Will There Every Be a 5th Major Park?

[RSoxNo1]

Now it's all rumor at this point, but an option for two of the three parks in Shanghai are Epcot and the Animal Kingdom - now even if this happens, it would be several years (if not decades) down the road. When that happens, you could see some cloning across both parks.

That's one of the pitfalls of Epcot and the Animal Kingdom - thematically they are so different than any other park that Disney has.

 

[Epcotian]

then and ONLY THEN, will the bean counters be removed from the company.. similar to General Motors..

How do you remove accountants from one of the largest publicly-traded companies in the world?

 

[bjlc57]

Ah, unwarranted hyperbole, thy name is bjlc57....

why don't you ask Lee.. or some of the other insiders.. they will out and out tell you that the parks are stagnant.. and in business if you are sitting still you really are going backwards..

and that just like I stated , beancounters and not dream makers, are running the parks..

hyperbole? all I am doing is stating the case.. My Mom worked for GM for 40 years.. We saw the bankruptcy coming back in the 80's when every car was the "same color" and had the same body parts.. and the bean counters were in charge.. and the idea makers were fired..

sound similar? it should.. its the Disney company in 2011..

 

[wm49rs]

why don't you ask Lee.. or some of the other insiders.. they will out and out tell you that the parks are stagnant.. and in business if you are sitting still you really are going backwards..

and that just like I stated , beancounters and not dream makers, are running the parks..

hyperbole? all I am doing is stating the case.. My Mom worked for GM for 40 years.. We saw the bankruptcy coming back in the 80's when every car was the "same color" and had the same body parts.. and the bean counters were in charge.. and the idea makers were fired..

sound similar? it should.. its the Disney company in 2011..

Would those be the same insiders discussing the press event last night that detailed the largest expansion the MK has seen in decades? Or the same insiders who are consistently discussing the new rides and attractions they anticipate coming to fruition within the next several years?

And comparing GM and Disney? :hammer:

 

[flavious27]

I don't expect to see another major WDW park within the next 25 years. The Orlando theme park market appears to be both mature & somewhat over-saturated. Animal Kingdom proved that even a fourth WDW park poaches from the others more than it adds to a net growth in WDW visitors. Schools let out for one week at a time (during the year where I am), which prevents many families from extending their WDW stays past that time frame. So a fifth gate would only eat into that already maximized vacation.

In a few decades, when U.S. population is up to 500 million and global population up to 9 billion, the demand may be there, but I don't see it happening for a long, long time.

The good news is that if/when attendance stagnates at the current parks, as mentioned, they should get some new draws.

For fun that didn't stop me from converting Downtown Disney into a Fifth Gate and expanding River Country into a new water park, as can be seen on my blog:

http://idealbuildout.blogspot.com/2010/11/wdw-project-phoenix.html

http://idealbuildout.blogspot.com/2011/01/wdw-river-country.html

Hey Randy, I am enjoying the mockups that you have created. You have made a mockup for a texas disneyland, I was wondering if you could make a mockup for MK with a couple of ideas I have.

The changes would happen in FL, AL and in between Main St and TL.

For FL I was considering an expansion across the inlet between rivers of america and seven seas lagoon. For this expansion, it will be based on WRE. The main part of this would be a rapids ride based on what Marc wanted to do, but not a rapids copy. The indian tribe that wdwrr travels through would be expanded to be a walk through area and attraction.

For AL, I want to fix the plaza Eisner destroyed and put AC in a setting that matches it. The plaza would be tiki themed and act as an entrance for the tiki room while also keeping the theming correct; carpet ride would be removed.

The last is a connection between TL and Main Street USA.

 

[flavious27]

DHS also has tons of space where the old studios are behind the buildings currently in use. If they demolished these old studios they would have plenty of room for expansion at DHS.

And in my opinion, there isn't much tour left to the Studio Backlot Tour. If they took the available space that they had where the old studios are and built a new Residential Street, I'd be happy (just don't construct it from cheap-looking facades like the Streets of America, another area of the park I wouldn't mind seeing removed). If not, I fail to see much use in preserving the Backlot Tour in its current condition. (Didn't they just cancel a refurbishment for the Tour or something? It definitely could have used one.)

I thought that they had offices and operations still in those buildings. The backlot tour should have been canceled after it was halved in size. As for the streets, what could they have done to make them better?

 

[flavious27]

How do you remove accountants from one of the largest publicly-traded companies in the world?

by wanting the sec to lock you up.

 

[H2Opolo15]

So I have realized that a 5th gate is far off if ever. So what are some rumors about DHS or AK? That is very interesting conversation I would love to hear about? Within the next 2-3 years what can we see in those parks?

 

[ChrisFL]

Now it's all rumor at this point, but an option for two of the three parks in Shanghai are Epcot and the Animal Kingdom - now even if this happens, it would be several years (if not decades) down the road. When that happens, you could see some cloning across both parks.

That's one of the pitfalls of Epcot and the Animal Kingdom - thematically they are so different than any other park that Disney has.

So we could see an Epcot in Shanghai? wow

 

[Disday]

I know that some doubters won't believe in a 5th park even after it's been open for 10 years, but it is a part of WDW's 10 year plan. It will reportedly be themed around Marvel. Flame away....

 

[DemoBri1]

Wow...it's been a long time since I posted here, but I came across this and thought I should jump in.

As far as a 5th gate is concerned I wouldn't bet on it for the foreseeable future. With the Fantasyland Expansion marching ahead that is probably one nail in the 5th gate coffin. As others have said there really needs to be some things added to DHS and AK to really round these parks out. Right now I consider AK a 1/2 day park at best. Since I have been a frequent visitor DHS is starting to get that way for me as well especially with Star Tours being down and no Fantasmic on certain days. The only thing that really kept me in the park for quite some time on this past trip was having to wait to use my FPs for TSM and to see the Osborne Lights. Yes there still is TofT and RnRC, but that's about it. How many times can you really sit through the same stunt shows and with my kids getting older now, Playhouse Disney, Ariel, and Beauty and the Beast are out as well.

I would love to see something like Disney Seas come to WDW, but I'm not sure if Disney would want to go up against Sea World with that. We can hope though

 

[ChrisFL]

I would love to see something like Disney Seas come to WDW, but I'm not sure if Disney would want to go up against Sea World with that. We can hope though

Despite the fact that DisneySea and Sea World have NOTHING in common besides the name "Sea"?

 

[WDWFan13]

Wow...it's been a long time since I posted here, but I came across this and thought I should jump in.

As far as a 5th gate is concerned I wouldn't bet on it for the foreseeable future. With the Fantasyland Expansion marching ahead that is probably one nail in the 5th gate coffin. As others have said there really needs to be some things added to DHS and AK to really round these parks out. Right now I consider AK a 1/2 day park at best. Since I have been a frequent visitor DHS is starting to get that way for me as well especially with Star Tours being down and no Fantasmic on certain days. The only thing that really kept me in the park for quite some time on this past trip was having to wait to use my FPs for TSM and to see the Osborne Lights. Yes there still is TofT and RnRC, but that's about it. How many times can you really sit through the same stunt shows and with my kids getting older now, Playhouse Disney, Ariel, and Beauty and the Beast are out as well.

I would love to see something like Disney Seas come to WDW, but I'm not sure if Disney would want to go up against Sea World with that. We can hope though

I think it would be a great idea for disney to expand on animal kingdom by adding a disney sea like land. They could combine aspects of the beastly kingdom and bring great attractions like journey to the center of the earth to WDW.

As for DHS I think that it is best to just scrap the whole backstage tour. After going to universal in california it showed me just how good a backlot tour could be and how weak the one at DHS is. They should just make that space an expansion of Pixar Place, that way they can move Pizza Planet over because where it is sitting now is not as good of a location for theming

 

[CrescentLake]

There are so many possibilities for a 5th Gate: a "Port Disney" a "Heros vs. Villains Park," a "Toontown/Fab 5 Park" even a Marvel Park or even an American History type park. Will they all get built? No, probably not. Will some form of a 5th gate emerge eventually? Yes, for sure. Just not now. Not in the near future, anyway. I mean, the MK needs one big ride and perhaps an overhaul of Tomorrowland, Epcot needs two or three more rides in future world and one in WS, DHS needs pixar place, AK needs...a lot. Lets get those straightened out first, like others have said, and then move on to a 5th gate.

 

[Todd H]

I'd love for them to build something like a "Coaster Kingdom" filled with lots of high speed coasters and thrill rides. It would save me from having to go to Six Flags Atlanta to get my coaster fix. Right now the only real coasters they have are RNRC and EE. Won't ever happen but it's nice to dream.

 

[WDW FTW]

Hahaha "Coaster Kingdom" that wouldnt fly to well with a bunch of people but i would reaaaaally like to see another big ride thats exciting at one of the two parks AK or MGM (yea i said MGM) because they hold the most exciting rides and prove that to be a good ride there doesnt have to be a 54" height limit. ToT and Everest do well at 40 and 44

 

[trr1]

Hey Randy, I am enjoying the mockups that you have created. You have made a mockup for a texas disneyland, I was wondering if you could make a mockup for MK with a couple of ideas I have.

The changes would happen in FL, AL and in between Main St and TL.

For FL I was considering an expansion across the inlet between rivers of america and seven seas lagoon. For this expansion, it will be based on WRE. The main part of this would be a rapids ride based on what Marc wanted to do, but not a rapids copy. The indian tribe that wdwrr travels through would be expanded to be a walk through area and attraction.

For AL, I want to fix the plaza Eisner destroyed and put AC in a setting that matches it. The plaza would be tiki themed and act as an entrance for the tiki room while also keeping the theming correct; carpet ride would be removed.

The last is a connection between TL and Main Street USA.

how about Edison Square in the area above
http://www.theneverlandfiles.com/tnf/disneyland/edisonsquare.php

 

[H2Opolo15]

Personally I think that once Star Tours re-opens it will begin to draw more guests towards that end of the park thus giving rise to the possibility of the "Pixar Place" everyone speaks of. IMHO the "Lights, Motors, Action" show just isn't good and that much land could be combined with Backlot Tour to give rise to a huge area of the park with endless possibilities.

Also, I'm not too familiar with the NW portion of AK but it would be a good idea I think to add a ride back there that is maybe "Africa" themed? I don't know, I'm still new here and just brainstorming haha

 

[lavitzt]

What ever happen to the rumor of moving the parking lot for DHS to the otherside of world drive and expanding DHS into the exciting parking lot?

 

[PirateFrank]

There is a fifth park being developed and land is already cleared but won't be announced til after Fantasyland is complete... It will be on the other side of the road from Fort Wilderness campgrounds area... Its going to be more thrilling like California Adventure... Trees are being cleared but there's a very thick level of forest blocking view from the road........ You can tell when Disney is up to something big because they build new resorts 1.) Disney's Art of Animation, 2.) There's a DVC resort going up in the Fort Wilderness area... They build the new resorts to accomodate the higher number of guests... I promise you this is coming from a legit source, a family member works with a company who made new low VOC paint for Disney and the person looking over the project has taked with them bout using 100% of their paint in these new projects including Fantasyland................

Are you sure it's low VOC paint? I'm betting that stuff's got fumes! :wave: