ResortTV1

DisneyUpBoilerUp wrote: ↑Thu Feb 11, 2021 4:02 pm Personally, I wish they would do something. I feel like the magic is fizzling fast. I can't even stand to go to Epcot. I have to walk around miles of walls to get anywhere. I have a physical disability that limits my walking. It's frustrating when I can't take the fastest route from point A to point B. I think this is part of the reason I'm not a fan of Epcot. My first trip to World was in 2019, and the walls were already going up, they have just gotten worse in my opinion. I'm reluctantly paying for an Epcot ticket next months because I want to go to the Flower & Garden fest. I think they would get much more attendance if they would finish up current open projects. I do understand that Disney has lost millions if not billions of $$ during this pandemic nightmare. So I do understand the slow progress from that aspect.
I miss the Rail Road. I actually don't think I've ever been on the one at Disney World. I think it's been closed every time I've gone. I assume it's similar to Disneyland's. I'm so excited for Tron. I'm definitely a thrill ride seeker. Yet, I'm in love with Aladdin's carpets, lol. Those are my immediate thoughts on construction.

And for goodness gracious... bring on the fireworks.

nittanylions wrote: ↑Sat Feb 13, 2021 6:16 am I hope you’re right that they continue to celebrate the 50th into 2022. We’re in New York. With all the restrictions, we probably won’t be able to visit this year.

jt04 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 13, 2021 4:08 pm This downturn came at a bad time for wdw. However it is clear to me they have been very strategic and will turn this into a very positive outcome in the long term.

Firstly, they are retooling every aspect of operations. From management at TDO, to Imagineering to F&B and everything else.

Second, Chapek will and is clearing the pipeline of projects while the focus transitions to the 50th. The OP is spot on and everything written is logical.

Chapek will be very selective with the projects he signs off on but I don't think he will budget as some think. So he likely won't get as much done as his predecessor but I think we will see several worthwhile large budget projects open in the parks before 2030. Uni will keep the mouse focused also.

CH-GenX wrote: ↑Sun Feb 14, 2021 4:13 am First great write up! You have some great points but...I think disney is going to continue to give us less for the same price or more. Covid is their excuse to do what they have been wanting to do for awhile.

Liquid Ice wrote: ↑Sun Feb 14, 2021 10:02 am If you consider that DIsney has said (during their latest earnings call) that they will be spending considerably less on the parks in 2021 and for the foreseeable future, it doesn't bode well for announced projects for the 50th Anniversary. Some projects are far enough along that they will get finished, things like Tron, Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind, Star Wars Galactic Cruise - but I'm worried others may not even get started like the new DVC resort, Reflections a Lakeside Lodge.

Here is a link mentioning the reduced spending from their Q4 Earnings call, but they also re-iterated it at their most recent call..
https://blogmickey.com/2020/11/disney-e ... -spending/

As a DVC member (and one that just recently joined) - it worries me that they seem to be reducing their investment in the parks.

Disney seems really focused on spending and investing in their DTC (Direct to Consumer) division which includes Disney+

The next big milestone will be Mickey's 100th Birthday in 2028 - and I hope that they will be able to do something big for that in the parks.

OhanaMana wrote: ↑Sun Feb 14, 2021 8:20 am

nittanylions wrote: ↑Sat Feb 13, 2021 6:16 am I hope you’re right that they continue to celebrate the 50th into 2022. We’re in New York. With all the restrictions, we probably won’t be able to visit this year.

Yeah I just can't envision them NOT doing an extra long celebration, purely due to COVID. But even if we didn't have COVID, I still think we would have seen a longer than usual celebration to continue to maximize attendance. Obviously if COVID didn't have though, we can probably safely assume a lot of these larger projects would already be done, or very close with an official opening date this year. That alone would increase attendance for sure - I'm just basing my thoughts on Disney never wanting to miss an opportunity to run a celebration and market it lol.

jt04 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 13, 2021 4:08 pm This downturn came at a bad time for wdw. However it is clear to me they have been very strategic and will turn this into a very positive outcome in the long term.

Firstly, they are retooling every aspect of operations. From management at TDO, to Imagineering to F&B and everything else.

Second, Chapek will and is clearing the pipeline of projects while the focus transitions to the 50th. The OP is spot on and everything written is logical.

Chapek will be very selective with the projects he signs off on but I don't think he will budget as some think. So he likely won't get as much done as his predecessor but I think we will see several worthwhile large budget projects open in the parks before 2030. Uni will keep the mouse focused also.

Interesting points ... so you also think Chapek will want to get these larger projects done ASAP so they can make a big splash on the 50th celebration?

CH-GenX wrote: ↑Sun Feb 14, 2021 4:13 am First great write up! You have some great points but...I think disney is going to continue to give us less for the same price or more. Covid is their excuse to do what they have been wanting to do for awhile.

Thanks! I really hope that isn't the case. I'm definitely excited for the projects they are working on around the parks and also the resorts. I am also definitely concerned about the future of live entertainment Disney will commit too. Obviously COVID has really put a huge pause on that, but we'll be very curious on what and when they bring back over the next 12-16 months. We are excited they already announced the (partial) return of The Festival of The Lion King at AK - that is a of course a move in the right direction and I hope we can see more announcements like that soon.

jt04 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 15, 2021 1:23 pm

OhanaMana wrote: ↑Sun Feb 14, 2021 8:20 am

nittanylions wrote: ↑Sat Feb 13, 2021 6:16 am I hope you’re right that they continue to celebrate the 50th into 2022. We’re in New York. With all the restrictions, we probably won’t be able to visit this year.

Yeah I just can't envision them NOT doing an extra long celebration, purely due to COVID. But even if we didn't have COVID, I still think we would have seen a longer than usual celebration to continue to maximize attendance. Obviously if COVID didn't have though, we can probably safely assume a lot of these larger projects would already be done, or very close with an official opening date this year. That alone would increase attendance for sure - I'm just basing my thoughts on Disney never wanting to miss an opportunity to run a celebration and market it lol.

jt04 wrote: ↑Sat Feb 13, 2021 4:08 pm This downturn came at a bad time for wdw. However it is clear to me they have been very strategic and will turn this into a very positive outcome in the long term.

Firstly, they are retooling every aspect of operations. From management at TDO, to Imagineering to F&B and everything else.

Second, Chapek will and is clearing the pipeline of projects while the focus transitions to the 50th. The OP is spot on and everything written is logical.

Chapek will be very selective with the projects he signs off on but I don't think he will budget as some think. So he likely won't get as much done as his predecessor but I think we will see several worthwhile large budget projects open in the parks before 2030. Uni will keep the mouse focused also.

Interesting points ... so you also think Chapek will want to get these larger projects done ASAP so they can make a big splash on the 50th celebration?

CH-GenX wrote: ↑Sun Feb 14, 2021 4:13 am First great write up! You have some great points but...I think disney is going to continue to give us less for the same price or more. Covid is their excuse to do what they have been wanting to do for awhile.

Thanks! I really hope that isn't the case. I'm definitely excited for the projects they are working on around the parks and also the resorts. I am also definitely concerned about the future of live entertainment Disney will commit too. Obviously COVID has really put a huge pause on that, but we'll be very curious on what and when they bring back over the next 12-16 months. We are excited they already announced the (partial) return of The Festival of The Lion King at AK - that is a of course a move in the right direction and I hope we can see more announcements like that soon.

I think Tron and GotG open by spring of 2022. They could have been ready by October but I think they want a second surge for the 50th celebrations. October will see an emphasis on Rat, Harmonious, and Castle fireworks and light show. Plenty of new live music and cavalcades. All assuming everything is somewhat back to normal by then.

OhanaMana wrote: ↑Mon Feb 15, 2021 1:52 pm

jt04 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 15, 2021 1:23 pm

OhanaMana wrote: ↑Sun Feb 14, 2021 8:20 am

Yeah I just can't envision them NOT doing an extra long celebration, purely due to COVID. But even if we didn't have COVID, I still think we would have seen a longer than usual celebration to continue to maximize attendance. Obviously if COVID didn't have though, we can probably safely assume a lot of these larger projects would already be done, or very close with an official opening date this year. That alone would increase attendance for sure - I'm just basing my thoughts on Disney never wanting to miss an opportunity to run a celebration and market it lol.



Interesting points ... so you also think Chapek will want to get these larger projects done ASAP so they can make a big splash on the 50th celebration?



Thanks! I really hope that isn't the case. I'm definitely excited for the projects they are working on around the parks and also the resorts. I am also definitely concerned about the future of live entertainment Disney will commit too. Obviously COVID has really put a huge pause on that, but we'll be very curious on what and when they bring back over the next 12-16 months. We are excited they already announced the (partial) return of The Festival of The Lion King at AK - that is a of course a move in the right direction and I hope we can see more announcements like that soon.

I think Tron and GotG open by spring of 2022. They could have been ready by October but I think they want a second surge for the 50th celebrations. October will see an emphasis on Rat, Harmonious, and Castle fireworks and light show. Plenty of new live music and cavalcades. All assuming everything is somewhat back to normal by then.

I gotcha - yeah that timeline makes a lot of sense - given that COVID is under control by October time frame. Do you think there will be a brand new MK castle firework show for the 50th? I've been thinking there sort of has to be something, but not sure if it'll be a show that runs every night through the entire 50th celebration or if it'll run on certain nights and every other day just be HEA. That approach IMO would be best because it would give Guests a great show no matter what night they are visiting MK on, and for those guests that plan on visiting MK twice during their stay, they could get to see both shows.

OhanaMana wrote: ↑Thu Feb 11, 2021 2:46 pm Hey everyone! I for one am excited about ResortTV'1 announcement today that they will be having an action packed magical weekend starting tomorrow at 10am. Can't wait!

After spending the last several weeks keeping an eye on all the construction projects currently going on at WDW, and that they don't really seem to be slowing down, I've thought of some things on what I think is happening, and how I think it's related to the 50th celebration planning. I could absolutely be VERY wrong, but with the context of everything going on in the world right now, I'm curious what you all think of these thoughts.

Clearly WDW is in a new, interesting spot with guest limitations around 40% capacity max, some resort hotels not fully opened yet or opened at all, and for at least the next 3 months or so, will continue in that same fashion. Once this all hit last March and the parks closed, all construction on property also stopped. Once it opened back up in mid July, we started some of the construction continue back up around several parks, mainly MK and Epcot. As time went on, we saw the more and more construction continue at these parks, as well as NEW construction get started at Polynesian which is getting a massive make over to its front entrance and main lobby area. As with Poly, several other resorts around property are also getting room upgrades and refreshes which has also started recently. A rough list of stuff being worked on right now includes:

1. MK - TRON
2. MK - Railroad
3. MK - Splash Mountain overlay update
4. MK - Jungle Cruise minor overlay update
5. MK - PeopleMover
6. Epcot - Entrance area
7. Epcot - Various Innovations East and West (World Celebration) updates - a lot is included in here; attractions, dreamers point, shops, etc
8. Epcot - France expansion
9. Epcot - Space 220 restaurant
10. Epcot - Harmonious night time show
11. Epcot - Guardians
12. Polynesian resort - front entrance
13. Polynesian resort - room upgrades
13. Polynesian resort - pool upgrades
14. Contemporary resort - room upgrades

Again this is a rough list here - several other resorts are doing some minor room upgrades and pool maintenance, but I tried to focus a lot on Poly and Contemporary as they were the only resorts around for the original opening in 1971.

With all this said, I'll start with my predictions on what they will do for the 50th celebration. After reading a great article by Disney Tourist Blog: https://www.disneytouristblog.com/disne ... rtainment/, Tom brings up good points that for previous milestone celebrations at WDW and Disneyland went on for upwards of 15 months. He said that some of the celebrations received extensions due to popularity. So I think with all that said, it could be fair to guess that the 50th celebration at Walt Disney World won't be any different - and I'm talking about Disney's plans PRIOR to Covid. Tom also mentions in the article that celebrations in the past started several months before the actual date. So it's also fair that Disney probably wanted to start the 50th celebration in some form around Memorial Day 2021, with the peak celebration starting of course on Oct 1st 2021.

With all this said, I'm thinking that Walt Disney World will celebrate the 50th anniversary for 2 full years, starting around October 1st, 2021 and going through October 31st, 2023. And finishing the vast majority of these projects noted above during this "off time" when we are still in limbo with restrictions, vaccine rollouts, etc for the next 3 or 4 months (basically through Summer 2021) is hugely important in their plans

I think Disney continuing work on ALL these projects above, even during a time when most parks are closed and those that are open, having to restrict the number of Guests, says a lot of what their doing - or the bet they are placing. I think they are betting that by early 2022 when most of the US should be fully vaccinated and guidelines almost fully removed, the amount of guests wanting to visit DURING the 50th celebration will skyrocket. Those that have continued to go during this time and those that have waited will ALL be wanting to go and see the new attractions, updates and of course the 50th celebration activities. So with that bet they are making, it's no question they want to finish as many of the larger projects BEFORE the skyrocket attendance numbers happens. They want to not only be able to market the 50th celebration, but market all the new attractions, updates and upgrades they've also done to welcome the celebration.

Investing in getting this work done now, when the attendance is lighter means not a lot of walls up when the guests come back in larger numbers. It's a simple thought really. If they can get almost EVERYTHING on that list done by mid 2022, and they indeed plan to celebrate the 50th for 2 full years, that gives them about 10 months or so of SOME of the projects on the list already done and the start of the 50th celebration already in full gear and gives them around 14 months MORE of marketing the celebration with almost ALL attractions and upgrades finished that they are working on now.

I know it's somewhat far fetched, but all these projects and the logistics of their planning is really interesting to me. I've always had an interest in how a company and property as large as WDW operates, and knowing that Disney is a very bold company, this bold moves seems like it can have a very large payoff that Guests can enjoy for years to come!

Would love to hear your thoughts below - thanks for reading all this!