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

[DisneyHead123]

Disney is not gonna rapidly loose market share once Epic opens as some have claimed on here.

They are an entrenched well know brand with a huge following despite their blunders.

I think a lot of us forget that Universal being this competitive is still a relatively new phenomenon.

Maybe in the last decade or so since Potter opened has there been talk of a response to that land. Galaxy’s Edge was the answer but it wasn’t as successful imo.

Comcast has decided to go all in on their parks division lately so now here we are with the current discussions.

I also noticed that Nintendo World in CA doesn’t seem to be getting rave reviews (I actually didn’t realize Universal had another Nintendo World in the US so just read the reviews yesterday.)

The sense that I’m getting is that the “mini lands” or whatever you want to call them are actually surprisingly hard to pull off, across the board. Individual rides will get rave reviews, as will whole parks, but “lands” seem to get a mixed reception at best (The exception being Pandora but, I’m sorry, at this point can we just say that James Cameron is clearly a sorcerer or Jedi or something? How does every one of his films that is elebenty billion dollars over budget still become a wild success? Clearly witchcraft. So Pandora doesn’t count.) They seem to hit the inverse of a sweet spot - not big enough to feel fully immersive, too big to be given the benefit of the doubt as a fun attraction and not much more.

Anyway, my point is, there’s a lot of assumption that Universal is going to absolutely school Disney in the theme park realm because they “did the right thing”, in fan’s eyes, by spending a lot and building a lot. And maybe EU will indeed blow people’s minds. But also possible that all the complaints people generally have about theme park lands will apply to EU as well.

 

[Disgruntled Walt]

@Advisable Joseph The Henry Mystic quote is potentially outdated, because @PREMiERdrum is now less certain DHS is happening. Plus I still don't see a 5th gate happening for a very long time, if ever.

 

[Gringrinngghost]

But also possible that all the complaints people generally have about theme park lands will apply to EU as well.

As I digress, I've have brought up privately questions about Epic Universe, and a thematic inconstancy that I had found which I will share here.

Celestial Park, the statue is for Luna the Ancient Roman goddess of the Moon whereas the Grand Helios Hotel is named after the Ancient Grecian God of the Sun. If they are supposed to be thematically the same, Helios' Roman equivalent is Sol or Sol Invictus. Whereas Luna's Greek equivalent is Selene.

 

[DisneyHead123]

As I digress, I've have brought up privately questions about Epic Universe, and a thematic inconstancy that I had found which I will share here.

Celestial Park, the statue is for Luna the Ancient Roman goddess of the Moon whereas the Grand Helios Hotel is named after the Ancient Grecian God of the Sun. If they are supposed to be thematically the same, Helios' Roman equivalent is Sol or Sol Invictus. Whereas Luna's Greek equivalent is Selene.

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I’m not sure what the overarching theme is so not sure if it’s inconsistent or not. If it’s a general invocation of that part of the world at a certain period in time, I could still see it, as there was a lot of interaction between Roman and Greek cultures.

In regard to complaints that seem to be prevalent about Nintendo World CA, the theme I noticed was: 1. Looks cool, but after that there’s not enough to do and 2. What is up with all these upcharges?! (I guess you have to buy a $40 band to access features of the land.) I will be genuinely curious to see how EU Orlando is received overall. The backdrops do look breathtaking, but getting the mix of style and substance right in a mini land seems to be a difficult balance.

 

[MisterPenguin]

As I digress, I've have brought up privately questions about Epic Universe, and a thematic inconstancy that I had found which I will share here.

Celestial Park, the statue is for Luna the Ancient Roman goddess of the Moon whereas the Grand Helios Hotel is named after the Ancient Grecian God of the Sun. If they are supposed to be thematically the same, Helios' Roman equivalent is Sol or Sol Invictus. Whereas Luna's Greek equivalent is Selene.

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That's as bad as mixing Greek and Latin into the same word root and/or suffix!!

It should be diathlon, not biathlon, you Philistenes!!!

And don't get me started on mixing characters and events from Alice in Wonderland with Alice Through the Looking Glass!!!!

And dogs and cats living together?!?! Anarchy!!!!

 

[Gringrinngghost]

I’m not sure what the overarching theme is so not sure if it’s inconsistent or not. If it’s a general invocation of that part of the world at a certain period in time, I could still see it, as there was a lot of interaction between Roman and Greek cultures.

In regard to complaints that seem to be prevalent about Nintendo World CA, the theme I noticed was: 1. Looks cool, but after that there’s not enough to do and 2. What is up with all these upcharges?! (I guess you have to buy a $40 band to access features of the land.) I will be genuinely curious to see how EU Orlando is received overall. The backdrops do look breathtaking, but getting the mix of style and substance right in a mini land seems to be a difficult balance.

To my understanding there was budget cuts for Hollywood when they built it. Secondly, the bands are 40 bucks because they double as Amiibos

That's as bad as mixing Greek and Latin into the same word root and/or suffix!!

It should be diathlon, not biathlon, you Philistenes!!!

And don't get me started on mixing characters and events from Alice in Wonderland with Alice Through the Looking Glass!!!!

And dogs and cats living together?!?! Anarchy!!!!

I asked them from the standpoint of the fact that if you want to have a main theme, wouldn't it make sense to be one thing and not a hodgepodge of 2. I had also brought this up privately months ago.

 

[lazyboy97o]

A little fun bonus fact: Epic Universe was originally called Universal’s Fantastic Worlds, with Universal’s Epic Universe being planned for the overarching property moniker, but as we are all aware, Warner Bros. at the time sued them to prohibit the name.

Warner Bros. didn’t sue Universal. They’re an active partner in the park.

So, the Walt Disney Company and many of the industry insiders had known about Epic Universe over a year before Universal had even announced it and what was expected. And I can assure you that Disney has been planning their rebuttals for years. Has anyone ever wondered why they had started gaging guests' interest with the blue sky concepts at D23? Or why do we have yet to present a blue sky concept in this setting that was not specifically for Orlando? Disney is playing the long game, and they have the benefit of doing it all in a clandestine nature since they won’t have to acquire land for it.

Land purchases isn’t why people knew the park was happening. They knew because hundreds of people were working on it. Disney isn’t going to keep anything secret from Universal.

 

[Advisable Joseph]

@Advisable Joseph The Henry Mystic quote is potentially outdated, because @PREMiERdrum is now less certain DHS is happening. Plus I still don't see a 5th gate happening for a very long time, if ever.

The comment from Iger suggests Henry Mystic is correct.

 

[DisneyHead123]

To my understanding there was budget cuts for Hollywood when they built it. Secondly, the bands are 40 bucks because they double as Amiibos

Re the budget cuts - I see what you’re saying, but it looks like Orlando will have two more rides total. So the same as Toy Story land and one more than Galaxy’s Edge. I still have my doubts about how people will react to that - but like I said, I’ll watch with genuine curiosity.

Regarding the bands - I have no idea what an Amiibos is. I Googled it and I still don’t totally understand. I doubt most parents are going to say “Oh, well, an amiibos! That’s a good deal then.” It still feels like an upcharge, now just for some inexplicable thing that The Youth like.

 

[Gringrinngghost]

Warner Bros. didn’t sue Universal. They’re an active partner in the park.

I shouldn’t have said sued, but they did file with the USPTO to oppose use. So yes, regardless of them being a “partner” they still actively tried to prohibit the use of the name. Their entire basis was that people would confuse “Fantastic Worlds” with “Fantastic Beasts and where to find them” and “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.”

Land purchases isn’t why people knew the park was happening. They knew because hundreds of people were working on it. Disney isn’t going to keep anything secret from Universal.

We were talking about the third park back in late 2015 when they bought the land. There was reporting about them talking with the county in May of 2016. So yes, the land purchases were indicative of it; Screamscape even made a mention that a large swath of property was already zoned for theme park use on December 4th, 2015

 

[TheDisneyParksfanC8]

The comment from Iger suggests Henry Mystic is correct.

That's a good thing as DHS needs to replace that Animation Courtyard badly with a new land with at least two rides.

 

[Gusey]

One could argue that Disney Adventure World is Disney's response to Epic Universe. Both will open in 2025, DAW is a the rebranding of an existing park as a new park that will be doubled the size and it's Disney's chance to show what their Imagineering can do when redesigning a "new" Disney Park

 

[MagicHappens1971]

One could argue that Disney Adventure World is Disney's response to Epic Universe. Both will open in 2025, DAW is a the rebranding of an existing park as a new park that will be doubled the size and it's Disney's chance to show what their Imagineering can do when redesigning a "new" Disney Park

A park across the ocean is Disneys response to EU? Don’t mean to be rude but that makes 0 sense what so ever. Disney has known about Epic for nearly a decade and has chosen to do nothing that is substantial enough to compete with EU at WDW. I don’t think EU will be a major problem for WDW as a whole, but that’s a whole other conversation.

 

[yensidtlaw1969]

Disney is not gonna rapidly loose market share once Epic opens as some have claimed on here.

They are an entrenched well know brand with a huge following despite their blunders.

I think a lot of us forget that Universal being this competitive is still a relatively new phenomenon.

Maybe in the last decade or so since Potter opened has there been talk of a response to that land. Galaxy’s Edge was the answer but it wasn’t as successful imo.

Comcast has decided to go all in on their parks division lately so now here we are with the current discussions.

I think people are very quick to forget, too, that Universal has stumbled while opening every single one of its parks in Florida. They've never once pulled it off flawlessly like many seem to be predicting they suddenly will with Epic Universe. It usually takes them a good half-decade or more to equalize where they wanted to be on launch.

I'm not fully inclined to think EU will have as rocky a start as they've had historically, but I'm also not convinced it'll be the immediate, game-changing unqualified success that people claim.

 

[BrianLo]

Disney has gone from being proactive to reactive to Universal. of course they will respond to Epic... eventually. But we've already seen what a delayed response can do coupled with greed - IOA outdrew 3 of Disney parks last year and even USF outdrew 2 of them... something unthinkable a few years ago

FYI-Two years ago. Though I don’t doubt the trend. The TEA reports are quite old and frankly still pandemic numbers.

Though I don’t know why WDW had not and has not recovered its pre-pandemic attendance. Most other non-Asian and non-cruise tourism options were able to recover reasonably well in calendar 2022.

 

[BrianLo]

I think people are very quick to forget, too, that Universal has stumbled while opening every single one of its parks in Florida. They've never once pulled it off flawlessly like many seem to be predicting they suddenly will with Epic Universe. It usually takes them a good half-decade or more to equalize where they wanted to be on launch.

I'm not fully inclined to think EU will have as rocky a start as they've had historically, but I'm also not convinced it'll be the immediate, game-changing unqualified success that people claim.

Yes, as an operator they will have a lot of new capacity flack to work through. Unlike the general sentiment, it won’t be occupied overnight. It won’t even be occupied fully in five years, in all likelihood. Which is normal and not a barometer of lack of success.

Disney has a fairly easy go of it. They just need to redraw crowds to DAK at this current juncture and ensure the other parks don’t fall behind from underinvestment. Or can frankly handle the capacity they already possess. The growth cadence they require is stepwise.

 

[Lilofan]

Silly generalities do too…especially ones not that clever

Lived and worked in both areas so not generalities. Try again.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Lived and worked in both areas so not generalities. Try again.

So have I…but I make better jokes

 

[Gusey]

A park across the ocean is Disneys response to EU? Don’t mean to be rude but that makes 0 sense what so ever. Disney has known about Epic for nearly a decade and has chosen to do nothing that is substantial enough to compete with EU at WDW. I don’t think EU will be a major problem for WDW as a whole, but that’s a whole other conversation.

Yes, DAW is not a direct response if you just look at just Orlando.
However, it is the closest we're getting to a new Disney Park worldwide, showing what Imagineers could do if they were to open another theme park in the US. Disney Adventure World will have three "new" lands when it becomes official next year to add to the recently opened Avengers Campus and Worlds of Pixar.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Yes, DAW is not a direct response if you just look at just Orlando.
However, it is the closest we're getting to a new Disney Park worldwide, showing what Imagineers could do if they were to open another theme park in the US. Disney Adventure World will have three "new" lands when it becomes official next year to add to the recently opened Avengers Campus and Worlds of Pixar.

That’s not even close to the same thing…

…don’t make it so easy on little Bob and his atrocious park management in the US