News Round Up 2017

[SaharanTea]

Where is there room for this near HM unless they redo harbor house

Kill the Diamond Horseshoe.

Yeah, it's not that close to it's namesake, but Jungle Limited Navigation Skipper Company Canteen isn't that close to the Cruise either. A Haunted Mansion eatery needs to happen.

 

[HFP Travel]

No I believe this would be in the park.

Well RIP Harbor House, unless they move it as well

 

[rteetz]

Well RIP Harbor House, unless they move it as well

I wouldn't jump to that conclusion yet.

 

[Flyerjab]

Spirit or WDW1974 rumor update

A Star Wars boutique resort is being looked at but don't expect it in the near term. It's being considered for both coasts.

Don't expect Star Wars in China anytime soon.

New Haunted Mansion themed eatery is coming.

Pandora is ready to go.

Frozen land is a done deal for Hong Kong.

Fire mountain concepts aren't being revived.

First, a new haunted Mansion themed restaurant sounds incredible, as long as there is an abundance of theming with some mild Imagineering touches (i.e., project-based or motion-based elements - nothing huge, just subtle effects would work like Tink in the Peter Pan queue).

Second, Pandora is ready to go. Good...so am I. May 16th I will be visiting from 6 to 8 PM, as well as the following day from 9 to 11. It has been so long I can't believe that this is actually happening.

 

[jknezek]

Where is there room for this near HM unless they redo harbor house

Should be room in front of where Rapunzel's Tower is located. If you are looking at the entrance gates to HM, look to the right. There is room there to go back toward HM so long as you theme the side that faces the entrance line. Otherwise, or in addition, you could rebuild the bathroom area to the left of Small World (as you look at the entrance, and you end up with a big area except for the tower.

It would be awfully close to Columbia Harbor House and Pinocchio Village Haus, but if it is a sit down, the only thing back there is BOG or Liberty Tree, especially if they leave Diamond Horseshoe seasonal at best.

 

[rteetz]

Photo update

Edison update

http://savepleasureisland.blogspot.com/2017/04/pi-update-no-wonder-edison-is-delayed.html

 

[Flyerjab]

No I believe this would be in the park.

Didn't WDW1974 allude to the fact that WDW over the next 5 or so years is going to start using up available park space pretty much everywhere? He indicated that the park will look significantly different than from what it does now. I wonder if this is the start of that process. Anyway, an incredibly themed restaurant (TS or QS?) similar to BoG and with good food will do wonders for the dining in this park. It clearly needs more culinary experiences for people. I really like BoG, the Skipper Canteen and Pecos Bills...but not much else is anything to write home about. Some other QS locations are okay, but then some places I just don't like the experience at all (i.e., Cosmic Ray's). I think that the food in DAK is great, as well as some locations in Epcot. The dining at Disney Springs though is just incredible since that location has been completely re-imagined. I think that the MK should up the ante here, and this sounds like it would be a good start.

 

[rteetz]

Didn't WDW1974 allude to the fact that WDW over the next 5 or so years is going to start using up available park space pretty much everywhere? He indicated that the park will look significantly different than from what it does now. I wonder if this is the start of that process. Anyway, an incredibly themed restaurant (TS or QS?) similar to BoG and with good food will do wonders for the dining in this park. It clearly needs more culinary experiences for people. I really like BoG, the Skipper Canteen and Pecos Bills...but not much else is anything to write home about. Some other QS locations are okay, but then some places I just don't like the experience at all (i.e., Cosmic Ray's). I think that the food in DAK is great, as well as some locations in Epcot. The dining at Disney Springs though is just incredible since that location has been completely re-imagined. I think that the MK should up the ante here, and this sounds like it would be a good start.

WDW1974 also said this would be along the lines of skipper canteen.

 

[BigRed98]

Should be room in front of where Rapunzel's Tower is located. If you are looking at the entrance gates to HM, look to the right. There is room there to go back toward HM so long as you theme the side that faces the entrance line. Otherwise, or in addition, you could rebuild the bathroom area to the left of Small World (as you look at the entrance, and you end up with a big area except for the tower.

It would be awfully close to Columbia Harbor House and Pinocchio Village Haus, but if it is a sit down, the only thing back there is BOG or Liberty Tree, especially if they leave Diamond Horseshoe seasonal at best.

Hopefully we find out soon Bc I'm excited

 

[Phicinfan]

Then let it go! Will be a wonderful feeling in two weeks when we go knowing that its ready behind those gates/doors/ropes....

Per Spirit in the same update, WDW is really, really concerned on what happens when Pandora opens. If it does well, as expected, they fear DHS becomes a ghost town with everything shuttered for all the adds.

 

[jknezek]

Per Spirit in the same update, WDW is really, really concerned on what happens when Pandora opens. If it does well, as expected, they fear DHS becomes a ghost town with everything shuttered for all the adds.

Shouldn't that have been something they thought about a long time ago? And I doubt it will be a ghost town. It still has two of the best thrill rides in the park. It's just a half day or less park right now. Honestly, when we went in Dec we did everything we wanted in about 3 hours using FPs. So we left. I can't believe they are just now realizing this mess of their own making is a problem. And closing TGMR is only going to make it worse, so I'm still pretty skeptical that is happening despite all the chatter.

 

[rteetz]

News

Pink Flamingo Starbucks drink at Disney Springs

http://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories...ngo-frappucino-exclusively-at-disney-springs/

 

[MommaBerd]

News

Pink Flamingo Starbucks drink at Disney Springs

http://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories...ngo-frappucino-exclusively-at-disney-springs/

These are fun! I'll admit, when I saw the Unicorn, I bought my boys one as a surprise.

 

[adam.adbe]

Per Spirit in the same update, WDW is really, really concerned on what happens when Pandora opens. If it does well, as expected, they fear DHS becomes a ghost town with everything shuttered for all the adds.

I don't understand that. It adds two rides to a park that many people (arguably wrongly) treat as a half-day park. Stacked against DHS on a pure attraction/thrill ranking, AK still subjectively lags behind. And that's to say nothing of Epcot, which despite being my favorite park, is sadly bringing up the rear already.

 

[adam.adbe]

Didn't WDW1974 allude to the fact that WDW over the next 5 or so years is going to start using up available park space pretty much everywhere?

How to improve MK in one easy step: eliminate all the open areas and landscaping. That's "the gift of space" of after all.

 

[jknezek]

I don't understand that. It adds two rides to a park that many people (arguably wrongly) treat as a half-day park. Stacked against DHS on a pure attraction/thrill ranking, AK still subjectively lags behind. And that's to say nothing of Epcot, which despite being my favorite park, is sadly bringing up the rear already.

That may be personally true for you, but it's not true for actual Park attendance at WDW. As of 2014, MK is far and away the leader at 19.3 million, but EPCOT is strongly in second at 14.4 million, with AK and DHS more or less tied for third (10.4 vs 10.3) with AK generally squeaking out a win year after year. But with Pandora opening, and DHS very cut down, I could easily see people who are on 3 or 4 day stays who might have done DHS doing AK instead. That could be a shift from a few hundred thousand to over a million. And DHS with 1 million fewer visitors in a year, is 2800 fewer people per day. That's going to feel like a much emptier park, even with the smaller footprint. More importantly, it's a significant number shifting into AK. Personally, with the size of AK, I think it can handle it, but with only 2 new rides wait times for the few popular attractions will go up.

 

[Roxyfire]

That may be personally true for you, but it's not true for actual Park attendance at WDW. As of 2014, MK is far and away the leader at 19.3 million, but EPCOT is strongly in second at 14.4 million, with AK and DHS more or less tied for third (10.4 vs 10.3) with AK generally squeaking out a win year after year. But with Pandora opening, and DHS very cut down, I could easily see people who are on 3 or 4 day stays who might have done DHS doing AK instead. That could be a shift from a few hundred thousand to over a million. And DHS with 1 million fewer visitors in a year, is 2800 fewer people per day. That's going to feel like a much emptier park, even with the smaller footprint. More importantly, it's a significant number shifting into AK. Personally, with the size of AK, I think it can handle it, but with only 2 new rides wait times for the few popular attractions will go up.

Double-edged sword. It'll be great to see fewer people at DHS (personally, I really do like that park) but that means lines will still form up because they'll cancel shifts or move employees around, lowering capacity.

 

[rteetz]

News

Another look at iCan in Tomorrowland

http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions...rience-in-the-magic-kingdoms-tomorrowland.htm

 

[Phicinfan]

Shouldn't that have been something they thought about a long time ago? And I doubt it will be a ghost town. It still has two of the best thrill rides in the park. It's just a half day or less park right now. Honestly, when we went in Dec we did everything we wanted in about 3 hours using FPs. So we left. I can't believe they are just now realizing this mess of their own making is a problem. And closing TGMR is only going to make it worse, so I'm still pretty skeptical that is happening despite all the chatter.

Well, you are assuming that when they started Pandora, they also had plans in place to look at SWE and TSL and completely revamp DHS.
Now, to your point, one would assume they had to realize what a struggle keeping attendance up at DHS was going to be with almost half the park torn up to build the two new lands. I think this is what drove the move of SWE to where it is being built, to speed the process of it up.
As for TGMR, they need something, and quickly to help balance the park once SWE opens. TGMR is a great time eater, but not always very busy. A new Mickey driven ride could really help there, as well as TSL being open.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Well, you are assuming that when they started Pandora, they also had plans in place to look at SWE and TSL and completely revamp DHS.
Now, to your point, one would assume they had to realize what a struggle keeping attendance up at DHS was going to be with almost half the park torn up to build the two new lands. I think this is what drove the move of SWE to where it is being built, to speed the process of it up.
As for TGMR, they need something, and quickly to help balance the park once SWE opens. TGMR is a great time eater, but not always very busy. A new Mickey driven ride could really help there, as well as TSL being open.

All things aside though it may have to be the perfect storm to get people to pay the full 1-day price for DHS especially when/if cutting TGMR out before other stuff opens.

I have spoken in regards to DHS before but I also have Park Hoppers. My opinion is slightly skewed because of that. I can make DHS a complete full day park or I can choose to hop to it for a few hours then hop on to another park. Currently my plans for September are to enjoy DHS one morning hop to another park then on another day enjoy DHS one evening and be in a different park for the morning. Now technically that is a full day there but I do have the flexibility with park hoppers. Again depending on the group traveling paying the full day ticket price may be steep and they may choose to forgo that park entirely. It's really different strokes for different folks as some can entertain themselves completely with the park as is for a full day and not purchase the upgrade for the park hoppers but still.