Interesting read on 20 new things coming to WDW by 2017

[rteetz]

This was posted on the theme parks board and I thought it should be posted on the news and rumors board as well. This article explains 20 new things that will be coming to WDW by 2017. Not all of these things are confirmed but are not crazy rumors either. In the beginning it says that universal has their 10 year plan with things coming every year but Disney also has a lot of things coming within the next 3-4 years.

http://www.****************.com/fea...urants-coming-walt-disney-world-2017?page=0,1

 

[Figmentforever24]

This was posted on the theme parks board and I thought it should be posted on the news and rumors board as well. This article explains 20 new things that will be coming to WDW by 2017. Not all of these things are confirmed but are not crazy rumors either. In the beginning it says that universal has their 10 year plan with things coming every year but Disney also has a lot of things coming within the next 3-4 years.

http://www.****************.com/fea...urants-coming-walt-disney-world-2017?page=0,1

People don't understand how much Disney really is investing into WDW. Disney Springs, Polynesian DVC, SDMT and that's just the major projects. Some of the eateries are cool ideas on a side note.

 

[rteetz]

People don't understand how much Disney really is investing into WDW. Disney Springs, Polynesian DVC, SDMT and that's just the major projects. Some of the eateries are cool ideas on a side note.

And avatar is the other big project Disney is investing people just think WDW should get a new ride or expansion every month.

 

[tjkraz]

Unfortunately only 3 of the 20 items are theme park attractions. Could be a long drought between the April 2014 opening of 7DMT and 2017 opening of Pandora.

(I don't really think Disney will go 2+ years without ANY park additions but it appears unlikely we'll see anything meaningful in '15 or '16.)

 

[wallrock]

As mentioned above, the vast majority aren't 'attractions' but rather more areas requiring one to spend money. I just wish Disney would put equal emphasis on giving us more value on the cost of park admittance.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

As mentioned above, the vast majority aren't 'attractions' but rather more areas requiring one to spend money. I just wish Disney would put equal emphasis on giving us more value on the cost of park admittance.

As long as people travel at the same relentless frequency...and do so while swallowing constantly increasing prices...

This will not end - it will intensify

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Unfortunately only 3 of the 20 items are theme park attractions. Could be a long drought between the April 2014 opening of 7DMT and 2017 opening of Pandora.

(I don't really think Disney will go 2+ years without ANY park additions but it appears unlikely we'll see anything meaningful in '15 or '16.)

And...why isn't this ridiculous?

I mean...six flags throws up something every year...

And that USED to be apples and oranges.

My feeling is that wdw is now in its "post attractions" society period. It's just not looking to provide THAT type of product anymore. It's on autopilot now...lengthy schedules and periods of "development" that look distinctly similar to "inactivity"...

The thrill us GONE, baby

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

And...why isn't this ridiculous?

I mean...six flags throws up something every year...

And that USED to be apples and oranges.

My feeling is that wdw is now in its "post attractions" society period. It's just not looking to provide THAT type of product anymore. It's on autopilot now...lengthy schedules and periods of "development" that look distinctly similar to "inactivity"...

The thrill us GONE, baby

@lockedoutlogic

Do you think this could all change if Universal/IOA passes AK/DHS/EPCOT in annual attendance?

 

[rteetz]

@lockedoutlogic Do you think this could all change if Universal/IOA passes AK/DHS/EPCOT in annual attendance?

Universal studios 6.2 million

IOA 7.9 million

DHS 9.9 million

AK just under 10 million

Epcot 11 million

Magic Kingdom 17.5 million

Universal has a good 2 million to get to disney and even with the new potter I don't think that will bring up attendance by a million. It will definitely increase attendance but not any extreme numbers. Disney would have to do nothing for the next few years and universal would have to continue adding while disney does nothing than maybe they would get close.

 

[Uncleromulus]

Even with the second dose of Potter Boy they have a long way to go to catch Disney---

 

[tjkraz]

Do you think this could all change if Universal/IOA passes AK/DHS/EPCOT in annual attendance?

Disney won't directly react to Universal until it negatively impacts the WDW parks. For 5 years now, people have been speculating about how USF would "hurt" WDW...claimed that Disney is losing their dollars because they are spending a few days at USF instead of all at WDW. And Disney has been berated for not investing in the parks as much as USF is.

Still, Disney attendance continues to grow.

If anything, there appears to be a synergistic relationship between the two. I suspect there are people visiting the WDW/USF combo who would have never travelled to central FL for one or the other.

Whatever business Disney is losing from the "you aren't adding enough so I'm not coming back" crowd is being made-up with new business. Disney's bread and butter has always been families with young children and there's always a fresh supply of those folks.

And to be clear, I'm not defending Disney's apparent lack of investment in WDW. Just pointing out that so far it hasn't come back to bite them.

I suspect things will continue to purr along until the next major disruption in the economy / tourism. DVC was hit very hard in '08-09 (a dramatic number of contracts were dumped on the resale market)...and it will be much worse next time around. And with room rates & ticket prices continuing to escalate, hard telling how much they'll have to discount in order to attract business when consumers are unwilling / unable to spend.

But I think Disney will gladly cash-in to the best of their abilities today and worry about discounting when the time comes.

 

[Figmentforever24]

Also there are plenty of other rumors that are still swirling out there about things to come.

2015 - Epcot mystery Project

2015-2016 - New Magic Kingdom fireworks

2015-2016- Sorian update

TBA - Star Wars

TBA - Carsland (Although I don't see this happening anymore)

And if all else fails Hall of Presidents will be updated in 2017 =). But on a serious note Disney shouldn't have to throw up a major ride or addition every year because the place down the street is. Besides every addition they have added down the street has been a retheme or a new screen based system. Even the two new rides in the new Harry Potter section are rumored to be heavily screen based while the train is confirmed to be screen based. The SDMT is using actual AA's and not screens unlike this new coaster. Not undermining the expansion because I believe it will be awesome when finished!

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

Universal studios 6.2 million

IOA 7.9 million

DHS 9.9 million

AK just under 10 million

Epcot 11 million

Magic Kingdom 17.5 million

Universal has a good 2 million to get to disney and even with the new potter I don't think that will bring up attendance by a million. It will definitely increase attendance but not any extreme numbers. Disney would have to do nothing for the next few years and universal would have to continue adding while disney does nothing than maybe they would get close.

EPCOT did 11 million last year? I thought it was just a little over 10 million?

 

[luisov]

Besides every addition they have added down the street has been a retheme or a new screen based system. Even the two new rides in the new Harry Potter section are rumored to be heavily screen based while the train is confirmed to be screen based. The SDMT is using actual AA's and not screens unlike this new coaster. Not undermining the expansion because I believe it will be awesome when finished!

This is an important argument. It doesn't justify the lack of interest towards new additions to WDW, but what some people fail to see when comparing WDW to Universal, is that one of them actually spends time creating every single detail behind each attraction (most of them tangible and interactive), and the other is developing screen based attractions one after the other. Disney definitely has to step up their game for the following years, but I still think that a lot can be argued about this WDW vs Universal debate.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

Still, Disney attendance continues to grow.

With all due respect...it is "growing" at a snails pace. EPCOT isn't even growing at all, and many think that the next annual release of attendance numbers will show a DIP at EPCOT.

IOA, on the other hand, is up 3.3 million visitors in 5 short years.

Also, Disney is promoting Resort discounts year-round now. Another sign that all is not well on other parts of WDW that isn't the MK.

 

[Figmentforever24]

With all due respect...it is "growing" at a snails pace. EPCOT isn't even growing at all, and many think that the next annual release of attendance numbers will show a DIP at EPCOT.

IOA, on the other hand, is up 3.3 million visitors in 5 short years.

Also, Disney is promoting Resort discounts year-round now. Another sign that all is not well on other parts of WDW that isn't the MK.

Epcot wont show a dip at all. The wine and food festival along with the flower and garden festival both attract large groups of people. The food and wine festival is super popular and they just added another week it. This means a week more of tons of people coming to buy and drink. Now if they take away the festivals then maybe a dip but don't expect it before.

 

[tjkraz]

With all due respect...it is "growing" at a snails pace. EPCOT isn't even growing at all, and many think that the next annual release of attendance numbers will show a DIP at EPCOT.

Sure but even modest attendance increases combined with across-the-board price increases is driving record profits for the theme parks.

IOA, on the other hand, is up 3.3 million visitors in 5 short years.

I'm not going to write 500 words comparing and contrasting the two. USF clearly made a very shrewd move investing in Harry Potter. Projects which return that value don't come along every day.

IOA's pathetic pre-Harry Potter attendance had as much bearing on the attendance increase as anything else. $250 million invested in any WDW park would not bring 3 million additional guests through the gates. Not even on Star Wars.

Also, Disney is promoting Resort discounts year-round now. Another sign that all is not well on other parts of WDW that isn't the MK.

Average guest spending continues to rise, regardless of the specifics.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

Epcot wont show a dip at all. The wine and food festival along with the flower and garden festival both attract large groups of people. The food and wine festival is super popular and they just added another week it. This means a week more of tons of people coming to buy and drink. Now if they take away the festivals then maybe a dip but don't expect it before.

True...but that shows what Disney has to do to keep EPCOT's numbers sustained. Throughout the 80's and '90's(and even the early '00's) EPCOT was a stand-alone draw for millions of guests. Many would actually buy a one-day ticket to EPCOT and not even bother with the MK. That is no longer the case, I fear. It's definitely fallen into the "other 3 parks" category that benefits from all of the MK spillover due to multi-day tickets. Major investment and updating of Future World could easily return the park to it's previous crown jewel status.

 

[Figmentforever24]

True...but that shows what Disney has to do to keep EPCOT's numbers sustained. Throughout the 80's and '90's(and even the early '00's) EPCOT was a stand-alone draw for millions of guests. Many would actually buy a one-day ticket to EPCOT and not even bother with the MK. That is no longer the case, I fear. It's definitely fallen into the "other 3 parks" category that benefits from all of the MK spillover due to multi-day tickets. Major investment and updating of Future World could easily return the park to it's previous crown jewel status.

Of course I agree. The park is not where it use to be. But Universal or IOA is not going to go past Epcot. Just wont happen. It is going to be a while before they even have a chance to surpass Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Although Hollywood Studios will be surpassed first if that happens, but by then Star Wars is going to be announced so it probably wont happen.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

Of course I agree. The park is not where it use to be. But Universal or IOA is not going to go past Epcot. Just wont happen. It is going to be a while before they even have a chance to surpass Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom. Although Hollywood Studios will be surpassed first if that happens, but by then Star Wars is going to be announced so it probably wont happen.

Do you think the "announcement" of Star Wars will keep DHS above Uni/IOA? Maybe when it is actually built and open to the public it will keep them above water.

I hope I don't seem like I'm being contentious...I just don't see how the "announcement" will amount to a hill of beans. The announcement of Avatar certainly hasn't helped AK.