The issue here is that I don't think Disney sees any 'problems' with Orlando. To your point the money keeps rolling in. We as guests see 'problems' with lackluster updates, infrequent maintenance, or the glacial pace at which new items get implemented, yet we line up each morning at rope drop ready to spend cash. Personally I think they're milking the Orlando campus as much as they can before the going public says enough is enough. The consistent closure announcements juxtaposed with regular price increases give fuel to that speculation.
Disney has reinvested to make their product grow, but I think we need to realize that they have transitioned from the parks as the principal product to media delivery and IP control. On their schedule as far as the eye can see is film after film being released. More and more each year the media division stands as the giant in the corporation. The relationship they have with Comcast on licensing Marvel in Universal is the direction Disney wants to move towards - have someone else assume the liability on construction, maintenance and labor costs while they get a monthly check for the use of their IP. It wouldn't surprise me in the least bit if there was another IP floating around that they are thinking about grabbing before Iger's tenure wraps up.
I think you've got it entirely backwards. Arguably Disney Parks is becoming more important to the "Disney" Robert Iger is trying to make. I'll finish that it in a moment. First:
The issue here is that I don't think Disney sees any 'problems' with Orlando. To your point the money keeps rolling in.
Is there a "problem?" What is the problem? I don't think there is one. Except for HS, the parks are firing on all cylinders. (DAK is soft, but we saw what WOC can do) There's two reasons to build attractions:
1) Grow attendance- This can be superseded if another park around the globe is struggling aka DCA, HKDL, PD, WDS
2) Retain attendance- The higher law
3?) Iffy and new, MyMagic is system that is about improving experience, improving intent to return, and boosting guest spending. While not actually a traditional "attraction, it does somewhat fall into those characteristics. For the sake of simplicity, I'm going to stick with the first two.
If Disney doesn't expect to either grow attendance or doesn't need to retain customers then building is exactly the wrong thing to do. Our "problems" or desires are not their "problems."
This makes me agree with your next point:
We as guests see 'problems' with lackluster updates, infrequent maintenance, or the glacial pace at which new items get implemented, yet we line up each morning at rope drop ready to spend cash.
If it's not directly effecting the 2 rules then it's not a "problem." You could argue there are subtle signs that the 2nd is being broken, but that's not played out yet.
1 seems to be broken in a dramatic fashion. There's potentially millions of untapped ticket clicks waiting to happen. I agree with you there, but you start to lose me with:
Personally I think they're milking the Orlando campus as much as they can before the going public says enough is enough. The consistent closure announcements juxtaposed with regular price increases give fuel to that speculation.
And then what? They'll put the "For Sale" sign out front? That's ridiculous. Disney has added many offerings over the last decade, (not enough to fully satisfy 1, but enough to completely surpass 2) they're not going to walk away from billions of dollars. Walt Disney World is
THE PREEMINENT TOURIST DESTINATION ON THE PLANET. You recently heard that Orlando is the number one tourist destination on Earth, guess who collects the Lion share of that? Disney. Arguing that Disney is on track to ruin Walt Disney World then try to claw their way back from the brink is silly. Theoretically if the public does eventually say enough is enough, it will slam them hard. It will effect not only WDW, but also
Disneyland Resort,
Disney Cruise Line, Disneyland Paris, and even Walt Disney Animation and Studios. WDW is the literal embodiment of Disney. If WDW has the reputation of being crap, that effects all of Disney. They're in it for the long game, even if backlot's replacement hasn't been announced yet.
Disney has reinvested to make their product grow, but I think we need to realize that they have transitioned from the parks as the principal product to media delivery and IP control.
When the heck were parks ever the "principal product?" Last time I checked, Michael Eisner came from Hollywood. Michael Ovits too. Jeffery Katzenburg yeah. Disney has always been movie and television focused first. Before Disneyland was a place, it was a TV show. That's not to say Disney Parks weren't creative contributors in their own way. Pirates the best example. They created content, and the movie studio created more content. They shared with each other and were better off for it. I'm of the mindset that Disney is the strongest when each of their now 5 creative hearts are beating (LF, WDA,WDI,WDS,MS). I'm not sure if WDI is what it once was, but the same could be said of WDA once too, so we never know when things will turn around.
I do think the parks will sadly lose some of their uniqueness to IP based stuff, but in a way that makes them even more critical to the company. They're now completely invested in the outcome of the parks because they're representative of the other divisions.
On their schedule as far as the eye can see is film after film being released.
And??? Massive media conglomerates can do more then one thing at once. Making more movies doesn't mean anything for the parks. During the Eisner Era, they were cranking out tons of movies through WDS, WDA, Mirmax, TD, and Touchstone. One of the first things Iger did was drastically reduce the amount of movies released. I was actually struck by how few movies there were. Especially original...
More and more each year the media division stands as the giant in the corporation.
You've got this part wrong. Guess which division's profit contracted? Guess which division is facing increased costs? Guess which division has a dozen tech companies breathing down its throat? Ain't Disney Parks and Resorts. I'd argue Disney's big bets with Shanghai Disney, Star Wars, Marvel, etc point them exactly the opposite direction. Besides Disney Channel, none of those channels build up the "Disney" Iger is trying to craft. They're increasingly looking like the outsiders to this massive Walt Disney Studios, Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Walt Disney Consumer Products, and Walt Disney Interactive... IP Party. They're one of the few divisions that hasn't really been able to leverage Marvel or Star Wars in a meaningful way (Agents of Shield and SW Rebels are small fries in the grand scheme of things). I could list dozens of reasons why Mickey Mouse is important to DPs, DCP, WDS, WDI, but I'd struggle to tell you why he mattered to ESPN. That lacks synergy. Something Iger has been all about.
The relationship they have with Comcast on licensing Marvel in Universal is the direction Disney wants to move towards - have someone else assume the liability on construction, maintenance and labor costs while they get a monthly check for the use of their IP.
That breaks up the "Disney" Robert Iger is trying to make. Having one part owned by some random company, and another owned by a different one breaks up the One Brand he's trying to create. Disney Parks is the literal embodiment of the company. There's no way they'd sacrifice all that good will, and fanatical fanboyism for no reason. Oh, and did I mention Disney Parks generates billions?
It wouldn't surprise me in the least bit if there was another IP floating around that they are thinking about grabbing before Iger's tenure wraps up.
I wouldn't put it out of the realm of possibility. What would they buy though? Nothing immediately obvious. There's been an arms race for IP, I'm not sure where they'd go next. They could go after a bigger studio.
In closing, I'd say Disney Parks is not destined for obliteration. Could they (and should they) be building more and capitalizing on the potential growth? Yes. Are they moving in that direction? Looks like it. Are Disney Parks irrelevant? Nope, I'd argue they're more relevant to Disney then ever. Did Disney executives use clever spin tactics to avoid talking about MyMagic? I'm afraid so. Darn it Staggs. (Not really pertinent to anything I was saying, but I had to vent somewhere)
.... Rock n Rollercoaster was down, Tower of Terror had a 80 minute wait, Toy Story had a 70 minute wait and Star Tours had a 30 minute wait, which really isn't that bad, considering the theming of the day. It is really sad to walk around and see so many attractions that are either closed or in need of refurbishment. Even the addition of Starbucks (oh, sorry, The Trolley Car) hasn't helped.... their castmembers were standing outside waiting for people to come in. Up at Sid's Antique 
On a brighter note. They had a Star Wars Mickey Character meal at Hollywood and Vine and there was a line out the door waiting for their ADRs... also, they have started working on the new track of Toy Story Midway Mania, which will add additional capacity to an always VERY busy ride. 
Before they even thought about Pandora or New Fantasyland, they should have gotten this park up to Disney standards. Made it an all day park, instead of the "ok.... lets get the 3 fastpasses as close together as possible, so we can ride the E tickets and go somewhere else" park. Then they could have built New Fantasyland and after that Pandora.. or whatever incarnation it would have become by that point. It would be great if all of this could coincide with DHS' 30th anniversary in 2019. but as slow as Disney is about getting their projects done in a timely manner, it will more that likely be their 40th anniversary!
