Universal buys 100 acres of land

[rteetz]

I don't see a 5th park because it would simply cannibalize the parks they already have open.

I think this is the biggest reason we don't see a 5th park.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

I don't see a 5th park because it would simply cannibalize the parks they already have open. There isn't enough time in a standard week long American vacation to cover WDW now. Opening a 5th park would just make that worse.

Game...set...AND match

 

[lockedoutlogic]

I think this is the biggest reason we don't see a 5th park.

Correct, Jedi

 

[bladiator]

There isn't enough time in a standard week long American vacation to cover WDW now.

But is WDW catering to people with the standard week long American vacation any longer? I would pertain (Edit: think I meant "portend") that they have priced out the "2 weeks of vacation a year" crowd for the "we have 6 weeks of vacation" upper crust (personally, I'm not upper crust in my salary, but I'm upper crust in my amount of vacation time).

I don't think it will happen mostly because they are able to find and keep enough workers at the wages they're paying. That being said, let's start automating some of those kiosks that could be run by a monkey. Start flipping burgers with a robot. Get those people out waving people on to the rollercoasters.

 

[Q-man]

Who's gonna work at these parks? Disney's problem since AK has opened has been staffing...

That, disposable income and declining vacation...which makes anymore parks a long shot.

I welcome our robot CM overlords.

The other solution is pay more per hour and the employee issue takes care of itself.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

I welcome our robot CM overlords.

The other solution is pay more per hour and the employee issue takes care of itself.

That's not gonna happen...it would take a federal law...which most want meaning it will never happen.

 

[jknezek]

But is WDW catering to people with the standard week long American vacation any longer? I would pertain (Edit: think I meant "portend") that they have priced out the "2 weeks of vacation a year" crowd for the "we have 6 weeks of vacation" upper crust (personally, I'm not upper crust in my salary, but I'm upper crust in my amount of vacation time).

I don't think it will happen mostly because they are able to find and keep enough workers at the wages they're paying. That being said, let's start automating some of those kiosks that could be run by a monkey. Start flipping burgers with a robot. Get those people out waving people on to the rollercoasters.

Given Disney offers no longer than a 10 day ticket to domestic guests, I don't think so. They run the vast majority of their promos for 3/5/7 days. A 10 day ticket must be used within 14 days. It's pretty clear based on what they are targeting and how things are set up that longer than a week is not the norm, but that there are provisions for about a 2 week stay, though you can't do FPs or 180+10 ADRs for more than 10 days. We probably won't get the numbers from Disney, but looking at what they do is still indicative of week long and shorter being the norm.

 

[HuskieJohn]

Just wondering could Disney get away legally with a completely virtual Avengers attraction in Orlando?

If so a 100% AR park would be Disney's 5th gate.

 

[jknezek]

Just wondering could Disney get away legally with a completely virtual Avengers attraction in Orlando?

If so a 100% AR park would be Disney's 5th gate.

No they can't. And if they didn't build an entire park around Star Wars, they aren't going to build an entire park around Marvel. Disney will not put all their eggs for one park in one IP basket. It makes no sense. You could do some kind of Villains and Heroes type theme, but I don't really see that either. Though as I said above, I think a 5th gate is about as likely in the next 25 years as bulldozing the castle.

 

[HuskieJohn]

No they can't. And if they didn't build an entire park around Star Wars, they aren't going to build an entire park around Marvel. Disney will not put all their eggs for one park in one IP basket. It makes no sense. You could do some kind of Villains and Heroes type theme, but I don't really see that either. Though as I said above, I think a 5th gate is about as likely in the next 25 years as bulldozing the castle.

The AR park wouldn't be just 1 basket. You could put any story in the system you want. The buildings all would have to be generic enough to make the surroundings fit the story.

You could run a Star Wars, Avengers and Peter Pan AR scenario all at the same time.

 

[Q-man]

That's not gonna happen...it would take a federal law...which most want meaning it will never happen.

There are major chaining raising their wages above minimum. If Disney doesn't follow there are going to have even more employment issues. Maybe they can build Little Puerto Rico and suck up all the displaced PR hospitality workers to kick the issue further down the road.

 

[embracejg]

Of course the Disney homers turn this thread into nothing but Disney conversation while dismissing Universal as nothing but screen-based attractions. Imagine if I criticized Magic Kingdom or Disneyland for being mostly tame dark rides? It's an oversimplification which dismisses the ingenuity and enjoyment those attractions offer.

Getting back to the actual news, of course this means a third gate AT least---it could even be two since the parcel is bigger than USF and IOA, according to the Orlando Sentinel. I would guess against this being all Nintendo, since basing an entire park around one IP is very risky, and I would imagine we're not going to see any big announcement for a while either. It would seem wiser to get the Nintendo section in USF done first, in time to compete with WDW's 50th anniversary in 2021, then be ready to go vertical on this new site after that. How long was it from when IOA was officially announced until its opening day?

 

[STLstone]

Of course the Disney homers turn this thread into nothing but Disney conversation while dismissing Universal as nothing but screen-based attractions. Imagine if I criticized Magic Kingdom or Disneyland for being mostly tame dark rides? It's an oversimplification which dismisses the ingenuity and enjoyment those attractions offer.

Getting back to the actual news, of course this means a third gate AT least---it could even be two since the parcel is bigger than USF and IOA, according to the Orlando Sentinel. I would guess against this being all Nintendo, since basing an entire park around one IP is very risky, and I would imagine we're not going to see any big announcement for a while either. It would seem wiser to get the Nintendo section in USF done first, in time to compete with WDW's 50th anniversary in 2021, then be ready to go vertical on this new site after that. How long was it from when IOA was officially announced until its opening day?

It could be another park, plus 1 or more hotels.

 

[ShadeDK]

Each time I see a fifth park at WDW mentioned, I think about the Gillette disposable razor spoof in The Onion years ago ("F*** Everything, We're Going to Five Blades") - and dream of the day when Disney goes recklessly absurd and announces out of the blue "F*** everything, we're going to six gates!"

As for staffing shortages in Orlando, I'm positive that so long as Disney has a pile of cinderblocks to make "residential housing", a bright-eyed cadre of college students looking for work/internship credit, and fairly lax labor laws, they'll meet about 98% of their hiring needs (whether the actual guest service is up to par is an entirely different question).

 

[jknezek]

It could be another park, plus 1 or more hotels.

This would be my guess. One big park, a good bit of land set aside to expand, and 2 or more highly themed hotels. Either way, it will be very exciting to see a whole new (non-water) park going in to Orlando. By the time it gets built it will obviously be over 20 years since IoA.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

But is WDW catering to people with the standard week long American vacation any longer? I would pertain (Edit: think I meant "portend") that they have priced out the "2 weeks of vacation a year" crowd for the "we have 6 weeks of vacation" upper crust (personally, I'm not upper crust in my salary, but I'm upper crust in my amount of vacation time).

I don't think it will happen mostly because they are able to find and keep enough workers at the wages they're paying. That being said, let's start automating some of those kiosks that could be run by a monkey. Start flipping burgers with a robot. Get those people out waving people on to the rollercoasters.

Wdw doesn't want the middle class budget...but they want their population numbers...

What's often lost is that they want 75 million (conservatively) visitors per year...

So everytime someone says "they're now luxury"...I laugh...those sustainable numbers don't exist. People act as though there's 10,000 people there a day...

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Each time I see a fifth park at WDW mentioned, I think about the Gillette disposable razor spoof in The Onion years ago ("F*** Everything, We're Going to Five Blades") - and dream of the day when Disney goes recklessly absurd and announces out of the blue "F*** everything, we're going to six gates!"

As for staffing shortages in Orlando, I'm positive that so long as Disney has a pile of cinderblocks to make "residential housing", a bright-eyed cadre of college students looking for work/internship credit, and fairly lax labor laws, they'll meet about 98% of their hiring needs (whether the actual guest service is up to par is an entirely different question).

College program is a supplement...they can't and won't be entrusted to run portions of the operation.

And college program is a federally funded hoax...and those subsidies won't last forever...eventually disney will scoff at those pathetic wages too

 

[tlmadden73]

Definitely don't see Disney doing a 5th gate anytime soon. They will just expand the existing parks like they are doing. If you think about it, when you count up all the "net new" attractions that have come (starting with Pandora) until the Epcot renovation is done, we'll probably have more new attractions scattered across all four parks than they would put into a new park. (Look at how many attractions DHS and AK opened with).

 

[lockedoutlogic]

Definitely don't see Disney doing a 5th gate anytime soon. They will just expand the existing parks like they are doing. If you think about it, when you count up all the "net new" attractions that have come (starting with Pandora) until the Epcot renovation is done, we'll probably have more new attractions scattered across all four parks than they would put into a new park. (Look at how many attractions DHS and AK opened with).

There are not enough humans with credit to justify paying to run a fifth gate...this was all learned in 1999 when the ak dust settled...

It's more than just disney...it's society...and it hasn't gotten better.

 

[lockedoutlogic]

No they can't. And if they didn't build an entire park around Star Wars, they aren't going to build an entire park around Marvel. Disney will not put all their eggs for one park in one IP basket. It makes no sense. You could do some kind of Villains and Heroes type theme, but I don't really see that either. Though as I said above, I think a 5th gate is about as likely in the next 25 years as bulldozing the castle.

It's actually less...