If Disney wants to "lower Attendance" then Build a 5th Park..

[normjen]

A 5th park isn't necessary. Just stop with the extra pay events
and open the parks like the old days. 7 and 8 AM openings and 10 pm closes, return the evening magic hours.

 

[Tony the Tigger]

If Disney truly wants to " lower attendance" to avoid over crowding in the parks.. Build a 5th Park for the "overflow.." and not price us out of the parks on a whole.. because right now.. I am coming to the park One More Time.. and after that.. Disney can kiss my grits.. i just hope that I can have a great time and not be totally ticked off the whole time I am there..
but this theory of over crowding.. Fine.. you have more money then anyone.. Build a 5th park. and since you have so much money.. DO IT IN A YEAR and not drag your butt about it..
but do not tell us that this is about "overcrowding".. it does not fly with anyone.

Wait - you think if they added a 5th park, ticket prices wouldn’t skyrocket?

 

[Rickcat96]

Im not waiting another 8 years for Disney to build a new 5th gate, they wont-not if the can continue to charge for every breath visitors take, and the not already money pinching ideas not implemented already. While reviewing my December reservation, I noticed that housekeeping choices were none- and every other day. Soon they will charge even more, for guests to clean their own rooms,, just because.

 

[DBF John]

They do, actually... Just not out of any concern for the guest experience. I believe Iger himself said the goal is to price some segments of people out to reduce attendance and avoid having to add capacity. The idea is that you cater to a wealthier crowd and they spend more per guest, so no revenue is lost from lower numbers.

Hence a $5000 two night stay hotel.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

And as many have stated in the past don't get your hopes up...

 

[JIMINYCR]

So why is it that when this 5th gate is brought up, and it has many times, theres plenty of opposition and discussion over why Disney shouldnt build a new park. Its too costly, it wont help with crowding, it will hurt the other parks revenue, theres staffing issues... on and on and on. BUT Uni is fine with building and opening a new park to service more of their guests and draw them away from Disney. Disney has made plenty of money building more resorts and DVC sites which has attracted more people and fails when they cant give them enough entertainment and attractions.

 

[Gottliebjess]

Ignoring all other factors...say OP is right. So let's say they were to build a 5th park...they'd have to make it a park people will want to visit in droves in order to counteract the crowding at the existing parks.

What do you theme it as? The only theme park style around the world that isn't at WDW is DisneySea and that cost around $4 Billion to build in 2001 money, and it doesn't scream Disney mascots and kiddie stuff like most people going to WDW expect.

Lands:

They could do Zootopia. Maybe some other lands on popular IP, but WDW has an issue where they keep copying the same IP into their different parks (Nemo, Toy Story, Little Mermaid, etc.). Do they do that again? They can't do Avengers Campus due to Universal.

So to me it isn't as simple as "build a 5th gate" without realizing a lot of the lands, IP's and attractions are already at WDW in some form or another.

I would still love a villains park with lairs but someone on one of these commentaries convinced me why that’s the wrong route so instead why not take the concept of something like S.E.A. or create a new society and make that the 5th gate.

Hear me out for a moment. It would be built on storytelling for sure. Something with the storytelling that’s coming to the Galactic Cruiser Hotel, something with the same stories that Disney does great: Haunted Mansion, Jungle Cruise, Carousel of Progress and make a theme park around this society. New rides and I am sure there would be ways to sneak IP (Atlantis, for example). The rides should be fun by themselves but come together to tell a story. Maybe there is a big mystery and you have to keep coming back to live out the story. Maybe you become a character. It’s complex but it could be done. And of course there would need to be a hit Disney + show to explain the backstory!

 

[SteveAZee]

So why is it that when this 5th gate is brought up, and it has many times, theres plenty of opposition and discussion over why Disney shouldnt build a new park. Its too costly, it wont help with crowding, it will hurt the other parks revenue, theres staffing issues... on and on and on. BUT Uni is fine with building and opening a new park to service more of their guests and draw them away from Disney. Disney has made plenty of money building more resorts and DVC sites which has attracted more people and fails when they cant give them enough entertainment and attractions.

It may have to do with the 'sweet spot' of having enough to do in a given resort to fill a week long vacation. If, typically, a week is a normal vacation stay, then Disney has that covered with the four parks. Uni (from what I've heard on these boards) doesn't, at least not yet. If the goal is to capture all of a guest's vacation money for that week, Disney has enough to do but Uni doesn't so they are building more.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

It may have to do with the 'sweet spot' of having enough to do in a given resort to fill a week long vacation. If, typically, a week is a normal vacation stay, then Disney has that covered with the four parks. Uni (from what I've heard on these boards) doesn't, at least not yet. If the goal is to capture all of a guest's vacation money for that week, Disney has enough to do but Uni doesn't so they are building more.

The other issue is that Universal draws to Tweens and families more than kids..Seriously, go to a kid that was born in the 2000's and ask them who is Fivel, Woody Woodpecker, Betty Boop, or the majority of Characters that are at Toon Lagoon...Let's be honest Universal's Kidz Zone is a Dead Zone...

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

Adding another park would simply add more people and they would have to hire more staff that they already don't have enough of.
Like it or lump it price hikes on resorts/tickets/food/parking, pay to play, and monetizing what was once included helps to lower the attendance, helps with staffing issues, and helps draw in certain guests all while maintaining a decent profit.
If attendance dips too low they offer a discount which for once in a life time visitors seems like the deal of a life time and for lifelong goers is preferred over paying full price.
I may not like some decisions but you either live with them and continue to go or you stop going.

 

[The Mrs]

If Disney truly wants to " lower attendance" to avoid over crowding in the parks.. Build a 5th Park for the "overflow.." and not price us out of the parks on a whole.. because right now.. I am coming to the park One More Time.. and after that.. Disney can kiss my grits.. i just hope that I can have a great time and not be totally ticked off the whole time I am there..
but this theory of over crowding.. Fine.. you have more money then anyone.. Build a 5th park. and since you have so much money.. DO IT IN A YEAR and not drag your butt about it..
but do not tell us that this is about "overcrowding".. it does not fly with anyone.

What is up with the resurgence of the phrase, "kiss my grits"?

 

[FettFan]

If Disney truly wants to " lower attendance" to avoid over crowding in the parks.. Build a 5th Park for the "overflow.." and not price us out of the parks on a whole.. because right now.. I am coming to the park One More Time.. and after that.. Disney can kiss my grits.. i just hope that I can have a great time and not be totally ticked off the whole time I am there..
but this theory of over crowding.. Fine.. you have more money then anyone.. Build a 5th park. and since you have so much money.. DO IT IN A YEAR and not drag your butt about it..
but do not tell us that this is about "overcrowding".. it does not fly with anyone.

They should have left DHS alone and built a full Star Wars park.

 

[Queen of the WDW Scene]

They should have left DHS alone and built a full Star Wars park.

But they want their guests to go to all the parks which means all of the parks need things that interest everyone in the party.
If they built a Star Wars park I wouldn't go. Having Star Wars represented in a park that I already like aspects of makes me more likely to also give the Star Wars section a chance.

 

[SteveAZee]

What is up with the resurgence of the phrase, "kiss my grits"?

The phrase is so old it has now entered public domain?
They are making a sequel to "True Grit" and this is their viral marketing campaign?
Grit Kissers are being discriminated against and now want to be considered a protected class?

 

[SammyMF]

Music is a very big area they could explore further. There might be some competition with existing attractions or shows but Disney repurposes things all the time. MK has (well, 'had') Fantasmic. A great show but it really is geared towards kids and I dont have much of a strong desire to see it again. No reason they cant do the same thing geared to adults. Could also serve as a bigger concert venue, with extra admission tickets of course. Then the next day take the kiddies to MK to hang out with Mickey.

 

[Graham9]

If Disney wants lower attendance, all they have to do is make an app for a phone, charge by the day and per person to use it, add on another layer of payment for certain rides on top of admission price.

Oh. Looks like someone beat me to it...

 

[Indy_UK]

Disney doesn’t need a 5th park.

when they plan to reduce the crowds by out pricing and making the rest pay more per trip then they certainly don’t need another park to deal with

The current 4 parks still need a lot of work and will just add capacity there over time if they want to.

 

[DfromATX]

But they want their guests to go to all the parks which means all of the parks need things that interest everyone in the party.
If they built a Star Wars park I wouldn't go. Having Star Wars represented in a park that I already like aspects of makes me more likely to also give the Star Wars section a chance.

Agree with this. I'd go once to check it out, but honestly, I don't care about Star Wars so once would be enough for me. However, that would really lessen the crowds at all the other parks. I wish they'd build a 5th park and extend hours at all the other parks. That would be so great!

 

[tagoofy]

Disneys ideal guests are families with household incomes of $200k-$300K. People who are uber-wealthy aren’t going to Disney. It’s no surprise that virtually everything Disney offers in terms of up charge events, merchandise, food, hotels, DVC, etc is catered to this demographic. These are the people that will spend a week or two in Disney, drop $15K and do it again next year. It’s the reason why all the deluxe resorts are fully open and the moderates and values are only partially. It’s the reason why they know Genie++++++ and new AP prices are going to work for them. They know exactly who’s spending the money, what they’re willing to tolerate, and what they want in terms of services/options for their trips to Disney.

Can't disagree that this seems to be the direction of their plans (or in their ignorance, maybe they are convinced this IS middle income for families).
What I wonder is the fate of Disney with this plan. Is this demographic really the people that will keep the parks going strong with a loyal cult like (including me but maybe not going forward now) following? Or is this $$ heavy demographic just as likely to follow/do something else next year, or in 5 years. What if all of the $$ club "cool kids" suddenly start looking down on Disney and say that a EU vacation is the way to go? This could be especially true since the park experience seems to be looking more "amusment park" and less Disney, how can we "plus" this experience. Bye, bye whales and WDW entire business model. I could be wrong. Time will tell.

They clearly seem to be going away from the Walt's vision of a place that the average family can go to enjoy time together. That is sad to me.

 

[GimpYancIent]

But they want their guests to go to all the parks which means all of the parks need things that interest everyone in the party.
If they built a Star Wars park I wouldn't go. Having Star Wars represented in a park that I already like aspects of makes me more likely to also give the Star Wars section a chance.

Since you state you would not go it's a win - win for you because the other parks will be way less crowded. You will have more of the other parks to yourself.