News Round Up 2017

[jbeyes]

Rumor

Flights of Wonder to close at the end of the year...

Our family enjoyed it on our last trip in '15 and I had wanted to catch it again next year. Same thoughts as those mentioned already. Nice break, the kids thought it was funny and liked the birds up close and I thought they would appreciate it even more now that they are a few years older. Oh well. I remember seeing that the show area just received a permanent roof renovation since we were last there. I guess it will be replaced, hopefully before August.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Rumor

Flights of Wonder to close at the end of the year...

That's kind of a bummer as I think it is a good/decent show and Animal Kingdom doesn't need *less* things to do - and even when they have they birds out front with a CM talking about them I think is fun

Is the thinking something else would replace it or just that it would close for nothing?

 

[TheMaxRebo]

So, being somewhat "HUGE crowd averse", I'm worried that early 2019 is going to be my last window of opportunity for WDW for a few years....between the chaos of SW:GE, and all the stuff for the 50th, I'm thinking that HUGE crowds are going to be a fact of life for quite a while to come. Which I guess is the goal, after all...but it worries me, since I'm not getting any younger! ha ha

Yeah, I full agree with that - and could be a good time to go if you haven't been in a few years and you will get Pandora and Toy Story Land, probably the gondola's, maybe Rat (though that is probably 2020)

But yeah, it is going to be crazy once Toy Story Land opens and then Guardians and Tron coming and the rest of the 50th stuff so probably won't calm down again until 2022

 

[wareagle57]

Rumor

Flights of Wonder to close at the end of the year...

I wonder how much this has to do with confusion over the name. Not a big show person, but it was my favorite. FotLK is great, but the absence of the tumble monkeys really takes away from the enjoyment for me.

 

[skier_pete]

Rumor

Flights of Wonder to close at the end of the year...

wha? NOOOOO! Why would they do that?

 

[skier_pete]

So, being somewhat "HUGE crowd averse", I'm worried that early 2019 is going to be my last window of opportunity for WDW for a few years....between the chaos of SW:GE, and all the stuff for the 50th, I'm thinking that HUGE crowds are going to be a fact of life for quite a while to come. Which I guess is the goal, after all...but it worries me, since I'm not getting any younger! ha ha

I would actually be surprised if outside of SW / DHS the crowd size will be all that much different. My guess is they would at most see a 5% overall attendance spike, while DHS sees a 20-30% attendance spike.

Same thing with the 50th, if you don't go the week of the 50th I don't think it will really drive attendance all that much.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I would actually be surprised if outside of SW / DHS the crowd size will be all that much different. My guess is they would at most see a 5% overall attendance spike, while DHS sees a 20-30% attendance spike.

Same thing with the 50th, if you don't go the week of the 50th I don't think it will really drive attendance all that much.

wait, you don't think Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge is going to help increase overall crowd levels? I know a ton of people that aren't huge Disney/Disney Park fans that are just drooling at the thought of this land opening

 

[mikepizzo]

wait, you don't think Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge is going to help increase overall crowd levels? I know a ton of people that aren't huge Disney/Disney Park fans that are just drooling at the thought of this land opening

I can understand what @skier_pete is thinking. If a person who would normally not go to Walt Disney World ends up going for Galaxy's Edge, how likely are they do head over to Magic Kingdom to go to the "kiddie park" (not that I think Magic Kingdom is a kiddie park, but just trying to put myself in the shoes of someone who wouldn't go to Walt Disney World but would go solely for Star Wars stuff).

I'd also think those types of people would want to cover every square inch of Galaxy's Edge, and if they are coming for the opening, I'd bet it would take a couple of days to do that, with the crowd level of the land.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

I can understand what @skier_pete is thinking. If a person who would normally not go to Walt Disney World ends up going for Galaxy's Edge, how likely are they do head over to Magic Kingdom to go to the "kiddie park" (not that I think Magic Kingdom is a kiddie park, but just trying to put myself in the shoes of someone who wouldn't go to Walt Disney World but would go solely for Star Wars stuff).

I'd also think those types of people would want to cover every square inch of Galaxy's Edge, and if they are coming for the opening, I'd bet it would take a couple of days to do that, with the crowd level of the land.

right, but even if they only go to DHS that still increases the overall # of people at WDW

though given that they attendance has been trending down a bit, I think they would take a 5% increase in overall attendance ... that is like 2.7m more people

 

[MickeyMinnieMom]

Rumor

Flights of Wonder to close at the end of the year...

That's a shame. My son has always LOVED birds and it was great to see them in this venue. Hope they revamp / reopen with a new show still featuring these animals.

 

[jknezek]

right, but even if they only go to DHS that still increases the overall # of people at WDW

though given that they attendance has been trending down a bit, I think they would take a 5% increase in overall attendance ... that is like 2.7m more people

Which is almost 8000 more people, every day, in DHS. Sounds like a lot, but actually that would be a blessing for those of us that want to go on these rides. Assuming the 2 rides in SW:GE have typical Disney capacity of 1000-1400 an hour for recent E tickets, plus the 28K existing attendance per day (based on 2014 numbers), you can see Disney's problem and our joy. 36K people and a daily capacity of those rides of 2400 (1200 people per hour x2 x 14 hours (assuming they do like Pandora and have extended hours after opening) a day is 33,600 people. So they should be able to cycle almost the entire park through at least one of these rides.

No, Disney will be crying in their cups if the attendance boost at DHS for SW:GE is this small. I'm guessing they are expecting twice that in the first year, at least. With DHS being basically overrun by over 40K people per day. That would still be well below MK's average of 54K, although there would still be way less to do, but it would be more in line with expectations.

 

[LSLS]

right, but even if they only go to DHS that still increases the overall # of people at WDW

though given that they attendance has been trending down a bit, I think they would take a 5% increase in overall attendance ... that is like 2.7m more people

I think that number is probably close. Looking at when Harry Potter opened in Orlando, IoA and US saw increases of 30% and 6.1%. However, if you look at what that means in terms of numbers, that is an increase in 0.36 million people for US and 1.8 million people for IoA. I think Star Wars is bigger, but I also think a lot of people are probably already going to Disney.

 

[LSLS]

Which is almost 8000 more people, every day, in DHS. Sounds like a lot, but actually that would be a blessing for those of us that want to go on these rides. Assuming the 2 rides in SW:GE have typical Disney capacity of 1000-1400 an hour for recent E tickets, plus the 28K existing attendance per day (based on 2014 numbers), you can see Disney's problem and our joy. 36K people and a daily capacity of those rides of 2400 (1200 people per hour x2 x 14 hours (assuming they do like Pandora and have extended hours after opening) a day is 33,600 people. So they should be able to cycle almost the entire park through at least one of these rides.

No, Disney will be crying in their cups if the attendance boost at DHS for SW:GE is this small. I'm guessing they are expecting twice that in the first year, at least. With DHS being basically overrun by over 40K people per day. That would still be well below MK's average of 54K, although there would still be way less to do, but it would be more in line with expectations.

Eh, I think your park increase would be much larger. I'm thinking there are a lot of people (ahem, me) that go down and don't spend a single day at DHS. You would need to factor in people who previously skipped DHS that now will go to it as well.

 

[rteetz]

wha? NOOOOO! Why would they do that?

A new show would come to the theater but it’s unknown what that would be.

 

[skier_pete]

wait, you don't think Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge is going to help increase overall crowd levels? I know a ton of people that aren't huge Disney/Disney Park fans that are just drooling at the thought of this land opening

I said that I think it will increase the overall attendance by about 5 %, but I am saying that is not a significant number. If there are 40,000 people in MK or 42,000 people in MK, you will not really notice that difference.

I can understand what @skier_pete is thinking. If a person who would normally not go to Walt Disney World ends up going for Galaxy's Edge, how likely are they do head over to Magic Kingdom to go to the "kiddie park" (not that I think Magic Kingdom is a kiddie park, but just trying to put myself in the shoes of someone who wouldn't go to Walt Disney World but would go solely for Star Wars stuff).

I'd also think those types of people would want to cover every square inch of Galaxy's Edge, and if they are coming for the opening, I'd bet it would take a couple of days to do that, with the crowd level of the land.

What I am thinking is that there is not going to suddenly be capacity in Florida to have 20% more people going to Disney World. There aren't going to be more flights, there aren't going to be more hotels. Disney runs it hotels at near 90% capacity as it is, Star Wars is not going to cause some massive increase in people staying on site. If you look at the Harry Potter bump, even though it was a huge percent for IOA, it was only like 1-2 million more people. 3 million more people at WDW is 5 %. 3 million more people at DHS is 30 %. That's why I said 20-30% at DHS, 5 % more at WDW in general.

 

[jpeterson]

Rumor

Flights of Wonder to close at the end of the year...

That would make me sad. We saw that show on our first full day at Disney World and my then 5 year old son loved it. The pure joy on his face is what really made me realize what a magical place it was.

 

[TheMaxRebo]

Apologies if I missed it but apparently the details of the RunDisney Fall Feast 5k (which will be held on Nov 3, 2017) have been revealed and it includes part of the race course going through Pandora .... seems pretty cool!

http://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories...-runners-through-pandora-the-world-of-avatar/

 

[rteetz]

Apologies if I missed it but apparently the details of the RunDisney Fall Feast 5k (which will be held on Nov 3, 2018) have been revealed and it includes part of the race course going through Pandora .... seems pretty cool!

http://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories...-runners-through-pandora-the-world-of-avatar/

The Half also goes through Pandora.

 

[rteetz]

News

Jingle Cruise begins early November

http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions...eturns-to-magic-kingdom-in-early-november.htm

 

[skier_pete]

News

Jingle Cruise begins early November

http://www.wdwmagic.com/attractions...eturns-to-magic-kingdom-in-early-november.htm

Geez - about time. They keep making all these announcements about stuff starting the 9th or 10th or 13th after we leave. Looks like we get to check out the Jingle Cruise!