5th park at WDW?

[jerivera]

ive heard thee rumors form my dad who worked in park for about 10 years. they want a park geared towards the villains but not much real interest yet. I do believe a 5th park will be completed before 2020. but not sure the idea of it. They def need that park for the tweeners out there with rollercoasters and a slightly younger feel. But we shall see.

So, if they ever open a 5th park, it would be a "thrill" ride type park, with the theme being Disney Villains? If they did it with their usual attention to detail and extensive theming, that would be pretty dang cool!

Can you imagine? Instead of Cinderella's castle, we have a Maleficent's Castle?

I'll start dreaming now. Maybe by 2030 it will be a reality.

 

[prairiegekko]

I frequent DW often as I now live close by and I may be dreaming, but I do not think a 5th park is too far off the mark. How soon is the question. I really feel that Disney is in the planning stage. Many of those making comments such as Disney has to take care of the parks they already have just adds to the evidence, that they are planning and not doing so much doing. Most powerhouses are powerhouses because they buy when the markets are low and sell when they are high. And if you watch the news and read the papers, Disney is buying. As to what type of theme park..the Villians type theme would be a smart choice as it would tap into a population of people that they do not yet have a strong market for plus give them the freedom to add more thrilling rides to be competative with the competition. That being said as much as I enjoy the parks and boy do I enjoy them, these last few years have not been their strongest as far as new rides and upgrades and I sure do miss the year of a million dreams. Just adding my 2 cents. Take it with a grain of pixie dust.

 

[anthony2k7]

The time is right for building when there is light at the end of the tunnel of a downturn/recession/depression. What people thought was the light a few months ago I think has now disappeared again. I think most of europe will now almost certainly double dip back into recession early next year and the rest of the world will be lucky if they manage to avoid following it.

Until that time I think disney may just want to hold fire and sit on the cash they have in the bank just incase things get a whole lot worse and they need to live off some of that.

But you may be right, they might at least be planning some big spending - but now is definitely not the time to actually do the spending.

Maybe thats also why fantasy land has been scaled back currently.

 

[Galen_50]

I do not think a fifth gate is likely for awhile. The question is not theme, but type of park it needs to be to get built. Look at the current parks:

Magic Kigdom- Park dedicated to all things Disney
Epcot- Park dedicated to history of our world/other countries and the exploration of it and science.
Hollywood Studios-Park dedicated to all things movies on film and behind the scenes.
Animal Kingdom-A zoo done Disney style.

Each park is different, each with its own idendity. For them to add another park and bring in more guest than the other parks already are bringing in the park needs to be different than the others. The only type of park that Disney World really doesn't have is a thrill park.

The problem is, I think a thrill park is more money than it is worth to Disney and the reason they have not built one yet. Living by Cedar Point, I have gone there every year for almost thirty years and have seen and read alot about it. One thing with thrill parks is that there is alot of competition. With Disney, there is Disney and Universial. Not many theme parks are like them. With thrill parks, there are many, many more all over the United States. From my home in Detroit area, there are four or five major thrill parks with four hours drive. Granted, a Disney thrill park would be much more impressive, but that brings me to the second reason. Thriil park patrons really do not care about theming, they are there for the ride. It doesn't matter if the park has a villans theme or little baby kittens, if the roller coaster is 500 feet tall, they are going to be there to ride it. Cedar Point brings in millions of guest every year and the park has almost no themeing except in the kids areas. Third thrill parks are only as good as there last ride. Thrill park patrons will drive for hours to ride the next biggest and greatest roller coaster, but as soon as something bigger comes out, they are off to a new park. To keep attendance up, thrill parks have to bring in new rides every year. Last, the rides in a thrill park ar alot more expensive than most of the rides at the other parks. The cost to design and built a roller coaster is very high. Plus it cost alot more to run, you need more cast members to operate and check for safety belts and such. I know that Disney already has roller coasters and they are fun to ride, but none of them compare to most of the roller coasters at a thrill park. Plus to be competitive, they would need alot of big ticket rides right from the start. Cedar Point has 16 rollercoasters of different degrees, three large water rides, and alot of other thrill rides. To be competitive, they would have to build alot of rides. Most of the thrill parks have been around for many years. Cedar Point has been around for over 100 years.

If Disney were to build a thrill park, people would go to it. Especially alot of the teens that are on vacation with their familys. But I think that most of the guest would be people that were already going to be there. Disney is not going to build and staff a new park if it is only going to be thinning out the crowds at their other parks (unless we have finally gotten to the point where the other four parks are running at full compacitiy).

I think a villians addition or land at somewhere like Hollywood Studios with thrill rides would be more likely than a fifth gate at this point.

 

[skiingfast]

History tells us that Disney always builds another park. It would be ignorant to say it wouldn't happen.


What they need in WDW is to max the current parks out. This doesn't mean building new lands or attractions in DHS or AK. It means that they have steady, high attendance for the current park capacities.

I don't know how many people Disney thinks they should fit in each park. But in 2009 thier hotel numbers were weak. Still the bring more rooms online in anticipation of coming guests. They will need to build a park in advance of the tens of thousands of guests that will want to visit it each day.

 

[BamaEd1]

Throwing in my 2 pennies....

I think if Disney announced TODAY that a 5th park would be built, it would be all Pixar. That is their hot franchise at the box office by far. I think we'll know within the next 5 years if a "Pixar Kingdom" will happen by what happens at Pixar Place in DHS. If they re-theme the playground to Bug's Life, add a Monsters Inc. Coaster (please, please, please, PLEASE) and even do a Cars-Land or even the Cars attraction from DCA, then "Pixar Kingdom" will not happen. Even if they did 2 of those things; 2 of 3 would be expensive after all....the bugs life thing would be fairly cheap and easy...like an overnight project.

If Pixar doesn't happen, then I would probably bet on a Sports themed park; ESPN is Disney's second biggest printing press for cash, after all. That has a lot of potential as well.

With all of that being said, I would love to see a Villains Park or even a Land devoted to the "bad guys."

 

[Galen_50]

History tells us that Disney always builds another park. It would be ignorant to say it wouldn't happen.


What they need in WDW is to max the current parks out. This doesn't mean building new lands or attractions in DHS or AK. It means that they have steady, high attendance for the current park capacities.

I don't know how many people Disney thinks they should fit in each park. But in 2009 thier hotel numbers were weak. Still the bring more rooms online in anticipation of coming guests. They will need to build a park in advance of the tens of thousands of guests that will want to visit it each day.

I agree that they need to max out the current parks. I do not think that their building of new hotels is in advance of a new park. I think they are building because they are seeing a shift in the culture. Right now it seems that they are only building additions for the Vacation Club or value hotels. With the current economy, more people are staying in the all-stars and such. I think Disney has seen this and instead of turning people away when these are filled, or changing on of the higher priced resorts, there is a better return on investment to build more value resorts. Also with building more value resorts, they may be hoping to pull in more of the guest who are staying off property. as for the Vacation Club additions, those additions are usually guarenteed to be filled when they build them.

 

[BamaEd1]

I agree that they need to max out the current parks. I do not think that their building of new hotels is in advance of a new park. I think they are building because they are seeing a shift in the culture. Right now it seems that they are only building additions for the Vacation Club or value hotels. With the current economy, more people are staying in the all-stars and such. I think Disney has seen this and instead of turning people away when these are filled, or changing on of the higher priced resorts, there is a better return on investment to build more value resorts. Also with building more value resorts, they may be hoping to pull in more of the guest who are staying off property. as for the Vacation Club additions, those additions are usually guarenteed to be filled when they build them.

The way I understand the business model, and I could be all wrong, but the DVC (or any time-share) doesn't make money if they are not selling new units. If that is the case, then the DVC will continue to expand.

 

[nytimez]

The way I understand the business model, and I could be all wrong, but the DVC (or any time-share) doesn't make money if they are not selling new units. If that is the case, then the DVC will continue to expand.

Disney provides all the services at the Disney-owned properties at a profit collected from maintenance fees. In addition, unlike many timeshares, Disney reclaims its timeshare units to resell. DVC members only "own" their units for 50 years or less.

I'm sure it will continue to expand, of course, but eventually they could theoretically be in a perpetual long-term cycle of reselling all the units they've already sold.

 

[fannatic]

Disney does have big plans for their existing parks. Even Al Lutz has claimed that they have more in development than you would think. Besides the expansion of Fantasyland we have the Monsters Inc. Coaster and Carsland rumored for DHS. Jim Hill claims in the latest Unofficial Disney World book that a 10 year plan for Animal Kingdom may involve tearing out Rafiki's building to make way for new rides and attractions. He didn't specify if this would be a new land or an expansion of Africa and Asia. EPCOT, however, is still a big question mark.

 

[skiingfast]

Even Al Lutz has claimed that they have more in development than you would think.

This is one of the funniest sentences I have every read. It is so deep in truth. Of course Al is claiming more than one would ever think. Along with Jim Hill, they spill BS all over the place all the time.

 

[Rochester Disney Fan]

Not that this would influence anything but Disney did just buy the D.C comics franchise. They could always build a park around that theme if they were considering adding one.

 

[ChrisFL]

Not that this would influence anything but Disney did just buy the D.C comics franchise. They could always build a park around that theme if they were considering adding one.

No, they bought Marvel, not DC

 

[Rochester Disney Fan]

Marvel , D.C , I can never keep the two straight.

I was just trying to point out a possible theme.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Marvel , D.C , I can never keep the two straight.

I was just trying to point out a possible theme.

marvel is spiderman and the incredible hulk (currently in Universal Parks)

DC is batman and superman (in Six Flags parks)


Disney will have more than enough excitement from Tron to build 8 full day parks

 

[skiingfast]

Marvel , D.C , I can never keep the two straight.

I was just trying to point out a possible theme.

I'll just point this out since you are not aware. When Disney bought Marvel the theme park rights are retained by universal East of the Missisippi. So Diney can not build a marvel park at WDW until it buys those rights from
Universal.

 

[marius97]

I'll just point this out since you are not aware. When Disney bought Marvel the theme park rights are retained by universal East of the Missisippi. So Diney can not build a marvel park at WDW until it buys those rights from
Universal.

75% right...Disney can use any Marvel character they want...as long as it is not one that Universal is using right now. Granted, Universal using most of the big names, bt I wouldn't be suprised to see Disney start to bring some of the lesser known ones more to the forefront.

 

[nytimez]

75% right...Disney can use any Marvel character they want...as long as it is not one that Universal is using right now. Granted, Universal using most of the big names, bt I wouldn't be suprised to see Disney start to bring some of the lesser known ones more to the forefront.

Several Marvel characters not in use at Universal have major films coming out in the next couple of years... Disney is almost certainly going to see how they do with an eye to making them the "next" big theme park stars. Thor is one. Captain America is another, although it's uncertain whether Universal retains rights over him -- he's a walk-around character, and I believe a restaurant has a Capt. America theme.

 

[fannatic]

WDW Magic has a rumor that a Marvel attraction could be coming to DHS in the future. As for Marvel and any future WDW parks, a long-shot guess, Bob Iger could work out a deal with Universal to obtain the characters for a Marvel theme park. This, however, would require a huge payment - not that Disney has balked at big price tags before. Another scenario could see Disney using Marvel characters that aren't a part of the Universal contract in a new park. The Dark Kingdom (Villain) concept would seem a great way to incorporate Disney and Marvel characters - just guessing.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

I would think that disney would have free reign on any character not directly used to promote/ theme attractions or services over at IOA....

that only eliminates Spiderman, the Hulk, Storm (from X-men) and Doctor Doom...if i recall.

That would be my take...if anybody has a more accurate description that can explain it - i'm all ears.


But i think they have a longterm goal of riding out the lease at Universal before they use the marvel brands for amusements....i don't see them having Thor, Capt America, Silver Surfer, and Xmen down the street on rides while the other characters are 10 miles away...that's tacky even for them