If Disney gave you the Authority to add/finish ONE thing what would you do?

[MinnieNurse]

I thinks its time for a 5th park so I would add it.

I would add a few more moderate resorts. We love the moderates, just wish we had more choices.

I would change the dining plan back to the way it was when it first started to include gratuities, I would even be willing to pay more, its just more convenient.

 

[Lynn5700]

I think a Villians park would be cool.

 

[Buckeye Princess]

I would build a hotel that is themed around the Tower of Terror. Imagine the themeing of the queue area spread across an entire resort. I think tweens and teens would love this. (So would my husband, he talks about it every trip.) You would probably have to book FAR in advance to stay there at Halloween time...haha.



I would also really like to see the Night Kingdom idea come to fruition. We love Discovery Cove and unique experiences like that. I think Disney could do it even better. I'm an animal lover and some direct animal interaction opportunities would be awesome.

I would also make the Cinderella carriage that is available to use for weddings available for anyone to use (for the same price).

 

[BabaGanoush]

I would give more decision making power to the "creatives" of the company and reduce the power of the accountants and suits who are first and foremost concerned with the bottom line. There are definite places for the Roy Disney's but ultimately the decision making should be done by the Walt Disney's - those with the creativity to create world class entertainment. The Roy Disney's should be there to simply figure out how to pay for it.

The Disney theme parks are still very profitable - even in the midst of this recession. Granted, they are not making record breaking profits like they were in 05 and 06 but they are still very much in the green. Thus, I would hope that the Iger's and Rasulo's would continue to be forward thinking about their parks in the Florida rather than spending all of their current resources abroad or in California. Right now, they are using the Orlando parks as their company cash cow and taking the money generated to fund property/ventures elsewhere.

Sometimes I wish we had the executives of the Oriental Land Company running the show because they understand the detriment of cost cutting. It is ok to be frugal - just not at the detriment of the spirit of your brand.

Having said all of that, if I had the authority to simply finish one thing in the parks, I would have to go with adding Beastly Kingdom to DAK or some sort of replacement for Camp Minnie-Mickey (as long as FOLK moves to Harambe where it belongs).

 

[gluvsmickey]

could someone tell me what the idea for Beastly Kingdom is?

 

[fairydust1278]

me too. i have never heard of the beastly kingdom idea or the night kingdom!

 

[TDC Nala]

This may get a major GASP from some members. What exactly was the Adventurer's Club? I feel like I missed something major that no longer exsists

Part of the former Pleasure Island, the Adventurers Club was a themed bar with an interactive cabaret show featuring adventurer characters from the 1930's.

I don't like the dining plan either - I am one of those who thinks the food at most Disney restaurants was better before the dining plan, although the decline is not entirely because of the dining plan - but I'd rather have the Adventurers Club back than the food.

"Beastly Kingdom" was some sort of working title for a land that was supposed to be part of Animal Kingdom featuring mostly thrill rides themed around mythical creatures like dragons. It was apparently supposed to go in the area that became Camp Minnie-Mickey when the idea was scrapped for whatever reason.

"Night Kingdom" was floated as some sort of evening/night thing, either a separate park or an addition to Animal Kingdom, where guests could interact with the animals directly. It was supposed to be a completely immersive experience and would cost something like $200-300 per guest.

 

[OandA]

could someone tell me what the idea for Beastly Kingdom is?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disney's_Animal_Kingdom#Beastly_Kingdom

http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/archive/2001/01/01/309.aspx

http://jimhillmedia.com/blogs/jim_hill/archive/2001/01/01/310.aspx

Those links may help.

 

[OandA]

I don't like the dining plan either - I am one of those who thinks the food at most Disney restaurants was better before the dining plan, although the decline is not entirely because of the dining plan - but I'd rather have the Adventurers Club back than the food.

I do remember places like Columbia Harbour House having great lunches of chicken fingers back when I went in the early 2000's and then when I went last year I couldn't find anything except cheap chicken nuggets. I hadn't even thought that the DDP could be the reason but now it makes so much sense. Cost cutting everywhere.

 

[TikiGoddess]

Definitely Beastly Kingdom in AK. For us AK is an all day park because I have boys that love nature stuff, but I know for lots of folks it's not. The imagination could really run wild with dragons, unicorns and sea monsters. It could be completely amazing.

Also, I would add something to Tomorrowland. It seems to me like there's just not much there. The Stitch ride stinks, Buzz is good, but not as good since Toy Story Mania was built and Space Mountain is a staple, but not the best ride ever. I think it would be cool if they were to add a new thrill ride.

My other change would be the race track at MK. That place is begging to be changed to a Cars themed ride. How great would it be to go for a ride in Mater or Lightnin? And it's a way to focus on boys in a park that's overrun w/girl themed stuff. JMO...I know that was 3, but oh well.

 

[Doc CW]

I would bring back Alien Encounter in MK, I also like the idea of a 5th park

 

[OandA]

For all the people who say "bring back alien encounter", why is it that I never saw a line there when it was around? Last summer the wait for Stitch was over an hour and I never remember waiting that long for AE.

 

[Disney Spaz]

I would do the monorail to every park.
Do Beastly Kingdom in AK.
Finally I would get the food in WDW back to where it used to be. Our last trip I was disappointed.

 

[joxer1014]

I am going in the direction of lost restaurants.

A long time ago, there was a great restaurant in The Beach Club called Ariel's. My wife and I only got to eat here once and then on a return trip found out it closed permanently. To torment us even more it is still there at the BC and still carries the name but is used mostly for private functions. We really enjoyed the food and the decor was just outstanding.

There are many other things that we would like to see return, but this place stands out for us.

 

[wdwiala]

Single run bus service to each resort. No stopping at multiple resorts.

 

[ChuckGA]

Since many of the major ones I liked have been mentioned (monorail to every resort) I will take a different tack.

Policy changes:
1. Stop treating WDW as the black sheep of the Disney empire. I don't have anything against Disneyland Resort but it sure is frustrating that they get all the best rides first and years before WDW. When WDW does finally get the ride, it is a down-graded copy. How about new rides be built a both parks simultaneously and identical copies?

2. Any new theme park must not have plans for a canal/waterway as it always turns into a swamp/moat within the first year. AK would have been so much better if they hadn't built that swamp.. I mean moat.. I mean canal around the Tree Of Life and instead had built an actual huge walkway to handle the hordes of people trying to get from one place to another. AK is very badly designed with long narrow walkways that thousands of people are trying to navigate. What is this, Seaworld?

Attraction change: Hall of Presidents.
I would like to change the Hall of Presidents from the lamest and most under utilized technology to something worthy of the name Hall of Presidents. The last time we went it was a 15 minute filmstrip (filmstrip? Didn't those die out in the 70's?), 5 minutes of each President saying their name, and then a 5 minute lame speech from George W. Bush. I'm sure the new version will be the same except Barack Obama will be giving the lame speech.

The United States has a rich history of Presidents so the show would revolve around a particular President talking about the experiences during their presidency. Other Presidents could also interject with their similar experiences. There is enough biography about each to find very interesting things without having to get too controversial. Also instead of the same show for 6+ years, there would be around 10 shows made focusing on different Presidents and it would change every showing. It is just a matter of running a different program of movements and playing a different recording. Check the schedule for which show number at what time. It would be similar in feel to American Adventure but it would focus on issues of the presidency.

Finally, Disney would plan ahead during presidential elections and have the new President done and ready for installation on Jan 19th overnight and reopen the attraction on Jan 20th at 1pm with the new/continuing President.

 

[BuzzBiteyear]

I have a few, and here is the order I'd have them made in:

1 - The Death Star - this would be a Star Wars character meal restaurant that would look like the Death Star from the outside.

2 - Star Wars themed resort. Maybe different sections: The Ewok Village, Hoth, Tatooine, etc.

3 - A Disney ride themed putt-putt course. Each hole would be designed to work/look like a Disney World ride.

4 - Pirate Ship - another character meal, breakfast and maybe lunch with Peter Pan characters; dinner with Captain Jack and crew

5 - More "kiddie" rides at DHS. By this I mean rides without height restrictions. Even though Toy Store Mania is new, causing some of the crowds there, I still think it's partly due to the fact of not having that many "rides" for small kids there.

6 - Have a new CS for the U.S. at Epcot. Dogs of America or something like that, with different styles of hotdogs from across the U.S.: Chicago, New York, Cincinnati, Savannah, San Diego, etc.

7 - Toy Story & Incredibles character meal.

8 - The Pit Stop. This would be a restaurant that would make it seem like you are at a racetrack with stadium-type seating. The CARS characters could come out to the infield, and you would have the starting light strips at your table, to indicate your turn to go down for photo ops.

9 - Update Star Tours.

10 - Bring back white buns to Casey's. I'm sorry, but those current ones are terrible. I opened mine up Wednesday and 2 of our 3 the buns had already fallen apart.

 

[SCDisneyFan]

I would build a park-wide transit system very similar to the TTA with 4-5 depot station around the park. It would actually be cool to have a transit system like this in each of the parks, each themed to match it surroundings. It would be unbelievable relaxing to get to ride a TTA that glided above every land. It could be easily camoflauged so as to not take away from its surroundings as it passes from one land to the next.

 

[WTP]

Great thread!

I think I would bring back the DisneyQuest that they planned to put in downtown Philadelphia. I think it was the city that ended up not cooperating, not Disney, but that is what I would do. As a former Philly resident, it would have been awesome! I doubt I'll ever try DisneyQuest in WDW, but I would for sure do a day trip to try it if it were closer.

 

[djm99]

For the life of me I can’t figure out why WDW doesn’t have a Fab 5 resort. Every time I depart Disney’s property I think how cool it would be to stay in a Mickey, Minnie, Donald Duck, Goofy or Pluto building. IMO, this should have been the first value resort built. The only ‘feasible’ conclusion to not having those resorts is Disney might think that having a resort like that, would take away meet and greets in the parks. It's just crazy to me. I've read about the possible re-do of Pop in somthing similar, but not the Fab 5.