Star Wars Land announced for Disney's Hollywood Studios

[jt04]

I can't imagine it would take that long to erect a new warehouse elsewhere (not that they will actually do this). I feel as though the way Disney works, demoing the interior of GMR will end up costing nearly as much as constructing a purpose-built warehouse on an expansion pad (like the parking lot plot originally earmarked for SWL, assuming they are still building the parking garages, which I had expected to commence construction by now). The bones of GMR are wonderful and with relatively little money, you could update the visuals and end up effectively with two new high-capacity E-tickets out of this Mickey project. I am sometimes astonished at how inefficiently this company burns through money or fails to look at the long-term goals of a project.

Agree that an overlay would not be that difficult. So, why would they go with anything but a Disney centered overlay? It is the most logical solution. I think we are talking about a mega-attraction that showcases the history of Walt Disney movies with Mickey as your host/guide/narrator. Home run.

 

[jt04]

That is a big concern.

Well worth the sacrifice imo.

 

[Kman101]

No it's not. Unless they wait until Toy story Land is online next year and then actually go at a brisk pace it makes no sense to shut down a ride when the park at this point needs all the capacity it can get.

 

[jt04]

No it's not. Unless they wait until Toy story Land is online next year and then actually go at a brisk pace it makes no sense to shut down a ride when the park at this point needs all the capacity it can get.

They will need capacity even more after SWL opens. So they just need to bite.the bullet. I would guess it would close a few months before TSL opens. If I was guessing. Possibly after the holidays next year.

 

[marni1971]

Well worth the sacrifice imo.

Of course you'd think that.

 

[marni1971]

I think we are talking about a mega-attraction that showcases the history of Walt Disney movies with Mickey as your host/guide/narrator. Home run.

Wrong again.

 

[Mike S]

They will need capacity even more after SWL opens. So they just need to bite.the bullet. I would guess it would close a few months before TSL opens. If I was guessing. Possibly after the holidays next year.

So you do agree it should wait until 2018 after TSL

 

[doctornick]

I can't imagine it would take that long to erect a new warehouse elsewhere (not that they will actually do this). I feel as though the way Disney works, demoing the interior of GMR will end up costing nearly as much as constructing a purpose-built warehouse on an expansion pad (like the parking lot plot originally earmarked for SWL, assuming they are still building the parking garages, which I had expected to commence construction by now). The bones of GMR are wonderful and with relatively little money, you could update the visuals and end up effectively with two new high-capacity E-tickets out of this Mickey project. I am sometimes astonished at how inefficiently this company burns through money or fails to look at the long-term goals of a project.

Exactly. It seems to defy logic.

I mean, you have operations throwing a fit over DHS' current state and yet the decision makers don't seem to care to do anything to, I dunno, try to avoid those kinds of problems in the future. I know they like to save costs by replacing rides so they don't have to continue to operate less popular ones, but you can't tell me that they don't have room in the DHS budget to be running a whopping 10 rides (the planned 9 + Mickey elsewhere) at a time.

 

[MereMickey]

I do not know why I had Summer 2017 in my mind for SW HS? Family and I are going in May of this year and was hoping to see much more progress to be honest. Oh, well. We are DVC, so we will be back by time it opens!

I'll have to ride Star Tours several times in a row to make sure I have the full SW summer I had originally thought I was going to have.

Side note to my own misgivings… From what I understand (and to be honest I did not read all 413 pages in here, so if I am repeating any info that is already know, my apologies in advance) SW HS is going to open while Disney World is celebrating it's 50th anniversary in the year 2021, which also happens to be what seems finalization in the SW movie releases of the same year. But that also seems a crazy long way off for WDW to hold off that late especially when the expansion was announced 2015. That does not sound logical and I can not remember where I read that? May have to go search for it to link. I do not remember other expansions or even parks taking that crazy long once an announcement was made. I have seen both Disney and Universal turn around a concept to reality fast, so this seems interesting to say the least. If I remember correctly, Universal got the Wizarding World up and running in a good amount of time without being excessively late? Not being critical of Disney, just confused by this timeline for all this stuff.

I am hoping as mentioned in a post a few up that it's really Winter 2019. Ugh. That's a long time, too! Eek!

 

[danlb_2000]

I do not know why I had Summer 2017 in my mind for SW HS? Family and I are going in May of this year and was hoping to see much more progress to be honest. Oh, well. We are DVC, so we will be back by time it opens!

I'll have to ride Star Tours several times in a row to make sure I have the full SW summer I had originally thought I was going to have.

Side note to my own misgivings… From what I understand (and to be honest I did not read all 413 pages in here, so if I am repeating any info that is already know, my apologies in advance) SW HS is going to open while Disney World is celebrating it's 50th anniversary in the year 2021, which also happens to be what seems finalization in the SW movie releases of the same year. But that also seems a crazy long way off for WDW to hold off that late especially when the expansion was announced 2015. That does not sound logical and I can not remember where I read that? May have to go search for it to link. I do not remember other expansions or even parks taking that crazy long once an announcement was made. I have seen both Disney and Universal turn around a concept to reality fast, so this seems interesting to say the least. If I remember correctly, Universal got the Wizarding World up and running in a good amount of time without being excessively late? Not being critical of Disney, just confused by this timeline for all this stuff.

I am hoping as mentioned in a post a few up that it's really Winter 2019. Ugh. That's a long time, too! Eek!

Star Wars land at DHS will be open before 2021, current rumored date is Winter 2019 at you mention. There are movies currently expected through 2020, but unless the popularity decreases I don't think they will stop there. Avatarland will be 6 years from announcement to opening.

 

[MereMickey]

Star Wars land at DHS will be open before 2021, current rumored date is Winter 2019 at you mention. There are movies currently expected through 2020, but unless the popularity decreases I don't think they will stop there. Avatarland will be 6 years from announcement to opening.

Thank you for clarifying. Whew! I expect an add-on expansion on Star Wars after the initial opening as well.

 

[DVCOwner]

Has Disney's Hollywood Studios ever close due to reaching the maximum allowed in the park. I am predicting that it will when Star Wars Land opens. I hope Disney is working on the expansion plans now!

 

[Rodan75]

The only way I can understand @WDW1974 prediction on DHS SWE opening 'years' after DL would be if DL opens sometime in 2018 and DHS opens in early 2020.

But even that seems like it would be problematic given the pace of construction already. I know folks like to complain about slow construction timelines at WDW (normally attributed to spreading out CapEx across multiple quarters/years), but generally once earth gets moving the project moves along at a steady pace until completed. And it appears if it were to take a steady pace from now, we would likely match @danlb_2000 late 2019 projection.

But if it takes longer, and this may be a @ParentsOf4 question, wouldn't they start running into ROI issues with the land? Slow rolling construction once it has started has financial implications. I know there are different rules/procedures for construction projects, but if they slow this down, won't they be paying depreciation on assets not yet in use? Even if they get to delay depreciation until after the land opens, they still have invested capital not getting any return for years. Plus this project could potentially drag down WDW attendance with folks delaying visits until SWE is open.

Folks like to mock Disney is a Business, but in this case, the business would seem to dictate that once construction starts, it won't stop until the land is complete and they begin getting a return on the investment. They may pay more for things to move more quickly at DL, but I don't see them stopping or slowing construction at DHS now that it has started.

 

[Master Yoda]

Has Disney's Hollywood Studios ever close due to reaching the maximum allowed in the park. I am predicting that it will when Star Wars Land opens. I hope Disney is working on the expansion plans now!

I know the parking lot closed due to capacity several times during the Osborne Lights last run.

 

[flyerjab]

Wait, does this mean that ford91explorer was wrong? Is Star Wars actually being built in DHS after all? Who'd a thunk it?!

 

[Master Yoda]

The only way I can understand @WDW1974 prediction on DHS SWE opening 'years' after DL would be if DL opens sometime in 2018 and DHS opens in early 2020.

But even that seems like it would be problematic given the pace of construction already. I know folks like to complain about slow construction timelines at WDW (normally attributed to spreading out CapEx across multiple quarters/years), but generally once earth gets moving the project moves along at a steady pace until completed. And it appears if it were to take a steady pace from now, we would likely match @danlb_2000 late 2019 projection.

But if it takes longer, and this may be a @ParentsOf4 question, wouldn't they start running into ROI issues with the land? Slow rolling construction once it has started has financial implications. I know there are different rules/procedures for construction projects, but if they slow this down, won't they be paying depreciation on assets not yet in use? Even if they get to delay depreciation until after the land opens, they still have invested capital not getting any return for years. Plus this project could potentially drag down WDW attendance with folks delaying visits until SWE is open.

Folks like to mock Disney is a Business, but in this case, the business would seem to dictate that once construction starts, it won't stop until the land is complete and they begin getting a return on the investment. They may pay more for things to move more quickly at DL, but I don't see them stopping or slowing construction at DHS now that it has started.

Generally yes, once construction starts it is best to see it to completion especially for something like SWL where a massive ROI is just waiting on opening day.

There are however cases were mothballing construction or slowing it to down to a crawl can be the best option. Art of Animation and Flamingo Crossings would be good examples of this. Market downturns negated the need for both projects and because Disney essentially pays cash vs financing construction, they were able to put the breaks on, save the cash, and complete the projects when the market improved.

 

[Rodan75]

Generally yes, once construction starts it is best to see it to completion especially for something like SWL where a massive ROI is just waiting on opening day.

There are however cases were mothballing construction or slowing it to down to a crawl can be the best option. Art of Animation and Flamingo Crossings would be good examples of this. Market downturns negated the need for both projects and because Disney essentially pays cash vs financing construction, they were able to put the breaks on, save the cash, and complete the projects when the market improved.

Understood, so Wall Street would likely bash Iger (or his replacement) and Chapek (or his replacement) if SWE at DHS took 4 years and DL took 2 years, especially if WDW attendance growth remains flat. P&R is going to get more and more attention after both Shanghai opening and the ESPN growth issues and I can't see them inviting negative headlines by slowing down SWE at DHS on purpose.

 

[Master Yoda]

Understood, so Wall Street would likely bash Iger (or his replacement) and Chapek (or his replacement) if SWE at DHS took 4 years and DL took 2 years, especially if WDW attendance growth remains flat. P&R is going to get more and more attention after both Shanghai opening and the ESPN growth issues and I can't see them inviting negative headlines by slowing down SWE at DHS on purpose.

There would have to be a pretty good reason for the delay for them not to.

I will however say that DL has a bit more incentive to get things done in a timely manner than WDW has so it would not surprise me one bit of DL finished before WDW, just not 2 years before.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Has Disney's Hollywood Studios ever close due to reaching the maximum allowed in the park. I am predicting that it will when Star Wars Land opens. I hope Disney is working on the expansion plans now!

I'm not sure it reached it or not when they had the Friday the 13th event that was a train wreck or during the Christmas time with the Osborne Lights last year? When SWL opens, it will be a madhouse.

 

[danlb_2000]

The only way I can understand @WDW1974 prediction on DHS SWE opening 'years' after DL would be if DL opens sometime in 2018 and DHS opens in early 2020.

But even that seems like it would be problematic given the pace of construction already. I know folks like to complain about slow construction timelines at WDW (normally attributed to spreading out CapEx across multiple quarters/years), but generally once earth gets moving the project moves along at a steady pace until completed. And it appears if it were to take a steady pace from now, we would likely match @danlb_2000 late 2019 projection.

But if it takes longer, and this may be a @ParentsOf4 question, wouldn't they start running into ROI issues with the land? Slow rolling construction once it has started has financial implications. I know there are different rules/procedures for construction projects, but if they slow this down, won't they be paying depreciation on assets not yet in use? Even if they get to delay depreciation until after the land opens, they still have invested capital not getting any return for years. Plus this project could potentially drag down WDW attendance with folks delaying visits until SWE is open.

Folks like to mock Disney is a Business, but in this case, the business would seem to dictate that once construction starts, it won't stop until the land is complete and they begin getting a return on the investment. They may pay more for things to move more quickly at DL, but I don't see them stopping or slowing construction at DHS now that it has started.

Actually I was attempting to quote @marni1971's prediction, but I got it wrong. He actually said "Late summer / fall 2019 for DHS"