Another Take On The Hawaii Resort

[WolfpackFan]

I just read the following article in the Orlando Sentinel -

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/busi....column?coll=orl_business_custom_tourism_util

Do you think that by building other off-site resorts, that Disney is taking away attention from WDW? I had not thought about that angle at all.

 

[Granny]

I think that Disney may feel that they have "maxed out" WDW as far as attendance and revenue. They've done an awesome marketing and discounting job to keep WDW parks and resorts pretty full all year round now. If demand pushes up, they can relax the discounts and things like free dining and just make more money.

But to invest in more parks or resorts (other than DVC) would seem to be possibly more risk than Disney is willing to take. DVC is the exception because with DVC you not only "sell out" the resorts for 50 years but you also build a customer base that will far exceed the average of families visiting every four years (per the article).

Like any business, Disney is looking forward to population demographics and other long range planning indicators. It would seem that they want to utilize their brand name and service strengths to compete in the vacation resort business apart from connections to theme parks.

We shall see. In that market, they have a lot of competitors. Smart of them to include DVC in the mix....in essence DVC owners become the "anchor tenants" of the new resorts with a guaranteed cash flow and expense coverage for decades.

It will definitely be interesting to watch.

 

[Lenc324]

I love all the offsite ideas.

 

[ransom]

I'm not sure what to believe, but I recall a lot of talk recently about huge building projects coming within the next 5 years or so at DCA, DHS and possibly DAK. So while I believe it's unlikely Disney will build additional non-DVC resorts on site at WDW in the near future, and I find it wildly unlikely that they would build a new park there anytime soon, I would be surprised if they tried to truly "coast" as the article implies. If they don't open new rides regularly, then they'll lose repeat customers. That doesn't make good business sense. (On the other hand, I'd be surprised to see another huge attraction on the scale of Expedition Everest very soon.)

 

[Granny]

I'm not sure what to believe, but I recall a lot of talk recently about huge building projects coming within the next 5 years or so at DCA, DHS and possibly DAK. So while I believe it's unlikely Disney will build additional non-DVC resorts on site at WDW in the near future, and I find it wildly unlikely that they would build a new park there anytime soon, I would be surprised if they tried to truly "coast" as the article implies. If they don't open new rides regularly, then they'll lose repeat customers. That doesn't make good business sense. (On the other hand, I'd be surprised to see another huge attraction on the scale of Expedition Everest very soon.)

I took the "coasting" at WDW to mean no new parks or major expansions. I do think that Disney knows that in order to keep the repeat business they always need to freshen some attractons or roll out new ones.

EE at DAK was, IMHO, an attempt to draw the 10-18 year old crowd to DAK. With only Dinosaur as a "thrill ride" before EE, I think it suffered in comparison to MK, MGM and EPCOT. Same reason they added Mission:Space and Soarin' to EPCOT, I'd think.

So I don't think Disney will just "coast" with their existing parks. But I do think the speculation about them building a fifth park might be on a far back burner at this point.

Just my opinion, not based on any particular knowledge or insight.

 

[ransom]

I took the "coasting" at WDW to mean no new parks or major expansions. I do think that Disney knows that in order to keep the repeat business they always need to freshen some attractons or roll out new ones.

EE at DAK was, IMHO, an attempt to draw the 10-18 year old crowd to DAK. With only Dinosaur as a "thrill ride" before EE, I think it suffered in comparison to MK, MGM and EPCOT. Same reason they added Mission:Space and Soarin' to EPCOT, I'd think.

So I don't think Disney will just "coast" with their existing parks. But I do think the speculation about them building a fifth park might be on a far back burner at this point.

Just my opinion, not based on any particular knowledge or insight.

We're in total agreement, then.