Cloning's affect on attendence

[raidermatt]

Good points, Hope.

Some would say it's already there.

Definitely moving more in that direction. I know it can never be the type of resort destination WDW is, unless somehow large amounts of land are acquired, but it doesn't have to be a "locals only" type of place.

I think DL would have a hard time enticing people back into DL who have been to both parks simply because WDW has SOOO much to offer. And not just WDW, but the surrounding area.

No, its not an easy task, but then again, the people taking on the task are supposed to be the best around. I think it can be done, if they have the will and the talent.

I'm not sure I buy the surrounding area argument though. The tourist attractions are pretty concentrated around Orlando, but I'm not sure we can say there are more of them in Central Florida than in SoCal. The difference, of course, is that WDW is the hub around which all tourism in Central Florida revolves, while DLR is more of just another piece of the puzzle in SoCal. But that is part of the point, DLR doesn't have to get guests to commit a week to succeed as a resort because of all of the other SoCal destinations. They could have succeeded with the new resort concept if DCA had actually met its objective, of lengthening guest stays, as well as attracting new guests altogether.

There are various reasons for the lack of success of course. Cloning is just one of them.

 

[KNWVIKING]

***"The tourist attractions are pretty concentrated around Orlando, but I'm not sure we can say there are more of them in Central Florida than in SoCal. "***

I have no idea what SoCal has to offer but I'm sure it's considerable, possibly even greater then the Orlando area. But what I didn't like about the LA, Anahiem area was the traffic. On a Thursday evening- around 6;00 pm, we tried to drive to Huntington beach to watch a Pacific Ocean sunset. Well, by the time we got to the ocean, the sun was probably coming up in Japan. But we can say we saw the sun set over the State Farm building on Beach (?) Blvd. My experience within a 20 mile radius of WDW is that I can get just about anywhere very quickly. Just avoid I-4 in the morning. Since I always have a car, this give WDW a huge advantage over DL.

 

[raidermatt]

No arguments on the traffic. Clearly there are some advanatages that WDW should always have over other destinations.

 

[Planogirl]

I feel like it's just a different focus in California. California has so much to offer besides theme parks that Disneyland just becomes one diversion of many. I'm considering returning to San Diego sometime in the future and we will probably try to make it to DL for a few days. DL becomes one brief diversion rather than the primary focus as WDW and possibly Universal are in Florida. Yes, traffic was a nightmare between San Diego and Anaheim but at least the scenery was gorgeous.

Because of this I agree that cloning may just hurt Disneyland more. There's so much to do in California why spend time and money going to a park full of WDW clones? Or at least that may be what some travelers end up thinking. Disney may be shooting themselves in the foot over this one because Disneyland already has the advantage of being in a touristy area and should be a big draw.