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What's Still On and What's Now Off
- Thread starter WDW Pro
- Start date
Somewhere in the ballpark of 20 billion for WDW alone.
EvilChameleon
Well-Known Member
What kind of lead time WDW would need to reopen? Say social distancing ended tomorrow, has everything been maintained enough to open everything up Friday? EPCOT seems to be the one that'll take the most time, due to World Showcase and all that, but I suppose they can just open Future World.
Epcot does not have much revenue potential if all/most indoor venues are closed/limited. Take away the restaurants and the indoor rides.... you’re left with nothing but a lake to stroll around.
Animal Kingdom has safari and Everest and triceratop spin, all mostly outdoors. Most likely to be able to open with infection controls.
DHS has Slinky Dog and alien saucers.
MK has a bunch of spinners and outdoor coasters.
Epcot has nothing.
(See WDW pro’s post citing that parks may open with only a tiny percentage of operating attractions).
They gamble on percentages every day. Every day, people get hurt at the park.
and how are you going to make money at Epcot if all/most restaurants and shops are closed?
There are rumors Disney will run with just a handful of attractions open.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
People fall out of their ecv at chef mickeys...you seem pretty informed, but are not spanning the “bridge” to how this type of threat is vastly different.
And that’s why I said “potential” at Epcot. Opening rides and running staff and unscreened customers through abramsland is not a license to print money. It’s not like people show up in the morning and buy one day tickets. That money is banked far in advance...which means Disney can “direct” them anywhere they want...including Epcot.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
That would be a very drastic move indeed...but closure would slash improvements...not accelerate them.
And I have to say this again: the “50th” was gonna see a modest rise in attendance...perhaps 5% on the year...even if this hadn’t happened.
People have been hyping this for 5 years as if 50,000,000 people were going to show up this year and somehow 80,000,000 will next. That’s not how it works...they would equal themselves out as has always happened.
The 50th has been snakeoil to wdw fans from the start. It was just gonna be more crowded...but slightly more. You can’t fit 12 people in a room at Dixie landings cause it’s “the 50th”
again...1 possibility being rumored is keeping restaurants and indoor areas closed. So if all indoor venues are closed, what is there for guests to do at Epcot?
As to your theory that Disney would never take risks with coronavirus, then why were they so slow to close in the first place???
what you’re suggesting — which I admit is possible — is that Disney World will stay closed for approximately the next 16-24 months. Until risk of coronavirus is reduced to risk of measles.
While I wouldn’t deny that the possibility exists, my best guess is they re-open sometime in the next 6 months with remedial measures that reduce risk. (And no, we aren’t going to have herd immunity by then).
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
Keeping indoor spaces closed is not a viable plan. It’s florida...the parks were built to shelter away from the heat...all of them. Magic kingdom would have about 8 functioning attractions and no food service if that were the case. Not going to happen.
If that’s the plan...they might as well stay closed.
I don’t think they’ll be closed for a year or more...but I gotta be honest I think it may be 6 months. I hope not but I wouldn’t be surprised. Disney is very risk averse...always have been. Even if You’re greedy - as the bobs are - you can’t trade on a fictitious world of ageless “joy” if you are seen as wreckless by the public.
We’re gonna see just how much “risk” they’ll take. My opinion is it’s less than people think.
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The Pho
Well-Known Member
People seem to expect a boost like Disney World had for its 25th. Magic Kingdom had like a 30% attendance boost, which would just make the park miserably busy if it happened now.
Sirwalterraleigh
Premium Member
That was a different time when there was a lot coming on line in wdw...people forgot that blizzard, downtown Disney in its expanded form, and about 6 wdw hotels were coming on line or less than 5 years old.
The Eisner/Wells design was to overbuild so that the property could handle a huge Increase as they strived for longer, more frequent trips.
Iger never did that...instead retrofitting rack rooms to dvc and adding there for a more stable “money in the bank” approach as well.
And when DAK opened, that game was over anyway...as park cannibalization starts in earnest and the cost of adding more employees created diminishing returns.
There’s a reason why they do upsells now...it’s more money with the same people (with standard growth over time)
I'd say 6 months is certainly possible. But even at 6 months, it would have to be with significant remedial measures.
It's hard to say what plan is or is not viable. Just spit balling here: They could keep most of the in-park indoor areas closed. But have a handful of stuff open, at low/no cost for use for hotel guests. Thus, it would be a way to at least make money off the hotels.
But I have no idea what level of remedial measures we will see. I do expect all 4 parks would be open. But I expect attendance limits (possibly closing down the parks except for onsite + AP). I lean towards thinking there will be mandatory masking, at least for cast members. But potentially for all guests. I expect attractions that are especially hard to constantly sterilize will be closed. I expect major limits on character meet and greets, possibly disappearing totally.
All these remedial measures.. including limits on attendance, will open the question of, at what point is it fiscally better just to keep the parks closed?
If we see a 12+ month delay until park opening, it will be because the necessary remedial measures just make operating the parks unprofitable. If they really want to open "normally"... it probably would have to be 12-20 months. Possibility of 6-9 months, but highly unlikely.
SilentWindODoom
Well-Known Member
I wonder what the feasability is for expanding the projections around the castle. The fireworks wouldn't line up, but they didn't for Wishes at any other angle.
Either way, glad for the technology since it gave us Runaway Railway and may bring more advancements.
Epcot has always had a perception due to its original goals that sticks in the minds of people. Some think it's the boring park. Some thinks it's a few rides and a mall. While people may hit all four parks they might rate Epcot as their least favorite.
Having read numerous threads in the wake of all this happening, I've seen the perception of Epcot closing be posed and then grow. If I recall correctly it was theorized and then one of the insiders said it was possible. Why was it theorized?
1. The amount of work being done and the idea many have that it can be done double time if no guests are present.
2. The fact that international cast members were sent home and international travel may be more difficult for longer than it takes for things to be lax enough to open the parks, meaning the World Showcase loses a lot of its soul.
3. Festivals being nigh impossible to run with great health risks. It's asking people to bunch up and eat (removing masks if they have them) together.
4. No theatre shows or Mission: Space (those cabins are tiny), cutting down the attraction count to 6.
GhostHost1000
Premium Member
keeping indoor areas closed and people spread out and then have one of those Florida pop up severe storms and then what happens
EricsBiscuit
Well-Known Member
Or it shows that they’ve created a park with a slate of very popular attractions that are drawing many guests. I have been going to DHS my whole life and have never seen the park as busy as it has been the last year.
HauntedMansionFLA
Well-Known Member
Epcot has a huge capacity too compared to DHS.
HauntedMansionFLA
Well-Known Member
It never storms during the summer
Animaniac93-98
Well-Known Member
It never storms during the summer
How do you practice social distancing when sheltering from a hurricane?
HauntedMansionFLA
Well-Known Member
Disney Magic?How do you practice social distancing when sheltering from a hurricane?