The Spirited Back Nine ...

ParentsOf4

Well-Known Member
Disney is going to probably going to want to wait and see how the public reacts to the new movies before deciding to invest park hardware in them. 7 years may even be too conservative a number.
I suspect Disney already is banking on the next Star Wars trilogy being a financial success. Instead, it's more a matter of Parks & Resorts capex budgets.

Shanghai's expenditures are beginning to peak. Meanwhile, Pandora's budget will start to ramp up next year, while Disney just sank several hundred million into recapitalizing Disneyland Paris.

Iger/Rasulo are infamous for keeping a lid on P&R's budgets, particularly capital expenditures. They'll want to stretch out budgets so that capex doesn't peak above the high teens.
 

ParentsOf4

Well-Known Member
I really don't think they will wait that long. They are turning around a Frozen ride, albeit a re-theme, in a little over 2 years from the release date, and this is a movie that had no history to go on. Star Wars is a proven franchise that is still one of the top merchandise sellers. They very likely that the have attraction designs already in the works and we are still over a year from release. I think we could see a new Star Wars ride within 2 to 3 years of the release or EP VII.
Considering Disney's Parks & Resorts will collect over $15 billion in revenue this year, the budget for the Frozen overlay is going to come out to little more than a rounding error. That, coupled with its immense popularity, is why Disney is moving forward. If a Frozen attraction was going to cost a couple of hundred million, you'd see them drag their feet on it.

It's a similar reason why Toy Story Mania was greenlit back in the days when Iger/Rasulo were slashing Parks & Resorts capex budgets. Toy Story Mania was one of the few WDW additions completed in the late 2000s because it was so darn cheap.
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
Phish was a local Burlington, Vermont Band... Just saying!
They played a show in Philly a while back and Trey came out in a Flyers John LeClair jersey. LeClair was from Vermont too and was friends with the band. I think he met them back when he went to University of Vermont. Trey also did the national anthem before a Flyers game once.
 

ParentsOf4

Well-Known Member
I agree - at least nothing is laughably out dated in DAK. I'm looking at you Ellen; Imagination, Capt Neo...
Side by side, both have Etickets with some major flaws (Disco yeti vs Soarin's poor screen quality) and DAK has the horrible Chester's & Hesters. But pound for pound, dollar for dollar, inch by inch, my opinion is also that DAK is in much better shape than Epcot .
Also don't forget that DAK is 16 years newer than Epcot.

Epcot is getting old and, unlike the classic looking Disneyland and Magic Kingdom, it's increasingly looking like what it is: a late 1970s version of a "futuristic" theme park. :)
 

RSoxNo1

Well-Known Member
Also don't forget that DAK is 16 years newer than Epcot.

Epcot is getting old and, unlike the classic looking Disneyland and Magic Kingdom, it's increasingly looking like what it is: a late 1970s version of a "futuristic" theme park. :)
In 1998 (Epcot's 16th year) it was about to open the first attraction that really started to change the park (Test Track).
 

Nemo14

Well-Known Member
My favorite Ben & Jerry's flavor, however, I hardly ever eat Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream. Way too expensive, but, the funny thing is that it is more expensive in Vermont then here in North Carolina. Whoda thunk it?:)
Back before you could buy it anywhere, DH and I used to drive to VT for an ice cream cone once in a while. They used to sell "factory seconds" at very low prices in a couple of markets up there, and we may have invested in a few of those...
 

danlb_2000

Premium Member
Considering Disney's Parks & Resorts will collect over $15 billion in revenue this year, the budget for the Frozen overlay is going to come out to little more than a rounding error. That, coupled with its immense popularity, is why Disney is moving forward. If a Frozen attraction was going to cost a couple of hundred million, you'd see them drag their feet on it.

It's a similar reason why Toy Story Mania was greenlit back in the days when Iger/Rasulo were slashing Parks & Resorts capex budgets. Toy Story Mania was one of the few WDW additions completed in the late 2000s because it was so darn cheap.

I would consider a Star Wars attraction opening in 2018/2019 "dragging their feet". I just don't see them waiting until 2021/2022 to open a Star Wars ride, especially since there are very strong rumors of DHS getting a high budget makeover starting soon.
 

PhotoDave219

Well-Known Member
I would consider a Star Wars attraction opening in 2018/2019 "dragging their feet". I just don't see them waiting until 2021/2022 to open a Star Wars ride, especially since there are very strong rumors of DHS getting a high budget makeover starting soon.

I think the high budget makeover will be first. I think the SW expansion would be a separate budget.

From what I've heard (and I think @WDW1974 has said this as well) that Anaheim will get anything SW related first when it comes to the parks.

Personally? I think we're about 10-11 months out from any SW construction starting at the Studios. Maybe a potential opening of 2018-2019. I sincerely doubt it would be before Ep 8 opens.
 

Matt7187

Well-Known Member
Harsh.. I'll surely bury my face in my pillow and cry myself to sleep tonight. Rather than completely void out my opinion, care to counter with why you think Epcot needs less love and money put into it than DAK?
There are more than 4 real rides in Epcot. WS on it's own is better than AK. You can spend more than one full day in Epcot, in AK, the most I've spent is around 4 hours. Pandora will help, but it still needs more. A lot more than Epcot needs. Epcot pretty much only needs some ride updates, AK needs actual rides built. 4 real rides and some carny rides are not worth almost 100 dollars. Being able to walk around the world and go on some very good attractions in FW, definitely worth 100 dollars
 
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GoofGoof

Premium Member
Harsh.. I'll surely bury my face in my pillow and cry myself to sleep tonight. Rather than completely void out my opinion, care to counter with why you think Epcot needs less love and money put into it than DAK?
EPCOT doesn't need anything new. Just a clean up of what's there. A major clean up at this point, but the bones of a really solid park still exist.

AK was never finished. It was always intended to add more to the park. Avatar is filling that role now I guess, but there is still a large expansion area behind Asia.

Plus, from a money standpoint EPCOT does much better as a stand alone park then AK.
 

flynnibus

Premium Member
The parks are still near-pristine and spotless every morning.

Except the wear and tear not fixed...

The parks get dirtier throughout the day for several reasons: higher volume of people moving through the parks - its very hard to clean a queue when its packed with people all day

And the park used to clean that up throughout the day better than they do now. The level of effort in maintaining that standard is not the same.
 

BrerJon

Well-Known Member
That's my guess.
Disney is going to probably going to want to wait and see how the public reacts to the new movies before deciding to invest park hardware in them. 7 years may even be too conservative a number.

This is not unprecedented.

Star Tours 2 was first rumoured to be happening just after Episode I hit the screens in 1999. The ride finally opened 11 years later, 6 years after the last film in the second trilogy.
 

Figaro928

Well-Known Member
There are more than 4 real rides in Epcot. WS on it's own is better than AK. You can spend more than one full day in Epcot, in AK, the most I've spent is around 4 hours. Pandora will help, but it still needs more. A lot more than Epcot needs. Epcot pretty much only needs some ride updates, AK needs actual rides built. 4 real rides and some carny rides are not worth almost 100 dollars. Being able to walk around the world and go on some very good attractions in FW, definitely worth 100 dollars


Thanks for your input, and yours as well @GoofGoof . In a way, I completely agree with you. DAK is really under built and under utilized. Maybe it's because Epcot was my favorite park and I still want it to be my favorite park - but I'm still under the mind set that having a Michael Jackson "attraction" gone and putting something new in it's place is more dire than putting something where nothing was before. :p Parts of Futureworld should really big at the top of the list.
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
Except the wear and tear not fixed...



And the park used to clean that up throughout the day better than they do now. The level of effort in maintaining that standard is not the same.
I think it's a combination of both.

There has definitely been a reduction in park maintenance budgets. Less people working on upkeep leads to more issues. However, I also think maybe part of the issue is less pride in work too. This isn't just a WDW CM issue it's a problem in society.

The other issue is cleanliness is contagious. If a person walks into a sparkling clean bathroom they are much less likely to make a mess. If it's already dirty then they don't feel bad adding to the problem. Same goes for a quick service restaurant. If the place is spotless most people will feel bad making a mess o leaving a mess on a table.

A common topic on these boards and especially these threads is the decline in quality of the average WDW guest. The Walmart crowd, the honey boo-boo crowd whatever we are calling them these days. If the quality of the average guest is really declining then that has to add to the problem too. It can't be just lack of maintenance.
 

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