What if you owned the Disney Parks?

[J4546]

Ill be honest, I love having an AP and being able to go 1 or 2 times a month, but I agree if they got rid of it to make the park much less crowded the overall experience would be much much better imo. Id be down for maybe modifying it, allowing for say only a couple of rez a month perhaps....something has to be done about the crowding...when its super crowded i dont really like being at the parks.

 

[Goofyernmost]

If I owned a Disney Park, you would find my butt firmly planted on a deck chair on my yacht docked in the French Rivera sipping drinks containing tiny umbrellas and watching the balance grow in my bank accounts, minute by minute.

 

[Walt Disney1955]

I would do whatever I can to maintain the aura of the original intentions of the park. This is what has sold all of these years and kept everyone coming back. Keep the woke crowd from changing things as much as possible as they ruin every inch of things they touch. Preserve the old attractions. Utilize the space much, much better in places like Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom and DHS. Not Epcot so much, the lines don't kill you there so much, but the other three need more attractions in there and MK should be more like Disneyland which has far more attractions, the lines spread out better and more to offer.

I'd make sure guest experience is still among the top things emphasized.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

If I owned a Disney Park, you would find my butt firmly planted on a deck chair on my yacht docked in the French Rivera sipping drinks containing tiny umbrellas and watching the balance grow in my bank accounts, minute by minute.

So basically, the same thing Chappie is doing now…

 

[Smiley/OCD]

First: we can start small, but guest satisfaction will be number one in the parks…
The parks will have regular hours until 11, BUT, if you’re staying on property, 2 nights a week will be until 2 am
DME will return…
Nighttime parades will return EVERY night
Tiana gets her own land where TSI is, the riverboat gets permanently parked and converted to a Cajun themed restaurant with pedestrian bridges built to the Tiana area…pad behind TSI will be developed as well…SPLASH IS STAYING and will be refurbished with an educational center to explain why SotS is considered problematic…it will become a teaching lesson
(Which is what history is supposed to do)
Lastly, speedway will be 100% refurbished with either Tesla or GM as a sponsor with electric cars that actually steer NO CENTER RAILS!!!
I’ll relax for a year to continue…

 

[Walt Disney1955]

First: we can start small, but guest satisfaction will be number one in the parks…
The parks will have regular hours until 11, BUT, if you’re staying on property, 2 nights a week will be until 2 am
DME will return…
Nighttime parades will return EVERY night
Tiana gets her own land where TSI is, the riverboat gets permanently parked and converted to a Cajun themed restaurant with pedestrian bridges built to the Tiana area…pad behind TSI will be developed as well…SPLASH IS STAYING and will be refurbished with an educational center to explain why SotS is considered problematic…it will become a teaching lesson
(Which is what history is supposed to do)
Lastly, speedway will be 100% refurbished with either Tesla or GM as a sponsor with electric cars that actually steer NO CENTER RAILS!!!
I’ll relax for a year to continue…

I was with you for half of it, the first half. After that, no. There is way too much in the way of Tiana in your proposed park. Tom Sawyer Island gone, the Liberty Belle Riverboat gone, yikes. It is bad enough our beloved Splash Mountain is going the way of the dodo bird. I like that you keep Splash, but honestly, we don't need to be preached to about Song of the South. That movie gets rated as high on Rotten Tomatoes as Snow White does. People that watched it (and I did) love it.

I am with you for the hours extension, the nighttime parades (come on Spectromagic) though.

 

[Pepper's Ghost]

Sod it I'll take a stab.

I'm ignoring DL and outside of Florida projects. I'd probably sell those off under strict conditions that they are kept and maintained in an appropriate way.

At WDW I'd immediatly increase hiring of imagineering, and start construction on a new Imgineering HQ that would provide enough space for whatever they can dream of.

I'd likely raise ticket prices with a commitment that it would be temporary. To counter this I'd reduce merch and food costs, but increase quality.

All Parks
- A detailed cleaning and restoration program would begin, and to reduce disruption would be done overnight to avoid closing rides. Every night a team of workers will come in and work on swapping out dodgy animatronics, implementing improved ride effects, repainting, cleaning, etc.

Magic Kingdom
- I'd get Tron bloody finished even if it meant hiring several thousand workers to get the damn thing open, it's taken far too long.
- The Swiss Family Treehouse would be closed and demolished to make way for a new Up based ride, this would see you entering Carl's house and boarding a 'sofa' style chair in his living room. The ride vehicle would start to rise up on a platform before connecting to an initally slow moving track simulating the house fllying away. A 'gust of wind' would send the ride on a faster journey through adventure.
- Tom Sawyer Island would be closed and rethemed - it's tired and dated and provides practically no reason to go there right now.
- All projection equipment at places like Philharmagic to be replaced with the latest and greatest.
- Work would begin on expanding tomorowland, Tron's a terrible IP so that would within 5 years be retheamed. A couple of new rides would be added here and likely the closure of some crappy ones like Laugh Floor.

Epcot
- Mission Space would be closed and demolished (more on that in a bit)
- The Oddysey restaurant would be refurbished and reopened
- Spaceship Earth would get it's much needed overhaul
- New countreis would be greenlit in the World Showcase
- Harmonious would be ditched, along with its ugly *** barges and replaced with something more appropriate
- Journey would be given a total revamp, replacing the current itteration of Figment. The upstairs DVC lounge would be convered back to guest space with the rainbow corridor being rebuilt. There would be a strict 12 month policy on everything in here so as to avoid the crummy outdated tech issues it faced.
- Play Pavilion would be reinstated, however the WoL building would first be given a major overhaul to get rid of the nasty moldy look it currently has.
- Test track would be closed and rethemed
- The Mary Poppins plans for the UK pavilion would be reinstated.
- On the land that Mission: Space occupied, a new Space pavilion would be constructed. This would feature 2 new e-ticket rides: Ticket to Mars (a rollercoaster and motion simulator combination, featuring Tom Hanks as your pilot and Sir Patrick Stewart as your CapCom) and Asteroid Impact, a bodywars style simulator ride where you mine an asteroid for valuable resources, but everything goes wrong). The new pavilion would also feature smaller educational attractions, one of which would let you build your own colony on mars and overcome the issues of resources.
- A new live events stage would be themed into the currently being built part of futureworld. This would overlook the lake and act as a larger theater for things like the candlelight processional, as well as live music and entertainment every day.
- All showcase pavilions would recieve a major update, bringing in more culturally relevent content with the goal of educating.
- Improvements to walkways to help in summer heat.

Hollywood Studios
- The park would recieve two new lands: Animationland and Movieland (those names suck a bit so would have to come up with something better). Animationland would add a couple of new rides, and bring back some elements from the backlot tour to show how animation was done, and how it's now done. Movieland would bring back even more from the backlot tour, and would cover a large area with new movie sets (not just the typical new york streets everyone does).

Animal Kingdom
- This is the one park I wouldn't mess with too much.
- I would close and destroy the whole of dinoland. It would be replaced with a new land caled Beastly Kingdom. This would bring back the original concepts for this area. I'd likely throw millions at Joe Rhodes to come out of retirement, and take full ownership over the park with an unlimited budget to do whatever he wants with this section of the park, as well as others.

Waterparks
- Typhoon lagoon would be demolished. The land from the park would be used to create an ultimate water park around 2x the size of Volcano bay.
- Once this new water park was open, BB would be demolished.

Transport
- All monorail train would be replaced with walkthrough next gen versions, and work would start on extending the line to Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, Disney Springs and as many resorts as feasibly possible.
- The Magical Express would be immediately be reinstated, however wouldn't be needed for too long as the monorail will be extended to MCO, with the next gen trains being able to achive much higher speeds, and with a larger fleet.
- The Transportation and Ticket Center would be demolished entirely, to be replaced with a new welcome center, acting as a hub providing direct transport to all parks and resorts.
- All car parks would have solar 'roofs' installed above each space, with every space getting a charger which would be free of charge for guests to use. The same would be done at the resorts.
- Trams would be reinstated at all car parks, with new electric trams being ordered to replace them as a short term solution.
- Longer term an overhead people mover system would be added to all car parks.

Infrastructure
- Utilidoors would be temporarily closed and given a major refurbishment, with new tunneling being added going to all four parks and a new centralized resources hub outside of the parks. All delivieries, staff parking, etc would be relocated there with a peoplemover line being added to the new tunnels for improved transport of goods and cast members.
- New solar farms and battery banks would be added, with the aim of making the whole place entirely carbon neutral.
- Car parking would be made free for electric vehicles
- Busses would be slowly phased out and be replaced with the new and improved monorail line. For places that it's impractical to get the monorail to, either a peoplemover or gondala system would be added.

That's all I've got for now!

Holy cow. Pretty sure your version would cost about a TRILLION dollars. I don't even know if that's an exaggeration. Some is also probably near impossible like the monorail being extended to MCO. With as built up as the area is since Disney bought up all their land, acquiring the land necessary would be near impossible unless King DeSantis just made it happen by decree. Given his relationship with the company regardless of new ownership, I don't think he'd be willing to do that unless you gave him a 49.9% stake in the company. Btw, I'm taking no political stance one way or the other in any of those comments. I hope no one else reads into that and starts a political debate.

In any case, you got my vote for next owner. You've put forth some excellent ideas. I'm on board with you about demoing Swiss and Tom Sawyer. I know that's a pretty unpopular stance. I just don't get why people like them. It's not much space, but it's a waste of that space. They're so irrelevant.

One last comment about the re-theming of Tron. I don't mind the idea, but to me the more important retheme is Tron Track in EPCOT. Please make sure your folks start with re-theming that back to an automotive test environment like it was. It doesn't have to be identical to TT1.0, but something along those lines just makes more sense. Btw, since you're already spending a trillion dollars on all these changes, can we scrap the sponsorship of Tron Track too? The fact new sponsorship completely changes the ride is ridiculous. Get rid of the sponsor, or just sell billboards and product placement to all manufacturers rather than a single manufacturer who gets to re-theme the ride since they're paying for it.

 

[Pepper's Ghost]

First: we can start small, but guest satisfaction will be number one in the parks…
The parks will have regular hours until 11, BUT, if you’re staying on property, 2 nights a week will be until 2 am
DME will return…
Nighttime parades will return EVERY night
Tiana gets her own land where TSI is, the riverboat gets permanently parked and converted to a Cajun themed restaurant with pedestrian bridges built to the Tiana area…pad behind TSI will be developed as well…SPLASH IS STAYING and will be refurbished with an educational center to explain why SotS is considered problematic…it will become a teaching lesson
(Which is what history is supposed to do)
Lastly, speedway will be 100% refurbished with either Tesla or GM as a sponsor with electric cars that actually steer NO CENTER RAILS!!!
I’ll relax for a year to continue…

I'm with @Big Phil on this one. You had me with the exception of all the Tiana stuff. I'm not saying TSI shouldn't be gutted and re-themed. It should IMO, but a whole land for Tiana? Why? She can have her own ride, sure, just like any other Disney character. I don't care about that, but why does she get her own land?

 

[Smiley/OCD]

I'm with @Big Phil on this one. You had me with the exception of all the Tiana stuff. I'm not saying TSI shouldn't be gutted and re-themed. It should IMO, but a whole land for Tiana? Why? She can have her own ride, sure, just like any other Disney character. I don't care about that, but why does she get her own land?

To make everyone happy that wouldn’t get their SM reboot…one E ticket and maybe a C…

 

[Smiley/OCD]

I was with you for half of it, the first half. After that, no. There is way too much in the way of Tiana in your proposed park. Tom Sawyer Island gone, the Liberty Belle Riverboat gone, yikes. It is bad enough our beloved Splash Mountain is going the way of the dodo bird. I like that you keep Splash, but honestly, we don't need to be preached to about Song of the South. That movie gets rated as high on Rotten Tomatoes as Snow White does. People that watched it (and I did) love it.

I am with you for the hours extension, the nighttime parades (come on Spectromagic) though.

I was trying to be respectful without going down the woke worm hole…I can live with compromise…(as long as I get my way in the end) lol…hell, after almost 29 years of wedded bliss, I’m FINALLY getting good at it…

 

[J4546]

Give Splash a Muppets retheme and build a new treasure cove and new Orleans waterfront area with Tiana

 

[Smiley/OCD]

I'm with @Big Phil on this one. You had me with the exception of all the Tiana stuff. I'm not saying TSI shouldn't be gutted and re-themed. It should IMO, but a whole land for Tiana? Why? She can have her own ride, sure, just like any other Disney character. I don't care about that, but why does she get her own land?

Maybe not a whole “land” like I said definitely a giant E ticket and maybe a C…maybe another ride connected to a HM theme? I think there’s enough room on the island for 3…even if you have 2, I could build a NOLA style restaurant on the island and convert the steam ship to a HM type restaurant

 

[Pepper's Ghost]

…maybe another ride connected to a HM theme? I think there’s enough room on the island for 3…even if you have 2, I could build a NOLA style restaurant on the island and convert the steam ship to a HM type restaurant

Now ya got me back. I vote for another HM themed ride and restaurant. I recall an HM-themed restaurant that was planned that fell to the wayside... like almost everything else Disney thinks of doing that sounds good.

 

[esskay]

Holy cow. Pretty sure your version would cost about a TRILLION dollars. I don't even know if that's an exaggeration. Some is also probably near impossible like the monorail being extended to MCO. With as built up as the area is since Disney bought up all their land, acquiring the land necessary would be near impossible unless King DeSantis just made it happen by decree. Given his relationship with the company regardless of new ownership, I don't think he'd be willing to do that unless you gave him a 49.9% stake in the company. Btw, I'm taking no political stance one way or the other in any of those comments. I hope no one else reads into that and starts a political debate.

In any case, you got my vote for next owner. You've put forth some excellent ideas. I'm on board with you about demoing Swiss and Tom Sawyer. I know that's a pretty unpopular stance. I just don't get why people like them. It's not much space, but it's a waste of that space. They're so irrelevant.

One last comment about the re-theming of Tron. I don't mind the idea, but to me the more important retheme is Tron Track in EPCOT. Please make sure your folks start with re-theming that back to an automotive test environment like it was. It doesn't have to be identical to TT1.0, but something along those lines just makes more sense. Btw, since you're already spending a trillion dollars on all these changes, can we scrap the sponsorship of Tron Track too? The fact new sponsorship completely changes the ride is ridiculous. Get rid of the sponsor, or just sell billboards and product placement to all manufacturers rather than a single manufacturer who gets to re-theme the ride since they're paying for it.

Haha, money was no object in my plans, just fixing absolutely everything I could think of.

Test Track absolutely would be put back to something closer to it's original concept, without the constant "this ride is sponsored by" nonsense being rammed down guests throats. I'd ditch all the tron style neon nonsense, go back to it being what the name implies - a test track, complete with test dummys back in the queue area. I'd maybe throw a bit of electric car stuff into the mix since thats where we're heading, but not with the 2022 interpritation of 'the future' (Tomorrowland style future in the 1950's looked way better IMO).

Thinking about it a bit more, I'd give the exterior areas of TT a retheme as well, it's really weird to see a test track surrounded by random trees and 1970s design style, so there'd be some exterior updates to match, maybe extending the building out the front to accomodate a large entry and exit area with more props and interactive stuff going on.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

Now ya got me back. I vote for another HM themed ride and restaurant. I recall an HM-themed restaurant that was planned that fell to the wayside... like almost everything else Disney thinks of doing that sounds good.

Whew…

I’ll do Epcot next…

 

[Smiley/OCD]

Part 2, Epcot…as far as the front of the park is concerned, I would let things finish as they are going, BUT, SE will get it’s much needed refurbishment…the on board computers will get completely redone, the space station will be visible again, and the AA’s will all work again. No more screens and drapes on the way down.

Soarin’ will get the California version in one theater and the world version in the other 2.

Test Track queue will have a combination of the original crash test dummies AND the design options…the heat/cold/acid tunnel will return and some of the black light effects will disappear too. Mission Space will get a completely new ride, sponsored by Space-X with a completely new mission to Mars and beyond maybe a second mission to land on a asteroid or retrieve and/or repair a satellite. Maybe 2 different missions like we have now with no centrifuge or barf bags.

World Showcase:
Harmonious will be eliminated and a Vegas type dancing fountain show with possible drones will take its place. Those barges are absolutely horrendous and I’ll be there with my hard hat watching the destruction/ implosion/ dismantling of those barges.

Countries will see the Mt. Fuji ride built for Japan, the water ride built for Germany, Mexico will see Coco and all remaining pads will be built…I’d take polls to see which countries guests would like to see represented but it would be countries/continents not currently represented…Australia, India, South America, etc. areas NOT represented now. I’d do everything I can to get participation from the host countries, but if not, I’ll go it alone. Special determinations will be made for existing and potential countries with political conflicts and if adjustments have to be made and individual countries changed into regional areas, we’ll do that. I’m open to suggestions and I’m sure fine tuning will be in order… Hollywood Studios is next…stay tuned…

 

[donaldtoo]

 

[NickMaio]

What if you became the richest person on Earth. I'm sure Elon Musk didn't know it would happen when he was in the early 90s. Heck, I graduated high school and he hadn't even started his journey to becoming the richest man on the planet. So let's say you were worth $200B+. Let's forget the financing part of the equation for a while. Would you WANT to purchase the Disney Parks if you could convince TWDC to sell them? With that kind of capital, you could possibly buy TWDC in total, but I want to focus on the desire to own the parks and not complicate things with making movies and those associated revenues, not to mention Star Wars.

And before you answer, like Patrick Warburton says... let's stow your Mickey Ears for a minute.
View attachment 652695

Let's consider the operational status of the parks. I know EVERY PERSON on these boards would love to own the parks they love so much, but let me remind you that it's a business. Yes, financially they're doing great, but these parks are in disrepair. As a massive Disney Parks fan you would want everything working all the time. That means spending a lot more money on repair, maintenance, and don't forget the desire to install that 5th gate with all the extinct rides that you miss so badly. ME TOO!

Let's assume that your wealth would not be enough to accomplish bringing back all your lost favorites, and maintain the parks at a level you think they should be. Again, putting your Mickey Ears down, do you think the current state of the parks are in a place where you think it can be brought back to former glory? I know most people will probably say 100% yes, but think about the labor and pain. Turning something you love into work, and the pressure of making decisions that will upset or anger so many people. Every topic on these boards is split. Maybe not evenly, but there is a split with a lot of people who will call you the next Bob Chapek, that you have no vision, you don't know what you're doing, that you're running a clown car, or maybe you're even driving the Disney Parks off a cliff. Are all the negatives that will take over your life enough for you to sacrifice the rest of your life? You might do many great things, and make a lot of people happy, but my guess is that the business side of it will completely take over the rest of your life.

I think we all think about how great it would be to be king of Disney Parks, and change things as we see fit like bringing back Alien Encounter, SoC, Wishes, Horizons, GMR, Backlot Tour, keep Splash as was, fix the Yeti, bring back the wench auction and Red in a dress... the list is endless, right? We all want that, but do you think you could do it if you purchased the Parks? At what cost, both personal and financial? I'm just wondering how many of us are realistic in knowing it probably isn't possible, or that some of think we probably could have it done by lunch, tomorrow. I just think so much has been done to unwind the magic of the parks that it would really be tough to bring it back. Some here feel that it will never happen with current leadership in place, but what if YOU were "current leadership" on your own dime... is it even possible? Would you want to even try because of all the grief associated with it? I'm hoping for some typical great dialog from our members.

HORIZONS...........2.0
And the return off edutainment in Epcot.
In today's social network we could really use some fun education.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

HORIZONS...........2.0
And the return off edutainment in Epcot.
In today's social network we could really use some fun education.

I agree, but unfortunately technology is advancing SO fast, from the time it’s planned to the time it opens, it’s outdated…it’s a problem…maybe we could have 3 or 4 companies, agree on a building style that everyone can work with and have 1 company start, with the second in the planning stage and rotate each one out every 2 years or so…this way it won’t stagnate.
The other problem I would think is that no one will want to reveal proprietary info too soon as to tip off their competitors.

 

[Smiley/OCD]

A few things I forgot to add…for Epcot, I’d restart the around the world on a Segway tour…I LOVED it when my wife bought the tour for my birthday…
General changes: back to the fast pass!! No more paying extra for the right to ride.
Solar canopies over ALL the parking lots…why clear land when we can put the panels over the cars…they’ll be cooler and you won’t get drenched walking to your car. I’d find a place to erect the earful tower…an example of the little things that made Disney so special… more to come