News Rafiki's Planet Watch is closing Oct. 21st will reopen in Summer 2019

[Gitson Shiggles]

Will this be operating for the holiday season?

 

[PizzaPlanet]

Think about how lonely the goats will be without all of the kids coming to see them.

 

[Bob Harlem]

I mean, they can’t really afford to cut much else as it is. Wonders is already on festival duty.

The entire Imagination Pavilion goes seasonal? (Magic Eye theater is already that way)

 

[ᗩLᘿᑕ ✨ ᗩζᗩᗰ]

The entire Imagination Pavilion goes seasonal? (Magic Eye theater is already that way)

It makes you wonder: At what point does operating a ride become a loss? How many guests/hour are needed to keep the lights on?

Rafiki's Planet Watch was probably a low performer anyway so operating seasonally makes sense. A "good budget cut" if there is such a thing. I'd hope it's indicative of things to come to the entire area. But even so those plans are still a good 3-5 years out.

With Imagination! over in Epcot; the entire pavilion could easily go seasonal and the vast majority of parkgoers would likely not be disappointed by it's closure. Sad state of a pavilion. And it, like the Rafiki's Planet Watch area is due for an overhaul. (That's still happening right?) It wouldn't justify the closure but operating an area that isn't visited seems a waste. I could see it going seasonal.

 

[Princess Leia]

The entire Imagination Pavilion goes seasonal? (Magic Eye theater is already that way)

Is that what holds the Pixar/Disney film fest?

 

[Rteetz]

Clearly this is cost cutting, just curious how many CM’s they’re actually saving on? It’s not like you can just shutter everything and leave the animals to fend for themselves.

Well you had two character meets there, animal specialists on hand to talk to guests, wilderness explorers stop. Then I am sure some other miscellaneous CMs. The animal care CMs will stay there to work with animals in the care facilities.

 

[TeriofTerror]

Think about how lonely the goats will be without all of the kids coming to see them.

Now I have "The Lonely Goatherd" from The Sound of Music stuck in my head.

 

[twilight mitsuk]

Well you had two character meets there, animal specialists on hand to talk to guests, wilderness explorers stop. Then I am sure some other miscellaneous CMs. The animal care CMs will stay there to work with animals in the care facilities.

the animal care CM are not under jurisdiction of attractions

 

[JoeCamel]

So if the RR does not run what could they do with the station and track area? More Safari? Maybe more apes?

 

[Rteetz]

the animal care CM are not under jurisdiction of attractions

I don’t believe I said they were. Just said they were part of this facility.

 

[Timothy_Q]

So if the RR does not run what could they do with the station and track area? More Safari? Maybe more apes?

More money for the shareholders

 

[cjkeating]

This is very disappointing. Also thinking about the additional people that will be in the main park (and impact on wait lines) versus RPW.

 

[Franklin47disneyguy]

Still strange that a theme park that had 12,500,000 visitors last year need to budget cuts. Is this FOX related? Also both these forums and the universal one people say that attendance is severely down this year. Maybe because of Irma last year, and of course people are waiting with there trip for next years Galaxy's Edge.

 

[SirLink]

Well at last they can begin looking at moving the animal care facilities backstage.

Also anything added to this park for the foreseeable future from what was indicated to myself, over a year ago, will be getting away from live animals and more theme park. Make of that any way you want.

 

[Franklin47disneyguy]

Well at last they can begin looking at moving the animal care facilities backstage.

Also anything added to this park for the foreeable future from what indicated to myself will be getting away from live animals and more theme park. Make of that any way you want.

Rather than the rides as addition to the animals, the animals are in the future the addition to theme park. Not a bad move imho, if the go for the level of immersion Pandora has we all be fine.

 

[Biff215]

Anyone who thinks this change helps expansion plans in any way is simply dreaming. They don’t need it closed to explore any options, those blue sky plans likely already exist. We’ll know when they’re ready to move on that.

RPW is certainly not visited by a high percentage of guests, but it does provide a unique experience for those who stumble upon it. It also provides capacity and some relief from a park that is still quite popular. I just think it’s sad that WDW is operating their parks like they’re somehow losing money. Shuttering attractions and entertainment should be the last to go IMO.

 

[danlb_2000]

Well you had two character meets there, animal specialists on hand to talk to guests, wilderness explorers stop. Then I am sure some other miscellaneous CMs. The animal care CMs will stay there to work with animals in the care facilities.

I would imagine the train is the biggest part of the operating cost of this area.

 

[danlb_2000]

Still strange that a theme park that had 12,500,000 visitors last year need to budget cuts. Is this FOX related? Also both these forums and the universal one people say that attendance is severely down this year. Maybe because of Irma last year, and of course people are waiting with there trip for next years Galaxy's Edge.

It's to avoid having to show shareholders a drop in profits.

 

[Tavernacle12]

This is a bummer. It was the Tom Sawyer Island of Animal Kingdom. I thought they wanted AK to be a full day park?

 

[Princess Leia]

This is a bummer. It was the Tom Sawyer Island of Animal Kingdom. I thought they wanted AK to be a full day park?

I’m planning on spending a full day there next month and was thinking that RPW would add something to do if my friends and I had some down time. Not anymore, I guess.