With Star Wars land now fully opened, what's next for Disney World?

[Travisma 1,317]

This is a long article.

 

You can read it here.

https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2019/12/09/with-star-wars-land-is-now-fully-opened-whats-next-for-disney-world?utm_source=widget&utm_medium=home&utm_campaign=rightrail&utm_content=TabbedPopularity

 

Here are a few excerpts

Many of the details of Epcot’s top-to-bottom refurbishing have already been announced by Disney but, moving forward, the company still does have plenty of unannounced plans in the works for the other parks as well. Much of the focus around Walt Disney World has been on the park's 50th Anniversary celebration, but with 2021 quickly approaching, Disney is already focused on plans well past the golden anniversary.

 

At MK, a few improvements, like a new nighttime show in honor of the 50th, are likely, but it’s unclear if those will continue after the anniversary celebration ends in 2022.

 

There have been rumblings that the previously canceled live theater just off of Main Street may be back in the works. On the opposite side of Main Street, behind Adventureland, sits one of the last remaining empty plots at the park. That plot has been eyed for an expansion for some time, most recently as a Moana themed coaster.

The coaster project was canceled when TRON was approved. Now, industry insider Jim Hill confirmed that Disney is looking at the plot for a potential high-end boutique hotel. The concept of a high-end Magic Kingdom-adjacent hotel has been around since before the park opened, but this location is a new one with previous proposals placing the hotel, ironically, on the plot where TRON is now located. The Adventureland resort, as it is currently being proposed, would include a restaurant with firework views and its own gate into the park. Beyond this extremely blue-sky proposal, there are few other significant projects rumored to be in the works for the park.

 

A World Showcase hotel is also not entirely dead, but internally, there seems to be some concern about possible overbuilding of on-site DVC and hotel rooms. A survey that leaked earlier this year showed that Disney was looking at the idea of standalone DVC resorts, either in the Bahamas or possibly as a Disney branded ski lodge. There is also the Star Wars hotel, Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser, that will open in 2021. That hotel will be exclusive to those who partake in multi-day, fully immersive Star Wars adventures.

Disney also seems to be warming up to the idea of more third-party hotels on property. Combined the Disney Springs Resort Area, Swan and Dolphin, the Four Seasons, and Flamingo Crossings together already have a surprisingly large number of third-party hotels, but according to some insiders, Disney might be looking at shifting some of their own resorts to third party operators, though concerns with unions may ultimately stop this from happening.

Hollywood Studios has at least one new land rumored to be in the works. The two strongest-rumored themes are Indiana Jones, or one more Pixar property. A Pixar-themed land, similar to California Adventure’s Pixar Pier, has been floated, but with the land in California not being as well-received as expected, it is believed that a smaller East Coast version of the far more successful Cars Land is now back in the running for Hollywood Studios.

 

Animal Kingdom seems to have the most in the works with yet another update for Rivers of Light, expected to happen within the next year or so. Dinoland also seems not long for this world, at least in its current state, with some type of update to the area happening within the next few years.

 

Pandora has a plot set aside for a third attraction, but with the second film in the Avatar franchise being pushed back until the end of 2021, rumors point to Disney possibly looking to use that plot instead for a sit-down restaurant.

 

With a new land like Galaxy’s Edge reportedly costing more than a billion dollars, it’s not surprising that Disney is hesitant to move forward with any significant new investments until future leadership is confirmed. That, along with concerns of overbuilding, have the resort in a bit of a holding pattern for investments beyond those already announced. With Universal Orlando spending billions on its upcoming Epic Universe park slated to open in 2023, Disney can’t remain it its current limbo for too long, or it risks losing even more market share; in 2016 the Themed Entertainment Association's annual report stated that attendance estimates showed Disney's share dropped below 70% for the first time, while Universal's rose to 25%.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Thanks for the excerpt. The article seems very vague. I doubt that there is anything significant on the way beyond what's currently under construction and the big Epcot project. They are already committed to spending more in the next couple of years than they have in the past 15 years at WDW. I can see third party deals, but no more money spent by Disney itself beyond what's currently committed. 

And once all this new stuff for the 50th anniversary is done, I think it will be a decade or more before anything significant is built at WDW.

TCD

[Travisma 1,317]

43 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Thanks for the excerpt. The article seems very vague. I doubt that there is anything significant on the way beyond what's currently under construction and the big Epcot project. They are already committed to spending more in the next couple of years than they have in the past 15 years at WDW. I can see third party deals, but no more money spent by Disney itself beyond what's currently committed. 

And once all this new stuff for the 50th anniversary is done, I think it will be a decade or more before anything significant is built at WDW.

TCD

That's why I dropped it in the Rumors section.

I saw another related article about why Disney probably won't be opening a 5th park.

When they opened AK, they said attendance and more importantly $$ was taken away from the existing parks, even though bottom line it's all Disney $$$.

Plus it said when they opened AK there was an uptick of people now staying for an entire week.  

If they opened another park people may not actually stay any longer because of a lack of vacation time.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

1 minute ago, Travisma said:

That's why I dropped it in the Rumors section.

I saw another related article about why Disney probably won't be opening a 5th park.

When they opened AK, they said attendance and more importantly $$ was taken away from the existing parks, even though bottom line it's all Disney $$$.

Plus it said when they opened AK there was an uptick of people now staying for an entire week.  

If they opened another park people may not actually stay any longer because of a lack of vacation time.

Also WDW is Disney's cash cow. They will be raking in the dough from this new stuff and using it to prop up their duds like Shanghai, Hong Kong and Paris. 

TCD

[djsamuel 322]

7 minutes ago, Tri-Circle-D said:

Also WDW is Disney's cash cow. They will be raking in the dough from this new stuff and using it to prop up their duds like Shanghai, Hong Kong and Paris. 

TCD

The big concern is Hong Kong as they are getting hammered by the protests last quarter.

From Disney's most recently quarterly report:

" Operating income at our international parks and resorts was comparable to the prior-year quarter, as growth at Disneyland Paris and Shanghai Disney Resort was largely offset by a decrease at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. "

 

[Travisma 1,317]

2 minutes ago, djsamuel said:

The big concern is Hong Kong as they are getting hammered by the protests last quarter.

From Disney's most recently quarterly report:

" Operating income at our international parks and resorts was comparable to the prior-year quarter, as growth at Disneyland Paris and Shanghai Disney Resort was largely offset by a decrease at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. "

 

A couple months after the protests started getting intense, there was an article about the drop in overall tourism to that area.  They had a lot of pictures of Disney with very little visitors and no lines.

I'm sure it hasn't gotten any better.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

1 hour ago, djsamuel said:

The big concern is Hong Kong as they are getting hammered by the protests last quarter.

From Disney's most recently quarterly report:

" Operating income at our international parks and resorts was comparable to the prior-year quarter, as growth at Disneyland Paris and Shanghai Disney Resort was largely offset by a decrease at Hong Kong Disneyland Resort. "

 

 

56 minutes ago, Travisma said:

A couple months after the protests started getting intense, there was an article about the drop in overall tourism to that area.  They had a lot of pictures of Disney with very little visitors and no lines.

I'm sure it hasn't gotten any better.

Not to worry- they'll send the Main Street Electric parade back to WDW instead of creating a new parade for the 50th, or better yet no parade. Then increase parking fees.  And the cost of food and beverages. Maybe build a couple more DVC's, and WDW will bail out another international park. 

Disney always wins. 

TCD

[PghBob 31]

Disneyland Paris is currently updating a couple of the hotels and is preparing for the 2024 Olympics to be held in Paris.  The CMs we talked to this summer are all excited about the crowds they are expecting.  Hope they are correct.

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

On 12/16/2019 at 9:26 AM, Travisma said:

A couple months after the protests started getting intense, there was an article about the drop in overall tourism to that area.  They had a lot of pictures of Disney with very little visitors and no lines.

I'm sure it hasn't gotten any better.

I believe it. We briefly thought about spending a part of our Tokyo trip hopping over to Hong Kong for a day or two, but with the protests (and the subsequent government travel advisory, that bans clearance personnel from traveling there), killed us from going.