Disney's Animal Kingdom May Need More Help Than Avatar

[BlueStarryHat]

A story on Daily Finance.com on how Animal Kingdom may need more help than Avatar land can give. It also mentions at the end that it's actually the Studios which is the least-visited WDW park. Is this true?


http://www.dailyfinance.com/2014/01/17/disney-animal-kingdom-avatar-theme-park-analysis/

 

[rteetz]

A story on Daily Finance.com on how Animal Kingdom may need more help than Avatar land can give. It also mentions at the end that it's actually the Studios which is the least-visited WDW park. Is this true? http://www.dailyfinance.com/2014/01/17/disney-animal-kingdom-avatar-theme-park-analysis/

well animal kingdom and DHS are neck and neck for attendance they are at like 9 million as of last year I believe. Avatar will definitely give AK a boost especially with all the new night time interactions. I think disney needs to put money into both parks AK is first well just have to wait and see when DHS gets its turn. Many people also say that DHS would need more than Star Wars land if it does happen as well. Disney took many short cuts in AK and now that's visible. DHS turns 25 this year but many think we won't see any announcements on that park at all this year.

 

[Castle2Castle]

Yes, in the official attendance reports (2012) Animal Kingdom inched ahead of Hollywood Studios - 7th vs 8th in the world and 4th vs 5th in North America.

The article might have been interesting, except that the author makes absolutely no mention of Disney's public announcements about new nighttime shows and entertainment (October 2013). His concern seems to be the early closing of the park, and he ends the article with "the ultimate test will be at what time the park closes on a quiet January weekday in 2018". Perhaps a quiet January weekday could still see earlier hours, but it almost comes off as though he's not aware of the plans at all to stress the hours so heavily and make no mention of the plans for expanded nighttime entertainment.

And while the park has only inched ahead of Hollywood Studios, it's not too shabby that a park that "can't keep crowds long enough to feed them dinner at the end of the day" is still boasting higher attendance than most theme parks in North America and the world. Providing more entertainment and more time to enjoy that entertainment should solidify the park's position and possibly improve it further.

 

[nickeymouse]

I was just in AK. And I am by far a disney buff. But I have to say attendance wise it makes sense. I finished the entire park from 9-2. I mean I stayed till closing, it was off season, and knew how to use fastpass, but still I could never do that with MK or Epcot!

 

[skier_pete]

I love Animal Kingdom, and we spend two days there each trip versus 1 at DHS (we don't park hop) so this is not intended as a slight.

Those park attendance figures are based on the FIRST park entered for the day, and my bet is that skews AK attendence higher than DHS, while in reality, DHS probably has more people through the gate on average. Not a lot of people are hopping TO AK in the afternoon, while DHS surely gets people rolling in later in the day or even just for fantasmic.

 

[jamarmiller]

I love animal kingdon and while I am happy to see it get new stuff to add to my love of it, I did think DHS needed something a lot more. its the one park I skip most years. I only go once every five years to DHS. This year i am visiting all the parks in February/March except DHS. Id rather visit either one of the universal parks before DHS

 

[lockedoutlogic]

I'm not sure why anyone doubted that animal kingdom would need more?

It has to be the highest overhead of any disney park...maybe epcot...probably not a magic kingdom. When nobody goes on Sounds Dangerous! or the american idol mistake at studios...theres a couple of low paid name tags standing there doing nothing and some electricity...
Tell the elephant herd not to eat if its slow...or not require veterinary care or the constant monitoring...or the expense of maintaining/preparing for constant compliance inspections...

AK was built on a 2-3/5 percentage...as it opened realistically with 40-60% of what it minimum needed to perform at an adequate level to recoup costs and begin to generate profit. its' not much different than then (including the already nearly complete asia section)
avatarland doesn't fill in the gap...it should get it closer...but no.

Disney needs a longer day, more spending crowd to make that park sustainable...probably 15 mil annually to really bring it up.
not the "morning...ride safari...see lion king show...ride yeti's revenge...run past rainforest cafe at 1 pm on way to epcot" crowd.

you need not be a Disney VP or WSJ market analyst to figure this out. one visit, basic economics, and a teaspoon of common sense.

"but the detail is fantastic"...yeah...i hear it. but few stick around to stare at it and their plastic is going with them somewhere else later in the day.

studios and animal kingdom are not nearly the same size...nor is epcot. animal kingdom and epcot cant jockey for least attendance with mgm forever. That is not sustainable for the compound long term.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Not enough rides to be a park, and too few animals to be a zoo. Besides EE, it's very disappointing.

 

[Borishack]

Not enough rides to be a park, and too few animals to be a zoo. Besides EE, it's very disappointing.

You nailed it and adding a boat ride and Soarin' clone based on an overrated and icreasingly forgotten film isn't going to fix that.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Not enough rides to be a park, and too few animals to be a zoo. Besides EE, it's very disappointing.

thats actually the most disappointing for me...

$300,000,000 worth of costs for what amounts to an average partially enclosed roller coaster with a "out of order" sign hung on the yeti

i know somebodys gonna say "that's not true"

yeah...it really is...people need to hold them accountable for that. maybe not even for the engineering fail...but more for the fact that if avatar opens "on schedule" (ridiculous...but another topic)...there will be a 12 year gap between significant and desperately overdue additions at DAK...
pre-schoolers would then be entering college.

What do i expect? More...justify your ridiculous pricing...don't be "those greedy jerks" any longer

 

[DisneyDad222]

Originally Posted by FlightlessDuck
Not enough rides to be a park, and too few animals to be a zoo. Besides EE, it's very disappointing.

Couldn't agree with this more. With a ds5 and dd1, AK is just not a place we want to visit and we've skipped it on our last 3 trips. The park is two to three times bigger than every other park, but the problem we find is there is nothing interesting between the rides/experiences. And it starts from the moment you walk in. While you walk on to main st at MK, or around the ball at Epcot, or even down the blvd to the hat at HS, when you enter AK, you have to walk around rock formations past animals no one cares about, just to get a view of the tree. There's nothing that hits you as you enter the park.

Once you finally get to Africa or Asia, you get herded into an area with ONE ride. In Africa your choices are to sit on a jeep and see animals or walk 5 miles and see animals. The rapids are fun, but really not something you do first thing in the morning because it will take the rest of the day to dry off.

In Asia, you have EE, what else is there? A bird show? Another 5 mile trek to see animals?

At MK you have 15 rides and 4 or 5 character meets in Tomorrowland and Fantasyland alone. Avatarland is desperately needed, but what I'd say they need more are multiple dark rides in every area. A Tarzan ride in Africa. A Jungle Book / Mulan experience in Asia. They could also keep kids in the park all day if they tore down Dinoland and turned it in to the 100 acre woods. My kids love Pooh as much as Mickey and I'm sure many others do as well. There are no other areas for little ones outside of fantasyland in all the parks, but a 100 acre woods area with a play area, 3 or 4 rides geared to the under 44 inch crowd and meet and greets would keep families here for hours.

The idea of the park is awesome, the look and feel of the park are well thought out and executed, but this park seems built for sightseers, there's just not enough to actually do to make it worth a visit.

 

[DetroitDisney]

I went to AK for the first time this year and loved it. I don't understand the hate. I can understand that it's not on par with MK, and I wouldn't expect it to be.

Avatar will be awesome. I'm glad disney is pulling in some outside stuff to make a truly awesome area.

If we could just get Cars Land and Star Wars land in DHS then life would be complete.

 

[rteetz]

I went to AK for the first time this year and loved it. I don't understand the hate. I can understand that it's not on par with MK, and I wouldn't expect it to be. Avatar will be awesome. I'm glad disney is pulling in some outside stuff to make a truly awesome area. If we could just get Cars Land and Star Wars land in DHS then life would be complete.

I love AK spend a day and a half there people don't understand that there's much more than just rides in AK. The shows the entertainment, the different animal excursions you can do its an amazing park. People just want rides, and then all they do is complain because there isn't enough of them and the yeti isn't working.

 

[sweetdana]

I love AK.. always pick over HS when we have a shorter trip and have to but.

..but.. we almost always have hoppers.. it is only a 1/2 day park.. we leave 3 PM at the latest, and usually dine at Epcot/resort for dinner.

I will take what ever extra they put at AK, I believe the goal is to stop the hopping over to another park (MK or EP) and I just don't know if this will do enough of it to justify the costs.. but who knows.


Notes: Need: the food at AK is mostly lousy. We do an 11:30 Donald's Safari Brunch, or an 11:39 Yak and Yeti (there choices are lousy at best for a shell fish allergy EVERYTHING but 2 dishes have Oyster sauce .) To really pop this sucker, they need a Solid Dinner with Characters.. Maybe star wars/ toy story/ or a pirates show dinner. it is missing from the park. It also needs a better QS there is just nothing like at MK/EP/HS. Maybe set up an indoor food court like at POR, and a GOOD Char TS. ..Maybe a dinner and a show option.

 

[xie]

We like AK. But no, it doesn't occupy us for more than 6-7 hours, and that's if we take the time to wander all the little paths and stuff (which we almost always do). We happen to like gardens and animals, and if you take your time looking at the unused paths, you can find little waterfalls and things. It's a nice change of pace from the hectic atmosphere of the other parks.

However, if we didn't spend time exploring and stuff, we could easily be done by lunchtime.

All I can say is that to keep people like us in there from 3pm - 9pm, they are going to have to offer a lot more than a nighttime show. That's a lot of hours to fill. I'd say on the order of 5-6 additional rides and other activities to keep people busy. And I don't know if they plan to spend that much on it.

 

[ChrisFL]

AK needs two classic Disney dark rides...slow moving, family friendly, AIR CONDITIONED!!

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

AK needs two classic Disney dark rides...slow moving, family friendly, AIR CONDITIONED!!

The more dark rides the better...in every park!

 

[xie]

Notes: Need: the food at AK is mostly lousy. We do an 11:30 Donald's Safari Brunch, or an 11:39 Yak and Yeti (there choices are lousy at best for a shell fish allergy EVERYTHING but 2 dishes have Oyster sauce .)

The only meal we ever eat at AK anymore is a late lunch at Tusker House.

Years ago we used to like the Breakfastosaurus, but that's been gone for a long time now. And Tusker House used to be a much more pleasant place before it got turned into character dining.

However, the food at Tusker is still quite good. It hasn't changed in the last few years. They have a carving station with roast beast and pork, the usual suspects like chicken, a good selection of kids' food, a veritable mountain of sides (good sides, from the spicy orzo/spinach pasta dish to fresh green beans), and a really delicious peri peri baked salmon dish that I love. As WDW buffets go it's one of the nicer ones in terms of food quality.

The only problem with Tusker House is that once they turned the lunch into a character lunch, the noise level got ratcheted up into the 100s of decibels, it feels like. And there's not a soft surface in the place to muffle any of it. We can't really carry on a conversation in there anymore - it's sit, eat and get out.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

Well, hopefully there will be another TS added with this addition. I'm sorry...I think Avatarland is going to be a game-changer for this park. I've been at this park during the rare time they had it open at dark(in summer 2009) and it's gorgeous. It's long overdue as a night time experience. Along with the other attractions being open at night(especially the safari and EE) it's going to really start paying for itself.

 

[rteetz]

Well, hopefully there will be another TS added with this addition. I'm sorry...I think Avatarland is going to be a game-changer for this park. I've been at this park during the rare time they had it open at dark(in summer 2009) and it's gorgeous. It's long overdue as a night time experience. Along with the other attractions being open at night(especially the safari and EE) it's going to really start paying for itself.

I agree I can't wait