Will there every be a 5th theme park?

[speedyf]

Nevermind about the 1% tax...it won't work.

Of all people....me.....a Louisiana resident....would think that they would put an extra 1% tax on the room and then actually use that 1% tax money to upgrade the transportation system.

This is how they do it in Louisiana.

#1 - We will allow casinos and all tax revenue from the casinos will go to teacher raises and education.

#2 - So...we made $50 million in tax revenues from the casinos this year? Cut $50 million worth of funding from the general fund that normally goes to education and replace it with this $50 million in revenues from the casinos that is constitutionally earmarked for education.

#3 - Now...we didn't lie or break any laws....and we got an extra $50 million in the general fund to use for other idiotic things instead of education. Haha...the Louisiana people were duped again....

Sorry about that...ignore my stupidity.

Speed

 

[EUROPACL]

Since I'm a novice to this stuff...this may sound like a stupid question...but, would it be possible for RCID to add a 1% tax to onsite hotel reservations to pay for the expanded transportation?

I originally thought of charging a quarter to ride the bus or monorail...etc...but, figured the 1% tax or "transportation surcharge" would make more sense.

I mean...any time the government wants more money to fix roads, etc...they just up the taxes on us...why not Disney? Heck...I'm already paying $109 for a "value" room....what's another $1 per night to avoid a few buses.

Disney loves people like you...so the 109 bucks a night to stay in a Motel 6...the 60 bucks to get into the park....the 8 dollar chicken fingers...the 3 dollar coke...all to get into half opened ,half completed and half staffed parks and here you are begging for Disney to charge you more?? Wow...just Wow.

 

[CanadianGuy]

AV will no doubt chime in.. but originally the transportation was a separate entity and some % of your entrance ticket covered it. That actually made sense.

They got rid of that so now transportation is merely seen as something that 'costs' them money.

I think he posted all that in this thread.. but I'm not sure and don't have time to look.

Knox

 

[Lord Fantasius]

AV did comment on it in post #56,

When WDW first opened, there was a charge for transporation. Most people never saw it, it was included in your passport price (but printed on the ticket), or came in the price of your resort room. For a lot of politicial, legal and tax reasons, WDW Transportation Co. was done away with* and the monorail became "free".

I'm not sure of the "political reasons," but I know the legal and tax reasons are that originally when the monorail (up to, and including the EPCOT monorail) and entire transportation infrastructure were being built, it was easier to identify and track this as a separate booked expense as a recorded line item. Since transportation has gone to merely maintanence and upkeep, there's no need to identify the charge for it anymore than they would segregate water, electrical, etc., charges for a hotel room.

Legally, if a corp. lists a separate charge for a specific use, it has to be tracked separately and can only be used for that use...hence, it became too restrictive for Disney, Inc., not to use those funds for something else. Additionally, from a tax perspective, a reimbursable expense is not tax-deductible, but business expenses can be charged against profits. Hence, once transportation became merely maintenance, it was more tax advantageous to deduct it from operations rather than maintain a separate reimbursable account for it.

If Disney were ever to expand the monorail or build a light rail to connect the other parks, I would expect the transportation charge to return, but right now it's too restrictive and disadvantageous for Disney, Inc. to charge it this way; especially since they love people riding mobile advertising vehicles.

-R

 

[JoeEpcotRocks]

Disney loves people like you...so the 109 bucks a night to stay in a Motel 6...the 60 bucks to get into the park....the 8 dollar chicken fingers...the 3 dollar coke...all to get into half opened ,half completed and half staffed parks and here you are begging for Disney to charge you more?? Wow...just Wow.

I'd pay 1% more for an expanded monorail system, depending upon the details.

Who stays at a Motel 6? And I LOVE the parks!

 

[disneyfan67]

I'd pay 1% more for an expanded monorail system, depending upon the details.

Who stays at a Motel 6? And I LOVE the parks!

Joe, I can't be a 100% sure, but I think the poster you questioned, is referring to the Value resorts. Some see them as the same quality as a Motel 6 with Disney Decorations. I've seen the WDW value resorts go for a 100 bucks and then some, for a night and IMHO, that's no value to me.

I appreciate the passion and concern our fellow members on these threads bring to the debate. I love Disney, but even a die hard fan like myself, sees there's much room for improvement. I'm glad that people who are fans of WDW and Disney in general, see what's currently wrong and want it to change for the better.

 

[JoeEpcotRocks]

Joe, I can't be a 100% sure, but I think the poster you questioned, is referring to the Value resorts. Some see them as the same quality as a Motel 6 with Disney Decorations. I've seen the WDW value resorts go for a 100 bucks and then some, for a night and IMHO, that's no value to me.

I appreciate the passion and concern our fellow members on these threads bring to the debate. I love Disney, but even a die hard fan like myself, sees there's much room for improvement. I'm glad that people who are fans of WDW and Disney in general, see what's currently wrong and want it to change for the better.

Yes, there's always room for improvement. That's what I like about Disney, they keep trying to improve things.

They need to do something with those "seasonal" buildings in Epcot Future World and a new country or 2 would be nice in the World Showcase.

 

[EUROPACL]

Yes, there's always room for improvement. That's what I like about Disney, they keep trying to improve things.

They need to do something with those "seasonal" buildings in Epcot Future World and a new country or 2 would be nice in the World Showcase.

Paid by the word or by the smilies?

 

[YoHo]

Maybe he's from the bizarro world where Disney is actually not an ineptly run hateful mega media corporation that cares more about the ratings of Am I Hot? then it does about the death count on Mission: Space.

 

[JoeEpcotRocks]

Maybe he's from the bizarro world where Disney is actually not an ineptly run hateful mega media corporation that cares more about the ratings of Am I Hot? then it does about the death count on Mission: Space.

Good satire. You should work for the Onion.

More room at Disney for those who love it.

 

[YoHo]

 

[clkelley]

There are a lot of things that will keep a fifth gate from opening for awhile. The biggest problem is staffing. They can't keep staffing levels at what they need with what could potentially be open now. (Disney would probably love to have more restaurants open longer, but can't get the staff in to work them.)

The biggest reason is the cost of living in Orlando has risen, and folks on Disney (and Universal) pay can't afford to live close enough to the parks to work there. If they live further out, the cost of gas/transportation kills them also.

 

[Another Voice]

Not that this will stop anyone from writing about the great new Villians park or slow the "things are magically magical wonderful and growing all the time" posts or those that think fewer guests at WDW mean nothing but shorter lines for churros - here is the offical word from Disney's CEO himself:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18789791/from/RS.4/

Disney's Iger speaks about Anaheim housing dispute
The Orange County Register
May 21, 2007

...As to whether Disney plans to create a third theme park in Anaheim on land it owns near Disneyland and Disney's California Adventure, Iger said, "We have no announcements to make in that regard. We continue to look at opportunities in this area in terms of investing capital to create growth. We've continued to invest heavily in Disneyland and in California Adventure."

"The future of Disneyland is bright," Iger said. "I have no announcements to make about further developments except that Walt said 'Disneyland will never be completed, we'll continue to build and to grow.' And that's what we're doing."

Iger said Disney has no plans for another theme park in Orlando, Florida. "We have no plans at this point to open a (fifth) gate or (fifth) park there. We have four already. While we continue to invest in those, those four are doing just fine."

Iger doesn't like the parks, he thinks they are a bad investment, he sees Disney's future in networks and mobile phones and downloaded episodes of 'Phil of the Future'.

 

[irisbud]

AV will no doubt chime in.. but originally the transportation was a separate entity and some % of your entrance ticket covered it. That actually made sense.

They got rid of that so now transportation is merely seen as something that 'costs' them money.

I think he posted all that in this thread.. but I'm not sure and don't have time to look.

Knox

I think that the costs of the transportation is something that would have to be weighed against the revenue that is indirectly generated by it. I love Disney for Disney and would go there anyway: BF, not so much. He does, however, like that there is not a direct charge for transportation and that the need to rent a car is eliminated by using Disney's transportation. Yes, I realize that we are paying for this in the inflated resort prices, but it does take away an outside expense that we would otherwise incur. If you are staying on the property or even visiting the parks you are going to be paying for the transportation anyway. Another bonus to this for Disney is that it DOES keep people on the property. When you consider that you can add extra days for mere dollars once you pass a certain threshold, then why would you pay a large extra sum to visit another park, plus have to pay for transportation to get there? It is much easier just to remain on their property and in their clutches from the time that you leave MCO to the time that you return there. People love ease and convenience, and this is just an example of that. I'm sure if I ran the numbers I would be horrified at what I did not save, but I'm not going to. I'm one of those monorail junkies. Another 50-100 a night not to have to ride busses all of the time is alright by me.

As to another park, I have always been somehwat surprised that Disney HASN'T done a botique type of park (a la Discovery Cove). Discovery Cove is something totally different than any product Disney has to offer, even by virture of attendence size alone. I think Disney could make money with it. Look at Disney's concierge levels. They aren't even real concierge levels like you would find at most hotels, yet they get away with selling rooms at exorbinant, inflated prices due in no small part to their exclusivity. How much is that gold room key really worth? (Yes, I bit and would again, but I would still never say that it is true concierge service)

JMTC

 

[raidermatt]

There are a lot of things that will keep a fifth gate from opening for awhile. The biggest problem is staffing.

Staffing is a problem, no doubt, but its somewhat self perpetuating. I understand why Disney, and others, want to keep labor costs down. But in doing so to the extent they have (especially Disney... they pay the lowest and they are the market leader), they have only made the overall problem worse because they aren't attracting new workers to the area.

For what its worth, SeaWorld is opening a new water park. Of course that won't require anywhere near the staffing that a 5th gate at WDW would require, but they apparently don't feel the labor market is so prohibitive that expansion isn't possible.

 

[rwrocksme]

i do think that there will be a new disney park someday...but when? at the earliest, 10-15 years.

also, for what it's worth, i don't think AK is a failure. i think it WAS a failure, when it opened, but now it's lovely. i do agree that it's a little removed from the rest of the property. another AK resort, maybe? with a mythical creatures theme?

just an idea

 

[mitros]

I don't know, we visit WDW regularly, and all of the parks are so crowded all of the time, and it is hard to find a time of year when it is not busy. Another park would suit me just fine. But having said that, I guess a new park will just attract that many more people, and it will be just as crowded.......... never mind

 

[YoHo]

Or, Disney could hire staff and open attractions fully and expand in their existing parks so they could soak up the people.

 

[Dcanoli]

I'm really late in finding this thread but just wanted to throw my two cents in.....

A few months ago, my husband called me from out of town. Now, he works for the property insurance company that insures all of Disney. (They even have three guys that live down there that focus primary on Disney because of its size.)

He called to tell me that he saw some plans for a new park. I tried to "argue" w/him saying that if they WERE going to build something new, it would definitely leak out....he has been adamant that what he saw was plans for a new Park.

Now, I can't tell you with 100% certainty what he saw--because, of course, those documents are only for the insurance company's eyes--and he didn't really get to look at them for long, but he was pretty adamant.

He is always telling me that before Disney can build ANYTHING--a building, a pump house, ANYTHING--it has to all be approved before this insurance company. They can't lift a hammer until all their blueprints and plans are stamped approved.

That's why the Parks and resorts are built so well. They are built to exact specs for hurricane, fires, etc. That's also why they tell everyone to stay put at the Resorts during hurricanes. Those places are built better than any other buildings around.

....not something set in concrete.....but just my two cents worth.....

Only time will tell what those blueprints/plans were for!

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

He called to tell me that he saw some plans for a new park. I tried to "argue" w/him saying that if they WERE going to build something new, it would definitely leak out....he has been adamant that what he saw was plans for a new Park.

I'm convinced that Disney has drawn up plans for several different parks, with a business case for each. Part of the cost side of the business case would be the insurance costs. It's important for a business to consider various options for growth and to evaluate the potential return on investment for each option.

However, having drawings and spreadsheets is a very different from having a green light from Disney's corporate headquarters to spend over a billion dollars on a fifth major park.