D23 2022 News & Rumours

[maverik85]

D23 was a major disappointment. I'm a Disney lover but they need to up their game, big time. Universal is opening another gate (and has room for a fourth) in the next 5 years and Disney has...a redo of an existing ride system, a walk-through attraction, Tron (which is a gimme because it's already done), and some blue-sky projects that will never see the light of day.

IMO, even more than the lack of new stuff in the parks, the biggest threat to Disney is guest satisfaction declining. Families can drive 30 miles from any major city in America and go to a theme park with rides. They go to Disney because of the guest-centered experience. A Disney experience now requires a ton of advanced planning, a working knowledge of their ever-changing reservation systems, proficiency with a smart phone, thousands upon thousands of dollars, and a ton of luck and patience. It shouldn't be this hard.

Shareholders are happy, but guests are not. The tide for Disney is turning and they need to course-correct now.

I agree, I think beyond the rides the biggest detriment is really the guest experience. New stuff going in doesn't seem to be as great as classic rides and everything feels more lackluster and continuing to charge more and more for what had been included. MY family are all huge Disney people they couldn't wait for the next trip and used to own in DVC. Now my parents feel a Disney trip is too much hassle and have been traveling elsewhere or planning stuff in different areas.

For new additions, I'm really wondering if they just wanted to kind of the tow line for now with still coming out of the pandemic (even though they are doing just fine) and waiting to see how Epic Universe does. They might want to wait until the 2024 D23 to make big announcements as that will be close to the opening of EU and be closer in the minds to people as it opens versus being 3 year old announcements. Or even waiting until 2026 D23 so they can see how the first year of the park was and how much it affects the market share. IoA didn't really have any impact when it opened and was kind of a disappointment attendance wise for Universal when it first opened. (Got great reviews though). Universal though is a much different entity than it was at that time so I feel like Epic Universe will have a bigger impact than IoA did upon opening.

So while I found this D23 very disappointing, and that can't be changed. I am very curious to see what the next couple look like with Epic Universe being much more tangible and near/open.