Miceage Update: New Soarin film by 2015, DHS refurb on the way.

[PeterAlt]

I like the part that says that Disney is considering a billion dollar plus makeover for DHS. If true, this could go a long way, considering the sheer small size of DHS and the fact that it's not in desperate condition as DCA was. There may be enough there to even tie that park to EC via an extension of the monorail system or a peoplemover to WS!

 

[Cosmic Commando]

I like the part that says that Disney is considering a billion dollar plus makeover for DHS. If true, this could go a long way, considering the sheer small size of DHS and the fact that it's not in desperate condition as DCA was. There may be enough there to even tie that park to EC via an extension of the monorail system or a peoplemover to WS!

If there's more stuff to do at DHS, maybe people won't be so worried about finding a way to Epcot in the afternoon.

 

[Jeff456]

Do hope this is all true, Soarin' particularly is in desperate need of an update!

 

[JEANYLASER]

true Soarin' needs of a update!

 

[Admiral01]

^^This! I get goosebumps every time I hear that score.

Before I rode Soarin' for the first time I had read the stories about Jerry Goldsmith's first ride before scoring the film, when he came down from the ride in tears, in awe of the beauty of the film. I have to admit, I was thinking about the late Jerry Goldsmith during my first ride on Soarin' back in 2008, and thinking about the great film composer's experience had a few tears in my eyes as my feet softly touched the ground again after those amazing 4 and a half minutes.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

OK, here's my question.... what is the better description of the current situation: There are three different proposals for DHS but TDO is still not certain which to do and are having ongoing discussions/research/whatever to decide. *or* There were three plans on the table for DHS and TDO has picked one and is doing the work on it, but the details haven't been leaked.

I guess my point being, are they still spending time trying to figure out what to do with DHS? I mean, how long does this take?

I would take what was put on Miceage with a large grain of salt. Miceage will publish a variety of dubious rumors with regards to plans for the parks, many of which are just blue sky concepts being tossed around. Of course, WDI thinks about the parks 24/7 and that means that they think about anything and everything. TDO balks with park maintenance, and relatively small potato stuff, but of course Burbank makes the decisions with regards to major capital investment. It is silly to imply that TDO is sitting around a conference table deciding whether to spend $1 billion on a new addition.

As Miceage said:

Add to those Anaheim projects the three possible scenarios to give Disney’s Hollywood Studios at WDW a DCA-style makeover; varying from DCA’s big budget of 1+ Billion to a much more modestly budgeted makeover that still has Team Disney Orlando feeling gun shy, and there’s several big E-Ticket announcements that could be made at D23 Expo this year.

They make it sound like TDO (and not Burbank) is mulling a variety of options. Pure speculation concerning D23, which is a big media event, sells out . . . and Miceage is wondering if they're going to scrap it because it gets crowded!

Miceage also didn't report the NextGen possibilities being looked at with Fantasyland dark ride upgrades . . .

 

[aladdin2007]

I would take what was put on Miceage with a large grain of salt. Miceage will publish a variety of dubious rumors with regards to plans for the parks, many of which are just blue sky concepts being tossed around. Of course, WDI thinks about the parks 24/7 and that means that they think about anything and everything. TDO balks with park maintenance, and relatively small potato stuff, but of course Burbank makes the decisions with regards to major capital investment. It is silly to imply that TDO is sitting around a conference table deciding whether to spend $1 billion on a new addition.

As Miceage said:

Add to those Anaheim projects the three possible scenarios to give Disney’s Hollywood Studios at WDW a DCA-style makeover; varying from DCA’s big budget of 1+ Billion to a much more modestly budgeted makeover that still has Team Disney Orlando feeling gun shy, and there’s several big E-Ticket announcements that could be made at D23 Expo this year.

They make it sound like TDO (and not Burbank) is mulling a variety of options. Pure speculation concerning D23, which is a big media event, sells out . . . and Miceage is wondering if they're going to scrap it because it gets crowded!

Miceage also didn't report the NextGen possibilities being looked at with Fantasyland dark ride upgrades . . .

Interesting. We seem to read a lot around here regarding the yin and yang between Burbank and TDO, some say its up to TDO to approve something or not, others say its Burbank. When it comes to big projects such as a DHS revamp, I think its Burbank that has the upper hand no matter what the TDO bean counters say, is that right? Hopefully

 

[asianway]

Interesting. We seem to read a lot around here regarding the yin and yang between Burbank and TDO, some say its up to TDO to approve something or not, others say its Burbank. When it comes to big projects such as a DHS revamp, I think its Burbank that has the upper hand no matter what the TDO bean counters say, is that right? Hopefully

My understanding is Burbank has to approve it; however, it requires that TDO ask for it. What I understand happened with NFE, Burbank said do this because TDO had been and essentially wanted to do nothing.

 

[aladdin2007]

My understanding is Burbank has to approve it; however, it requires that TDO ask for it. What I understand happened with NFE, Burbank said do this because TDO had been and essentially wanted to do nothing.

Hopefully will be same way with DHS, (if TDO just sits back on it) otherwise if its up to TDO they would do nothing or the bare min

 

[Rodan75]

Personally, I'm hoping for a Star Wars area as well -- as least as the major component of an expansion. I would also like to see something added to Pixar Place as well, though; at a minimun, they should put a ride into Soundstage 1 which is just sitting there in a prime spot essentially empty.

If they do that now, then down the road, they can look at replacing LMA/Backot Tour much more easily because the attraction count would be higher and taking those off-line would not be as big of a problem.

If they do anything in Pixar Place, they need to address Stroller Wars first. It is nearly impossible to walk through that area as it is today.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

Interesting. We seem to read a lot around here regarding the yin and yang between Burbank and TDO, some say its up to TDO to approve something or not, others say its Burbank. When it comes to big projects such as a DHS revamp, I think its Burbank that has the upper hand no matter what the TDO bean counters say, is that right? Hopefully

Like every other large company in the world, there is a clear chain of command at Disney, and ultimately headquarters in Burbank makes the big decisions in terms of CapEx for the parks. It doesn't matter what TDO wants, or doesn't want, as they don't write the checks and Burbank monitors profits from every aspect of the theme parks. Sure, the top brass at TDO goes to meetings, but they don't know anything that Burbank doesn't know.

 

[aladdin2007]

If they do anything in Pixar Place, they need to address Stroller Wars first. It is nearly impossible to walk through that area as it is today.

Yeah and animation courtyard is even worse!! Impossible through there anymore.

 

[Mike730]

Something is brewing for DHS. I know of 3 proposals and variations thereof. Nothing is pinned down yet from what I can find out. But it will be more than a lick of paint.

In lieu of recent "claims", can you comment on whether one specific proposal includes a Monsters Inc. ride, Star Wars expansion of some sort, and little to no Cars? Or better yet, do you know if one of them has been chosen or perhaps is highly favored? I'm essentially trying to decide whether or not the claims are unfounded.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

In lieu of recent "claims", can you comment on whether one specific proposal includes a Monsters Inc. ride, Star Wars expansion of some sort, and little to no Cars? Or better yet, do you know if one of them has been chosen or perhaps is highly favored? I'm essentially trying to decide whether or not the claims are unfounded.

For something to happen at DHS, it would have to be a land de novo, like how Carsland was built on land that was not a guest area and did not have attractions, i.e. a parking lot. Perhaps not surprisingly, if you want to fill a theme park with more guests, you have to expand it, rather than change around attractions.

DHS attendance went up, getting near 10 million a year. In fact, all of WDW's 4 gates are up. If WDW's attendance goes up a miserly 2% a year, in five years that's about 5 million more guests . . . not even Carsland at DCA can accomodate that many guests a year. If you take out Backlot at DHS and replace it with something else, the improvement in guest/ride/restaurant capacity is a joke.

At some point, beyond guests paying disabled people to avoid lines, guests will get sick of having to pay more to get on fewer rides, and Disney will have to decide between building a couple lands on unused space or the fifth gate. Probably a fifth gate given that that would allow for 6 million guests to be swallowed up, and more as the park expands.

You'd think that Orlando isn't a hot area for growth in the theme park industry, certainly the rumblings about Brazil make sense, but WDW is also a cash cow that will have steady growth in the coming decade. Disney just has to decide where to put the money.

 

[danlb_2000]

For something to happen at DHS, it would have to be a land de novo, like how Carsland was built on land that was not a guest area and did not have attractions, i.e. a parking lot. Perhaps not surprisingly, if you want to fill a theme park with more guests, you have to expand it, rather than change around attractions.

DHS attendance went up, getting near 10 million a year. In fact, all of WDW's 4 gates are up. If WDW's attendance goes up a miserly 2% a year, in five years that's about 5 million more guests . . . not even Carsland at DCA can accomodate that many guests a year. If you take out Backlot at DHS and replace it with something else, the improvement in guest/ride/restaurant capacity is a joke.

At some point, beyond guests paying disabled people to avoid lines, guests will get sick of having to pay more to get on fewer rides, and Disney will have to decide between building a couple lands on unused space or the fifth gate. Probably a fifth gate given that that would allow for 6 million guests to be swallowed up, and more as the park expands.

You'd think that Orlando isn't a hot area for growth in the theme park industry, certainly the rumblings about Brazil make sense, but WDW is also a cash cow that will have steady growth in the coming decade. Disney just has to decide where to put the money.

But is Backlot really eating up many people? I think it's a very inefficient use of space, it doesn't have a large capacity compared to the amount of space it takes up. Not to mention, I doubt it's even running anywhere near it's capacity. Yes, replacing it will hurt capacity a bit on the short term, but replacing it with a popular, high capacity attraction will help in the long run.

I think WDW's big problem when it comes to attendance will always be Magic Kingdom. I would guess that the vast majority of people that visit WDW each year spend at least some time in MK, so no matter how many people you draw to other parks, or even to a fifth gate, capacity wise MK is always going to be the problem.

 

[Pixiedustmaker]

But is Backlot really eating up many people? I think it's a very inefficient use of space, it doesn't have a large capacity compared to the amount of space it takes up. Not to mention, I doubt it's even running anywhere near it's capacity. Yes, replacing it will hurt capacity a bit on the short term, but replacing it with a popular, high capacity attraction will help in the long run.

I think WDW's big problem when it comes to attendance will always be Magic Kingdom. I would guess that the vast majority of people that visit WDW each year spend at least some time in MK, so no matter how many people you draw to other parks, or even to a fifth gate, capacity wise MK is always going to be the problem.

As DHS is approaching 10 million guests a year, every ride helps. And Backlot could certainly be re-imagined, perhaps doing away with the tram, installing 1930's sets and vintage vehicles that would carry guests around. A lot of buildings that Backlot tours are actually being used for stuff.

Carsland was big and expensive, but it also expanded out DCA. I can't see anybody at Burbank, under the current conditions which include increasing and high guest attendance levels, completely taking out any attraction, no matter what the fans think.

In the long run, having a de novo land, or a fifth gate, and a re-imagined Backlot would bring in the most guests . . . with steadily increasing attendance at WDW, you can see why de novo space for guests is the goal, not spending a fortune to completely rip out area of DHS.

 

[unkadug]

As DHS is approaching 10 million guests a year, every ride helps. And Backlot could certainly be re-imagined, perhaps doing away with the tram, installing 1930's sets and vintage vehicles that would carry guests around. A lot of buildings that Backlot tours are actually being used for stuff.

Carsland was big and expensive, but it also expanded out DCA. I can't see anybody at Burbank, under the current conditions which include increasing and high guest attendance levels, completely taking out any attraction, no matter what the fans think.

In the long run, having a de novo land, or a fifth gate, and a re-imagined Backlot would bring in the most guests . . . with steadily increasing attendance at WDW, you can see why de novo space for guests is the goal, not spending a fortune to completely rip out area of DHS.

Why bother having a backlot tour of a studio that doesn't exist?

 

[englanddg]

Why bother having a backlot tour of a studio that doesn't exist?

To see Walt's plane. That's it...

 

[unkadug]

To see Walt's plane. That's it...

Put that in One Man's Dream and do something useful with that space.

 

[englanddg]

Put that in One Man's Dream and do something useful with that space.

That would actually be pretty cool. They could refit the interior and it would be a walk through exhibit, like the planes at the Air and Space Museum in DC.