ford91exploder
Resident Curmudgeon
The goal is not necessarily to 'save' money but to spread the spend. Which slowing down the project will always do.
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
Star Wars Land announced for Disney's Hollywood Studios
- Thread starter CheekBoys
- Start date
The goal is not necessarily to 'save' money but to spread the spend. Which slowing down the project will always do.
JediMasterMatt
Well-Known Member
Transformers is an interesting discussion, even if you set aside the topic of the speed in which it was built. The topic of WHY it was built is just as fascinating.
The two reasons why Transformers got built so rapidly are that it "needed to be done" and it "could be done".
Universal knew what madness the forthcoming Potter whirlwind could reap based on what took place at IoA and recognized that the Studios could use additional capacity (especially in the rider height appropriate range for the new guests Gringotts would be taking). Transformers was already doing ample capacity work in California and Singapore and was already earmarked to be included in Orlando down the road.
Universal also knew that they could throw enough resources at the project to get it done in time to be a precursor to Potterland. The impossible is possible when you are willing.
The will and the way is all it took. Just like when Disney use to do it down the street. Just like they could do it with any of their projects. The difference isn't the way... it's the will. Apply the above pre-Diagon Alley mindset to EPCOT and the forthcoming Frozen influx and tell me if Soarin's extra theater will have the same impact to park operations that Transformer's will have in ebbing the forthcoming tide?
If Disney wants Star Wars Land done at DHS sooner rather than later, they can flex their mighty muscle and will it into being by putting more man hours on the project and by being willing to do what is necessary to close off a good portion of the park and infrastructure (parking and backstage areas) to make it happen. They could get it done to open up near Toy Story Land if they wanted to; but, they know that SWL without the extra capacity that TSL will provide will be a nightmare.
Just to backup Dave, even my Lucasfilm friends weren't sure if DHS's SWL was going to be announced at D23. It really was contingent on if the larger DHS makeover was going to be announced. Up until the budget greenlight in June, it wasn't even certain that DHS's SWL was even going to be on the same scale as DL's. Attractions were being designed to be agnostic of the park they were being placed in just in case the budgets were going to be different.
n2hifi
Active Member
From a way outsiders perspective those announcements at D23 seemed to be a reaction to leaked information. A PR move to 'say' what had already been leaked, then promptly plug the leak. They seemed very last minute and vague, although I know Disney likes to be vague anyway. They didn't do that for the fans, they did it to save face.
PhotoDave219
Well-Known Member
I thought it was a reaction to a sudden drop in the stock price as that the week after the Earnings Call where they announced losing ESPN subscribers.
To be fair to Bob, Zenia & Co., I would have done the exact same thing in their place. They changed the narrative. Stock has slowly crawled back to nearly where it was when it dropped.
Chris82
Well-Known Member
Wow... I didn't pick up on the last minute character of the announcement at all, but it really makes sense, given how little there was in terms of concept art/models/animations on display at D23. I wonder if that means what few details and concepts we saw are all incredibly subject to change...
chiefs11
Well-Known Member
TP2000
Well-Known Member
Not sure off the top of my head what the timetable for Harry Potter was in Orlando, but at Universal Studios Hollywood it appears to be about 32 months from groundbreaking to grand opening.
July, 2013 - Groundbreaking and demolition begin
March, 2016 - Rumored opening date of Wizarding World of Harry Potter
Total Time - 32 months
I imagine there are unique construction challenges on both coasts that add cost and time varyingly; marshy swampland and a high water table in Orlando, strict earthquake codes in Southern California.
But if you want Universal to build an E Ticket in an unthemed warehouse box, they can do it in 15 months or less, on either coast.
danlb_2000
Premium Member
In Orlando:
WWoHP Phase 1 1/1/2008 6/28/2010 29 months
WWoHP Phase 2 1/2/2012 6/30/2014 29 months (including the Jaws demo)
How long did the NO e-ticket Fantasy Land expansion take ?
34 months.
Are you including annoucement dates or when a spade first hit the ground ?
DVCOwner
A Long Time DVC Member
It does not matter what the facts are, some people on this site are just going to believe that Universal does it better and faster than Disney. The fact is that Disney construction times are just about the same as Universal. The difference is when a project like Pandora is made public before the planning and design phase starts, it makes it look like it took longer than others.
The fact is WDW construction is slower than it used to be.
Rteetz
Well-Known Member
I would imagine when shovels were in the ground because universal tends to do announcements after they have already starting digging.
sounds like thats changing somewhat for the DHS overhaul
at least somewhat
Matt_Black
Well-Known Member
Yeah, you'd think they were trying to build in the busiest theme park resort in the world or something!
ford91exploder
Resident Curmudgeon
Mainly because they want to keep annual CAPEX low to keep Wall St happy. The net result is the project costs more overall because of the extended build cycle. Right now even with the 'new' projects TWDC in the US is spending 25% LESS CAPEX than Six Flags as a percentage of revenue... A far cry from when the company spent 18-24% of revenue on CAPEX (as Uni is doing NOW).
Short version is current management is strip mining P&R for cash and not reinvesting in the future.
The only way you could accurately compare that is if Disney was to build two identical structures, on identical pieces of land, with identical labor and material constraints, with identical financial impact, under identical labor and safety rules, with identical weather.
Change the start time of either building by a day and several of those factors can change drastically. Change the start day by a month and nearly all have the potential to go out the window.
ford91exploder
Resident Curmudgeon
Till the next bombshell like the media networks losing subscribers at an accelerating rate, But even here TWDC's legendary skinflyntery is hurting them. SW Rebel's is hugely popular with the kids (and more than a few adults) but a quick check of the DVR shows the episodes coming out at 2-3 week intervals. Howninthehell is that taking advantage of a show's popularity. It's not it just shows TWDC is too cheap to produce a weekly animated series for a hurgely popular IP.
ford91exploder
Resident Curmudgeon
Yet labor and materials are cheap in FL as compared to CA. It speaks more of a lack of will and desire to build rather than external constraints.