Will WDW exist 100 years from now?

[Park Hopper]

Has anyone ever given any thought to what Disney World will be like 50 . . . 75 . . . or even 100 years from now? Heck, will WDW even exist then?

I think we all take for granted that WDW will always be there, but sometimes I wonder. A hundred years from now, will the Magic Kingdom be a big office complex? Will Epcot be converted to time shares? Will MGM be a huge shopping mall?

I know the possibility of these things actually happening seems far-fetched, but is it really? WDW has only been around for 34 years. Who's to say what might happen in the next 100 years? Can the Disney brand keep reinventing itself indefinitely? Will the changing of the guard in Disney leadership eventually lead to weaknesses in the company?

What if down the road a hostile company takeover bid, like Comcast's aborted attempt in 2004, is successful? What if new owners want to cash in on the incredible land boom in the Orlando area and start selling off portions of the 30,000 acres that Disney owns?

On the surface, I think these things will never happen. But then I look around and see how much Orlando and Orange County have changed in a relatively short time. A sleepy little Southern town has become a thriving metropolis that voraciously gobbles undeveloped land, killing off the freeze-damaged citrus industry in the process. Who's to say what the land barons will do in another 100 years?

These are disturbing thoughts to me. What do you think?

 

[jonestavern]

I hope it lives & well, for at least the next 48 years!

Honestly, while at WDW the past 2 weeks we were discussing a related topic such as, "I wonder if the buses will always be available & 'free'? I wonder if there will always be as many shows, ie the Lion King, The Little Mermaid etc.
Will Mousekeeping be as efficient & the buildings kept up?
It's true, "all things must pass" & greed being greed it could work out to our advantage or turn on us.
any suggestions on how some DISers could let their voices be heard--that is other than all our bucks spent at WDW?

Jean

 

[krdisneybound]

Absolutely, w/o a doubt. Many changes will undoubtedly take place, but they will still be around for our future to enjoy like we are doing present day

They wouldn't be selling DVC for 40 years or more if there was not a demand for it and somewhere to go to play and get away from our everyday stress in our jobs and homes

 

[cleo]

Does Disney exist today? Or is it just a Figment of our Imagination?

 

[Robo]

They wouldn't be selling DVC for 40 years or more if there was not a demand for it

Un-huh. Sure. No problem.

Companies absolutely can change in a matter of months.
Oldsmobile, Pan Am Airlines, Montgomery Ward, a few names in the not-so-distant past that were obviously here to stay.

Nothing lasts forever.

 

[krdisneybound]

true, true, very true

just trying to convince myself they will stay around.

 

[goofie4goofy]

Who cares, we will all be dead in 100 years anyway....

 

[Matt]

The land boom in Orlando EXISTS because of Disney. Anybody who thinks selling that land for development would bring more money in than the parks needs to be sent for an immediate drug test.

 

[LukenDC]

What makes the Disney parks so special is that they are beloved American icons and have become woven into the cultural fabric of our nation. As Disney expands to other nations, the parks are quickly becoming a part of world culture. While it is debatable whether or not the Walt Disney Company will continue to exist in its present form, I am quite certain that they Disney parks will be around in 100 years.

 

[minijeanie]

What makes the Disney parks so special is that they are beloved American icons and have become woven into the cultural fabric of our nation. As Disney expands to other nations, the parks are quickly becoming a part of world culture. While it is debatable whether or not the Walt Disney Company will continue to exist in its present form, I am quite certain that they Disney parks will be around in 100 years.

couldn't of said it better than that!

Our kids will remember and want their kids to experience the same!

 

[crisi]

What makes the Disney parks so special is that they are beloved American icons and have become woven into the cultural fabric of our nation. As Disney expands to other nations, the parks are quickly becoming a part of world culture. While it is debatable whether or not the Walt Disney Company will continue to exist in its present form, I am quite certain that they Disney parks will be around in 100 years.

So was Coney Island, a mere reminant of its heyday. So was baseball, which is (and I'm a baseball fan) making itself an irrelevant sport.

Everything changes in time, and personally, I really doubt Disney theme parks would be around in 100 years (a 150 year old Disneyland - just ain't seeing it) - or at least not really around in the fashion we know them. I'd like to be pleasantly surprised, but between the lifecycle of corporations and the fickleness of the public - plus the risk of a disaster in the next 100 years (a fire, a large storm, a terrorist attack) that would significantly damage WDW, or significant events (worldwide economic depression, major war, political instablity in the U.S) that would impact tourism, I think the odds are against it.

 

[basas]

If DL has been around for 50 years (how many people thought that it would be better than ever in 2005 way back in 1955?), and WDW nearly 35...i don't see any reason why the parks shouldn't be around 100 years from now...

 

[lucincia]

Pyramids have been around for thousands of years. Look at the tourists they are attracting these days. And they don't even have pin trading!

 

[disneyfreakjackie]

MOST DEFINATELY!!! My grandchildren & great grandchildren need to experience WDW!!! WDW is always improving itself ... why would anyone think they'd stop??

 

[Park Hopper]

If cable giant Comcast had acquired Disney in 2004, you can bet there would have been changes -- and likely not for the better -- to the parks. Disney's cable channels such as the Disney Channel and ESPN would have been a good fit with Comcast's E! and Style Network, but Comcast's core businesses had no connections to and no obvious synergies with the theme parks. Comcast ended up withdrawing its bid, but who's to say what other corporate raiders might be lurking down the road and what plans they might have?

 

[UnderTheMistletoe]

Will we even be here as a planet 100 years from now?

 

[margaretjr]

Indeed. If all nations don't get it together and reduce global warming we may well have been wiped out by dramatic climate change by then.

 

[Houston_Disney_Fan]

They may or may not be owned by the same people, but the Disney parks will always be there, because people will do anything for their children. After 9/11, when attendance plummeted, we bought Disney stock, knowing that human nature is such that once the danger appeared to have passed, families would once again flock to WDW. And they did.

 

[krdisneybound]

Who cares, we will all be dead in 100 years anyway....

I was gonna say that, but didn't want to. Of course, we won't be here but I sure am gonna enjoy it as long as I can.

 

[snowbunny]

I'd like to be pleasantly surprised, but between the lifecycle of corporations and the fickleness of the public - plus the risk of a disaster in the next 100 years (a fire, a large storm, a terrorist attack) that would significantly damage WDW, or significant events (worldwide economic depression, major war, political instablity in the U.S) that would impact tourism, I think the odds are against it.

Most likely (inevitable, actually): worldwide shortage of oil. It is impossible to overstate the impact of that coming change.
In 100 years, very very little is going to be just like it has been for the past 50.