This may be a harsh article but.... AK Rivers of Light problem.

[Jing]

Budgets are kept seperate, but I have seen major business events causing large changes in committed projects (including not opening a facility after physical construction and initial hiring completed... It just got put on hold for a year.

Sadly, you just described my work environment.

 

[JJZMgailey]

Who knows? Maybe the size of the theater was dictated by the space and location.

Yes! Not to mention that the finished product has to look a certain way. Disney's Imagineers are very particular about things looking just-so. I like it that way myself.

 

[AngiTN]

I didn't say anything was "wrong" with that. What I said was it didn't make sense to me.

It doesn't make sense to me because it is a park that regularly closes at 5:00 or 6:00pm. It is a park that, currently, is open after dark very rarely. It is a park built around attractions - the safari, the conservation station, Discovery Island Trails, Maharajah, Pangani, the Oasis, Flights of Wonder - and atmosphere and entertainment experiences that are currently not enjoyable after dark. (I know there is a night safari coming.)

Keeping a park open four or five extra hours, with only a handful of things to do, makes no sense to me. Paying all those extra operating costs in the hopes of trapping people there to shop/eat doesn't seem like a workable idea. I believe most people will either leave and come back just for the show, or not be willing to stay at all. So you'll be running a ghost town from dusk until 11:00.

The opening of Avatarland would certainly help with this. People may be more willing to stay, or hop in late, if there are more then five or six things to do. Maybe.

Disagree. I've been in the AK after dark and it is stunning and I love it. And I've always had lots of other folks there doing the same.
It doesn't matter that the animal attractions are closed since there are rides open and new things opening.

- Having a Nemo and LK show at around 5-6 pm fills in the early gap for some.
- Dinosaur
- All of Dinoland
- It's a Bugs Life
- Expedition Everest (great at night, I'd ride a few times)
- Kali River will be open after dark
- Nighttime Safari
- Extend some Character Meets
- Tree of Life Night time Awakening - show many times a night only after dark
- Discovery Island Carnivale - night time dance party
- Harambe Wildlife Parti - after sun set celebration with many entertainers
- Tiffins, Tusker House, Yak & Yeti and RFC for TS meals
- Am sure multiple QS and walk up bars will be open
- Shops will be open

And Rivers of Light. And someday Avatarland.

More than enough to keep guests busy the entire evening and not get everything done.
They are doing what it takes to make AK a destination park for the full day, and it's hopping value just jumped.

Same here. There is plenty to keep folks at the park and busy till 11:00. Believe it or not, there are plenty of us out there that aren't at Disney just to go on rides. I know we spend more time in the parks off rides than we do on them. By choice.

My snap reaction to the delay is that this is based purely on suppressing labor costs until the end of the quarter to give Shanghi a couple of weeks to start earning their keep. It's a lot of staffing money to expand park hours, particularly with only one additional food option to draw revenue. This delay also provides time to evaluate the success of the extra hours experiences at MK to see if the AK night options are a viable up-charge event.

I can see the delay going to the end of the fiscal year in September, though I really hope not.

I'm saying no way is that why they cancelled the premiere date. It's a huge hit for them to not hold to a date they publicly announced. That is something they just don't do lightly. Pushing budgets out to another quarter is not going to be it. Besides, if some off chance they did need to be aware of budgets they knew that back when they announced 4/22 as the date.

There is no way they will offer RoL as an upsale event only. So what happens at MK will have no bearing on it either.

 

[AngiTN]

Yes! Not to mention that the finished product has to look a certain way. Disney's Imagineers are very particular about things looking just-so. I like it that way myself.

This is totally within reason as why it has been postponed. Just read about when Imagineering got involved with the development of FP scanners. They made them go back to the drawing board and design things that fit in the rest of the decor vs. having something stand out. They were very aware of keeping in the vibe of that particular attraction, etc

So I can see them cancelling a published premier date if it didn't meet Imagineering expectations. Very high expectations

 

[cgattis]

[Bolding has been changed from the original post.]
I agree with your statement. But the solution isn't to refuse to keep the park open late. Instead, the solution is to keep the park open with the majority of things still open. As HopperFan points out, the majority of things at AK are not time sensitive and can be operational at 9:00 p.m. just as easily as they are at 9:00 a.m.. And increasing operating hours will provide Disney incentive to add more stuff to the park. Right now, there is little need to add more since the park closes at 5:00. There are just the right number of attractions and shows to fill the 8:00-5:00 hours. But if the park operates from 8:00 a.m. (or 9:00 a.m.) to 9:00 p.m. (or 10:00 p.m. or later), then there will be greater need to add more stuff to fill the time. Avatar is a good start. But let's not stop there.

I think an interactive adventure of some kind (like SOMK & Pirate Adventure or Kim Possible/Phineas and Ferb) would be a fairly inexpensive and fun addition. "Virtual Safari?" Or "Who Kidnapped Little Red??"

 

[JJZMgailey]

This is totally within reason as why it has been postponed. Just read about when Imagineering got involved with the development of FP scanners. They made them go back to the drawing board and design things that fit in the rest of the decor vs. having something stand out. They were very aware of keeping in the vibe of that particular attraction, etc

So I can see them cancelling a published premier date if it didn't meet Imagineering expectations. Very high expectations

I really love that their expectations are so high. It's one of my very favorite things to walk around the Parks and take in that kind of thing. I've always felt that their attention to detail sets them way apart from other Theme Parks. I know that when RoL finally launches, we'll all be in for a real treat!

 

[WEDWDW]

Disagree. I've been in the AK after dark and it is stunning and I love it. And I've always had lots of other folks there doing the same.
It doesn't matter that the animal attractions are closed since there are rides open and new things opening.

- Having a Nemo and LK show at around 5-6 pm fills in the early gap for some.
- Dinosaur
- All of Dinoland
- It's a Bugs Life
- Expedition Everest (great at night, I'd ride a few times)
- Kali River will be open after dark
- Nighttime Safari
- Extend some Character Meets
- Tree of Life Night time Awakening - show many times a night only after dark
- Discovery Island Carnivale - night time dance party
- Harambe Wildlife Parti - after sun set celebration with many entertainers
- Tiffins, Tusker House, Yak & Yeti and RFC for TS meals
- Am sure multiple QS and walk up bars will be open
- Shops will be open

And Rivers of Light. And someday Avatarland.

More than enough to keep guests busy the entire evening and not get everything done.
They are doing what it takes to make AK a destination park for the full day, and it's hopping value just jumped.

Agree-DAK is the most "interesting" and prettiest of all 4 Parks at night IMHO.

PM EMH at DAK was awesome-the Park looks stunning after dark.

 

[Amy&Dan]

Agree-DAK is the most "interesting" and prettiest of all 4 Parks at night IMHO.

PM EMH at DAK was awesome-the Park looks stunning after dark.

I really miss those pm emh nights at AK. I remember being there between Christmas and New Year's in 2005. The Tarzan show was going, as was FOTLK. We enjoyed a great evening along with thousands upon thousands of other people. Heck Everest wasn't even open yet. Once it was that made it even better. AK takes on a whole new vibe after dark.

 

[Maliboo]

Agree. Fool is a fairly click-driven website, and obvious in their attempts. They want to sell you their prediction packages for buying and selling stocks. They use articles like this to seem more 'in the know' about companies so you buy their products.

If they are trying to get people to buy Disney stock through them, they aren't doing a very good job.

 

[WEDWDW]

And am sure the 11 pm would be handled like the late shows of Nemo and Lion King (even the final show at MNSSHP) where the park is officially closed at that point so by time the show is over it will be only those guests walking out of the park.

Or even like DHS does with F! where the Park "closes" at 10:00 PM ,but F! is at 10:30 PM.

So could be DAK "closes" at 10:30 PM with RoL at 11:00 PM.

 

[WEDWDW]

AK takes on a whole new vibe after dark.

Well said!

 

[HopperFan]

Or even like DHS does with F! where the Park "closes" at 10:00 PM ,but F! is at 10:30 PM.

So could be DAK "closes" at 10:30 PM with RoL at 11:00 PM.

YUP YUP Would not be a stretch at all. And if a few things closed at 10 as "show 2" is leaving (show 3 in line to get in) it cuts down on overhead because CMs can begin cleaning earlier and while show 3 is happening.

 

[tinkerhon]

I think an interactive adventure of some kind (like SOMK & Pirate Adventure or Kim Possible/Phineas and Ferb) would be a fairly inexpensive and fun addition. "Virtual Safari?" Or "Who Kidnapped Little Red??"

I'm still waiting for "Myst" to open at Discovery Island !!!

 

[MrsDuck]

All of these problems would hurt less if Disney built the Beastly Kingdom.

 

[Angel Ariel]

Also, I'm sorry but I found major fault in the article when he stated that Frozen attractions are not opening on time. While he did point out the info didn't come from Disney I don't see how it can be said to not be on time when no time has ever been given.

And that's just a start. This is more of an opinion piece than one having much fact in it

Frozen Ever After was initially announced to be opening in "Early 2016". Article from the LA Times. The end of May, if that's when it ends up opening, is much closer to mid-2016 than it is "early" 2016. Generally speaking when "early" is used in referencing part of the year, it's referencing Jan/Feb/March timeline..and we're already past that. I swear I remember seeing that wording from a Disney source at the time too, but I can't find it now.

 

[rteetz]

All of these problems would hurt less if Disney built the Beastly Kingdom.

All of these problems would hurt less if imagineering could stay on budget...

AK couldn't build Beastly Kingdom for the opening because they were too far over budget. Avatar right now is also over budget. Shanghai is over budget. MyMagic+ is over budget.

 

[rteetz]

Frozen Ever After was initially announced to be opening in "Early 2016". Article from the LA Times. The end of May, if that's when it ends up opening, is much closer to mid-2016 than it is "early" 2016. Generally speaking when "early" is used in referencing part of the year, it's referencing Jan/Feb/March timeline..and we're already past that. I swear I remember seeing that wording from a Disney source at the time too, but I can't find it now.

I just find it funny when Disney will take so long to redo an existing ride while universal is building entire new rides in the same amount of time or less.

 

[Minnesota!]

I didn't say anything was "wrong" with that. What I said was it didn't make sense to me.

It doesn't make sense to me because it is a park that regularly closes at 5:00 or 6:00pm. It is a park that, currently, is open after dark very rarely. It is a park built around attractions - the safari, the conservation station, Discovery Island Trails, Maharajah, Pangani, the Oasis, Flights of Wonder - and atmosphere and entertainment experiences that are currently not enjoyable after dark. (I know there is a night safari coming.)

Keeping a park open four or five extra hours, with only a handful of things to do, makes no sense to me. Paying all those extra operating costs in the hopes of trapping people there to shop/eat doesn't seem like a workable idea. I believe most people will either leave and come back just for the show, or not be willing to stay at all. So you'll be running a ghost town from dusk until 11:00.

The opening of Avatarland would certainly help with this. People may be more willing to stay, or hop in late, if there are more then five or six things to do. Maybe.

I have highlighted what the vast majority of people would consider attractions available after 6:00. And anyone who had been at the park all day would have already done all of these. Only a couple have much re-ride appeal once you've done them once or twice between 9:00 and 6:00. I agree with you that Everest is definitely a ride that people want to do over and over.

You and I disagree about whether character meets (of which all but one take place outside) will be extended.

You list a bunch of nighttime parties and restaurants and shops. We disagree about whether shops and restaurants being open is an enticement for the regular visitor. That's okay.

I agree with you on both posts.

If I am at AK at rope drop and I do "all the stuff", there isn't a ton I want to do...again and again to kill time until my allotted FP for ROL. So, I will either leave and go elsewhere, or I will sit on a bench with my trail mix from home and my thermos of water and wait it out.

AK IS the most beautiful at night, so I am happy for that opportunity again. And, I am hopeful when Pandora is up and running, we will have a smoothly operating night time park. Until then, I think it will be clunky and awkward.

 

[Jing]

Besides, if some off chance they did need to be aware of budgets they knew that back when they announced 4/22 as the date.

There is no way they will offer RoL as an upsale event only. So what happens at MK will have no bearing on it either.

Awareness of budget or timeline does not appear to be a Disney Parks strength these days, lol.

No, they would not up-sell just for RoL or make it an extra hours event only, but if MK extra hours are successful, it will have the suits looking at the other parks for similar opportunities. I can see a strategy, particularly in the waiting period before Pandora, where AK would be a good option. I got to go to an after hours conference event there in Dinoland last year, and it was fabulous.

 

[ckelly14]

Harambe nights was my (and my family's) single best night at Disney, ever. The park is beautiful at night. Looking forward to Tiffins for Dinner- will be a must do during my next visit in December.