News Walt Disney Company plans to spend $17 billion at Walt Disney World over the next ten years

[BlakeW39]

Speaking of Kali River rapids, that ride is interesting… My wife is Hindu and isn’t really offended or bothered by it, but she has always wondered why they named it what they did. She equates it to having a ride named “Jesus Christ River Rapids”. We kind of chuckle about it. I’d be down for a re-theme.

Huh, never thought of it like that. I think the ride is pretty boring, especially in a park like DAK which is generally stellar as far as attraction quality goes. Even DINOSAUR was really good before, again like I said, they painted everything in neon.

Tub boats are actually pretty obselete…so the better move would be to yank it and be done with it

I think I agree with you, but care to elaborate?

 

[ElvisMickey]

Before CA Adventure. Interesting opinion about that park though...

Loved the original. Was working for the Disney Store at the time in NJ and had an early preview. Still drooling over the thought of Disney’s America become a reality lol one day ! Talk about a theme park with !

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I think I agree with you, but care to elaborate?

River rapids ride are very 1980’s. And kali was reportedly stripped down to save money (dak was the most overpriced park this Side of euro) as well.

So why spend a lot on “retheme”? That space is better used in better ways

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I love what Eisner (and Wells) did up to Euro Disneyland, it was quality driven they let the Imagineers run wild, after Euro Disney struggled (and Wells died) Eisner lost his nerve and gave us 3 cheap parks, AK being the best but still built based on budget rather than on quality.

DCA 2.0 and Pandora are Igers best park achievements, primarily because they were quality driven builds, unfortunately his early quality driven projects were replaced with IP driven projects and the last 10 years have not been great.

Maybe Sir is right, they seems to start as quality driven guys and then transition into value and synergy driven as the years go by… maybe they should be limited to a decade and then bring in fresh eyes.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Not sure if you saw but he was on CNBC a few weeks ago…almost cried watching that interview lol

You know…I sound like a huge Eisner fan around here.

But I’m trying to be fair and acknowledge the accomplishments without tolerating sycophant scapegoating since. It’s been far too out of control for years. 19…to be exact

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I love what Eisner (and Wells) did up to Euro Disneyland, it was quality driven they let the Imagineers run wild, after Euro Disney struggled (and Wells died) Eisner lost his nerve and gave us 3 cheap parks, AK being the best but still built based on budget rather than on quality.

DCA 2.0 and Pandora are Igers best park achievements, primarily because they were quality driven builds, unfortunately his early quality driven projects were replaced with IP driven projects and the last 10 years have not been great.

Maybe Sir is right, they seems to start as quality driven guys and then transition into value and synergy driven as the years go by.

I rather have cheap parks to serve people than reduced hours and capacity to charge people more for the same rides after 7 pm

 

[ElvisMickey]

I love what Eisner (and Wells) did up to Euro Disneyland, it was quality driven they let the Imagineers run wild, after Euro Disney struggled (and Wells died) Eisner lost his nerve and gave us 3 cheap parks, AK being the best but still built based on budget rather than on quality.

DCA 2.0 and Pandora are Igers best park achievements, primarily because they were quality driven builds, unfortunately his early quality driven projects were replaced with IP driven projects and the last 10 years have not been great.

Maybe Sir is right, they seems to start as quality driven guys and then transition into value and synergy driven as the years go by.

Makes you wonder where we’d be today if Wells didn’t die prematurely…

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

I rather have cheap parks to serve people than reduced hours and capacity to charge people more for the same rides after 7 pm

Pros and cons to both, even with their reduced hours and expensive price tag I’ll take current DCA, HS, and AK over their old counterparts.

Makes you wonder where we’d be today if Wells didn’t die prematurel…

I’ve thought about this a lot. I think the Disney parks need a dreamer and a budget guy to work best, Walt wouldn’t have worked without Roy, Eisner didn’t work without Wells, I think that’s Igers problem also, he doesn’t have a dreamer to balance out his business side.

 

[BlakeW39]

River rapids ride are very 1980’s. And kali was reportedly stripped down to save money (dak was the most overpriced park this Side of euro) as well.

So why spend a lot on “retheme”? That space is better used in better ways

Oh, yeah I agree then. I've never really cared much for river rapids rides, all they really do is get you wet.

Problem being Iger's replacement for the attraction would almost certainly be some kind of IP based ride that ruins the artistic direction of the land.

 

[ElvisMickey]

Pros and cons to both, even with their reduced hours and expensive price tag I’ll take current DCA, HS, and AK over their old counterparts.



I’ve thought about this a lot. I think the Disney parks need a dreamer and a budget guy to work best, Walt wouldn’t have worked without Roy, Eisner didn’t work without Wells, I think that’s Igers problem also, he doesn’t have a dreamer to balance out his business side.

Exactly this. This company is 100 years old now. Whenever it’s been successful at its best, you’ve had a creative and a financial guy. Anyone with a solid knowledge of this company knows that Walt and Roy succeeded, just like Michael and Frank, after them. And let’s not forgot about Katzenberg‘s contribution. If you know, you know. Anyway, Iger has done nothing but ride Eisner’s coattails with the blessing of charm to sweet talk Lucasfilm, PIXAR, etc, to sell. He’s a politician at best.

 

[Tha Realest]

Eisner will be redeemed more and more as Iger fails.

Now did he stay too long? Absolutely. But took a little cornerlot studio and turned it into a conglomerate. But had flaws.

At least he never CAME BACK after staying too long

Eisner’s second act includes BOJACK HORSEMAN.

Eisner’s will include…Toy Story 5 and Frozen 3.

 

[Tha Realest]

Exactly this. This company is 100 years old now. Whenever it’s been successful at its best, you’ve had a creative and a financial guy. Anyone with a solid knowledge of this company knows that Walt and Roy succeeded, just like Michael and Frank, after them. And let’s not forgot about Katzenberg‘s contribution. If you know, you know. Anyway, Iger has done nothing but ride Eisner’s coattails with the blessing of charm to sweet talk Lucasfilm, PIXAR, etc, to sell. He’s a politician at best.

He’s a politician who thinks he’s a creative. Even worse.

 

[ElvisMickey]

Eisner’s second act includes BOJACK HORSEMAN.

Eisner’s will include…Toy Story 5 and Frozen 3.

He Tweets more about soccer than anything else. Roy Kent…

 

[MisterPenguin]

OK, shill...

Yes. Explaining how people's unbridled imaginations will only find themselves disappointed by this news makes me a shill.

Do you know what that word means?

 

[Coaster Lover]

Speaking of Kali River rapids, that ride is interesting… My wife is Hindu and isn’t really offended or bothered by it, but she has always wondered why they named it what they did. She equates it to having a ride named “Jesus Christ River Rapids”. We kind of chuckle about it. I’d be down for a re-theme.

While Kali is a Hindu goddess, the Kali River is a real river in India. So it's not like Disney/Joe just found a name associated with Indian culture and slapped it onto "River Rapids". Additionally, the Kali River (the real one) contains level 2 and level 3 rapids and is surrounded by dense forests (much like what they were trying to simulate at Animal Kingdom), so at least in my opinion, there is nothing in poor taste/disrespectful regarding the ride name or theme... though not being a practicing Hindu, I can't say how others may feel.

 

[Drdcm]

While Kali is a Hindu goddess, the Kali River is a real river in India. So it's not like Disney/Joe just found a name associated with Indian culture and slapped it onto "River Rapids". Additionally, the Kali River (the real one) contains level 2 and level 3 rapids and is surrounded by dense forests (much like what they were trying to simulate at Animal Kingdom), so at least in my opinion, there is nothing in poor taste/disrespectful regarding the ride name or theme... though not being a practicing Hindu, I can't say how others may feel.

That’s fair. Like I said, it doesn’t really bother us. I just find her take to be kind of humorous. I suppose they could have gone with the Indus River or something else.

Not trying to stir anything up, just sharing a joke we have together about the ride.

 

[Ayla]

$17 billion is A LOT of money. It can buy a fifth park, expansions and plusing at all existing parks, new hotels, new transportation options, a train station, and more. I’m excited to see what they will announce after they budget it.

I'm afraid you severely overestimate how far $17 billion goes, especially with the outrageous way WDW spends on projects.

 

[CinematicFusion]

Let’s do a sentence breakdown, shall we?

“Walt Disney plans”
Full stop. Bob-committal
“To spend $17 billion in the state of Florida”
Ok…we’re good there
“Over the next 10 years”
Danger, will Robinson. So that is a classic Disney tactic… big number diluted over a time frame.

This is a tactical and strategic Move.


But let’s get back to money. So how much do you think they legitimately need to spend per year - based on their budgets and practices - to improve/repair/sustain the Orlando complex?

Curious. Not a loaded question.

Dec. 2022: Disney reported $2.1 billion in operating costs in a recent quarter. Divided by 90 days, that’s a little more than $23 million a day in operating costs across the parks, from Disneyland to Tokyo to Disneyland Paris. That includes employees in the gift shop to those working admissions and beyond.
12 parks total So 1.9 million a day on parks.
4 parks in Florida so 7.6 million a day operating costs.
2.7 billion a year operating costs for Florida parks.

I can see Disney spending 17 billion over the next 10 years running the parks.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Dec. 2022: Disney reported $2.1 billion in operating costs in a recent quarter. Divided by 90 days, that’s a little more than $23 million a day in operating costs across the parks, from Disneyland to Tokyo to Disneyland Paris. That includes employees in the gift shop to those working admissions and beyond.

Right…that’s the operating costs and a good benchmark…

But my question is I’m looking for guesses on how much capex is needed to at least pretend like the parks aren’t suffering stagnation/rot?

 

[WaltsTreasureChest]

IgER said that there will be no more expansion to EPCOT for the forseeable future .

Too bad some of you weren’t alive during the Eisner era...best CEO ever. Actually was creative and cared about Walt’s legacy…

Controversial point for some on the internet, but I at least like the fact that Eisner gave alot of original ideas a chance, and REALLY expanded the parks as we know it, as well as bringing in the animation renaissance. The 80s/90s were a big part of a lot of Disney fans childhoods and the reason why many still go to Disneyworld today. I give him a lot of props.
I honestly wish Iger had someone by his side who was more creatively ambitious.