I’ve been talking about this the last few years, but this is the natural endpoint of a la carting the parks experience via paid lightening lanes/single passes.
I’ve been arguing there is a financial reason they have to actually invest in WDW, because they can be rapidly monetized in a meaningful way that isn’t just driving parks attendance (of course that’s the other way).
But it was going to lead towards heavily biasing investment in attractions they can monetize. Now that is good on one hand, I think many of us like the D/E tickets. It honestly also gives probably the best reason we’ve ever had for something to be done with Imagination. Maybe not the ideal fix, but there’s a huge corporate reason to throw money at Imagination now.
But on the the flip side, we’re losing the quiet experiences. Something like Muppets or even Bugs Life could no longer be monetized. It’s a major downside of our next investment cycle, if paid fast pass sticks, which it seems certain to do.
So while there isn’t a net capacity gain in terms of what we actually want and mean, there is a meaningful ‘lightening lane gain’. Even Dinosaur wasn’t really an attractive reason to buy LL, unlike Disneyland, where it remains one of the clear premium choices. DAK also indirectly contributes capacity to the resort, because I think the way it’s currently being run is not actually effectively utilizing the capacity it has to offer. With Encanto and Indy being a 1-2 punch of super desirable headliners (presumably, but I think that’s a safe assumption) - the hours re-expand and DAK actually helps more than simply tallying total attractions would suggest. It’s not a bad plan, per se.
I also think a night show in 2027 is almost a certainty. I also think DAK does not go that long without another investment cycle. Like 2030 if not something squeaks in earlier if the park still isn’t holding onto crowds.
