty or a failure. It's not over-saturated

Kamikaze is pointing out why your premise is wrong: Park cannibalization.

It is defeating to open a park that doesn’t add a huge uptick in New attendance that hasn’t been there since the late 90’s.

What we see is normal population growth...not huge spikes. The problem with “normal” evolution is it never justifies the huge overhead expenses for a new park. A lot of the crowd just gets redistributed.

Those parks could hold 70-75 mil gate tickets each year and we’d all suck it up and deal with it. They get about 55...you do the math.

And yes...employees are the biggest problem

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Which happens first, a 5th gate or Yeti repair?

Neither is realistic

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Nintendo if done correctly, offers dozens of obvious choices for full immersion to the same degree as Hogwarts or Pandora. There are many fully fleshed out worlds for them to choose from to create and adapt the characters into. Whether its Hyrule or the Mushroom Kingdom or one of the many others, they could very easily produce something that is visually unique and with rides that bring the games to life. I'd say that Nintendo brings them more options than Harry Potter does, because with that they were pretty much locked into starting with Hogwarts or Diagon Alley, and then not much else that's unique to the property.

Nintendo, translated to real life, will feel plastic-y and artificial IMO.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Why don't you just give up your tired routine of trying to discredit anyone who ever said something that didn't actually turn out to be true.

The issue isn't people saying things that turn out not to be true. It's the arrogant and demeaning way they say it, as if anyone who disagrees with them is a know-nothing moron. When posters here treat others that way, I think a bit of "I told you so" is pretty appropriate.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Nintendo, translated to real life, will feel plastic-y and artificial IMO.

I agree...it will be difficult to pull off.

I actually wonder how they do Star Wars to balance “authentic” and “depressing”...fine line there

 

[CaptainAmerica]

Its because they 'promise' to keep a certain percentage of their property as wetlands/conservation. So if they want to develop more of it, they need more land to keep that percentage. It doesn't point to any project in particular, but its not really about 'taxes'.

Its not really oversaturated as far as guests go, but as we saw with DAK, the guests from the other three parks spread out to the fourth instead of just adding new guests to fill park #4. It took quite a while before it averaged out to being another 'day' added to the average guest's trip.

The bigger problem with adding a 3rd park at Universal or a 5th at WDW are the employees. The market in Orlando just doesn't exist that would be able to support that many new workers, especially if they both were to open another park. Unless, of course, Disney and Comcast were to raise wages.

Even if labor were free, there's not enough potential incremental revenue to justify a 5th gate. Not now, not ever. Americans don't have enough vacation time to visit WDW for the amount of time it would take to thoroughly experience five parks. A family that visits for six nights now would continue to visit six nights in a world with five gates.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

The Dow dropping is just an indicator... let's give it six months or so and let's see...

She’s going down...

That’s how it works...and the people are going to be served the dinner they chose to order...at least in Western Europe and their new world counterpart

 

[Tom Morrow]

Its because they 'promise' to keep a certain percentage of their property as wetlands/conservation. So if they want to develop more of it, they need more land to keep that percentage. It doesn't point to any project in particular, but its not really about 'taxes'.

They "promise" to keep a certain percentage of property as wetlands/conservation because this gives them tax credit. It is not at all because they care about the environment. But the PR department spins it this way.