Animal Kingdom Black days???

[phanomouse]

So anyone who belongs to either the WDWBlues or the DisneyBlues email groups will have seen an email about this but I am curious if anyone else has heard about or can even confirm/deny this rumor.

The rumor is that AK will have 1-2 days/week that it will not open. My source for this rumor says it is due to low attendance and budget cuts.

I have a hard time believing this to be fact. First of all this will ruin Rainforest cafe's business, 2nd I haven't heard anything about AK attendance being lower then any of the other park. Of course it didn't have as much to begin with but still.

 

[Walt's Frozen Head]

This rumor, or at least the rumor that this was a possibility, has been around for awhile, now.

There is also a variant of the rumor which claims the dark days would be due to the animals' needs, rather than budgetary concerns. I call "shenanigans" on that particular spin...

I'd say that most of the regulars here would agree that it might very well happen. Moreover, there has been quite a bit of discussion about it, and I'd say the general consensus is that this particular solution, while obviously far from ideal, is better than some of the other money-saving possibilities, particularly if it means extending hours in other parks or on other days in AK.

I think this is equivalent to installing sound-proof cockpit doors on crashing airplanes: muffling the screams might make the trip more pleasant for a couple guys up front, but the flight is still heading into the mountain.

-WFH

 

[seashoreCM]

Even Corey Sandler, in his Econoguide travel tips book series, for many years mentions that there are times of the year that "Mickey would love to pay you to come and visit". Those are the times that waiting in line for rides is very minimal, between Labor Day and Thanksgiving, and a little after New Years Day being typical. Of course there is no such thing as a negative ticket price but when the parks are not crowded, Disney could be spending more money on labor and upkeep than the turnstiles bring in.

So the idea of closing Animal Kingdom one day of the week, closing MGM another day, closing Epcot one day, etc. is not too far fetched. This way, single ticket admissions would have full value, compared with closing just parts of parks every day for example Animal Kingdom's Asia or MK's Fantasy land closed on Mondays, Tomorrowland closed on Tuesdays, etc.

Most guests are at WDW for several days, and will still be able to see whatever they want.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[Bob O]

Even for wdw it would be a very boneheaded move!!!
It would be there way of trying to force people to wait in artificially long lines!!

 

[wdwguide]

That would equate a concession by Disney that the Animal Kingdom is a failure, and while everybody basically already knows that, it would do more harm than good for the company to implement this measure, and it would send guest satisfaction plummeting ("When on vacation I want to see things on my own time, not when some greedy corporation grants me permission to").

The problem with the Animal Kingdom is that it is not much of a destination. While its rides are good and popular, there aren't any that "stick out" like Splash Mountain, Test Track, or the Tower of Terror. The animal habitats are well-themed, but many guests, especially international visitors, can see a much greater variety of animals at a nearby zoo for a tiny fraction of the price. There are no distinct full-service restaurants, no family-friendly dark rides, no state-of-the-art roller coasters... People go to the Animal Kingdom because it is there, but it is not a high priority for visitors as the attendance numbers so obviously reflect.