The Future of WDW

[DisneyExplorer]

A lot of Disney fans have been commenting recently on how little to nothing has been officially announced by the Walt Disney Company about future projects and plans for the Walt Disney World Resort. And I had a thought. Could the reason no announcements have been made because little to nothing major is being planned? Probably not, but with the economy continuing to plummet and the Nasdaq and Dow Jones reaching their lowest since September of 2006 and gasoline soon to reach $5 a gallon, a lot of working class folks just aren't going to be able to afford a Disney vacation. Is Disney not making any major additions because they don't think a new major attraction would provide the boost in attendance they're hoping for? Just some food for thought. Your opinions and ideas are always welcome.

 

[NX2I85]

I think you're on to something. Attractions are more long-term investments. I figure WDW will spend some dough offering some broad travel discounts instead. Not what I want, but what I predict. :brick:

 

[jmcdougall]

A lot of Disney fans have been commenting recently on how little to nothing has been officially announced by the Walt Disney Company about future projects and plans for the Walt Disney World Resort. And I had a thought. Could the reason no announcements have been made because little to nothing major is being planned? Probably not, but with the economy continuing to plummet and the Nasdaq and Dow Jones reaching their lowest since September of 2006 and gasoline soon to reach $5 a gallon, a lot of working class folks just aren't going to be able to afford a Disney vacation. Is Disney not making any major additions because they don't think a new major attraction would provide the boost in attendance they're hoping for? Just some food for thought. Your opinions and ideas are always welcome.

It really is a scary economy right now. We are going to Disney late September and are weighing the cost of flying versus driving. My parents are in their 80s and don't like to fly so I guess we will drive. Janine

 

[wdwCC]

Economies go up, and go down. Most attractions are years in the planning. Saying not announcing any plans because of the current situation assumes they think the economy won't improve which isn't the way history has happened.

 

[CaptainMichael]

On the flipside, expansion gives some an extra incentive to go. It's not easy running WDW.

 

[TubaGeek]

Also, just because they're not constructing doesn't mean they're not planning! If your theory is correct and they're not constructing until after this economic slump, I imagine that there will be a surge of new great ride ideas that were waiting on the sidelines.

 

[marni1971]

There`s plenty in the works for the parks. Official announcements are just for PR

 

[DisneyExplorer]

There`s plenty in the works for the parks. Official announcements are just for PR

Well, that's good to hear, Martin. I'd just like some official confirmation on these rumored projects. It seems like we've heard about quite a few new, exciting attractions coming, but we just have no idea when.

 

[ClemsonTigger]

There`s plenty in the works for the parks. Official announcements are just for PR

Agreed...and those projects (some of them anyway) have already been greenlighted, budgeted and have planning work underway. Just finished with TSM and now working on American Idol. Announcements are being paced rather that the "addition for each park" approach

 

[dhoywdw20x]

Actually, the market had a growth of 1 percent first quarter and for anyone out there who believes that we are in a recession, we need to straight quarters of negative growth and we are not even close.

 

[DisneyExplorer]

Actually, the market had a growth of 1 percent first quarter and for anyone out there who believes that we are in a recession, we need to straight quarters of negative growth and we are not even close.

There might not be a recession in the theme park industry at the moment, but there sure is a recession in the overall economy. Give it time, and then eventually everything will crash unless we can get a good president to fix our problems.

 

[unkadug]

There might not be a recession in the theme park industry at the moment, but there sure is a recession in the overall economy. Give it time, and then eventually everything will crash unless we can get a good president to fix our problems.

You sure put a lot of faith in one man.

 

[maryszhi]

if our economy gets fixes and the mess is cleaned up...maybe park attendence will go back to normal, and disney will start makeing more attractions

 

[krankenstein]

There might not be a recession in the theme park industry at the moment, but there sure is a recession in the overall economy. Give it time, and then eventually everything will crash unless we can get a good president to fix our problems.

There is a lot more to it than just the President. A lot of the control is out of his hands b/c of the checks and balances.

Thanks for the heads up about the items being in the pipeline, Martin!

 

[wdwfan100]

if our economy gets fixes and the mess is cleaned up...maybe park attendence will go back to normal, and disney will start makeing more attractions

Is park attendence down right now?

 

[wdwfan100]

There might not be a recession in the theme park industry at the moment, but there sure is a recession in the overall economy. Give it time, and then eventually everything will crash unless we can get a good president to fix our problems.

This discussion has been had over and over again. Our overall economy is not in a recession. As stated earlier a recession is when the GDP is negative for 2 consecutive quarters. This has not happened, so no recession. That being said. I am not saying our economy is as robust as it could be. As far as the president goes. He has only a marginal effect on how the economy actually performs. Every President since Carter has had econmomic downturns.

 

[peter11435]

Is park attendence down right now?

no...

 

[redkoala245]

They will definately put new attractions once gas is hopefully not a big issue.

 

[maryszhi]

according to a cm, there has been lower crowds and surge in cancelations

 

[NX2I85]

I suspect the concern, if it exists, may not be with the actual attendance numbers but with what people are spending while at WDW. A shift to a more local crowd would not be good news for WDW.