So are we to assume that nothing new is coming to AK or Epcot until atleast 2014?

Lucky

Lucky

Well-Known Member
I don't really think much about one WDW park v. another, but as a package. If you have park hoppers, it really doesn't matter if you run out of things to do at DHS or AK by 3 PM, or if AK doesn't have a nighttime show. You can go to MK or Epcot for another 6 hours or so and see Wishes or Illuminations.

Sure it would be even better if they could simultaneously do big upgrades in every park. But that's not realistic, and I'm not going to complain about what they do first or where.
 
panther726

panther726

Member
Dinoman96 said:
As I said before, I don't like how Disney is giving stuff to MK and DHS, while they leave Epcot and Animal Kingdom to face the wrath of Potter. On the subject on that, atleast Uni is giving some love to both of its parks (USF just got HRRR, and IOA is soon to get TWWOHP).
Click to expand...

Ah, but Uni has 2 parks. WDW is giving to 2 parks. That's not a fair argument, as WDW has 4 parks.
 
RSoxNo1

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
I think Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios will be the parks that suffer when Potter opens. My hope is that AK's attendance drops significantly and the bump up whatever time frame exists for expansion.
 
j_dp456

j_dp456

Member
Dinoman96 said:
As I said before, I don't like how Disney is giving stuff to MK and DHS, while they leave Epcot and Animal Kingdom to face the wrath of Potter. On the subject on that, atleast Uni is giving some love to both of its parks (USF just got HRRR, and IOA is soon to get TWWOHP).
Click to expand...

We don't know for sure. Perhaps they don't want to announce everything they have planned for the next few years all at one Expo. Since D23 is supposed to be an annual thing, perhaps they saved some announcements for next year. Just a thought.
 
Studios Fan

Studios Fan

Active Member
RSoxNo1 said:
I think Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios will be the parks that suffer when Potter opens. My hope is that AK's attendance drops significantly and the bump up whatever time frame exists for expansion.
Click to expand...

As a DHS Fan, I also hope it gets hit some as well, maybe both DHS and AK will get the expansions they need. :)
 
Thrill Seeker

Thrill Seeker

Well-Known Member
My guess is that in 2010 they might announce a new attraction for Epcot. I think the AK Expansion plans are a ways off considering a lot of money is going into the multi year MK expansion and Star Tours 2. Epcot needs something and I figure a replacement for WoL is the best idea right now. JIIv4 doesn't seem like the kind of explosive announcement that would come out of D23...
 
Lucky

Lucky

Well-Known Member
RSoxNo1 said:
I think Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios will be the parks that suffer when Potter opens. My hope is that AK's attendance drops significantly and the bump up whatever time frame exists for expansion.
Click to expand...
For guests buying one-day tickets I could see Potter affecting the choice between DHS and Universal.

But the larger impact isn't so clear. Potter's opening could mean more Orlando visitors in general, with many of the additional visitors spending a day or more at WDW parks.

And it's no sure thing that if AK's attendance did drop significantly for any reason that Disney would respond by sinking a lot more money into the park.
 
Atomicmickey

Atomicmickey

Well-Known Member
The way my family thinks about it is, "When Potter opens, how can we get
over there for a day during our next Disney vacation".

Not "we need to travel down to Florida to go to Harry Potter".

I imagine there are Potter fans that will go to Florida, maybe for the
first time--but you can't tell me they won't be thinking Disney World
in their trip plans.

So I'm thinking, a trip for Potter, is a trip for Disney, anyway.
I'd think that Disney is thinking the same thing.
 
RSoxNo1

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
Lucky said:
For guests buying one-day tickets I could see Potter affecting the choice between DHS and Universal.

But the larger impact isn't so clear. Potter's opening could mean more Orlando visitors in general, with many of the additional visitors spending a day or more at WDW parks.

And it's no sure thing that if AK's attendance did drop significantly for any reason that Disney would respond by sinking a lot more money into the park.
Click to expand...

Atomicmickey said:
The way my family thinks about it is, "When Potter opens, how can we get
over there for a day during our next Disney vacation".

Not "we need to travel down to Florida to go to Harry Potter".

I imagine there are Potter fans that will go to Florida, maybe for the
first time--but you can't tell me they won't be thinking Disney World
in their trip plans.

So I'm thinking, a trip for Potter, is a trip for Disney, anyway.
I'd think that Disney is thinking the same thing.
Click to expand...

This is a common mentality. Universal is a diversion on a Disney vacation. I'm sure there are people that visit central Florida just for Universal, but the majority of people will have Disney be the focal point of their vacation. The attendance numbers support this.

When Islands of Adventure opened, it brought more people to Central Florida, those people all went to Disney, and some went to Islands of Adventure instead of Universal Studios. Universal saw the majority of Islands of Adventure's guests come from it's main park. It hit Universal Studios hard, and really didn't impact Disney at all.

This is why I don't see Disney panicking about Harry Potter. They are continuing with their slow and steady development, knowing full well that if they need to react they will. I don't think the Fantasyland expansion is really intended as a way to combat Harry Potter, I think of it as business as usual. If a $300 million investment into Harry Potter does wind up making a dent into Disney's central Florida attendance numbers than I fully expect their reaction to be even more substantial than the Fantasyland expansion.

Here is the current timeline.
2010: Wizarding World of Harry Potter opens to the public
2011: Star Tours 2.0 opens to the public
2012: Fantasyland Expansion opens to the public
2013: Pixie Hollow expansion opens to the public
That timeline is based on some projections, from each company - but by no means do I think Disney will sit solely on the Fantasyland expansion if Harry Potter hurts their attendance. If that's the case, then I think we see a few more things happening in the 2012-2014 range.
 
R

roadtripper

Member
The way I see it, the princesses have been around for quite a long time. Harry Potter has been around for about 6-8 years or so, and will most likely not survive too many more, because Harry is getting old, literally. There is no way to turn back the clock with real people, but the princesses can have new stuff come out whenever they want. Kids don't think of the princesses as aging, which allows Disney to always come out with new stuff for them. This is far more long term with little kids than Harry in Uni. The video for HP looks really cool and I think it would be nice to see when my kids get a little bigger, but they are too young to be into HP and I'm too old to want to watch it. HP focuses on a narrow age range so it will not have the same draw that the princesses will have for decades to come. FL is a project that will only need refurbed every decade or so while HP will have to come down in a decade or so. I grew up with the princesses, and continue to watch the movies with my kids, and I look forward to watching them with my grandkids. That is the secret behind the princesses. It spans multiple generations. HP will never have that kind of attraction.
While the meet and greets will not always appeal to my kids, there will always be new things to look for and at to keep me going back to FL and MK for a long time.
 
Figment632

Figment632

New Member
Atomicmickey said:
The way my family thinks about it is, "When Potter opens, how can we get
over there for a day during our next Disney vacation".

Not "we need to travel down to Florida to go to Harry Potter".

I imagine there are Potter fans that will go to Florida, maybe for the
first time--but you can't tell me they won't be thinking Disney World
in their trip plans.

So I'm thinking, a trip for Potter, is a trip for Disney, anyway.
I'd think that Disney is thinking the same thing.
Click to expand...

I totaly agree this is how I look at it as well.
 
panther726

panther726

Member
Atomicmickey said:
The way my family thinks about it is, "When Potter opens, how can we get
over there for a day during our next Disney vacation".

Not "we need to travel down to Florida to go to Harry Potter".

I imagine there are Potter fans that will go to Florida, maybe for the
first time--but you can't tell me they won't be thinking Disney World
in their trip plans.

So I'm thinking, a trip for Potter, is a trip for Disney, anyway.
I'd think that Disney is thinking the same thing.
Click to expand...

Exactly. Disney never had to panic, they knew what it meant for them.

roadtripper said:
The way I see it, the princesses have been around for quite a long time. Harry Potter has been around for about 6-8 years or so, and will most likely not survive too many more, because Harry is getting old, literally. There is no way to turn back the clock with real people, but the princesses can have new stuff come out whenever they want. Kids don't think of the princesses as aging, which allows Disney to always come out with new stuff for them. This is far more long term with little kids than Harry in Uni. The video for HP looks really cool and I think it would be nice to see when my kids get a little bigger, but they are too young to be into HP and I'm too old to want to watch it. HP focuses on a narrow age range so it will not have the same draw that the princesses will have for decades to come. FL is a project that will only need refurbed every decade or so while HP will have to come down in a decade or so. I grew up with the princesses, and continue to watch the movies with my kids, and I look forward to watching them with my grandkids. That is the secret behind the princesses. It spans multiple generations. HP will never have that kind of attraction.
While the meet and greets will not always appeal to my kids, there will always be new things to look for and at to keep me going back to FL and MK for a long time.
Click to expand...

Well said. People talk about the how FL is only appealing to little kids. However, I sense the same thing in HP. HP is geared toward 10-18 year olds. I also see a problem that HP is rushing to finish their movies because, as you mentioned, they are literally growing old. HP would love to drag out their series, as they have, but time has run out. If you ask me, I say this HP attraction is a way to carry on the name. In a decade, HP will die out, and everyone will look back on Disney's FL refurb and see how smart it really was.
 
SirGoofy

SirGoofy

Member
panther726 said:
Well said. People talk about the how FL is only appealing to little kids. However, I sense the same thing in HP. HP is geared toward 10-18 year olds. I also see a problem that HP is rushing to finish their movies because, as you mentioned, they are literally growing old. HP would love to drag out their series, as they have, but time has run out. If you ask me, I say this HP attraction is a way to carry on the name. In a decade, HP will die out, and everyone will look back on Disney's FL refurb and see how smart it really was.
Click to expand...

Harry Potter will die out?:rolleyes:

Just like Star Wars? Or Indiana Jones? Please.
 

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