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

[James Alucobond]

I wasn’t saying anyone necessarily was…the way you phrased it…you made it seem Disney had 4 full or multi day parks…and universals were halfsies

I never said this. You made a lot of (incorrect) assumptions to get there. When you did, I clarified it for you. That should be the end of it. I’ve no interest in defending a point I didn’t make.

 

[Andrew25]

IOA is missing entertainment, but it's nearly a full-day park with more than enough experiences to fill your time. And several experiences are highly-repeatable. (It's missing two stage shows, and a more traditional dark ride to call it a well-rounded park). Also has Mythos...

DAK is my favorite park (anywhere)... and yet I struggle to find myself there for more than 4 hours a day.

 

[Advisable Joseph]

Let's try this again:

Iger reiterated the $60 billion plan and

In Disney’s answer to Epic Universe, Iger pointed to attractions Disney World has opened in recent years.... More rides are coming....

“We haven’t announced specifics yet, but we’re looking at a few of those parks to place some pretty big bets on,” Iger said Wednesday.

Emphasis mine.

Bob Iger says Disney shouldn’t be stressed out by Universal’s Epic Universe

Disney's CEO Bob Iger spoke Wednesday at an investor conference.

floridapolitics.com

With this quote from Iger in mind, recall this coversation:

They need to do a lot at DAK and DHS, as well as more work at EPCOT, before they think about building a 5th park.

EPCOT doesn't really need expansions, especially compared to the other two, but it does need to fix several existing spaces. A new World Showcase pavilion or two and a couple of additional rides up there would be great, but not really necessary if they didn't have some old Future World pavilions wasting away.

DAK and DHS, on the other hand, both need at least double the amount of their current attractions.

That's the plan. Pump the most raw capacity boost over the next decade WDW has ever seen, and once that is done, build a 5th gate. Leadership gets it now, it's why you're seeing a new land at HWS before BBT is finished.

Some of our insiders are assuming budget cuts for some reason, but I'm not sure they have been actually told that the cuts are happening yet, especially after seeing Iger's comments.

 

[doctornick]

Some of our insiders are assuming budget cuts for some reason, but I'm not sure they have been actually told that the cuts are happening yet, especially after seeing Iger's comments.

There's probably not "budget cuts" per se at this point, as much as potentially holding off on what to authorize for a while longer (perhaps, for example, as they see how the streaming part of the business does over the next 6 months). That doesn't mean they won't be aggressive with spending or his the $17B/$60B totals in the next decade. As we've been told, that likely will be more heavily spend at the end of the decade under current plans.

 

[Andrew25]

I wouldn't say anything is being cut at the moment, it's all about shifting priorities for whatever strategy they want to pursue.

 

[JMcMahonEsq]

IOA is missing entertainment, but it's nearly a full-day park with more than enough experiences to fill your time. And several experiences are highly-repeatable. (It's missing two stage shows, and a more traditional dark ride to call it a well-rounded park). Also has Mythos...

DAK is my favorite park (anywhere)... and yet I struggle to find myself there for more than 4 hours a day.

How can you struggle to stay 4 hours in your favorite park? I mean 1 sit down meal, the safari, the animal walking trail, and the lion king show alone gets you to around that amount of time. That’s not visiting any shops, stopping for any drinks. Not hitting Pandora, or the other side of the park.

 

[Andrew25]

How can you struggle to stay 4 hours in your favorite park? I mean 1 sit down meal, the safari, the animal walking trail, and the lion king show alone gets you to around that amount of time. That’s not visiting any shops, stopping for any drinks. Not hitting Pandora, or the other side of the park.

I can stay the entire day, but I'm also not going to lie about the lack of experiences at the park.

I can certainly spend an entire day there... but your really pushing it.

I'm also 5 mins way so I visit every week, and I can see when I arrive after 5 how deserted the park becomes, so I'm not the only one that believes this lol

 

[erasure fan1]

How can you struggle to stay 4 hours in your favorite park? I mean 1 sit down meal, the safari, the animal walking trail, and the lion king show alone gets you to around that amount of time. That’s not visiting any shops, stopping for any drinks. Not hitting Pandora, or the other side of the park.

The problem I see with the it's a whole day park all the way argument is this. It all comes down to different strokes for different folks. You shouldn't really have to do every thing in a park, even if you don't like something, to make it a full day. Some people aren't into shows, or you are motion sick prone and you can't do Everest or flight of passage. Maybe you have a nice zoo by you so you'd rather not walk the trails. The magic kingdom is a great example. Almost everyone can find enough things to do to feel they got their money's worth, even if you skip stuff that might not be your preference. That's what Disney should strive for in all the parks.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Bob is CEO for another couple years. It’s not particularly useful to try and talk about anything beyond projects he will approve and start by the end of 2026. After that, the next CEO will approve what he or she wants.

For us, a couple MK projects and the DAK work are probably all we can bank on before Bob leaves.

 

[osian]

MK will likely always be the best family park. It has a lot of variety that was built up in its 50+ year history.

Epcot is still pretty boring for the kids, so if they do nothing, that’s not going to change.

DHS and DAK are weird in that they are positioned for thrill seekers, but still for those too timid by the larger rides. Too many height requirements and not enough to do for families. DHS is more well positioned than DAK, but it still needs another family/children focused land.

Universal has all the right IP, they just need to get more rides without a height requirement. Pokémon will add a much needed family/child anchor to the Studios park. Pokémon is number 1 for kids everywhere.

IOA is positioned as the thrill park, and that’s worked well for it. It does have a great kid focused land with Seuss.

Epic seems to have great variety, but again, there needs to be enough with minimal/no height requirements. I see USF (post Pokémon) and EU stealing away a lot of the family audiences from Epcot, DHS, and DAK.

On the contrary, it's become a kids park. Ratatouille, Frozen, Nemo, Three Cabelleros, Honey I Shrunk/Imagination, Guardians of the Galaxy, Beauty and the Beast, loads of princesses, character meet 'n greets, Pixar Film Festival, scavenger hunts, Kidcot, Crush's talk, Journey of Water, the activites inside Mission Space, the activities inside Imagination, the activities inside Test Track...there's a full day of attractions aimed directly at kids, some of which replaced attractions aimed at the whole family.

 

[UNCgolf]

The problem I see with the it's a whole day park all the way argument is this. It all comes down to different strokes for different folks. You shouldn't really have to do every thing in a park, even if you don't like something, to make it a full day. Some people aren't into shows, or you are motion sick prone and you can't do Everest or flight of passage. Maybe you have a nice zoo by you so you'd rather not walk the trails. The magic kingdom is a great example. Almost everyone can find enough things to do to feel they got their money's worth, even if you skip stuff that might not be your preference. That's what Disney should strive for in all the parks.

I don't disagree with this, but with this criteria Magic Kingdom and EPCOT are probably the only two parks in Orlando that are arguably full day parks, and even EPCOT is a stretch in its current state.

Islands of Adventure doesn't offer much at all for people who don't really care about coasters and/or simulators for whatever reason (people who get motion sickness, e.g.). DHS, DAK, and USF probably don't need an explanation.

 

[JD80]

I don't disagree with this, but with this criteria Magic Kingdom and EPCOT are probably the only two parks in Orlando that are arguably full day parks, and even EPCOT is a stretch in its current state.

Just curious when was the last time you were on property or at EPCOT?

 

[Basil of Baker Street]

It's all relative to individual tastes, but I honestly don't know how anyone could spend a full day at USF. DHS is in that boat too.

DAK isn't that hard to spend a full day, though, unless all you want to do is ride rides.

I don't see how people do more than 3 days on a Universal vacation. I'm predicting at best Epic would make Universal a 3.5 day vacation for us. I can easily do 10 days at Disney

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I’ll do this again - against all good judgement.

There are only a few rides slated for Epic Universe with no height requirement. That already makes a chunk of traditional Disney visitors reluctant.

…sounds a lot like mgm. Sorta Epcot too.

I also don’t personally understand how each park at Universal would consume a full day unless you’re throwing Volcano Bay into the mix.

Well let’s just say that 3/1 comment was nuts. So that’s common ground

But again - this sentence doesn’t make sense. Just say you think Disney parks are better. 90% of people in a universal park each day are there for the day. Just like wdw.


Now you can ignore me. Saves time.

 

[UNCgolf]

Just curious when was the last time you were on property or at EPCOT?

EPCOT is easily a full day park for me, but that's because I enjoy exploring World Showcase, the aquarium, etc. -- it's lacking in quality attractions, especially compared to 30 years ago. Based on the criteria in the post I quoted, it's likely there are plenty of people who don't consider it a full day park specifically because of a dearth of major rides.

There's a bunch of empty and/or underutilized space there right now. It's definitely better than it was 5 years ago, but still needs a lot of work.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I don't see how people do more than 3 days on a Universal vacation. I'm predicting at best Epic would make Universal a 3.5 day vacation for us. I can easily do 10 days at Disney

That’s not an “uncommon” sentiment at all…

And I think 3-4 days at universal is more than enough.

But what makes wdw 10?
That’s not saying I dispute it…just how do you fill it up?

 

[UNCgolf]

I don't see how people do more than 3 days on a Universal vacation. I'm predicting at best Epic would make Universal a 3.5 day vacation for us. I can easily do 10 days at Disney

We did two days at Universal last time I was there and that was more than enough. We actually spent a decent amount of time at CityWalk because we were out of things to do in the parks (having Express Pass by staying at the Royal Pacific admittedly helped).

I don't think I could spend 10 days at Disney either, though.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

EPCOT is easily a full day park for me, but that's because I enjoy exploring World Showcase, the aquarium, etc. -- it's lacking in quality attractions, especially compared to 30 years ago. Based on the criteria in the post I quoted, it's likely there are plenty of people who don't consider it a full day park because of the small number of quality rides.

There's a bunch of empty and/or underutilized space there right now. It's better than it was 5 years ago, but still needs a lot of work.

I can - and often do - go to Epcot everyday.

So there’s plenty of appeal.

But they haven’t “improved” it to the point where they accomplished much.

I reject the “it’s boring…there’s not enough IP” crowd - however. If thats the “problem”…there’s a train that goes to magic kingdom

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

On the contrary, it's become a kids park. Ratatouille, Frozen, Nemo, Three Cabelleros, Honey I Shrunk/Imagination, Guardians of the Galaxy, Beauty and the Beast, loads of princesses, character meet 'n greets, Pixar Film Festival, scavenger hunts, Kidcot, Crush's talk, Journey of Water, the activites inside Mission Space, the activities inside Imagination, the activities inside Test Track...there's a full day of attractions aimed directly at kids, some of which replaced attractions aimed at the whole family.

You still see far less kids pounding around Epcot than the others lb for lb…

But kids are “down” across property as well. So that’s another issue altogether

 

[Disstevefan1]

I don't see how people do more than 3 days on a Universal vacation. I'm predicting at best Epic would make Universal a 3.5 day vacation for us. I can easily do 10 days at Disney