Eisner on "Fifth Park"

[Lauriebar]

I completely agree that they need to "finish" AK and add more to some other parks (esp MGM), but I would love to see another park or two. When it was just MK and Epcot, you could "do Disney" in 2-3 days. Then with MGM added, you had to add another day. Now they have added AK and additional rides/shows in other parks. Now our WDW vacations are up to 7-8 days and we still don't see it all, plus additional days at a WDW hotel to go to US/IOA. With the addition of more parks, our vacations would either be extended or become more frequent (or leave out US/IOA alltogether). I can only speak for myself, so I'm definitely not saying anyone is wrong. This is just the way it has worked for me.

Kadee makes a good point. The company should not only look at the additional people a new gate would bring to WDW, but also the ripple effect that gate would make. We too have gone from a three day trip in 1998 to an eight day trip in 2003 because of the many additions in the Orlando area.

We go to all the Disney parks and DD, Sea World, Discovery Cove and US/IOA then usually a rest day where we just hang out at the resort. All the while we stay at a Disney resort and spend money at Disney restaurants and shops. This is a key factor. The longer they can keep us down there the more money they make. A new gate would extend our vacation even further. Perhaps as Kadee said this is not the case for everyone, but I have definately seen a trend in people taking longer vacations. Disney should take advantage of this trend.

 

[pinjim]

Why not add a great themed resort, maybe a Deluxe Resort, with a theme like the Hollywood Tower (TOT) or a villian themed Moderate Resort - that would be a trip within itself.

 

[speck76]

We too have gone from a three day trip in 1998 to an eight day trip in 2003 because of the many additions in the Orlando area.

This brings up more points:

How many people can afford an 8-day trip?

How many people will want to spend 8 days in the theme parks, will they be all burnt out after 5 or 6 days.

If people are spending 8 days on vacation right now, and not visiting every theme park, what will happen if another is added? Will the vacations be extended to 9 days, or will another park be "left for next time"?

If people are staying for 8-days, not 4 or 5 days, will the frequency of their trips be reduced?

Year 2000 Attendance (2000 is thought of in Orlando is the best year EVER for travel/tourism)
Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World 15,400,000
Epcot at Walt Disney World 10,600,000
Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World 8,900,000
Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World 8,300,000
WDW Total: 43,200,000
2000 average per park 10,800,000

1997 attendance....the last year prior to DAK opening
Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World 17,000,000
Epcot at Walt Disney World 11,700,000
Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World 10,400,000
WDW Total 39,100,000
1997 average per park 13,033,333

So, with the opening of DAK, you see that even in a record year, only 4 million people were "added" to WDW, and attendance was down at every single park. (In 1999, only 3 million people were "added" to WDW). In 2001 and 2002, attendance was almost equal with 1997....but with 4 parks open.

 

[speck76]

Why not add a great themed resort, maybe a Deluxe Resort, with a theme like the Hollywood Tower (TOT) or a villian themed Moderate Resort - that would be a trip within itself.

More hotels are not needed in Orlando at this time. WDW is having a hard time filling the hotels that they have (there is no reason the AKL should have to offer the specials that is has been offering).

I think WDW will focus more on vacation ownership (DVC...timeshare) as it is much more profitable, and can be built is phases much better than a hotel can.

 

[HennieBogan1966]

Just a thought here

Was just sitting her thinking and something just occured to me: Shouldn't the Corp. big wigs, i.e. Michael Eisner and his staff, be located in Fla, and not Ca. I mean, there's no denying that the majority of business is being conducted in Fla., versus DL. And it seems the bigger issues of the day all seem to center around WDW and the needs of the parks/resorts located there. I mean, out of sight, out of mind, right? Seems to me that the disconnection that exists has a lot to do with Mr. Eisners' proximity to his biggest investment. I know that if my GM for our store were located 3000 miles away, it would be much harder to get things done on a day to day basis.

Any thoughts?

 

[speck76]

Was just sitting her thinking and something just occured to me: Shouldn't the Corp. big wigs, i.e. Michael Eisner and his staff, be located in Fla, and not Ca. I mean, there's no denying that the majority of business is being conducted in Fla., versus DL. And it seems the bigger issues of the day all seem to center around WDW and the needs of the parks/resorts located there. I mean, out of sight, out of mind, right? Seems to me that the disconnection that exists has a lot to do with Mr. Eisners' proximity to his biggest investment. I know that if my GM for our store were located 3000 miles away, it would be much harder to get things done on a day to day basis.

Any thoughts?

The majority of theme park business may be in Florida, but what about the studios, ABC........not much, if any filming done here in Orlando.

 

[KaliSplash]

Don't need another theme park now. Need better theme parks. Particularly the Animal Kingdom.
Yes, we have extended our Disney vacations over the years. Used to be there for four days. Now regularly there part of seven days, counting arrival and departure. But part of that is that I now have more vacation. Back when I only had two weeks for the whole year, it was hard to justify more than three or four days at Disney. Now I have five weeks and it's much easier to visit the inlaws at the beach for a week and spend a week with the Mouse. (And still have time to do stuff around the house, make the holiday dashes and such.)
But the reality is, AK is still just a half-day park and Disney MGM only has become a full day since Tower and RRC were added.
Will there ever be a fifth park? Probably. But hopefully not until we beef up what we've got.

 

[DarkMeasures]

You guys spend so little time in Disney. Whenever my family goes, we spend 15-21 days excluding getting there. We however spend usually a hour or 2 at a park each day and just sit lazily in the motor home for the rest of the time.

For me, if I don't go on the next Band Trip, I probably wont be to Disney for another Decade or more.

 

[tigger248]

I actually hope they do not build a fifth park. They need to do some work on the ones they have. Also, I can't afford to extend my vacation. I usually can only get away for an extended weekend due to work and school. Plus, as a broke college student, I can't afford to pay for an extended trip. As it is, I frequently have to save DAK for "next time". I've been to fl twice since the last time I went to DAK (which was May 2003) and didn't have time to visit on either of those trips. If a fifth park were added, I'd have an even harder time getting to them all. It's becoming impossible to do all in one trip. I've only been to BB once and I've never been to TL.

 

[NemoRocks78]

I'd like a fifth park....but if it was a choice between a new park and fixing up two parks that need a ton of help, I would definitely want the two parks that need the most help to be fixed.

Those two parks? Animal Kingdom and the Studios. Both are still half-day parks in my book and need all the help they can get.

 

[Glasgow]

All of these statistics are making my brain hurt ..

Suffice it to say, I'm sure Disney will do their research and nothing will be built until it can be proven to be profittable, or at least not a huge flop. (at least proven in the research )

:lookaroun

 

[deix15x8]

Year 2000 Attendance (2000 is thought of in Orlando is the best year EVER for travel/tourism)
Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World 15,400,000
Epcot at Walt Disney World 10,600,000
Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World 8,900,000
Disney's Animal Kingdom at Walt Disney World 8,300,000
WDW Total: 43,200,000
2000 average per park 10,800,000

1997 attendance....the last year prior to DAK opening
Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World 17,000,000
Epcot at Walt Disney World 11,700,000
Disney-MGM Studios at Walt Disney World 10,400,000
WDW Total 39,100,000
1997 average per park 13,033,333

I think that there will be a fith park and it will probably be a WDW variant of Tokyo Disney Sea since it is the only Disney park (except DCA and AK but those are in north america) that is not on both sides of the world. It would be cheaper than designing a park from scratch and it would definately attract a crowd since alot of people want to go to Disney Sea but it's to far and there is a language barior. It would even atract British since it's equal distance to both parks for them only the WDW one is in english.

A drop in attendance at an individual park should be expected since there is an average increase in attendance each year. Then when a new park is build you can't expect that million suddenly to turn into over 10 million. Thats not even possible. A new park takes and has that same steady increase with maybe a slight spike at first and spreads it out over more land. Disney definately needs to do that it's way to crowded in WDW. I can guarrenty it is turning people away and making them lose money. I went to WDW in 2000 and 2001 and my parents were going to make it yearly but we have to work around my school schedule which only leaves Easter or Christmas since it's way to hot in the summer. When we went in 2001 it proved to me that WDW has way to high an attendance to park spce ratio. It's no fun spending thousands of dollars on a vacation and then getting to do nothing. The one day that we went to Epcot we got there about 5 to 10 minutes after the park opened and the fast pass for Test Track was already to 9PM or u could wait in line for over 3 hours. Even the rides on the left side of the park like the land, sea, and sences rides had waites of almost 2 hours. It's even worse when you have to spend the day just looking for a park that had room. We were there for a week and barely got on any rides. We spent most of our time at the Hotel and in the room.

It's not like i don't like WDW because i've been there tons of times and even had my first solid food, word, and steps while on vacation in WDW. But in recent years it seems like more and more people are going to WDW and they don't know how to handle it. A park should never have to close from being to full or else you know something needs to be changed!!!

 

[Shaman]

There is no demand in Orlando for another theme park.....Any new park built will simply further weaken the existing parks. The funny thing is when Disney opens a park, it weakens attendance at Disney parks....not Universal/AB....when Universal expanded, it hurt Universal....not Disney.

Until there is enough demand in the market to where a company will not be competing with itself to get admissions, no parks should be built.

Good point...but there's an easy way out of this quagmire....go for the guests....

If Disney would make an all-thrill park lets say ala IoA...they would be in direct competition for the kind of guest which go to Universal...if Universal would build a family friendly park ala MK...then Universal would be in direct competition for the kinds of guest which go to Disney. I think thats the only way out...of coarse there are risks...risks of alienating the fan base perhaps?

That being said, would it be right for Disney to make an all thrill park?

I just hope the current parks are worked on before we see another gate...

 

[RSoxNo1]

I don't know what the exact problem are with DCA, but I'd imagine it would have a lot to do with the lack of theming and focus on the thrills. I can't imagine disney wants to build a thrill ride park, or at least not a makeshift cheap thrill ride park. They should, and probably have to theme everything. That's what separates Disney from other parks.

 

[Villain_70]

Our vacations usually last 10-12 days....trying to fit the Parks in 5 days and 2 days of nothing, day at waterpark, SW and a few days at another theme area......more parks would be a month for vacation and who has that time.....

Also, what happen to the Mythological area of AK. I remember them talking about dragons, unicorns and other creatures. The AK silouette has a dragon....

 

[Tim G]

Also, what happen to the Mythological area of AK. I remember them talking about dragons, unicorns and other creatures. The AK silouette has a dragon....

BlueSkyed...

 

[speck76]

I think that there will be a fith park and it will probably be a WDW variant of Tokyo Disney Sea since it is the only Disney park (except DCA and AK but those are in north america) that is not on both sides of the world. It would be cheaper than designing a park from scratch and it would definately attract a crowd since alot of people want to go to Disney Sea but it's to far and there is a language barior. It would even atract British since it's equal distance to both parks for them only the WDW one is in english

I think you may be over-estimating the amount of the general public that even knows DisneySea exists.

A drop in attendance at an individual park should be expected since there is an average increase in attendance each year. Then when a new park is build you can't expect that million suddenly to turn into over 10 million. Thats not even possible.

When Disney-MGM Studios opened, the crowds were so large, additional areas of the park that were originally "off-limits" had to be opened up. MGM opened to crowds almost that of Epcot, and really did not have a negative attendance effect on Epcot or the Magic Kingdom.

 

[Villain_70]

BlueSkyed...

Can you please elaborate? I don't know what this means. thanks

 

[Tim G]

Example.
Let's say you have a plan, a well educated plan...
You start to develop...
And suddenly your boss says no... let's stop... or your co-workers say no... let's stop.

Disappointed as you are you're walking in the garden, lifting your head up to the sky (the blue sky) and you say or think.... "ahhh... such a shame... It was a good plan though".

 

[Villain_70]

Example.
Let's say you have a plan, a well educated plan...
You start to develop...
And suddenly your boss says no... let's stop... or your co-workers say no... let's stop.

Disappointed as you are you're walking in the garden, lifting your head up to the sky (the blue sky) and you say or think.... "ahhh... such a shame... It was a good plan though".

Got you....I think they could do so much with the concept.....almost like creating a Fantasia.....they can put the Dragon from SB...Reluctant Dragon...Uncorns from Fantasia...