HS announcements to be made at D23

[Missyrose]

Everything in the article is still couched as absolute rumor. Grand (and vaguely plausible) rumor, but rumor nonetheless.

I'm going to D23 Expo and I'm keeping my expectations low when it comes to big announcements.

 

[Angel Ariel]

No offense to the author, but I will believe this when I see Disney finally make the announcements. There's been so many rumors for so long..too long, imo. I sincerely hope Disney is making some big announcements next month

 

[LittleDreamer]

Sorry long answer, but I like designing my own version of the parks so,

I always have an issue when people say they are going to change the Echo Lake area. I can easily see the dinosaur going away but re-themeing that area to Star Wars will be visually jarring for that area especially with 50's Prime Time. Personally I felt that Star Wars should spread to the the south and west. Taking over streets of America and Muppets area. The Muppets need to be relocated but repositioning a new Muppet attraction by Pixar and Playhouse Disney would make more sense. Star Wars taking over they Streets would also allow for the Sci-Fi Dine in to survive (with the transition being like a fence surrounding a drive in movie theater that's showing Star Wars) and if Cars land takes over LMA then the mid-western rock formations could blend nicely into a Tatooine landscape.

The Jedi Training Academy moving indoors to part of the Drew Carey Sounds Dangerous makes great sense, imagine a stage designed as the Dagobah swamp/Yoda's Hut with an Yoda Puppet teaching young Jedi how to levitate and sending them into the tree to fight Vader (Vader's appearance would make sense then). A stage design around Coruscant Jedi Temple would work well.

For Indy we need an attraction but I don't want a port from Disneyland. Personally I would love a mine car coaster, Seven Dwarfs with the thrill amped up.

I'll stop there that's a bit much of me

 

[bellyrunnersix]

I'm skeptical until we get real details.

Even if done in waves, it's going to close up massive parks of the park at any given time.

The author also states that ToT, RNRC, TSMM, and GMR are the only rides sticking around, and then goes on to talk about Star Tours. It's kind of shoddily written.

If it's all actually true, it means everything will close and DHA will have GMR as an anchor with two Lucas property franchises and Pixar/Toy Story as the attraction. That seems nowhere near diverse enough but who knows?

What's up with the ride kicking Journey into Imagination to the curb rumor? If it's true I'll bet a nickel it's an Inside Out ride even if it more appropriately suited for the mostly defunct WoL pavilion.

 

[mom2rtk]

Maybe they should call on a former Disney star and make Mylie Cyrus' "Wrecking Ball" the theme song at this year's D23 festivities.

 

[ArwenMarie]

No offense to the author, but I will believe this when I see Disney finally make the announcements. There's been so many rumors for so long..too long, imo. I sincerely hope Disney is making some big announcements next month

Agree. I'm actually at the point I'll believe it when I see it for myself

 

[CAS239]

The article does not say that Star Tours will be leaving. It says that there will be 4 Star Wars attractions, including Star Tours and JTA.

I took "Let’s start with what goes… Basically everything. It’d be easier to list what is going to be sticking around, as that list is much shorter, so here you go – The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Toy Story Mania and the Great Movie Ride. If an attraction is not in that company, it’s not going to last."

As Star Tours wouldn't be lasting. Which I find 99.9% impossible they would remove it. I saw below that about the Jedi Academy moving. But found it weird that they wouldn't include that in the above category

 

[suzanna1066@comcast.]

I would love to see Disney add Crush's Coaster from Hollywood Studios Paris. Great fun and would fit perfectly in Pixar Place/Land

 

[Garthilk]

It's interesting for these billion dollar details to leak but nothing about the 1.5 billion dollars for DLR being leaked?

 

[ondori]

As long as the tower of terror stays, I don't care what they do!

 

[soniam]

I seriously doubt Star Tours would close, if they are going to be bringing in a bigger Star Wars presence. I think that was just a slip. Putting JTA in a building is a great idea; however, I do like to just kind of walk by it and see it for a few minutes. Although, if I could do that with AC I am torn about Muppets. I like the Muppets but can't stand the attraction. It needs to be overhauled. However, keeping a Muppets attraction in a park that is mainly Pixar and Star Wars seems kind of weird. I wouldn't mind if the Indy show closed. I have seen it so many times, and I heard they quit doing the ball. The Indy ride from DLR would be cool. DHS does need more little kid stuff, so the Pixar Playland could be good. Honey I Shrunk the Kids is really outdated.

I don't know if I like the idea of redoing the Echo Lake area. It reminds me of DCA and could even be improved with more LA/Hollywood theming. It fits with GMR, the front of the park, and the RNRC/TOT area. It makes a nice transition to ST and Indy. I really like Star Wars, but I can't wrap my head around the proposed concept for the lake.

I really hope they reopen One Man's Dream and Animation Academy. They are really cool things, and all parks need some lower energy, slow, air-conditioned attractions.

They absolutely need to add more CS restaurants to DHS and possibly more TS. It is sorely lacking in CS. With these big expansions, the problem will only get worse. I hope they keep the Rebel Hangar concept from Star Wars Weekends somewhere.

 

[angierae]

The Muppets have a new show airing this fall, and have had to movies in the last five years. I don't see how their popularity has "passed".

I am incredibly upset at the idea of there being no Muppets presence at Disney. There were so many awesome plans before Henson died and the first deal fell through, and after they bought Henson all we got was muppets 3d and I don't want there to be nothing.

 

[Phil Dunphy]

I took "Let’s start with what goes… Basically everything. It’d be easier to list what is going to be sticking around, as that list is much shorter, so here you go – The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, Rock ‘N’ Roller Coaster, Toy Story Mania and the Great Movie Ride. If an attraction is not in that company, it’s not going to last."

As Star Tours wouldn't be lasting. Which I find 99.9% impossible they would remove it. I saw below that about the Jedi Academy moving. But found it weird that they wouldn't include that in the above category

they said in that later part that academy and star tours would be two of the four the article contradics itself

 

[galaxygirl76]

What about the Osborne lights? Are they going to stay in the revamped Studios?

 

[mom2rtk]

What about the Osborne lights? Are they going to stay in the revamped Studios?

That's a great question. I hope if they make an announcement, they will include information on this as well.

 

[IrishNYC]

As someone that isn't a frequent visitor to WDW, I'd hate to see one entire park closed while I was there. For regulars that don't want to waste a days entry on a half closed park, just pretend it's not open! We very easily spent 9 hours there in May, and if it wasn't for DD5 getting tired and whiny we could have stayed until closing. We didn't do everything there is to do, none of us rode RNR because DD is too small, and I was disappointed enough in leaving that I considered going back after DH and DD got settled at our resort for the night.

DH and I both previously visited WDW in 1981 and had one of the parks been closed for our recent trip, we wouldn't have gone when we did. We planned it as a once in a lifetime trip for DD, but loved our time there so much that we plan on going back again as soon as DD is tall enough for the rides she was too small for this time (so, 48 inches tall - 4 inches to go!), and DH and I plan on a trip for just ourselves either this November or next.

 

[CAS239]

What about the Osborne lights? Are they going to stay in the revamped Studios?

I don't see the Osbourne lights going anywhere. That imo is their best display for the Christmas season and Disney knows how popular it is. If anything I could see it relocate, but I don't see it leaving

 

[wisblue]

Happy Fourth Everyone!

While everything in the linked article is rumor and/or speculation, I don't think anyone disagrees that there are some major changes in the works at DHS. The article got me to thinking more specifically about what I think is going to happen, and here is my opinion:

1. A significant announcement at D23 makes sense because, with all of the closings, they have to announce SOMETHING soon.

2. I won't try to guess too much about the details, but significant increases in the Star Wars and Pixar presence seem inevitable. With the amount of space they have to work with considering the closings that have already taken place or been announced, these changes figure to be substantial.

3. As for timing, I start by noting that the 50th Anniversary of WDW is coming in 2021, a mere 6 years away. I would expect that a celebration along the lines of what is going on now in California is in the works, with each of the 4 parks featuring special events and activities.

4. I also expect that Disney will want all of the parks to be in good shape for those special events. So, I am expecting that the timetable for whatever is being planned for DHS will call for completion by the end of 2020, or early 2021. This timing would be pretty much the same as the California Adventure project which I think was announced in 2007 and opened in stages ending with the opening of Cars Land in 2012.

5. Although they will likely not be as dramatic as the changes at DHS, I also expect some significant changes at Epcot in the next few years.

Let's see what happens.

 

[JimmyV]

3. As for timing, I start by noting that the 50th Anniversary of WDW is coming in 2021, a mere 6 years away. I would expect that a celebration along the lines of what is going on now in California is in the works, with each of the 4 parks featuring special events and activities.

4. I also expect that Disney will want all of the parks to be in good shape for those special events. So, I am expecting that the timetable for whatever is being planned for DHS will call for completion by the end of 2020, or early 2021.

Food for thought. The original construction of the park from groundbreaking to ribbon cutting was 31 months. I think your time line is right on. I have been saying 2020-2021 for a while. But if they closed the park, we could have a new and improved park in half that time.

 

[karly05]

Just from reading this thread, I'm taking the "4 remaining attractions" list as meaning TSM, TOT, RnRC and GMR are the 4 rides that are not going to be touched (well, apart from the extra track for TSM). I would imagine that with any Star Wars expansion, they will have to close Star Tours (temporarily) at some point, and it might get some updates. I'm like a PP, I would sometimes stop and watch a bit of JTA if I was walking by; I wouldn't take time to go inside for it. But I'm assuming that an indoor JTA can run in multiple rooms and increase capacity quite a bit, so it makes sense. Agreed with the PP who said DHS/"DHA" can't be just "headliners." There need to be some low-key things to do, and there has to be enough to draw all ages/abilities.

I will bet money right now that whatever announcements come out of D23, we will all be here griping that they didn't give us enough information.