Destination D23, 8-10 Sep 2023 @ WDW's CR

[Jrb1979]

Did you miss the whole segment about Epcot? We got Journey of Water opening date, Moana meet and greet, Figment meet and greet, Luminous nighttime spectacular and Test Track refurbishment

I think certain news sites overhyped Destination D23 as if it was the D23 Expo when there is never any major announcements at Destination D23. What we got was alright, some stuff that was new and some updates. Plus confirmation that they are working on something Beyond big Thunder and Dinoland, although nothing concrete for MK and the Tropical Americas land being the only concrete thing for Dinoland replacement

That wasn't confirmation for the Dinoland replacement. It was more blue sky crap. Odds are they're not getting built.


I love the D'Amaro quote 'Things are about to go into overdrive at MK'

Yeah, just you wait for us to announce things that we plan to do one day but will cancel before we do it. This is really exciting time for big fans of WDW. I suggest holding your breath as well, what could go wrong?

 

[Gusey]

That wasn't confirmation for the Dinoland replacement. It was more blue sky crap. Odds are they're not getting built.

Never said it was confirmation for Dinoland replacement, just confirmation that they are still working on Beyond Big Thunder and Dinoland replacement.
The exact wording according to the Disney Parks Blog:

Walt Disney Imagineering is planning to reimagine Dinoland U.S.A. at Disney’s Animal Kingdom into a new land – inspired by a region sometimes referred to as “tropical Americas.”

As part of their research, Imagineers are looking at some of the most biodiverse areas on the planet in the regions just north and south of the equator here in the Western Hemisphere – the northern part of South America, stretching up into Central America.

This exciting location has been the inspiration for many magical stories over the years!

 

[croschek05]

That wasn't confirmation for the Dinoland replacement. It was more blue sky crap. Odds are they're not getting built.


I love the D'Amaro quote 'Things are about to go into overdrive at MK'

Yeah, just you wait for us to announce things that we plan to do one day but will cancel before we do it. This is really exciting time for big fans of WDW. I suggest holding your breath as well, what could go wrong?

I've been a big Disney guy for 40 years. My family and I were just there 3 weeks ago where we did the parks and Disney wish. We always have a great time any time we go and whenever we go next time we'll have a blast. However.....I'm so sick of Disney lol. They really think today was exciting news?? A water play area, an Encanto area over at AK that prob won't happen, Figment, and new songs at the country bears. They couldn't even get the damn hatbox ghost in there by Halloween season. I just don't get what there doing. Knock the damn Tom Sawyer island down already and let's gooooo!! Epic Universe is coming! Disney better step up!

 

[Dznefreek]

D23: The Ultimate Snooze Fest!

 

[Moliphino]

It's not that shiny really - they could always make some minor exterior alterations. They could even drop the connections to the DINOSAUR movie, which is the only really dated thing about it. Otherwise, Dinosaurs are cool!

Maybe change the name back to Countdown to Extinction.

 

[Duckbug.Ducktales]

Wow. I came here to see all the big announcements and... BAM! Disappointment.

(Not really. LOL)

You set yourself up for disappointment by expecting big announcements. They don't do those at Destination D23.

 

[Elijah Abrams]

Did not have them redoing Dinoland into a non-Zootopia land as a possibility. So that's where Coco and Enchanto will go. That fits a lot better than Zootopia. They hinted that Dinosaur will turn into the DLR Indiana Jones ride.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1700514927989977094

I actually like the idea of Dinoland being replaced with "Tropical Americas" better than that Moana/Zootopia mishmash from last year. However, I think this new land should at least have enclosures for native animals like jaguars, tapirs, capybaras, native birds, native bats, etc. and have dinosaur elements, since there have been discoveries of dinosaurs/dinosaur fossils in Central and South America. They could even do a southeast expansion of said land in order to accommodate the things I suggested. Remember that they were "considering" Encanto and Indiana Jones for "Tropical Americas", meaning that they haven't been confirmed yet.

 

[tinkerhon]

Maybe change the name back to Countdown to Extinction.

This !!! The ride was better then, as well !! They toned it down a bit when they renamed it !!

 

[Cfabar1]

Did you miss the whole segment about Epcot? We got Journey of Water opening date, Moana meet and greet, Figment meet and greet, Luminous nighttime spectacular and Test Track refurbishment

I saw this, but none of the announcements were particularly special... an opening date for an "attraction" that has been promised for years, a couple meet and greets, a nighttime announcement and vague comments about the future of an attraction that is beloved and works just fine... I believe they also mentioned that the entire refurbishment of EPCOT will be done by the end of the year as well, which I personally found the most disappointing news of the day because....

Meanwhile the old Wonders of Life Pavilion is vacant, details about Communicore have been scant, and the Imagination Pavilion is in dire need for refurbishment/replacement, and there is an empty ride waiting to find a purpose in Germany for example, to say nothing of adding more countries.

 

[Jwaire]

That approval would be Josh though.

It not just Josh D'Amaro. They all have to agree down the line or nothing happens. Projects die in operations and finance. Just look at new EPCOT.

 

[HokieRaven5]

It not just Josh D'Amaro. They all have to agree down the line or nothing happens. Projects die in operations and finance. Just look at new EPCOT.

Josh is the corporate head of the entire Parks division. The Buck stops with him at the moment.

Josh is the final say for all things DPEP based upon his budgets.

It stopped with Chapek when he was the head and all of the budget cuts and everything else got laid in his lap.

Josh has been crowdsourcing for 2 years now on these Blue Sky concepts

 

[Jwaire]

I will say it was good to see Bruce Vaughn (a real imagineer) on stage instead of Barbara Bouza (an outsider from Gensler).

Josh is the corporate head of the entire Parks division. The Buck stops with him at the moment.

It stopped with Chapek when he was the head and all of the budget cuts and everything else got laid in his lap.

Chapek was a meddler.

But Jeff Vahle and his EVP of Operations control that resort and those individual Park VPs wield a lot of power.

If Vahle (or his minions) don't want to pay for it, it won't happen. They're ultimately accountable.

That's why it takes 12 months to get a couple of cast members in a Figment costume or a few parking lot trams back.

 

[Grasshopper2016]

Pretty lackluster announcements overall.

But I, for one, am excited about the addition of Central/South America (if it ever actually happens). That fits the theme and vibe of AK much better than anything else that has been rumored for that space. If Disney is willing to invest the money and do it right—I know, big if these days—it could be beautiful and a great complement to Africa and Asia. Imagine a perfectly themed village like Anandapur and Harambe, lush rainforest foliage, an animal trail with jaguars, capybaras, anacondas, alpacas, etc.

Dinoland was always out of place and kind of embarrassing. (“But it’s supposed to look cheap!” was never much of an excuse.)

If done right, this could be a wonderful improvement.

 

[DisneyDad1736]

Pretty lackluster announcements overall.

But I, for one, am excited about the addition of Central/South America (if it ever actually happens). That fits the theme and vibe of AK much better than anything else that has been rumored for that space. If Disney is willing to invest the money and do it right—I know, big if these days—it could be beautiful and a great complement to Africa and Asia. Imagine a perfectly themed village like Anandapur and Harambe, lush rainforest foliage, an animal trail with jaguars, capybaras, anacondas, alpacas, etc.

Dinoland was always out of place and kind of embarrassing. (“But it’s supposed to look cheap!” was never much of an excuse.)

If done right, this could be a wonderful improvement.

I’ll miss the Dinosaur ride and restaraunt-asaurus , but the rest of Dinoland was literally everything Walt was against lol. Good riddance

 

[bsmcneil]

So much negativity for the parks and cruises to carry. And if they just ho hum the parks well guess what...you may as well have Iger on his knees in front of Tim Cook because that's the only thing that'll save Disney at this current rate.

ffs. wow. wow wow wow.

 

[starlite_]

It's absolutely hilarious how so many folks here will never be happy unless they build a new land per WDW park every year. But they need to do it without Disney IP or it doesn't count on the Disney Park. oh, and all of them need to be E-tickets or they will complain about Disney being cheap.

Even if they do that, those folks will still be screaming about how EPIC Universe is better. Just stop going to Disney and save us all the bother pls. We'll all be happier for it, including the forever unhappy folks.

 

[Cfabar1]

If Disney really invests and does it right, Central/South America could be spectacular.

What I heard in the presentation yesterday made me think they'll re-theme a few things, throw in some character greetings and plant a few trees and call it Central/South America. I really hope that isn't what happens.

 

[Pages26]

Never said it was confirmation for Dinoland replacement, just confirmation that they are still working on Beyond Big Thunder and Dinoland replacement.
The exact wording according to the Disney Parks Blog:

It's all just talk, they have Epic universe coming as major competition potentially as soon as January 2025 with them being months ahead of schedule and Disney don't even have a single new attraction that will open that year. Let alone anything serious that will compete. Even loyal Disney fans that have never been to a universal park will be tempted to spend one of their days at a brand new park just out of curiosity.

Disney attendance already down this summer with Iger blaming the heat. While it's more likely the price hikes on everything putting people off but something else I haven't seen mentioned is Peppa pig world Florida opened has that new small park eaten into their young preschool market

We get that if Disney really are working on a villains area for beyond thunder mountain they want to get the designs right but 1st they need to clear land and drain water in that area, if they were serious they could be doing the ground works now while the iminganiers are still working on what they actually gonna build.

The truth is they don't have the money all the profits from the parks is covering for the losses of Disney plus.

 

[disnefile]

That wasn't confirmation for the Dinoland replacement. It was more blue sky crap. Odds are they're not getting built.


I love the D'Amaro quote 'Things are about to go into overdrive at MK'

Yeah, just you wait for us to announce things that we plan to do one day but will cancel before we do it. This is really exciting time for big fans of WDW. I suggest holding your breath as well, what could go wrong?

I agree

 

[disnefile]

It's absolutely hilarious how so many folks here will never be happy unless they build a new land per WDW park every year. But they need to do it without Disney IP or it doesn't count on the Disney Park. oh, and all of them need to be E-tickets or they will complain about Disney being cheap.

Even if they do that, those folks will still be screaming about how EPIC Universe is better. Just stop going to Disney and save us all the bother pls. We'll all be happier for it, including the forever unhappy folks.

Not true. Disney just needs to deliver on promises. Iger needs to leave. Need young blood.