Disney Parks News

[Yoshi]

I don't even want to think how bad standby lines are going to be for the Star Wars rides. In today's Screamscape update, there is a rumor Disney World resorts are going to start charging for parking soon. I never liked staying on site because of how overpriced it was, if they are going to charge for parking, it makes me want to stay onsite even less. I guess they want people to not rent cars and depend on Disney transportation for everything so they don't go offsite to Universal or other places. Also Typhoon Lagoon is having an upcharge event now, $55 for 8 pm to 12 am select nights.

[GAcoaster]

Yeah, they tested the parking charges last year and I guess they decided it's time to roll it out. Too many people claim to be going to the hotel restaurants and park in the hotel lots all day to avoid parking charges. 

[Yoshi]

It sounds like only guests staying overnight are going to be charged and anyone going to a resort for dining can still park for free. $13 a night for value, $19 for moderate, $24 for deluxe. 

[Lemur]

On 3/13/2018 at 12:29 AM, Yoshi said:

I don't even want to think how bad standby lines are going to be for the Star Wars rides. In today's Screamscape update, there is a rumor Disney World resorts are going to start charging for parking soon. I never liked staying on site because of how overpriced it was, if they are going to charge for parking, it makes me want to stay onsite even less. I guess they want people to not rent cars and depend on Disney transportation for everything so they don't go offsite to Universal or other places. Also Typhoon Lagoon is having an upcharge event now, $55 for 8 pm to 12 am select nights.

 

I've stayed on-site twice and the real advantage was the transportation system.  Then again, this was back in the day before it was always so overcrowded and when parents felt perfectly safe allowing a 12 year old and a 15 year old to just get on a bus and go where ever they pleased in the park as long as they were back by 6 for dinner.  

[Pineracer]

Opinions on this (Paris Studios project?)

[ThemeParkRider]

I've never been myself, but I get the impression that this expansion is desperately needed. I'm actually most interested in the Frozen themed area. Since Disneyland Paris only has two gates, there's still the right amount to work with where they can integrate these IPs in a way that won't upset the existing themes of the parks as a whole. 

[The Master]

WDW reopened  their new pc version of pirates, and they announced they are going to rip out A Bug's Land to make room for Marvel land. Kinda sad as A Bug's Land was the first expansion to DCA. 4D attractions are really unpopular in SoCal. 

Edited March 24, 2018 by The Master

[Lemur]

Yeah, but it's old IP.  Interesting the characters they're featuring in the hype materials for it.  Spidey, Black Panther and GOTG.  Not the original Avengers line up at all, which isn't surprising considering Iron Man and Captain America are expected to get killed off in Infinity War.

[The Master]

8 hours ago, Lemur said:

Yeah, but it's old IP.  Interesting the characters they're featuring in the hype materials for it.  Spidey, Black Panther and GOTG.  Not the original Avengers line up at all, which isn't surprising considering Iron Man and Captain America are expected to get killed off in Infinity War.

 

Sounds similar to what Hasbro did with the original 80s Transformers. Killed off most of the original characters to introduce new ones in an attempt to keep the IP fresh. 

[Lemur]

On 3/24/2018 at 12:48 AM, The Master said:

 

Sounds similar to what Hasbro did with the original 80s Transformers. Killed off most of the original characters to introduce new ones in an attempt to keep the IP fresh. 

Exactly.  And when that wears thing/people's contracts run out, they'll have a big event to kill off those characters and start doing "alternate" heros i.e. Miles Morales Spider-Man, Jane Foster as Thor, Bucky as the new Cap, etc. etc. etc.

[29yrswithaGApass]

What a surprise! Disney is closing more attractions, this time in the Animal Kingdom. Both Rafiki’s Planet Watch and the Wildlife Express train ride are closing next month. At the same time ticket prices are expected to rise as they roll out a whole new approach to date-based ticketing  which will most likely benefit nobody but Disney. 

 

This comes along with cuts in other park entertainment throughout the resort.  Yet once again guest are being charged more and getting less.   Maybe we can hold out hope that these closures are for a new addition which Disney will take seven years to build.

 

Lastly, rumor was that Expedition Everest was going to be closing so they could finally fix the Yeti which has been broken for years. It seems unlikely that they would close attractions if they knew Everest was going to be taken out for an extended period of time. I guess Disco Yeti is here to stay.   It doesn’t matter though, us stupid tourists probably don’t know the difference anyways. 

 

 

 

[The Master]

11 hours ago, 29yrswithaGApass said:

What a surprise! Disney is closing more attractions, this time in the Animal Kingdom. Both Rafiki’s Planet Watch and the Wildlife Express train ride are closing next month. At the same time ticket prices are expected to rise as they roll out a whole new approach to date-based ticketing  which will most likely benefit nobody but Disney. 

 

This comes along with cuts in other park entertainment throughout the resort.  Yet once again guest are being charged more and getting less.   Maybe we can hold out hope that these closures are for a new addition which Disney will take seven years to build.

 

Lastly, rumor was that Expedition Everest was going to be closing so they could finally fix the Yeti which has been broken for years. It seems unlikely that they would close attractions if they knew Everest was going to be taken out for an extended period of time. I guess Disco Yeti is here to stay.   It doesn’t matter though, us stupid tourists probably don’t know the difference anyways. 

 

 

 

 

Not surprised AK is moving away from its original Zooigogical aspects. Seems both AK and EPCOT are going to be dumbed down.

 

On a side note, WDW's will call is terrible, they need self serve kiosks like Universal has. 

[Yoshi]

My opinion of Disney is getting worse and worse with all these changes. Every week it seems like there is a new upcharge event some of which  make it worse for those not paying like the Halloween parties starting in mid August and 6 p.m. closings on those days. I always liked the Wildlife Express Train especially when Animal Kingdom had just opened and there were so few rides.

 

It's annoying to hear that on slower days they run 1 side of Space Mountain for part of the day or only 2 out of 4 tracks at Tomorrowland Speedway to keep their costs down while making lines just as bad as on a crowded day when they charge well over $100 for a 1 day ticket when Great Adventure can run 3 trains on Nitro on a day the park is empty while charging under $70 for a gold pass.

[Yoshi]

And now more price increases, $3.99 for a fountain soda, $7.00 for a soft pretzel, $5.75 for a Mickey ice cream bar. 

[Matt Kaiser]

On 10/2/2018 at 7:51 PM, Yoshi said:

And now more price increases, $3.99 for a fountain soda, $7.00 for a soft pretzel, $5.75 for a Mickey ice cream bar. 

 

Isn't this all less than Great Adventure?

[Yoshi]

The soda is less than Great Adventure (I want to say the fountain sodas are $4.49 - $4.99 at Great Adventure), I think the pretzels and ice cream bars are around $5 at Great Adventure. The fountain soda prices at Great Adventure don't bother me as much since they offer the refill bottles.

[GAcoaster]

But, at Great Adventure you're also not paying $100 + for the ticket to get in like you do at Disney. The price of everything is going up and always will, it's the way of the world. 

[Matt Kaiser]

6 hours ago, GAcoaster said:

But, at Great Adventure you're also not paying $100 + for the ticket to get in like you do at Disney. The price of everything is going up and always will, it's the way of the world. 

 

Although Great Adventure does break $100 for full price ticket + parking! $80 ticket + $30 parking

[Lemur]

11 hours ago, Matt Kaiser said:

 

Although Great Adventure does break $100 for full price ticket + parking! $80 ticket + $30 parking

Hence the allure of the passes and memberships.  Go twice and it pays for itself!

[29yrswithaGApass]

While I love the idea of Disney’s new Skyliner system I think they are making a big mistake not having the cabins air conditioned.  I have the highest doubts that their claim that the vents in the car combined with the tinted windows will provide enough air circulation to keep the cabins cool.  

 

I went on the Ferris wheel on the Steel Pier this summer and while those cars have an air management system it wasn’t working properly and it got very hot very fast.  That was with having the same type of vent windows open and a strong breeze blowing off the ocean.  

 

I wouldn’t be surprised if Disney has second thoughts about no A/C especially when guests start complaining.  

[Yoshi]

It would be horrible to get stuck on the Skyliner in the middle of August with the hot and humid weather and no air conditioning.

[Pineracer]

11 hours ago, 29yrswithaGApass said:

While I love the idea of Disney’s new Skyliner system I think they are making a big mistake not having the cabins air conditioned.  I have the highest doubts that their claim that the vents in the car combined with the tinted windows will provide enough air circulation to keep the cabins cool.  

 

I went on the Ferris wheel on the Steel Pier this summer and while those cars have an air management system it wasn’t working properly and it got very hot very fast.  That was with having the same type of vent windows open and a strong breeze blowing off the ocean.  

 

I wouldn’t be surprised if Disney has second thoughts about no A/C especially when guests start complaining.  

Especially since one stop is a DVC hotel and everyone will want to go to Galaxy's Edge when it opens, i'd expect AC because DVC is a lot of $

[The Master]

Disney has announced they will not market or publicly talk about their new Star Wars land, claiming they will be too big to fail. It is already weird that the lands are not based on any planets from the Star Wars films. I wonder if maybe they are cutting their losses considering the bad reception of The Last Jedi and how Solo flopped hard. 

Edited February 12, 2019 by The Master

[Medusa42]

31 minutes ago, The Master said:

Disney has announced they will not market or publicly talk about their new Star Wars land, claiming they will be too big to fail. It is already weird that the lands are not based on any planets from the Star Wars films. I wonder if maybe they are cutting their losses considering the bad reception of The Last Jedi and how Solo flopped hard. 

No, demand is already so high that they don't need to waste money on marketing right now.

Quote

Doug Mitchelson

And Christine, on the impact of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge lands launching, in the past, when you've launched lands, there was often a ramp in OpEx and marketing in advance of those lands. As we think about profitability or park margins for the year or the second half as these start to come in on the West Coast and then, later in the year, in Orlando, any comments as to whether those are - start out profitable off the bat because it's their largest lands and it's a big brand or is that something that we should really look towards fiscal '20? Thank you.

 

Christine McCarthy

So Doug, on the opening of the two Star Wars lands, Galaxy's Edge in both the Disneyland Park, initially, at Anaheim, followed later in the fiscal year at Walt Disney World, we have not given any guidance or outlook on operating expenses that we'll incur in addition to the normal operating expenses as they ramp up. However, you've seen those expenses increase when we've opened lands.

 

So that will be just embedded in their operating income and in their expense lines. Both of those will open in the balance of this fiscal year skewed to the - calendar year, but it'll be skewed to the second half.

 

Robert Iger

And I would say, by the way, on the marketing expense side, don't expect much. I'm thinking that maybe I should just tweet, "It's opening," and that will be enough. I think we're going to end up with incredibly popular and in-demand product with these two new lands.

 

They're large. They're beautiful, and they're extremely innovative. And they obviously leverage the popularity of the Star Wars brand. And I think that we're going to have absolutely no problem gaining attention for them or to them, and it's not going to take much marketing to do that. That's a signal that I just sent to our parks and resorts people to keep that budget really low.

https://seekingalpha.com/article/4238411-walt-disney-company-dis-ceo-robert-iger-q1-2019-results-earnings-call-transcript?part=single

 

 

[The Master]

Sounds like they are either overconfident or worried about further internet backlash against the Star Wars IP. Since they can't cancel the parks, they are cutting the advertising budget to not throw more good money after bad, or just being lead their hubris, which they have been ever since buying Lucasfilm. Personally I think they are worried since the success of the new lands are very dependent on how well received the next Star Wars film will be, and the last two SW films have had poor reception and alienated fans. Even Star Wars merchandise has not been selling well. Through some of it might be market oversaturation. 

Edited February 12, 2019 by The Master