5th gate on the horizon?

[DisFan246]

With the recent announcement of Bob Weis as the President of Walt Disney Imagineering, I can't help but think that perhaps Disney has begun the steps to build a 5th theme park in WDW. Now that Mr. Weis has all but finished his work of seeing the Shanghai Disneyland project completed, could they now be in the beginning stages of planning a 5th theme park with Mr. Weis heading up this project as well???

 

[Reddog1134]

Doubtful. You'll find lots of threads explaining why.

 

[Eoghann]

No.

 

[cvjpirate]

I feel they need to fix HS and Epcot before investing into a 5th gate.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Nope

 

[101disneyfan]

Hollywood Studios, Future World, next Animal Kingdom expansion, third gate for Anaheim, and THEN MAYBE a fifth gate.

 

[Spacedog1975]

5th gate opening soon with a flying ride featuring Hamm from Toy Story.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Hollywood Studios, Future World, next Animal Kingdom expansion, third gate for Anaheim, and THEN MAYBE a fifth gate.

Due to logistics and overhead...mainly the availability of labor...it's likely that there will never be a "fifth gate" in Orlando.

 

[rteetz]

With the recent announcement of Bob Weis as the President of Walt Disney Imagineering, I can't help but think that perhaps Disney has begun the steps to build a 5th theme park in WDW. Now that Mr. Weis has all but finished his work of seeing the Shanghai Disneyland project completed, could they now be in the beginning stages of planning a 5th theme park with Mr. Weis heading up this project as well???

As president of imagineering he oversees all Disney park projects in the world. Just because he has that job now doesn't make it any more likely that they will build a fifth gate.

 

[Spacedog1975]

As president of imagineering he oversees all Disney park projects in the world. Just because he has that job now doesn't make it any more likely that they will build a fifth gate.

Speaking directly to that - there is a PROFOUND amount of construction happening worldwide. Florida has almost 5th gate volume of construction happening between Avatar, Star Wars, and Toy Story. Shanghai is MASSIVE, and Paris is getting something of a reboot. These are a lot of plates that are already spinning.

 

[rteetz]

Speaking directly to that - there is a PROFOUND amount of construction happening worldwide. Florida has almost 5th gate volume of construction happening between Avatar, Star Wars, and Toy Story. Shanghai is MASSIVE, and Paris is getting something of a reboot. These are a lot of plates that are already spinning.

And that is likely only going to continue in Florida as more project are being looked at. I don't see a 5th gate anytime soon.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

What's funny is that you guys left out the biggest, most construction intensive project underway in Florida:

Disney springs

 

[rteetz]

What's funny is that you guys left out the biggest, most construction intensive project underway in Florida:

Disney springs

That is true. That includes a major rework of road ways and a new bus drop off area. Disney springs is likely a much larger scale project than we have seen in at least the last decade.

 

[Danman]

Due to logistics and overhead...mainly the availability of labor...it's likely that there will never be a "fifth gate" in Orlando.

Never say never

 

[George4]

From a purely accounting standpoint, there is no chance of a 5th gate. However, as Disney looks at the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of the Magic Bands and the new FastPass+ system, there may be a different response. A new gate may be the only way to absorb the huge crowds that are starting to be present in Orlando year round. If Disney keeps growing at 2-4% per year (as they seem to have been the past 10 years, including during the recession), they will begin to have a visitor base that they can't support in their current park configuration. If they average 250,000 people per day over the year, even at 2% growth per year, they will have 60,000 additional visitors in 10 years. That is not a number that can be supported in their current park configuration. Will the guest numbers continue to grow, who knows, but Disney would have to consider it a possibility.

I know it will never happen, but it would be interesting to see a breakdown of their actual visitor count, and what guests are actually spending in the parks (new vs. returners, and so on). Without that information, all of our thoughts are just conjecture, and we don't really know what makes sense for the company.

In the old days, a fifth gate would have literally been on the table just in case it was given the go ahead (EPCOT sat on a table for 10-15 years before it was actually given a go ahead). I would bet there are conversations and plans floating around just in case, because the visitor numbers imply that it may be needed in 10 or so years.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Never say never

Come up with 10-15,000 employees that are willing to accept today's minimum wage - let alone what it will be when the national anti-ridiculous wage movement wins out - and no benefits...and are dependable...and then talk to me...

I'll retract the "never" then.

And...here's the key part, make sure the average guest stay goes up by 2 days...at least.

Anyone want to guess how many days Disney reaped when animal kingdom opened?

 

[DISnewjersey]

I don't think that Disney currently needs a 5th gate. There's too many attractions that need TLC and could use major refurbishments. Epcot Future World needs a pretty massive reboot - there's a bunch of real estate not being used to its potential. Rides that I think could use major refurbishments; Space Mountain (so much better in DL), Tommorowland Speedway transition to electric vehicles, removal of Stitch Great Escape, Jungle Cruise reboot with updated animatronics/effects, reboot of Rock n' Roller Coaster (Aerosmith is becoming a bit irrelevent as time goes on), etc. Don't get my wrong, I LOVE what Disney is currently doing. New Fantasyland/The Hub were great changes and once the AK/DHS additions are complete, it will put those two parks on another level.

I keep hearing people say that Disney is 'losing' people to Universal. In 2014, both Universal Orlando parks did ~8 million each. WDW's worst park was Hollywood Studios at about 10.3 million in 2014. Creating a 5th theme park, which many hope would be a Villains Park with Roller Coasters, just isn't a good fit for Disney. The current thrilling rides at Disney are highly themed and are very fitting for their surroundings. But a whole park coasters would just be very hard to keep the magic.

I trust whatever Disney does though. I just believe the 4 current parks should be perfected and coming close to hitting attendance capacities before we move to a 5th gate.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Disney isn't "losing people" to universal...

They reality is they're both gaining but universal recouped losses from 10 years of bad management and is gaining more of a "share" of the new influx.

They've always benefited from one another...the same principle as why fast food is located in clumps and Home Depot and Lowes being across the street from each other...but universal is carving more out of the local and new market and stealing some Disney thunder to do it.

Other business factors makes it harder for Disney to ignore it as they have until very recently. They need to make more money from their parks and wdw is the huge cash cow that will have to carry the load.

 

[Budshark]

I found details about the 5th gate.

PVC - Park Vacation Club. For a small up front real estate investment you can actually own a piece of the magic. You and 35,000 of your friends will be able to use your investment points to buy entry into the theme park (point requirements vary by season)

Once in the park you'll find a hassle free experience with our friendly cast members no where to be found! You'll make your own food, run your own rides, and even clean up after yourself! Don't worry though - every 4th day we'll turn on a giant hose and make the park just like new again!

*Points purchased give you a fractional ownership for 50 years. Annual maintenance fees apply. Additional guests up to and including 35,000 may be invited to pay full rates to enter the same park - paying guests are entitled to actual food service, ride operators, and cast member services. Details subject to change.

 

[SJMajor67]

reboot of Rock n' Roller Coaster (Aerosmith is becoming a bit irrelevent as time goes on)

If that should happen, then they should take the whole ride out. Aerosmith and the ride fit are a perfect match, IMO.