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News Disney to heavily reduce Capital Expenditures in the parks throughout 2020 during COVID-19 crisis
- Thread starter wdwmagic
- Start date
DVCakaCarlF
Well-Known Member
Curious to what financial concessions Disney had to make to “pause” projects...can anyone speak to it? Did they pay out general conditions, lost profits, or mobilization/demobilization fees?
bryanfze55
Well-Known Member
Wishful thinking on Tron, but I can dream.
SpoiledBlueMilk
Well-Known Member
Rat is practically done. Doubt they want an attraction that's 90%+ complete sitting idle.
bryanfze55
Well-Known Member
I’m inclined to agree - but I wouldn’t put any cost saving measures past Disney in NORMAL times, much less during the worst pandemic since Woodrow Wilson was POTUS.
doctornick
Well-Known Member
I'm curious if Disney has direct plans to compete with Epic Universe's opening. If it were going to open in 2023, they'd probably have to have start any "counter programming" sometimes this year. If it's pushed back a year, then Disey probably has a year or so to plan something - but it's tough to imagine that isney is going to green light anything in the next year or so given all the unfinished projects they already have in the pipeline.
Were there any large bold plans in the works to try to take thunder away from Uni? @marni1971 @Magic Feather
Disney Analyst
Well-Known Member
I mostly just meant, based on the original schedule of releases between the two... I’m sure it will mostly be as it was, just all pushed back relative to COVID.
I don't think WDW had any specific huge thing to launch at the same time as EU's opening.
Instead, they've been upgrading the parks with a whole park's worth of new stuff. Such that, when EU opens and they say, look at all our new lands and rides and night show and hotels and restaurants; WDW can say, "yeah, we added the same amount of stuff these past years... and it was all available way before you opened. And we're still adding more."
Giss Neric
Well-Known Member
What made you think Universal is not backing down? They just halted all construction and Epic Universe will be delayed. They might even change some of their original plans.
Universal pauses construction on new Epic Universe theme park amid coronavirus pandemic
In a conference call Thursday morning, Comcast CEO and Chairman Brian Roberts announced that as the coronavirus pandemic continues to shutter theme parks, Universal Orlando Resort will pause construction on its Epic Universe project.
www.clickorlando.com
Universal Orlando’s new Epic Universe theme park will be delayed because of coronavirus pandemic
Universal is pausing construction of its Epic Universe theme park in Orlando as its parent company stands to lose $500 million in profits if the parks remain closed for the entire second quarter, C…
www.orlandosentinel.com
“We remain very confident that the parks business will generate healthy returns over the long term,” Roberts said during a conference call. “Nonetheless, we’ve decided to pause construction of Orlando’s fourth gate or epic universe at this early stage. While we focus on the immediate challenges that COVID-19 presents, while the final stage of the work continued full force for Super Nintendo World Japan, which is expected to open later this year, and universal Beijing which remains on schedule to open in 2021.”
Clearly, Universal will focus on Nintendo Land Japan and Universal Beijing first. Probably the Jurassic Roller coaster here.
Giss Neric
Well-Known Member
I think this is sarcasm cause if he is not aware of the progress of Tron in Magic Kingdom currently then he might not have been to the parks or watching park construction videos on YouTube for ages.
bryanfze55
Well-Known Member
It has been a couple years since I’ve been to WDW, but I do know they’re pretty far along. I just knock Tron whenever I can, because I don’t want it in our US castle parks.
Giss Neric
Well-Known Member
If I were given a choice to choose between Tron and Shanghai Pirates to bring to the parks here then I would choose Tron. I don't want our inferior to Disneyland Pirates get demolished and build Shanghai Pirates.
bryanfze55
Well-Known Member
I don’t hate the ride itself (haven’t even ridden it), I just don’t think it represents Walt’s optimistic vision of Tomorrowland. That’s fine in China but not in the US. I wish we would get the Shanghai Pirates ride technology here in the US but with a different theme.
Imagineer45
Active Member
It is a hard marketing sell to say look at these incremental improvements over time when the competition is saying they have an entirely new complex. Building a new park to match is unrealistic, but a single massive attraction based on a popular IP would be a great idea (like Hagrids going up against Galaxy's Edge). For example, a massive x-wing/tie-fighter dueling roller coaster in Galaxy's Edge would surely steal the show... not that it will happen of course.
This is not to say I do not appreciate all of the improvements occurring at WDW now, as they are amazing and sorely needed!
True dat.
Tho... as we've seen with the new big rides at WDW, they generate huge crowds. Imagine the 2-5 hour line for a ride and imagine 8 of them all in the same park. Also... my point about WDW having all their new stuff coming out year after year... WDW has already been reaping the benefit. All that new EU stuff in one park can only be experienced by a limited number of people at once.
For Universal's sake, I hope people get their version of the hopper else their new park is just as likely to cannibalize their old parks as much as it would cannibalize WDW parks.
UO needs a new E-Ticket in the two older parks at the same time EU opens to maximize the boost.
Imagineer45
Active Member
As you mentioned, the real question is which park gets cannibalized. When Hogsmeade opened, IoA attendance grew YoY by 28.5%. For the rest of Orlando, MK grew by 1%, Epcot stayed flat, DHS grew at less than 1%, DAK grew by 1%, USF grew by 7%, and SeaWorld shrunk by 12%. When Pandora opened, DAK attendance grew 12%. Elsewhere, MK grew by less than 0.5%, Epcot grew by 4%, DHS shrunk by 0.5%, USF grew by 2% (with the addition of Jimmy Fallon), IoA grew by 2%, and SeaWorld shrunk by 10%. USF & IoA also had a semi-third park open with Volcano Bay. I could continue the comparisons all day, but the data is similar for other time periods so I will make some generalizations. Universal tends to not cannibalize themself and actually lift sister parks, Disney tends to not cannibalize themself but does not lift sister parks, and SeaWorld is where the cannibalization is occurring. How much farther SeaWorld can be cannibalized is unknown, but Universal tends to be in the best shape for these battles.
See DAKs opening.
Marc Davis Fan
Well-Known Member
It is indeed difficult to imagine Disney planning a major new addition for WDW by the time EU opens (especially considering the present losses). And of course, unless the addition were a clone, its development would already have to be well underway.
That being said, counterintuitively, I think the park most in need of development will be MK. This is because, when EU makes UO even more of a real "alternative" to WDW, people will inevitably will compare EU/UO with WDW's perceived (rightly or not) "flagship" park. More than ever, it will reflect on WDW as a whole that MK's attraction roster lacks an "E+ ticket." (This would be the time for, say, something that uses the Shanghai Pirates tech/scale, or even just a version of Mystic Manor, but alas...)
Which one did you like better, The sinking finale on The Jungle Cruise or the Tilt a Whirl Haunted Mansion?
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