Rumored 5th Park for WDW

Buttercup;2437687 wrote: Okay let's be honest, that last scene is not 2014. Virtual reality video games? The mom's gigantic laptop? Trish's ski boots? Their 90's kitchen appliances? Definitely not from this millenium. I would say they should make that last scene back to the original last scene around the 60's and that's it. It's called "Walt Disney's Carousel of Progress" -- take it back to the way it was when Walt made it because you'll never be able to keep the final scene modern enough.

I agree in part. When Tomorrowland got its makeover it was the future that should have been or something like that. The Buck Rogers future, so to speak. That way Tomorrowland could seem futuristic without being outdated. CoP could do that for the 1960s. What the future was thought to be when we were in the 1960s. Because they won't be able to keep the final scene modern enough.

RavsRuleDisney!;2437925 wrote: I speak here as a long time WDW fan/Guest who will continue to visit this magical, diverse, crowded, sad to aging little place....

I think it is inevitable that we will see a 5th park in/around the timeframe being discussed. WDW is and will continue to be a cash cow. There is still mui untapped acreage at the company's disposal. They will figure out what the theme will be; i.e. what theme will generate the most $$$$ with merchandising, movie/TV/music tie-ins, appropriate characters (gotta sell more of those autograph books....and pens), etc. etc. etc. And then build it they will. Guests will flock to the new park because hey, its a NEW PARK!! Oh, by bus not monorail of course. New patrons will arrive to check it out, repeat visitors will come to check it out, I will check it out, crowds will be a little more spread out....all will be well at The World.

Ahh, but they won't bother fixing all that ails the existing, aging parks. Why bother? As long as the turnstiles keep on turnstiling(?) and with a spanking brand new park the "suits" will not blink an eye. Or fix a Yeti. And then, over time, the 5th park will start to show its age, the Jabba the Hut will stop working (just speculatin') , and then....well then we will have five parks in disrepair.

Uggh. How do I get to Gatorland.... ;)

If you don't know how to fix an aging park, build another. And won't we have transportation issues.

Jan

They can't find nearly enough quality cast to staff the parks and resorts they have. I can't fathom how they would staff a 5th park.

I don't know what it would take, but video games make a ton of money, that would be the market i'd gun for. How about a Halo attraction riding around in a wharthog?

There is only one park that is reasonably complete at the moment (MK) and even it has a section that is in a bad state (Tomorrowland). Epcot is less than what it was a couple decades ago, AK has been in an unfinished state from day 1 (although they are working on something, time will tell if it works or not), and DHS is in dire need of some redesign (instead of band-aids). There are way too many problems at WDW to greenlight a whole new park...

Actually, that is probably why they would do it. Easier to halfway do a new park than fix what you've put a lot of effort into breaking.

A new park will attract more people than "we fixed what we already have".

Best example, would you pay to go to the theatre and watch the "remastered" Snow White or are you more likely to spend your admission ticket on the next new release?

Butters;2437990 wrote: Best example, would you pay to go to the theatre and watch the "remastered" Snow White or are you more likely to spend your admission ticket on the next new release?

That depends.....They could do a Retro WDW park that had all the rides that people have clamored for them to bring back -- Horizons, Mr. Toad, etc. All they would need to do is update the behind the scenes technology, they already have the plans for the attractions. I guarantee you that this park would be jam packed.

Once they had this new park up and running, it would be a good time to take one of the other parks down, at least partially, to revamp, renew, upgrade and/or update while still having enough attractions to keep queues down.

PopPhan;2437992 wrote: That depends.....They could do a Retro WDW park that had all the rides that people have clamored for them to bring back -- Horizons, Mr. Toad, etc. All they would need to do is update the behind the scenes technology, they already have the plans for the attractions. I guarantee you that this park would be jam packed.

Once they had this new park up and running, it would be a good time to take one of the other parks down, at least partially, to revamp, renew, upgrade and/or update while still having enough attractions to keep queues down.

A retro park will NEVER exist.

Whether the hardcore fans miss them or not, there is a REASON they are gone.

Butters;2437990 wrote:
Best example, would you pay to go to the theatre and watch the "remastered" Snow White or are you more likely to spend your admission ticket on the next new release?

A remastered movie is not the same as bringing your number of attractions in a park to what it was a decade ago. Not the same as filling empty space left from closed attractions, either.

Tekneek;2438013 wrote: A remastered movie is not the same as bringing your number of attractions in a park to what it was a decade ago. Not the same as filling empty space left from closed attractions, either.

Depends what they were to do with the old park... Yes new attractions would have a draw, but dumping a ton of money on upkeep while necessary will not bring new guests through the gate. Investing in New Fantasyland brought people to the MK to see what it was all about and experience something they haven't seen before. A 5th gate would do this on a larger scale. If they were to dump a millions into fixing the yeti I would argue that the attendance jump would be negligible. You won't see a commercial advertising to come to WDW and see our fixed Yeti. They are reactive and will not invest in major upkeep efforts until attendance numbers force them to address it.

Butters;2438021 wrote: Depends what they were to do with the old park... Yes new attractions would have a draw, but dumping a ton of money on upkeep while necessary will not bring new guests through the gate. Investing in New Fantasyland brought people to the MK to see what it was all about and experience something they haven't seen before. A 5th gate would do this on a larger scale.

True. The reason to build a new park is for the marketing. I won't argue that point.

I'm arguing against it because they could already do better with what they currently have. Even the lone jewel, MK, has significant room for improvement outside of Fantasyland (with Tomorrowland the most in need). The rest of the parks don't really draw a lot of traffic on their own. They are ancillary to MK, giving people with multi-day tickets somewhere else to spend some of their time and don't draw a tremendous amount of people that aren't also attending MK on some other day. MK will get people that do not attend any other Disney park. Those other 3 parks have been in a declining (or with AK, obviously unfinished) state for many years. With all of this knowledge, building a new park seems ridiculous.

Having said that, I know too well that the vast majority are people who are barely conscious of the problems with the parks. They are content to pass their time there and seem mostly oblivious to failing animatronics, design/crowd-flow issues, CM staffing/quality concerns, maintenance blemishes, etc.

Boost;2437921 wrote:

I get that a lot of the hype that Universal is enjoying right now is due to the Harry Potter stuff, but eventually the patina of it will wear off a bit.

I know that WDW cannot rest of its laurels, but having spent time in Universal and Disney, the level of service at WDW trumps Universal's on any given day. Yes, there might be some areas that could use some TLC in the existing parks, but they are still fun to visit!

I can't agree with either statement....has Mickey or Star Wars grown old???? I think when there is a huge following like the Star War Movies or the Harry Potter movies, that just doesn't grow old. I can see showing both of these series to my grandchildren some day.

As a person that goes to both Universal and Disney each year I have never had anything but the best of service at Universal. I have found that at Universal they go above and beyond if you have a problem. I find that both Universal and Disney do a good job when it comes to CM service. IMO Universal hotels far exceed Disney's in every way. I also find the food at both theme parks good. What Universal is doing much better is coming up with state of the art attractions, while Disney's new additions are cute, but nothing exciting or new.

NJGIRL;2438044 wrote: I can't agree with either statement....has Mickey or Star Wars grown old???? I think when there is a huge following like the Star War Movies or the Harry Potter movies, that just doesn't grow old. I can see showing both of these series to my grandchildren some day.

As a person that goes to both Universal and Disney each year I have never had anything but the best of service at Universal. I have found that at Universal they go above and beyond if you have a problem. I find that both Universal and Disney do a good job when it comes to CM service. IMO Universal hotels far exceed Disney's in every way. I also find the food at both theme parks good. What Universal is doing much better is coming up with state of the art attractions, while Disney's new additions are cute, but nothing exciting or new.

If you like simulators. I'll take the seven dwarfs mine train over another simulator ride any day.

We went to Universal because we wanted to see Harry Potter. It was awesome, the theming was great. The ride was fun but not enough to get me back again and again.

Dulcee;2438245 wrote: If you like simulators. I'll take the seven dwarfs mine train over another simulator ride any day.

We went to Universal because we wanted to see Harry Potter. It was awesome, the theming was great. The ride was fun but not enough to get me back again and again.

Agree wholeheartedly. Just got back from Universal after an 11 year absence. LOVED the HP stuff. Rode a bunch of stuff at both parks as well. The coasters at IOA have aged considerably and had super rough rides. I don't think I can ever ride Hulk again, and I used to love it. Ditto Dragon Challenge. Overall, we found Universal (outside of the HP areas) to be severely underwhelming and I really hated the excessive use of fog machines and screens. Even Gringotts was approaching the "too much screen" point since the ride would come to a complete stop during all the screen scenes. Frankly, I found the Mummy ride ro be the most overall creative ride at Universal Studios. Forbidden Journey for the win over at IOA.

And, for the record, I actually found Seven Dwarfs Mine Coaster to be an overall better ride than Gringotts, all things considered.

BrerGnat;2438249 wrote: Overall, we found Universal to be severely underwhelming

That's funny because that is exactly how I feel about everything that Disney has added in the last 10 years. IMO Disney's new attractions are cute but nothing great. Same stuff recycled with a different character theme. I guess this is what will keep both Universal and Disney in business, different people having a different point of view.

It takes all kinds of people to make the world go round and we're all better off for having Disney and Universal parks, whether we all enjoy them or not.