"After nearly two years largely focused on Universal Orlando and Harry Potter, 2012 may be the year that Walt Disney World wrests back the spotlight from its smaller theme-park rival.
Two of Disney World's biggest capital projects in recent memory are expected to begin bearing fruit this year: the expansion of Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom, which analysts have estimated will cost $425 million, and the sweeping technology initiative dubbed "Next Generation Experience," projected to cost at least $1 billion.
The first phase of the Fantasyland project is scheduled to debut early in the year. Dubbed "Storybook Circus," it will include Dumbo the Flying Elephant, the popular toddler's ride that has been relocated and expanded, and the re-themed Great Goofini children's coaster, formerly known as Goofy's Barnstomer.
Following in the latter half of the year will be a forested area that will include some of the Fantasyland project's anchor additions — Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid, an indoor ride based on the 1989 animated film, and Be Our Guest, a Beauty and the Beast-themed restaurant.
Other parts of the Fantasyland expansion — including an indoor, family roller coaster based on Snow White and the Seven Dwarves — are expected to open sometime in 2013.
The timeline is less concrete for Next Generation Experience, or "NextGen," a many-faceted technology project. But after testing some concepts in its parks during the past year — from interactive ride queues to turnstile-free entry gates — Disney plans to introduce more NextGen systems in 2012.
Disney executives have said key goals of "NextGen," which has been in development for several years, are to make its crowded parks easier to navigate and more appealing to a generation of consumers increasingly in search of personalized experiences. A centerpiece of the overall project will be a new reservations systems that allows guests to reserve ride and show times — and just about every other component of their vacation — before they ever leave home.
The Fantasyland and NextGen projects are two of the biggest capital projects at Disney World since the resort's fourth theme park, Disney's Animal Kingdom, opened in 1998. And they could go a long way toward helping Disney restore its pre-recession profit margins, which shriveled amid deep discounting.
That's what investors are banking on following a huge surge in capital spending across all of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. In addition to Fantasyland and NextGen, projects include multiyear expansions of Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, Calif., and Disney Cruise Line, both of which are scheduled to be completed in 2012.
This year "should be the year that Disney's large investments start to pay off — logically, over the second half of the year, as new projects come online," Michael Nathanson, an analyst with Nomura Securities, wrote in a recent research note.
Disney World won't have the spotlight entirely to itself, though. Both Universal Orlando and SeaWorld Orlando will also add attractions this year.
Universal's marquee addition for 2012 will be a new ride based on "Despicable Me," the 2010 animated film. A 3D simulator experience, the attraction is being repurposed out of the closed Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast in Universal Studios Florida.
Universal is hoping the new ride helps draw people back to its original theme park, which has been overlooked by many visitors since the June 2010 debut of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal's second theme park, Islands of Adventure.
Universal won't leave Islands untouched in 2012, though. Also coming is an upgrade of that park's Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, the innovative "dark ride" that remains one of the most sophisticated attractions in the industry more than 10 years after its opening. Much like Despicable Me in Universal Studios, the retooled Spider-Man ride is supposed to help ease some of the pressure on Wizarding World by drawing more traffic to the opposite side of the park.
Universal hasn't said when either project will be complete, though sometime in the spring is the best bet.
Early spring is when SeaWorld Orlando plans to unveil TurtleTrek, a first-of-its-kind, domed theater in which 3D projections of sea turtles will swim in front, above and behind guests.
The attraction, being built at the park's former Manatee Rescue pavilion, will also include a pair of aquariums — one filled with hundreds of freshwater fish and manatees, the other with more than 1,500 saltwater fish and more than a dozen sea turtles.
SeaWorld is also spending more money on Discovery Cove, its limited-admission boutique park, which company officials say had a record year in 2011 after opening the saltwater environment known as Grand Reef. This spring, SeaWorld will add a freshwater area, dubbed Freshwater Oasis, that will include flooded trails going through otter and monkey habitats.
Still, for both of Orlando's smaller theme-park operators, the 2012 additions are just the appetizers to main courses that are still baking in the kitchen.
In 2013, SeaWorld will unveil a new, themed "land" based on the frozen continent of Antarctica. Company officials say the project will include a first-of-its-kind ride in which guests experience the rugged landscape through the eyes of a penguin, as well as themed retail areas.And though it hasn't announced a date yet, Universal has confirmed that it has begun work on a Harry Potter expansion. There is widespread speculation that the resort plans to use the area in Universal Studios once occupied by Jaws, which was closed for good earlier this month, to build a London-themed counterpoint to Islands' Wizarding World, which features Hogwarts castle and Hogsmeade village."
as per local news
Two of Disney World's biggest capital projects in recent memory are expected to begin bearing fruit this year: the expansion of Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom, which analysts have estimated will cost $425 million, and the sweeping technology initiative dubbed "Next Generation Experience," projected to cost at least $1 billion.
The first phase of the Fantasyland project is scheduled to debut early in the year. Dubbed "Storybook Circus," it will include Dumbo the Flying Elephant, the popular toddler's ride that has been relocated and expanded, and the re-themed Great Goofini children's coaster, formerly known as Goofy's Barnstomer.
Following in the latter half of the year will be a forested area that will include some of the Fantasyland project's anchor additions — Under the Sea: Journey of the Little Mermaid, an indoor ride based on the 1989 animated film, and Be Our Guest, a Beauty and the Beast-themed restaurant.
Other parts of the Fantasyland expansion — including an indoor, family roller coaster based on Snow White and the Seven Dwarves — are expected to open sometime in 2013.
The timeline is less concrete for Next Generation Experience, or "NextGen," a many-faceted technology project. But after testing some concepts in its parks during the past year — from interactive ride queues to turnstile-free entry gates — Disney plans to introduce more NextGen systems in 2012.
Disney executives have said key goals of "NextGen," which has been in development for several years, are to make its crowded parks easier to navigate and more appealing to a generation of consumers increasingly in search of personalized experiences. A centerpiece of the overall project will be a new reservations systems that allows guests to reserve ride and show times — and just about every other component of their vacation — before they ever leave home.
The Fantasyland and NextGen projects are two of the biggest capital projects at Disney World since the resort's fourth theme park, Disney's Animal Kingdom, opened in 1998. And they could go a long way toward helping Disney restore its pre-recession profit margins, which shriveled amid deep discounting.
That's what investors are banking on following a huge surge in capital spending across all of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts. In addition to Fantasyland and NextGen, projects include multiyear expansions of Disney California Adventure in Anaheim, Calif., and Disney Cruise Line, both of which are scheduled to be completed in 2012.
This year "should be the year that Disney's large investments start to pay off — logically, over the second half of the year, as new projects come online," Michael Nathanson, an analyst with Nomura Securities, wrote in a recent research note.
Disney World won't have the spotlight entirely to itself, though. Both Universal Orlando and SeaWorld Orlando will also add attractions this year.
Universal's marquee addition for 2012 will be a new ride based on "Despicable Me," the 2010 animated film. A 3D simulator experience, the attraction is being repurposed out of the closed Jimmy Neutron's Nicktoon Blast in Universal Studios Florida.
Universal is hoping the new ride helps draw people back to its original theme park, which has been overlooked by many visitors since the June 2010 debut of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal's second theme park, Islands of Adventure.
Universal won't leave Islands untouched in 2012, though. Also coming is an upgrade of that park's Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, the innovative "dark ride" that remains one of the most sophisticated attractions in the industry more than 10 years after its opening. Much like Despicable Me in Universal Studios, the retooled Spider-Man ride is supposed to help ease some of the pressure on Wizarding World by drawing more traffic to the opposite side of the park.
Universal hasn't said when either project will be complete, though sometime in the spring is the best bet.
Early spring is when SeaWorld Orlando plans to unveil TurtleTrek, a first-of-its-kind, domed theater in which 3D projections of sea turtles will swim in front, above and behind guests.
The attraction, being built at the park's former Manatee Rescue pavilion, will also include a pair of aquariums — one filled with hundreds of freshwater fish and manatees, the other with more than 1,500 saltwater fish and more than a dozen sea turtles.
SeaWorld is also spending more money on Discovery Cove, its limited-admission boutique park, which company officials say had a record year in 2011 after opening the saltwater environment known as Grand Reef. This spring, SeaWorld will add a freshwater area, dubbed Freshwater Oasis, that will include flooded trails going through otter and monkey habitats.
Still, for both of Orlando's smaller theme-park operators, the 2012 additions are just the appetizers to main courses that are still baking in the kitchen.
In 2013, SeaWorld will unveil a new, themed "land" based on the frozen continent of Antarctica. Company officials say the project will include a first-of-its-kind ride in which guests experience the rugged landscape through the eyes of a penguin, as well as themed retail areas.And though it hasn't announced a date yet, Universal has confirmed that it has begun work on a Harry Potter expansion. There is widespread speculation that the resort plans to use the area in Universal Studios once occupied by Jaws, which was closed for good earlier this month, to build a London-themed counterpoint to Islands' Wizarding World, which features Hogwarts castle and Hogsmeade village."
as per local news
