News Disney plans to accelerate Parks investment to $60 billion over 10 years

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Disney's stubbornness on exclusively using the legitimately bad sequel trilogy is perhaps the most baffling business choice I've ever seen. They love IP, why are they just sitting on a more popular one?

…but didn’t you hear? “Some”
People liked it

That explains the 737max class nosedive at the box office and the fact all the Disney + material since has been clone wars or return of the Jedi era

…yep…that computes

 

[Tha Realest]

The original trilogy would not have saved it. The market for a locked-down faux cruise of mono-themed dinner theater and/or LARPing while the world’s premier theme parks sit inaccessible mere yards away is (shocker!) just not that big.

Perhaps. But I think both the price point and the chosen content were very self-limiting. We’ll never know, of course, but the original trilogy (and to a lesser extent, the prequels) have enduring popularity.

 

[celluloid]

A faux cruise should never cost more or close to an actual cruise the same way a day at a theme park should never cost as much as actually visiting the location for the same amount of time from where the park resides.

Theme parks are seen as expensive but are as cheap as they are per day due to entertainment in bulk.
Then you stay at a resort level you are comfortable with.

Starcruiser did not have much luxury to the staying, and not quite intimiite enough for the price tag. That differentiates it from what you should be getting out of value at a theme park's smaller scale attractions.

This is why Olivander's Wands, Gringotts Bank Exchange, Enchanted Tales with Belle, Hoop De Doo as those who want dinner and a show, Roaming characters, and various vignettes still exist at theme parks and resorts, but Galactic Starcruiser did not work.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

inaccessible is dramatic, you spent majority of the second day (of the 2 night experience) at DHS

So?

Nobody bought it.

…the land is not that good (this is top secret…don’t tell anyone )

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Perhaps. But I think both the price point and the chosen content were very self-limiting. We’ll never know, of course, but the original trilogy (and to a lesser extent, the prequels) have enduring popularity.

To accept this is to accept that Disney has completely screwed it up…to this point

You know that floats like a lead balloon around here

 

[MisterPenguin]

Now that we have a 5th park coming based on the discussion here is it time to start talking about a 6th park?

That's Cotino. For Disney Senior Adults.

 

[Disone]

To save on staffing and costly maintenance

I was wrong. I did understand.sigh

 

[TheDisneyParksfanC8]

Animal Kingdom:
Indiana Jones Adventure, Encanto dark ride, Central American animals throughout the land Tropical America’s replacing Dinoland AND a Lion King ride for Africa, Zootopia show replacing “It’s tough to be a bug,” and a new night show with more fountains and drones.

Magic Kingdom:
Site work is to begin shortly for what amounts to a Frontierland expansion and more distantly, a new Villains Land the size of Galaxy’s Edge. Additionally, the Moana boat ride originally slated for Animal Kingdom will go in Adventureland between Pirates and Jungle Cruise. Tomorrowland Speedway will be different. Big Thunder Mountain receives an update. Stitch might not be in its current state for much longer, but it probably will not be announced at this D23. New Night Parade is pretty much a lock at this point.

Epcot:
Test Track redo opens summer of 2025, The Spaceship Earth update will likely be announced and will start once Test Track comes back online. I’d expect to hear one more announcement for EPCOT. Keep a close eye on the Figment project on Disney Plus. I've heard Inside Out will find someplace to go at EPCOT, but remember, some of these projects aren't as far along as others.

Hollywood Studios:
New land to replace Launch Bay. Rock n’ Rollercoaster retheme as well. Falcon mission update at HWS and DL.

Disneyland Resort:
New, unique Avatar land using the Shanghai Pirates boat technology at DLR. PeopleMover comes back in a new way at Disneyland Park alongside significant modifications to the land. Hollywoodland will go away. A Disney Springs-esque shopping district will likely be officially announced alongside plans for a new transit configuration for the resort. The Avenger’s E-ticket gets an actual announcement.

Walt Disney Studios:
Gets its own Avatar land and a Lion King land. Other misc. project in the existing part of the park.

Disneyland Parc Paris:
A larger than Soarin’ sum, so perhaps Soarin’/Soaring 2.0, Indiana Jones Adventure, or even a new version of Rise of the Resistance. I’d fully expect either a new land or two new rides including an E-ticket in total. Space Mountain will be back at DLP!

Shanghai Disneyland:
New Marvel Land, Toy Story Mania as well.

Hong Kong Disneyland:
Will get an E-ticket in Tomorrowland still, but I doubt they'll mention it at D23.

Plans can still change, but a lot of this should be announced by or at D23, some of this is long-term, though, and will not be included. Edited for clarity.

D23 2024 can't come soon. But a few questions:

Would the Hollywoodland replacement at DCA be cloned or be exclusive to DLR? I would also assume that If Hollywoodland is not becoming Avatar, whatever replaces it would probably come before Avatar.

Will the Avatar land Paris is getting be the same as the one DCA or will it be exclusive to Paris?

I assume the Avengers E ticket will also get cloned to Paris as well?

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

I've heard there's even more information to look forward to this month alone.

Just to affirm, since we've gotten a lot of news this month already - the things I was referring to still haven't been announced yet

 

[UNCgolf]

Just to affirm, since we've gotten a lot of news this month already - the things I was referring to still haven't been announced yet

Have we already heard about them here or are they completely new? I'd consider something like the potential Moana boat ride at MK to be something we already know about even though Disney hasn't even hinted at it officially.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Have we already heard about them here or are they completely new? I'd consider something like the potential Moana boat ride at MK to be something we already know about even though Disney hasn't even hinted at it officially.

Some we've heard about, some I haven't seen chatter for yet.

 

[MisterPenguin]

Some we've heard about, some I haven't seen chatter for yet.

Here's @Henry Mystic's info dump... anything to add?

Will Tropical America indeed have a Coco spinner as Tom Bricker said when he attended Disney's presser last week?

Animal Kingdom:

• Tropical America’s replacing Dinoland
  • Indiana Jones Adventure,
  • Encanto dark ride,
  • Central American animals throughout the land
• Lion King ride for Africa,
• Zootopia show replacing “It’s tough to be a bug,”
• new night show with more fountains and drones.

Magic Kingdom:

• Beyond Big Thunder (amounts to the size of Galaxy’s Edge [which is 14 acres])
  • Site work to begin shortly
  • Frontierland expansion
  • and a new Villains Land .
• Additionally, the Moana boat ride originally slated for Animal Kingdom will go in Adventureland between Pirates and Jungle Cruise.
• Tomorrowland Speedway will be different.
• Big Thunder Mountain receives an update.
• Stitch will not be in its current state for much longer.
• New Night Parade.

Epcot:

• Test Track redo opens summer of 2025,
• The Spaceship Earth update will likely be announced and will start once Test Track comes back online.
• I’d expect to hear one more announcement for EPCOT.
• Keep a close eye on the Figment project on Disney Plus.
• I've heard Inside Out will find someplace to go at EPCOT,
• but remember, some of these projects aren't as far along as others.
• Inside Out and Figment should both have a larger presence at WDW in the coming years.

Hollywood Studios:

• New land to replace Launch Bay.
• Rock n’ Rollercoaster retheme as well.
• Falcon mission update at HWS and DL.

Disneyland Resort:

• New, unique Avatar land using the Shanghai pirates boat technology at DLR.
• PeopleMover comes back in a new way at Disneyland Park
• alongside significant changes to the land.
• Hollywoodland will go away.
• A Disney Springs-esque shopping district will be officially announced alongside plans for a new transit configuration for the resort.
• The Avenger’s E-ticket gets an actual announcement.

New Gates:

• There are plans for new parks at both Disneyland Resort Anaheim and Walt Disney World after all of these expansions (and a few others). [that 'after' means after the 10 years of the $60B investment]

Walt Disney Studios:

• Gets its own Avatar land
• and a Lion King land.
• Other misc. project in the existing part of the park.

Disneyland Parc Paris:

• A larger than Soarin’ sum, so perhaps Soarin’/Soaring 2.0,
• Indiana Jones Adventure,
• or even a new version of Rise of the Resistance.
• I’d fully expect either a new land or two new rides including an E-ticket in total.
• Space Mountain will be back at DLP!

Shanghai:

• New Marvel Land,
• Toy Story Mania as well.

Hong Kong

• will get an E-ticket in Tomorrowland still.

 

[TheDisneyParksfanC8]

Here's @Henry Mystic's info dump... anything to add?

Will Tropical America indeed have a Coco spinner as Tom Bricker said when he attended Disney's presser last week?

I wonder If DHS's new land will be cloned to DCA as a Hollywoodland replacement. With that and Avatar being mentioned separately, It makes me wonder if Avatar is going in the Simba lot where it can be fleshed out better with more space.

 

[Brer Oswald]

Animal Kingdom:
Indiana Jones Adventure, Encanto dark ride, Central American animals throughout the land Tropical America’s replacing Dinoland AND a Lion King ride for Africa, Zootopia show replacing “It’s tough to be a bug,” and a new night show with more fountains and drones.

Magic Kingdom:
Site work is to begin shortly for what amounts to a Frontierland expansion and more distantly, a new Villains Land the size of Galaxy’s Edge. Additionally, the Moana boat ride originally slated for Animal Kingdom will go in Adventureland between Pirates and Jungle Cruise. Tomorrowland Speedway will be different. Big Thunder Mountain receives an update. Stitch might not be in its current state for much longer, but it probably will not be announced at this D23. New Night Parade is pretty much a lock at this point.

Epcot:
Test Track redo opens summer of 2025, The Spaceship Earth update will likely be announced and will start once Test Track comes back online. I’d expect to hear one more announcement for EPCOT. Keep a close eye on the Figment project on Disney Plus. I've heard Inside Out will find someplace to go at EPCOT, but remember, some of these projects aren't as far along as others.

Hollywood Studios:
New land to replace Launch Bay. Rock n’ Rollercoaster retheme as well. Falcon mission update at HWS and DL.

Disneyland Resort:
New, unique Avatar land using the Shanghai Pirates boat technology at DLR. PeopleMover comes back in a new way at Disneyland Park alongside significant modifications to the land. Hollywoodland will go away. A Disney Springs-esque shopping district will likely be officially announced alongside plans for a new transit configuration for the resort. The Avenger’s E-ticket gets an actual announcement.

Walt Disney Studios:
Gets its own Avatar land and a Lion King land. Other misc. project in the existing part of the park.

Disneyland Parc Paris:
A larger than Soarin’ sum, so perhaps Soarin’/Soaring 2.0, Indiana Jones Adventure, or even a new version of Rise of the Resistance. I’d fully expect either a new land or two new rides including an E-ticket in total. Space Mountain will be back at DLP!

Shanghai Disneyland:
New Marvel Land, Toy Story Mania as well.

Hong Kong Disneyland:
Will get an E-ticket in Tomorrowland still, but I doubt they'll mention it at D23.

Plans can still change, but a lot of this should be announced by or at D23, some of this is long-term, though, and will not be included. Edited for clarity.

 

[Brer Oswald]

This would be incredibly, incredibly unprecedented. All second gate additions have resulted in about a decade for their primary parks to recover their previous attendance peaks.

I’m just trying to set expectations that USF attendance declines are expected and totally fine. The resort will gain 25%-ish attendance year one and then slow roll the other 25% over the next 5-10 years.

I expect Epic will be incredibly popular, but half at the expense of the other two parks and the other half organic length of stay or new customers for the resort.

It would be incredibly unprecedented, but at the same time, Universal is getting ready to push the green light on the Pokemon and Zelda plans as soon as Epic is done. USF will surely take a hit for a few years, but once they get Pokemon open...if you don't think that is going to be a game changer, then I have a bridge to sell you.

 

[Centauri Space Station]

It would be incredibly unprecedented, but at the same time, Universal is getting ready to push the green light on the Pokemon and Zelda plans as soon as Epic is done. USF will surely take a hit for a few years, but once they get Pokemon open...if you don't think that is going to be a game changer, then I have a bridge to sell you.

That park needs a lot more than one new land

 

[BrianLo]

It would be incredibly unprecedented, but at the same time, Universal is getting ready to push the green light on the Pokemon and Zelda plans as soon as Epic is done. USF will surely take a hit for a few years, but once they get Pokemon open...if you don't think that is going to be a game changer, then I have a bridge to sell you.

It sure would, but Pokemon in USF has nothing to do with the Epic development short-term attendance projections. It's also a project we first heard being floated in 2013 - though I am certain we are closer to the opening date then when the deal with Nintendo was first being explored. A project like that (Pokemon in USF) is again now trying to justify another 5-10% resort wide attendance bump. It will occur, I'm sure people will respond, but it will continue to play out over many, many years.

Again, none of this is a criticism. It's just correct expectation setting for short, medium and long term measures of success. USF will likely have the steepest attendance declines, then IOA as direct downstream response to the Epic opening shifting customers internally. DAK is the result of intrinsic factors in the WDW resort and has already largely been burned. Not saying Epic doesn't effect it, but it is much more insulated as an entirely different product.

 

[Brer Oswald]

That park needs a lot more than one new land

There's no denying that from a quality and quantity standpoint. But just from an attendance/popularity perspective, Pokemon is a sure fire hit so long as they don't screw it up, and they've had a good track record since Potter when it comes to third party IP.

 

[el_super]

USF will surely take a hit for a few years, but once they get Pokemon open...if you don't think that is going to be a game changer, then I have a bridge to sell you.

How many game changers have they opened in the last 10 or 15 or 25 years? Hasn't the game been sufficiently changed enough? Doesn't quite seem like it. Not ever. It's always just "one more project..."

 

[MisterPenguin]

How many game changers have they opened in the last 10 or 15 or 25 years? Hasn't the game been sufficiently changed enough? Doesn't quite seem like it. Not ever. It's always just "one more project..."

It's the fans: "What have you done for me lately?"

Especially the rabid fans who go often. They soon tire of the newest ride and want a new one.

Two years after EU opens, Uni fans will be griping that the expansion pads haven't been used yet.

And God forbid the new ride isn't to their liking. They then treat it as if didn't exist and reset the clock to the last addition before that one.

"You haven't given us a new ride for six years!"

"We just opened a new one this year!"​

"But I don't like that one, so, it doesn't count!"