Hi Everyone. It has a been a while since I've had anything fun and interesting to share, recently I've mostly been limiting my posts to single comments about topics posted here and there. But I wanted to let you know that I'm not completely silent and out of the loop. I've been quietly reading everything I can, painting a picture in my head of how things will happen next year. And since I really don't see anyone else that has posted anything resembling a master plan for WDW for the next year, I figured I could.
This post is filled with things that I expect to happen in the next year. It's not meant to be 100% accurate, because timetables change, and it's also not all-inclusive, and I don't have sources for some things. So what is it? I guess you might say it's my "best-guess" of announcements that will be taking place this year, based on my own personal observations of how things have been rolling out, and what I imagine Disney's reaction will be to Universal's projects, as well as their own reactions to their own failures. So here it is...
-Annual Passes will go up in price yet again, perhaps at even a higher rate than last year. This is based on the fact that the parks are still crowded as heck. I believe Disney will eventually attempt to dump its current ticket provider (Omni-ticket) because they were acquired by another company recently and to be honest, their product has been stagnant. Disney has to be worried about true innovation by Omni-ticket, so they will probably switch everything over to their internal ticketing system, with the underlying technology being built by Gateway. (That's the company that Disney uses in Disneyland, Gateway Ticketing, not the company that used to make computers in cow boxes.) If this does happen, that would allow Disney to eventually change the way Annual Passes are purchased, turning it into more of a membership program that can automatically renew annually (or maybe even monthly). Granted, this project would take more than a year, but I can make a reasonable guess that it will start to happen this year.
-An overhaul to dining hours for the bars in resorts will take place. This may align to Disneyland's bar hours, and be based on day of week and season. The bottom line here is that Trader Sam's needs to be successful at the Polynesian, and they are preparing for some changes that will drastically change how WDW operates the bars and their kitchens at resorts.
-After doing some of my own calculations based on the cost of the technology and additional staffing, it's obvious to me that Be Our Guest's method of quick service dining during lunch is a total financial failure. Although this probably won't change how Be Our Guest operates, I can almost guarantee you that no future restaurants will ever operate this way. If I was in charge, I'd probably look for more off the shelf products to help with the way Disney does quick service food. (Namely, look at some different cash register systems, and really observe how well The Leaky Cauldron at Universal operates)
-More fences will go up around the pools at Walt Disney World, and more and more kiddy pools will vanish forever because of the ADA laws. Enough said. Contrary to what everyone else is saying though, these fences will not restrict access to the pool areas, they are simply there for Reedy Creek safety reasons.
-A plethora of new types of Magic Bands. Disney wants to see these things sell as much as possible, so expect tons of new designs this year. Basically, Disney needs to ramp-up on these things so they aren't looked at as a total financial failure. You can bet money that they will not be the primary method for anything in about 2-3 years. That Apple Watch (really the iPhone 6 as well) will replace Magic Bands as soon as Apple lets developers use the NFC for something besides Apple Pay. And you can bet that Disney will be one of the first in line. (Yeah, Androids should work too, for you non-apple people out there)
-Magic Band failures. You'll start seeing the pegs on the magic bands fall off (the pegs that lock the band into place are badly designed and the plastic breaks on them after a year and a half or two), and the batteries will start dying. I don't think that Disney realizes how much of a nightmare this will be with people using their own old Magic Bands from previous trips.
-Nothing new going into Epcot except Frozen and Soarin's new theater. Disney just doesn't want to spend the money there until they can fix the other parks first. Epcot can survive on special events for the time being. Plus, with Frozen in the park, there's no need to do anything else anytime soon.
-More new brands coming to Animal Kingdom and Disney's Hollywood. They really want to brand up the places. It's not just Avatar and Star Wars now. I expect to see more from Toy Story, Cars, ABC, Other Pixar, and tons of additional stuff. I actually think there will be a major announcement this year for the re-birth of Disney's Hollywood, and that will include new benches (I'm kidding), more Toy Story Mania, and more closures of attractions. (Bye LMA and Indy)
-Magic Kingdom will see some more food offerings and more interactivity. A lot of enhanced features triggered by the Magic Bands will start rolling out.
-Disney Springs will actually be the most successful thing that Disney has done in decades in Florida. Yeah, sounds unbelievable, but yeah, I'm calling it now. I don't care about the naysayers who think it's just another mall. The truth is, it IS just another mall... but with Disney's name on it. It's gonna be incredibly successful. Once that direct access from I-4 opens, it will make all the difference.
-There is no new theme park coming to WDW any time soon. Anyone who thinks otherwise, especially in that property north of Flamingo Crossings, is just plain wrong. There is no evidence at all to support another park going up there within at least the next ten years, if ever.
-The new DVC project at Wilderness Lodge will start.
-Someone on these boards will start a rumor about Monorail expansion again, this time because the automation thing is happening. By the way, that is happening this year. So, automated monorails, yay!
-They'll start switching to paper bags instead of plastic.
-Your standard annual increase of food, passes, Tables in Wonderland, etc.
That's all I have for now. If I think of anything else, I'll let you know. And before anyone says that they said it before, I know. I thank you for posting it before and wherever you posted it. But the truth is, there needed to be an update with everything in one place. If you want to link back to the original posts, go ahead, I'll even update my post with links to your old posts. I'm not trying to take credit for the individual things, just putting all the puzzle pieces together.
This post is filled with things that I expect to happen in the next year. It's not meant to be 100% accurate, because timetables change, and it's also not all-inclusive, and I don't have sources for some things. So what is it? I guess you might say it's my "best-guess" of announcements that will be taking place this year, based on my own personal observations of how things have been rolling out, and what I imagine Disney's reaction will be to Universal's projects, as well as their own reactions to their own failures. So here it is...
-Annual Passes will go up in price yet again, perhaps at even a higher rate than last year. This is based on the fact that the parks are still crowded as heck. I believe Disney will eventually attempt to dump its current ticket provider (Omni-ticket) because they were acquired by another company recently and to be honest, their product has been stagnant. Disney has to be worried about true innovation by Omni-ticket, so they will probably switch everything over to their internal ticketing system, with the underlying technology being built by Gateway. (That's the company that Disney uses in Disneyland, Gateway Ticketing, not the company that used to make computers in cow boxes.) If this does happen, that would allow Disney to eventually change the way Annual Passes are purchased, turning it into more of a membership program that can automatically renew annually (or maybe even monthly). Granted, this project would take more than a year, but I can make a reasonable guess that it will start to happen this year.
-An overhaul to dining hours for the bars in resorts will take place. This may align to Disneyland's bar hours, and be based on day of week and season. The bottom line here is that Trader Sam's needs to be successful at the Polynesian, and they are preparing for some changes that will drastically change how WDW operates the bars and their kitchens at resorts.
-After doing some of my own calculations based on the cost of the technology and additional staffing, it's obvious to me that Be Our Guest's method of quick service dining during lunch is a total financial failure. Although this probably won't change how Be Our Guest operates, I can almost guarantee you that no future restaurants will ever operate this way. If I was in charge, I'd probably look for more off the shelf products to help with the way Disney does quick service food. (Namely, look at some different cash register systems, and really observe how well The Leaky Cauldron at Universal operates)
-More fences will go up around the pools at Walt Disney World, and more and more kiddy pools will vanish forever because of the ADA laws. Enough said. Contrary to what everyone else is saying though, these fences will not restrict access to the pool areas, they are simply there for Reedy Creek safety reasons.
-A plethora of new types of Magic Bands. Disney wants to see these things sell as much as possible, so expect tons of new designs this year. Basically, Disney needs to ramp-up on these things so they aren't looked at as a total financial failure. You can bet money that they will not be the primary method for anything in about 2-3 years. That Apple Watch (really the iPhone 6 as well) will replace Magic Bands as soon as Apple lets developers use the NFC for something besides Apple Pay. And you can bet that Disney will be one of the first in line. (Yeah, Androids should work too, for you non-apple people out there)
-Magic Band failures. You'll start seeing the pegs on the magic bands fall off (the pegs that lock the band into place are badly designed and the plastic breaks on them after a year and a half or two), and the batteries will start dying. I don't think that Disney realizes how much of a nightmare this will be with people using their own old Magic Bands from previous trips.
-Nothing new going into Epcot except Frozen and Soarin's new theater. Disney just doesn't want to spend the money there until they can fix the other parks first. Epcot can survive on special events for the time being. Plus, with Frozen in the park, there's no need to do anything else anytime soon.
-More new brands coming to Animal Kingdom and Disney's Hollywood. They really want to brand up the places. It's not just Avatar and Star Wars now. I expect to see more from Toy Story, Cars, ABC, Other Pixar, and tons of additional stuff. I actually think there will be a major announcement this year for the re-birth of Disney's Hollywood, and that will include new benches (I'm kidding), more Toy Story Mania, and more closures of attractions. (Bye LMA and Indy)
-Magic Kingdom will see some more food offerings and more interactivity. A lot of enhanced features triggered by the Magic Bands will start rolling out.
-Disney Springs will actually be the most successful thing that Disney has done in decades in Florida. Yeah, sounds unbelievable, but yeah, I'm calling it now. I don't care about the naysayers who think it's just another mall. The truth is, it IS just another mall... but with Disney's name on it. It's gonna be incredibly successful. Once that direct access from I-4 opens, it will make all the difference.
-There is no new theme park coming to WDW any time soon. Anyone who thinks otherwise, especially in that property north of Flamingo Crossings, is just plain wrong. There is no evidence at all to support another park going up there within at least the next ten years, if ever.
-The new DVC project at Wilderness Lodge will start.
-Someone on these boards will start a rumor about Monorail expansion again, this time because the automation thing is happening. By the way, that is happening this year. So, automated monorails, yay!
-They'll start switching to paper bags instead of plastic.
-Your standard annual increase of food, passes, Tables in Wonderland, etc.
That's all I have for now. If I think of anything else, I'll let you know. And before anyone says that they said it before, I know. I thank you for posting it before and wherever you posted it. But the truth is, there needed to be an update with everything in one place. If you want to link back to the original posts, go ahead, I'll even update my post with links to your old posts. I'm not trying to take credit for the individual things, just putting all the puzzle pieces together.
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