Future Disney growth will look a lot different

[crazy4wdw]

Future Disney growth will look a lot different

Beth Kassab | Business Columnist
October 5, 2007

Walt Disney World has lots of room to grow.

Of the Orlando mega-resort's 25,337 acres, thousands of acres -- roughly the size of at least 18 Magic Kingdoms -- are still available for development.

California's Disneyland also has at least enough space to add a third theme park.

But listen carefully to the recent signals from Disney executives, and you start to understand that much of that land will likely continue to sit empty far into the future.

On Wednesday the company announced Hawaii as the site of its first hotel and time-share resort without a theme park.

And that's just the beginning. A separate concept called Adventures by Disney that launched two years ago is set to begin escorting vacationers as far away as China and Australia.

Is this a course destined to stagnate Orlando's park attendance and discourage repeat visitors seeking new thrills?

Slower or plateaued growth among international and domestic tourists flocking to town would deal a swift punch to our local economy.

Disney executives say that won't happen.

They hate the word "mature" when it comes to describing the traditional theme-park business. They say there are lots of strategies to increase growth in Orlando and Anaheim without rolling out the bulldozers and construction cranes.

That growth would come by catering more to large groups traveling together -- like family reunions, weddings and anniversary celebrations, they say.

It means more multicultural events that appeal to broader groups. It means keeping the entertainment fresh. And it means more marketing and promotions such as the successful "Year of a Million Dreams" campaign.

In other words, more of what we've already seen. Disney has worked those angles for years.

But guests have come to expect big new attractions. Disney credited Expedition Everest, the fast-paced ride that debuted in 2006, with dramatically boosting attendance at Animal Kingdom.

Earlier this year, I asked Disney Parks and Resorts Chairman Jay Rasulo whether there were any plans for more new investments here.

"Not beyond . . . of course we tell people we never stop dreaming," he told me. "Of course, it's not always about capital investment. It's about how do we continue to expand what we call the usage occasion for why people come to Walt Disney World."

Rasulo says Disney's research shows that U.S. visitors only come to the parks about every four years.

Now Disney is smartly going after their business during the years in between with everything from the Hawaii project to potential nightlife and retail complexes across the United States.

Disney Chief Financial Officer Tom Staggs said this summer the company plans capital investments of well below $1 billion for its domestic parks while it shifts focus to the cruise line, time-share business Disney Vacation Club and other ventures.

That's good for Disney's bottom line. What about Central Florida?

It not time to hit the panic button.

Certainly there will always be new young families who want to visit Disney for the first time and those who return for reasons of nostalgia.

And Staggs said second-quarter park attendance showed high single-digit increases and that fourth-quarter bookings "continue to look strong."

But as Disney moves to diversify its business, it's a good thing that Orlando and Orange County have begun a meaningful attempt to diversify our economy.

Beth Kassab can be reached at 407-420-5448 or bkassab@orlandosentinel.com.

 

[minnie61650]

I personally think Disney does not need to build another theme park within the continental U. S. in the near future.

I do however feel there is a lot of room for growth and change within the parks that are already built.

I feel that the Studios and AK really need more rides and attractions.
Many guests do not think of those as a full day park.

MK has space for at least one more ""E" ticket ride.
The space that was occupied by 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea could most likely even hold a dark ride in addition to an "E" ticket ride.

Epcot also has a lot of room for growth.

Wonders of Life is just sitting there unused for the most part when it has so much potential.

There is room in World Showcase to hold a few more "countries".

Parts of EPCOT should be "ever charging" as Walt Disney had hoped.

DL and WDW should not be allowed to stagnate for it may in the not so far distant future suffer the same fate and look as deserted as River Country looks now.

http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a175/minnie61650/rc6-1.jpg

Photo of River Country as it looks now.


JMHO

 

[crazy4wdw]

DL and WDW should not be allowed to stagnate for it may in the not so far distant future suffer the same fate and look as deserted as River Country looks now.

I think is fairly clear that the company is not going to invest any major capital in improving or adding to the exisiting theme parks as long as attendace continues to increase. The company is reporting that 2007 may set an all time attendace record at Disneyland and WDW. As long as they can report to shareholders that profits at the parks are increasing year after after, I don't have much hope that we can look forward to major additions to the parks anytime soon.

 

[cmash95]

a brand new attraction is coming to MGM and Dca next year. and there is at least a 1 billion dollar budget for changes and additions to DCA. the reason they are building other time shares is because they don't want to have to give up the business to other time share companies they partner with. remember they dont have a property in california or anywhere other than vero beach and hilton head. hawaii is a premium travel and honeymoon spot so using your timeshare points there makes alot of sense for the company. don't be surprised to hear about other projects in cities like vegas and chicago and of course nyc announced soon. and if you can draw your dvc members to other properties then you don't have to spend the time or money coming up with new things to do WDW so no new attractions need to be built.

 

[DancingBear]

cmash, check and see if there was any confirmation to those rumors about $1 billion budgeted to fix up DCA.

if you can draw your dvc members to other properties then you don't have to spend the time or money coming up with new things to do WDW so no new attractions need to be built

What does that do for all of the non-DVC members out there?

I don't care all that much if they don't add a ton of new E-ticket attractions, but I'd certainly like to see them filling in some more minor attractions and plussing up the place in general. Maybe new films for Soarin', France and It's Tough to be a Bug. Get something in the old Superstar Television space. Get something new in Sounds Dangerous, finish the back side of Everest, put a saloon show back into Frontierland, that sort of thing.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Well-reading the article a few times sends me the message that the Theme Parks and WDW in general will sort of be left hanging out to dry. Just keeping things at the current level will be a stretch, not to mention any new rides, expansions, etc.
I think we're a long way from Minnies River Country example--but then when I was going to River Country, I never thought they would let it stagnate like that!! BUt they did---
So we'll see----

 

[adabob]

When the article says that DL has more room to add another theme park, where is this i looked on Google Earth and i cant find it anywhere

 

[Another Voice]

The identified "third gate" area is a large empty filed south of Katella Ave. and east of Harbor Blvd. The the land is being used as a parking lot for hourly employees. Large sections of the land to the east of Disneyland (across Harbor Blvd.) consists of empty and abandoned buildings that Disney has left to rot. This land had been set aside for another hotel, another parking structure and more retail. With the failure of California Adventure, Disney has cancelled all those plans.

This is issue is at the heart of the conflict between Disney and the City of Anaheim. The City feels rather taken in by Disney - they had made all these grand promises, Anaheim and the state have spent literally billions of dollars on infrastructure, but Disney is refusing to invest any of their money to meet their obligations. Worse, the empty Disney land around the park is becoming a major crime area. The city feels that is Disney refuses to uphold it's share of the "resort district", than the city has an obligation to the citizens to make that same district as productive and benefical to the city as possible.

 

[minnie61650]

I would just like to say a few words about a mature business.

My DH owns his own multimillion dollar business.(commercial and rental properties.)

We consider the company "mature".

We are happy with our present company and do not wish to grow much more because if we grow much more we would need to turn a lot of the control of the company over to other management companies.

Even though the company is "mature" we reinvest a lot of the income back into maintaining and improving the properties.

We feel that the nature of keeping a good company good is by always trying to make it better.
If we did not maintain and make improvements of our properties than our competition could outshine us and our company would soon stagnate and become a company we would no longer take pride in.

I feel the Disney company also needs to maintain and improve the parks.
I feel it would be a big mistake if they just let good enough be good enough instead always trying to be better.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[pwrflpills]

I think they need to pay serious attention to the World Showcase, the old 20,000 Leagues site, Indy Speedway, Star Tours (aren't they already doing something there?), Indiana Jones, Thunder Mountain, MK in general (I'm older, but it's lost something), and they need to make sure they keep all hotels on a consistent refurb schedule.

 

[MJMcBride]

I personally think Disney does not need to build another theme park within the continental U. S. in the near future.

well there is certainly no point in building a fifth gate so to speak. I think another park in a completely different area could work.

 

[doubletrouble_vb]

There is no need to build another park, just fill out and refresh AK & MGM. Niether one of those parks needs an E-ticket thrill ride. Traveling shows would work just as well. A local science museum just had a big snake exhibit and now has a frog exhibit. Set aside an area of AK to have a changing show area for small species and exotic plants. Set aside another area for North American species.

MGM could do another Great Movie ride that has movies or movie styles from around the world. And build in sections that will frequently change.

Wonders of Life should be changed to cover the full gamut of Life and get it to be sponsored by AARP, Kaiser or whatever. And I think it would be fun to get a location to show how significant life events around the world are handled. Even if it was a small pavillion where you could be a part of wedding (occasionally even a real wedding).