New theme parks?

[marni1971]

The only *possible* DVC project that *may* have a monorail is the *rumour* of the proposed resort in the STOLport area, after the runway is cleared of associated items from the Contemporary project, once that is complete.

Speaking of the STOLport, it looks like they are laying infrastructure ready for the portacabin offices arriving.

Unless Friday will unveil a lot of things we don`t know about

 

[MickeyTigg]

So while we're on the topic, am I the only one who thinks one more park is over kill? I mean there's barely enough time to do everything now. How will there be enough time with 5?

Cannibalism started with AK....people aren't staying longer just because of a new park.

 

[PhilharMagician]

The only *possible* DVC project that *may* have a monorail is the *rumour* of the proposed resort in the STOLport area, after the runway is cleared of associated items from the Contemporary project, once that is complete.

Speaking of the STOLport, it looks like they are laying infrastructure ready for the portacabin offices arriving.

Unless Friday will unveil a lot of things we don`t know about

That was well under construction back in late November. The footings were dug and many had concrete poured. Busses were running nonstop from what I saw between the STOLport and CR transporting workers.

IMO I do not think any resorts will be placed there when CR DVC is complete. It may be a staging area for other projects, or go back into just a temp parking area but not a resort.

 

[marni1971]

IMO I do not think any resorts will be placed there when CR DVC is complete..

I don`t either. I`m just going of the property masterplan :wave:

There`s evidence on this plan that *may* show that a *future* resort *may* have a monorail stop on the Epcot line. It`s discussed elsewhere, but in brief;
This land is designated for a resort
DVC are known to have lookd at it for a stand alone development
World Drive north of the autoplaza would be realigned for several hundered yards, moving less than a hundered feet or so west of it`s current position - in effect creating a space between it and the tracks about the length of a station.

Let`s wait a decade or so...

 

[RSoxNo1]

I think 10 years is a reasonable amount of time for a new park to be built. It'll probably take 5 years from blue sky to opening day, and I do think that within 5 years the existing Florida parks can be updated.

A look around WDW leads me to believe that the following can be achieved in a 5 year period. (Note: I'm not saying that any of these are in the works - but that they would be reasonable expectations in a 5 year window):
Magic Kingdom:
Rehabs/Refurbs - Space Mountain, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Peter Pan
New E-Ticket (does not need to be built within that 5 year window)

MGM:
Toy Story Mania
Closing of Indiana Jones and Little Mermaid
Refurb of Great Movie Ride and possibly Muppets
Star Wars 2
New/Cloned E-Ticket in addition to Toy Story Mania

Animal Kingdom:
Asian Expansion
Moving of Festival of the Lion King to Africa
Closing Pocahontas, clearing Camp Minnie Mickey for Expansion
E-Ticket in either Asia (safari), the old Camp Minnie Mickey (new land), Dinoland (Excavator), or some new blue sky idea.

Epcot:
Refurb Spaceship Earth
New Soarin and Canada films
Three Caballeros (already in the works)
Possible new country or World Showcase attraction
Imagination refurb
Wonders of Life and Universe of Energy refurb/removal

All of these ideas have been mentioned at one point or another on these boards. I do expect Disney to have a new idea or two within the next 5 years, but I do think it's reasonable to expect that the existing parks refurbishments be completed within that time frame. When that is all set, I think then, and only then should ideas for a new gate be thrown around, and 5 years to go from blue sky idea to a finished product is about what the time frame was on Animal Kingdom if I'm not mistaken.

 

[ToTBellHop]

Cannibalism started with AK....people aren't staying longer just because of a new park.

Yeah, I remember reading that the extra day people now spend at Animal Kingdom has just borrowed mostly from time they used to spend at MGM and Epcot, with the Magic Kingdom pretty much unaffected.

 

[marni1971]

Cannibalism started with AK....people aren't staying longer just because of a new park.

Cannibalism started with EPCOT Center, then Disney-MGM, and also it hit USF with IOA.

 

[goofyfan13]

Cannibalism started with EPCOT Center, then Disney-MGM, and also it hit USF with IOA.

Hannibal Lecter is in Central Florida!? :lol:

 

[RSoxNo1]

Hannibal Lecter is in Central Florida!?

Although this was probably a sarcastic post, cannibalism, with respect to any business is when a substitute product offered by the same company takes away sales from a new or existing product. In the case of Disney theme parks, the addition of the Animal Kingdom isn't always extending vacations, but rather taking time away from other Disney parks or activities that the guests otherwise would go to.

Personally, I think the current stage of renovations/improvements, should help negate some of the cannibalism that has been going on and will result in Disney vacations typically being extended.

 

[goofyfan13]

Although this was probably a sarcastic post, cannibalism, with respect to any business is when a substitute product offered by the same company takes away sales from a new or existing product. In the case of Disney theme parks, the addition of the Animal Kingdom isn't always extending vacations, but rather taking time away from other Disney parks or activities that the guests otherwise would go to.

Personally, I think the current stage of renovations/improvements, should help negate some of the cannibalism that has been going on and will result in Disney vacations typically being extended.

Yea, it was intended to be a joke. :wave:

I think I'll add a laughing face to clarify that.

 

[PintoColvig]

Extending the length of vacations is not the only reason why Disney might one day build a fifth park. Consider these possibilities:

• The U.S. population continues to grow (Florida in particular) and attendance trends at WDW continue to climb to and beyond historic levels. A fifth park may not extend the average stay of vacationers but it does spread the attendance out more per park so that overcrowding doesn't become a major complaint or deterrant to attendance.
• This one is a huge speculation but I wonder if Disney's success--to the detriment of other Orlando tourist attractions--may one day force the closing of one or more of their competitors' parks. (The Magic Your Way ticket system probably has hurt the other Orlando-area attractions considerably by encouraging longer stays on property.) If another Orlando park closes, this would only increase on-property attendance and would justify another park to accomodate the influx of tourists. Again, huge speculation on my part but just a thought.
• The success and continued expansion of DVC is creating a new type of clientele at WDW. The current four parks certainly provide so much to see and do that it easily fills up a week's vacation time. However, with the increasing numbers of vacationers who make annual pilgrimages to WDW courtesy of DVC, a fifth park provides more variety and activity that is more beneficial for those repeat visitors.

Just some thoughts. As I've said before, a fifth park is possible though not happening very soon. In the meantime, Disney, please rehab, rehab, rehab!!

 

[jedimaster1227]

The only "Orlando Park" that I would see closing anytime in the future would be Cypress Gardens if the Starliner didn't boost the park's attendance, and it doesn't even directly affect Disney as it is so far away. Most of the visitors to Cypress Gardens now are locals to Orlando and Winter Haven.

A fifth park will be made for two primary reasons (both stated before):

1. To bring in and keep guests for a longer period of time- also the logic behind the newest DVCs.
2. To relieve the other four parks [once they are all fixed to a temporary (2-3 years) self-sustaining level] of overcapacity. The parks have seen a recent increase in attendance, and the parks have been reaching capacity more than before. A fifth gate will solve this problem, but then again, this solution won't see fruition within the next 3-5 years at least.

 

[PintoColvig]

The only "Orlando Park" that I would see closing anytime in the future would be Cypress Gardens if the Starliner didn't boost the park's attendance, and it doesn't even directly affect Disney as it is so far away. Most of the visitors to Cypress Gardens now are locals to Orlando and Winter Haven.

A fifth park will be made for two primary reasons (both stated before):

1. To bring in and keep guests for a longer period of time- also the logic behind the newest DVCs.
2. To relieve the other four parks [once they are all fixed to a temporary (2-3 years) self-sustaining level] of overcapacity. The parks have seen a recent increase in attendance, and the parks have been reaching capacity more than before. A fifth gate will solve this problem, but then again, this solution won't see fruition within the next 3-5 years at least.

My guess is that a 5th park does come it is at least 8-10 years away at the earliest, mostly because of the local labor force shortage.

 

[Unplugged]

Agreed. It does take more than just money to build a park. Staffing is always critical which means the balancing act of tourism volume with labor costs.

 

[Mansion Butler]

Extending the length of vacations is not the only reason why Disney might one day build a fifth park. Consider these possibilities:

• The U.S. population continues to grow (Florida in particular) and attendance trends at WDW continue to climb to and beyond historic levels. A fifth park may not extend the average stay of vacationers but it does spread the attendance out more per park so that overcrowding doesn't become a major complaint or deterrant to attendance.

Single biggest reason management wants a 5th gate. That was part of why AK was built and only recently it's starting to be completely necessary. And as attendance grows more, somewhere else for guests to go will become needed.

 

[marni1971]

As a typical(ish) tourist; we have 14 days to see everything. We want to sea SeaWorld, USF, IOA, Busch gardens and KSC. There is already far more we want to see than we have time for - or can afford. We are not alone. A 5th park in this situation would be shooting themselves (TWDC) in the foot. We won`t - can`t - allow an extra day for it. We`ll just spend less time at other parks, and resent the Length of Stay pass price increase even more.

Capacity can be managed at the existing parks; the aforementioned building out of what they have, the opening up and use of ALL park property to guests (Golden Horseshoe, 20K plot, Odyssey, WoL, Imagination upstairs, a proper studio tour etc.) - and dare I say it reassess the scale of FastPass and it`s negative impact on park capacity. 50,000 guests today take up more room than 50,000 guests a decade ago.

Finally, I`d hope management correct where they went wrong with the past 4 out of 5 new parks before asking for a full days admission for a half day park. I doubt even the public would accept that again. There`s far too much publicity about DCA, DAK and HKDL in the US, and about HKDL and WDSP in Europe.

 

[Mansion Butler]

As a typical(ish) tourist; we have 14 days to see everything. We want to sea SeaWorld, USF, IOA, Busch gardens and KSC. There is already far more we want to see than we have time for - or can afford. We are not alone. A 5th park in this situation would be shooting themselves (TWDC) in the foot. We won`t - can`t - allow an extra day for it. We`ll just spend less time at other parks, and resent the Length of Stay pass price increase even more.

Capacity can be managed at the existing parks; the aforementioned building out of what they have, the opening up and use of ALL park property to guests (Golden Horseshoe, 20K plot, Odyssey, WoL, Imagination upstairs, a proper studio tour etc.) - and dare I say it reassess the scale of FastPass and it`s negative impact on park capacity. 50,000 guests today take up more room than 50,000 guests a decade ago.

Finally, I`d hope management correct where they went wrong with the past 4 out of 5 new parks before asking for a full days admission for a half day park. I doubt even the public would accept that again. There`s far too much publicity about DCA, DAK and HKDL in the US, and about HKDL and WDSP in Europe.

And when I was a tourist I'd be there for 7 days and I would have had no problem visiting a 5th park.

Shooting themselves in the foot is a little much.

 

[PintoColvig]

As a typical(ish) tourist; we have 14 days to see everything. We want to sea SeaWorld, USF, IOA, Busch gardens and KSC. There is already far more we want to see than we have time for - or can afford. We are not alone. A 5th park in this situation would be shooting themselves (TWDC) in the foot. We won`t - can`t - allow an extra day for it. We`ll just spend less time at other parks, and resent the Length of Stay pass price increase even more.

My guess is that the typical(ish) tourist typically takes a week of vacation at a time rather than two. Already, most people who visit Orlando do not--on the same trip--visit all four Disney parks plus all of the other attractions you mentioned above. It boils to down to making a choice. You choose what you want to see based on time and money. If you don't have enough money or enough time to see all you want, you can choose to make another trip in the future and catch what you missed.

A fifth park certainly adds another choice to the mix. Disney would just be banking on the fact that you choose their fifth park over one of their competitors. And God bless 'em for making a genius marketing decision like MYW tickets to increase the likelihood that I will choose Disney's product over the others. And how can you resent paying less than $7 extra so that you can turn a 7-day park hopper pass into a 10 day pass? Resentment only makes sense to me if you are paying for a few days, say four or less days, or if you are making only one trip to Orlando in your lifetime and you are expecting to see everything on that one trip. But, then again, that's just me.

Again, I think that if Disney ever builds a 5th park, they will expect far more benefits from it than just getting people to take longer vacations at WDW. If it does encourage some to stay longer (and it will), then it's good for Disney. If it provides relief from overcrowding in the existing parks (and it will), then it's good for Disney. If it offers greater variety and choices for repeat visitors (and it will), then it's good for Disney. If it provides a greater sense of "I didn't get to do it all on this trip so I'll have to come back next year" (and it will), then it's good for Disney. And, if anyone gets shot in the foot over a 5th park, the likelihood is that it will be one of the non-Disney parks.

 

[amandagibbins]

Im from the UK and holiday to Florida every two years and now were a member of of DVC we will continue to do so for as long as possible, we stayed for three weeks last time we were there.Building another Disney park would be great i would make the time i dont go on a Disney holiday to rest we dont lie by a pool all day life is too short not to enjoy yourselves especially while in Florida . I dont think Disney have major problems with the existing parks we take it for what it is A DREAM COME TRUE its all amazing and worth every single penny we save (over 20 months) just to see our sons face as he meets his favourite characters september 2008 here we come:sohappy:

 

[marni1971]

My guess is that the typical(ish) tourist typically takes a week of vacation at a time rather than two. Already, most people who visit Orlando do not--on the same trip--visit all four Disney parks plus all of the other attractions you mentioned above..

You from the UK? That`s how all my family and friends do it :wave: Maybe I should rephrase - typical non-US tourist.

And God bless 'em for making a genius marketing decision like MYW tickets to increase the likelihood that I will choose Disney's product over the others. And how can you resent paying less than $7 extra so that you can turn a 7-day park hopper pass into a 10 day pass?

Because not 6 years ago TWDTC from the UK threw in length of stay passes for free for resort guests. Now it`s another $300 each for the equivilent. Another park will see the price go up again, even though we don`t have the time nor money to see it in full - and enjoy the existing parks too.