The More Rumors that Get Passed Through the Grapevine, The Scarier They Get...

[pheneix]

In a sad bit of news it has just hit my inbox that Burbank has all but decided that Animal Kingdom will be running dark days this fall. That means that the park will be closed one of two days out of the week.

I should point out that this IS NOT a done deal, but for the record, I would start doing some creative planning for any vacations after the end of the month...

 

[Loucifr]

Why would Animal Kingdom have to do this? Is it attendance issue? Is it just a reason to cut the hours of AK employees? AK already runs shorter hours than the rest of the parks, I know it is just a rumor but what purpose would “Dark Days” serve.

 

[pheneix]

It's not really as much of an attendance problem (though the park does have a nasty attendance problem, it is still somewhat profitable) as it is that it is seen as expendable to cut so that profits can be maximized and sent to help cushion the fall for the rest of the company.

 

[RobFL]

It wouldn't save them much operating cost...

The would only be sending home the attractions and merchandise CM's. The animal caretakers would all have to stay put with their regular schedules.

If anyone is suffering an attendance problem right now, it's poor ol' Epcot.

-Rob

 

[Katherine]

Originally posted by RobFL
If anyone is suffering an attendance problem right now, it's poor ol' Epcot.

I agree Rob that Epcot is suffering the most attendance wise(even though I'll always love it)!

 

[pheneix]

Animal Kingdom's attendance is still the lowest, though Epcot is not performing that much better...

 

[RobFL]

I think the problem is that Epcot once had amazing attendance figures.. AK never quite had stellar preformance.

-Rob

 

[pheneix]

Yep, I agree there. Epcot used to be the third most attended park in the world, and this year it will not even break the top 5.

 

[burbur]

they are for real considering doing this? wow. i figured 9am-5pm a day was gonna be the standard till next spring/summer, but i never would of thought they consider closing a park on certain days. interesting.

 

[adr315]

Now its coming back and hitting Burbank on the a$$......... They dont make the park the right way in the first place, and look what happens........maybe if they woulda made BK, but i cant judge, cuz AK could be doing just as bad even with BK.......

 

[Cliff]

Damn....this one really stinks.

I was there at AK on opening day waiting at the parking gate at 4:30am.

I had heard that day the Disney shareholders NEVER wanted that park built. Eisner really liked the idea and used all his muscle to get it made. The oposing force complained that it would "steal" ticket sales too much from the other three.

What is the park average attendance a day? 20,000 on weekends and 8,000 on weekdays?

Theoretically, that would cause 20,000 more people to spread out among Epcot, MK and MGM if AK is not open. That would be a good "shot in the arm" for the other three.

A few more major attractions and an "Austrailia" land with all it's crazy animals ( Koala,Kanguru, mega poisonous snakes and Platypus) and you REALLY have a kick- park!!

I hope this is not true.

Something tells me the shareholders are saying "See, I told you so."

CT : - (

 

[Monorail Lime]

I wouldn't say Animal Kingdom was made wrong. They were going for a Busch Gardens knock-off and did a pretty good job.

Most people think of Animal Kingdom as a zoo for little kids, and almost everyone will pass it up if they only have time to visit three parks. Beastly Kingdom would drive attendance up, but only by pulling guests away from Epcot. Better promotion of the core elements to encourage guests to expand their vacations by a day might be a better solution than tacking on a bunch of thrill rides.

 

[dizpins14]

If any park should be doing Dark Days it should be California Adventure but you know how bad this will look for Disney who prides themself on have only closing the parks occasionaly for hurricaines and recently EPCOT cause of no electricity. Otherwise the parks don't close for holidays and the like.

 

[pheneix]

>>>If any park should be doing Dark Days it should be California Adventure<<<

Oh don't worry, they have plans for DCA too.

>>>What is the park average attendance a day? 20,000 on weekends and 8,000 on weekdays?<<<

It's lower than that. The park's daily average this year will likely clock in at around 19,000, or 6.9 million, assuming attendance does not get any worse.

>>>Theoretically, that would cause 20,000 more people to spread out among Epcot, MK and MGM if AK is not open. That would be a good "shot in the arm" for the other three.<<<

Theoretically that is true, but more than likely it would cause guests to spend time off property at other destinations. When Epcot went down a couple of months ago the impact on the other parks wasn't nearly as severe as originally thought.

 

[Talsonic]

He's pulling your chain!

Originally posted by pheneix
In a sad bit of news it has just hit my inbox that Burbank has all but decided that Animal Kingdom will be running dark days this fall. That means that the park will be closed one of two days out of the week.

I should point out that this IS NOT a done deal, but for the record, I would start doing some creative planning for any vacations after the end of the month...

Yeah, I can see it now just as I have checked into the AKL. The desk clerk says, "Yes sir we just have to advise you that the Animal Kingdom Park will be closed tomorrow and next Tuesday. Perhaps you would enjoy sitting on a balcony all day to watch the animals?". :lol:

 

[wdwmagic]

I really cannot see this happening. Rumors such as this have popped up before. I am thinking of the rumor saying Adventureland would be closed on certain days/times etc. Management may brainstorm these ideas, but I would be so surprised if they went through with it. The fallout from such action would be huge.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Especially if you tie it in with the attemts to guage guest satisfaction at the MK, this seems a backwards step. I hope its just a spoof. But look on the bright side, the park didnt even exist a few years ago, it can be done in less than a day, if they save a few $$$s the bean counters will be orgasmic.:dazzle:

 

[Mag1575]

I have to agree with Rob. Epcot was the least crowded of the four parks. Hopefully, in the future, attendence for this wonderful park will pick up.


Mark

 

[Rider]

If this happens (which I doubt) it will give one good thing: a day or so for the work crews to do anything they need without it being dark or behind walls.

 

[CoraJack]

I don't believe these reports that Disney is giving out about low park attendance. I feel like this: :brick:

This is due to the fact that every time in the past 8 months when I have been trying to make reservations I have had a hard time doing so. I had to change my dates to get the block of time that I wanted. They kept saying they were "booked up". Early June I had a heck of a time getting 6 days at the Polynesian. I could NOT even make a ressie for the Poly in October they were "booked". I had to go into November and even then the rep said "Wow, the resorts are surely getting booked up in November too!"

OK now on to the parks--they were CROWDED! All of them--Epcot included. You couldn't even get near the parade at AK unless you got a seat over an hour before! And ERide night! HA! All that was was an extension of park hours--the lines for Splash and Space were still an hour long! The busses were FULL everywhere we went. DD was packed, packed, packed!

Nope--I just can't imagine the parks being any more crowded than they were when I was there. Someone is telling a little fibby somewhere I think to justify the shorter park hours and other cutbacks.

I was hoping when we go in early November we'd get a break from the crowds--but if the CM's are already saying things like "we're sure getting booked up fast." I just don't see it happening.

Just my two cents....
Christina