EPCOT & AK News !!!!

[TiggerFreak]

Over at Laughing Place there is a new articlae about the much rumoured EPCOT projects and AK "Mountain" attraction!

Not very excited about the opening of the World Showcase to the public after dark. This would be a slap to all of those who stay at the EPCOT resorts for the proximity to WS.

 

[RoqueC]

I'd go to WS after dark, and just walk around. The Restaurants are good.

 

[montessori]

What do you mean about opening WS to the public?
They wouldn't have to pay an entrance fee?

 

[lulugirl]

Originally posted by montessori
What do you mean about opening WS to the public?
They wouldn't have to pay an entrance fee?

I was also wondering what you meant, isn't WS always open until 9pm?

 

[Testtrack321]

Incase no one knows, heres' the rumor:

For the current Project Gemeni, one big rumor was to close the FW and WS walkway and have a gate there. Then people would enter WS from the International Gateway and shop. Of course, parades, fireworks, and attractions are still there, so that's a big problem. Personaly, I don't trus Babe at all, nor do I trust Screamscape nor Jim Hill.

 

[TiggerFreak]

The article made reference to the "Powers that Be" toying with the idea of adding a gate (turnstiles) between WS and FW so that you could have 2 seperate parks (GEMINI ????) and then they would not charge admission after dark to WS. The author also made a mention that Illuminations could be a potential "zoo" if this were to come to fruition.

 

[RoutemanDan]

Where would everyone park for the International gateway entrance?Boardwalk?Yacht and Beach? I hope to never see this rumor come true.

 

[montessori]

I may not be "in the know", but I find it very hard to believe this rumor.
It's ridiculous and doesn't even seem feasible.

(I hope)

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

Depends on what you mean "after dark". Since Future world closes at 7:00 you could open the entire park for the dinner crowd. However that's pretty extreme. I did notice when I was there for the Food & Wine Festival that there is something that looks like it used to be a bus pick up area over by the International Gateway. There is a road that comes up to that point that's closed. This would be one way to funnel the "freebie" crowd in.

The downside to the concept is that this would tend to take away from the ability to add new rides in the world showcase unless you forced the ticket holders to use something like a fast pass machine to get on them.

If I were Disney I'd sell a $20 after dark ticket that you could use as a credit towards dinner as long as the meal cost at least x amount of dollars per person. That way the additional persons would only be people who are serious about eating. Another variant would be a credit toward a purchase that cost at least y dollars. People are unlikely to pay $20 just to see fireworks but may chose to come into the park on a day they aren't otherwise going into parks just to get dinner.

 

[Dznefreek]

I may not be "in the know", but I find it very hard to believe this rumor.

Actually this was part of the original concept.

 

[montessori]

Originally posted by Dznefreek
Actually this was part of the original concept.

You mean the original concept of the World Showcase was to let people in free of charge at night?

 

[Dznefreek]

To have it as 2 seperate parks.

 

[mitros]

I don't see how they would manage the parking to get in through the international gateway. With the new dvc villas at the beach club, ther would be no place to park. They check everyone going into the parking lot at the guard shack now. There is just not enough parking spaces there. They also have a number of signs telling you you cannot park there to go to epcot. And they really crack down on this during busy seasons. Ditto for boardwalk. The area at the international gateway that looks like a transportation stop was exactly that at one time. It was used to transport guests from the boardwalk to the gateway.They stopped it because like the buses that used to circle the world showcase, it was discontinued because there were too many guests walking there and it became dangerous. One of the cast members also told us that another reason was because people kept jumping off while the tram {which is what was used back there} was still moving and they ,the cms ,could not seem to be able to stop it.

 

[mitros]

Sorry, forgot one more point. Yes, the original concept was two seperate parks. The imagineers had both parks set up as models on two huge tables.The story I read was that Marty Sklar and an imagineer just pushed the two tables together and made one park out of it. At the time, they supposedly could not make the parks work individually because each one was not quite large enough.

 

[Dznefreek]

Marty Sklar and an imagineer just pushed the two tables together and made one park out of it

Correct. They even mentioned it on a recent Travel Channel Show.

 

[raidermatt]

I had hoped the "separate gate" idea had died a merciful end, but maybe not.

Make Illuminations free? During anything resembling a busy period, I guess the "paying" customers will have to stake out spots early to beat the rush of "free" customers... Sounds like fun. (Not to mention the fact that if everyone is jostling for position to see Illuminations, they won't be paying for dinner...)

I could live with something like doubletrouble's idea, with some kind of "discounted" after-dark ticket for WS, provided full-paying Epcot customers still have complete access to WS. (in fact, depending on the execution, I might even be in favor of it)

Certainly nothing wrong with updating Spaceship Earth, provided it remains a "no height requirement" attraction. However, it doesn't seem to be the attraction most in need of an update in FW....

As for the original concept being two parks, thats great, but were they both to be "full-admission" parks (like MK), similar in size and scope to what we see now? Perhaps FW, but I think they had more in mind that what's there now, and certainly WS is nothing close to what they would have considered charging MK prices for.

 

[Disneycrazymom]

Not to sound too negitive here, but what promise is there that IllumiNations would continue if the park would become seperate and free. With all the other parades and fireworks that have been cut back, it makes me wonder and worry a bit. I could see WS becoming a dinning and shopping place like DD or even the boardwalk. I have no inside info here just thinking out loud.

 

[DisneyKidds]

I think that Disney would lower the price of park hoppers and AP's if this rumor came to be true..............................NOT!!!!

But they really should - if it ever happened. One could say that WS represents 1/8 (or 12.5%) of available WDW theme parks (that would be one half of one of the four theme parks). If 40% of WS time (assuming the "after dark" thing would be from 5:00 on - which is just an assumption on my part because "after dark" during the summer months would literally only be an hour) was given away for free, that would mean that the value of a park hopper or AP is reduced by approximately 5% (or $20 on an AP, $14 on a 5 day park hopper....................).

This would just be another way for Disney to chip away at the value of a Disney ticket, and reduce the experience of those who are willing to pay for that reduced value ticket. It can be hard enough to get a PS at some restaurants now. Same can be said for a good Illuminations spot at times. Now add a s**t load more people - VERY BAD IDEA. Throw in the fact that thay would probably spill into the Epcot resort area - there goes the neighborhood we recently bought into (BWV). And if they ever did away with Illuminations...............heck, we might not even go to Epcot. Heck, if that were the case, we'd have to reconsider if the AP's were worth it.

Is this how Disney really wants their long term, dedicated customers thinking? They think we will pay regardless, but I think many of the changes and lower attendance over the past year or two has proven that thinking wrong. Sure, for a while they might have a pick up, but the novelty of a free nighttime WS would wear off, and then where would Disney be? Just look at Pleasure Island - it is not nearly as popular of hopping now as it was 10 years ago.

 

[DVC-Landbaron]

Who wrote the above post? LandBaron or Mr. Kidds?!?!?!

 

[BRERALEX]

i knew i really did miss you guys