Future WDW Additions/Expansion

[saint.piss]

God please. I want a Moana attraction at the Disney parks so bad, it's crazy it still hasn't happened yet.

 

[TheUniC6]

Due to the ongoing economic situation, Len Testa posted this on WDWMagic:

The next couple of months are going to be interesting.

On the one hand, Disney absolutely knows they have to build a lot more rides as soon as possible. And we've already got the first phase of those announcements.

On the other, international tourism is cratering. Consumer confidence is falling. And I heard something about tariffs while I was on my cruise last week??!?

There has to be tremendous pressure right now to delay, cut back, or cancel some of the stuff they've announced. I think the projects that have already started construction are fine (Encanto, Lakeshore Lodge). But the rest of them?

I expect Disney's going to take the next 60 days to look at longer-term US economic trends, and to see the initial reception that Epic gets. So maybe by the end of June - their Q3 - we should have heard if anything changes.

One obvious sign of project cutbacks would be if Muppet*Vision gets a reprieve from its June 7 closure. That would indicate a pause on Monsters. And if Monsters isn't safe, I'm not sure anything else is.

I could be wrong.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

They also know the importance of new additions and that the parks need more capacity, so we might still see them add stuff... even if it isn't as expansive/ambitious as before.

Edit: They might rethink the RoA move to just Villains instead of Cars, etc. (or vice versa).

 

[Freak]

If they’re reevaluating what additions they’re going to have, the FIRST thing that needs to go is that dumb Cars ride nobody wants to replace the RoA with. If they go through with that but scrap everything else then what is Disney smoking??

 

[belloq87]

Edit: They might rethink the RoA move to just Villains instead of Cars, etc. (or vice versa).

I think the Rivers would need to be impacted for Villains either way, but I'd be thrilled with a shortened ROA (like Disneyland did for Galaxy's Edge) and Villains.

I just have not seen enough from the Cars plan to assure me that it wouldn't be a gigantic aesthetic negative at the center of the park.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

I think the Rivers would need to be impacted for Villains either way, but I'd be thrilled with a shortened ROA (like Disneyland did for Galaxy's Edge) and Villains.

I just have not seen enough from the Cars plan to assure me that it wouldn't be a gigantic aesthetic negative at the center of the park.

Oh for sure the RoA will be impacted to some degree. I was just referring to that Disney might use this tariff stuff as an "excuse" to keep RoA (partially) and do only Villains.

 

[Jake S]

I love that this genre of spec is inferring Disney and Comcast are completely caught flat footed by the tariffs. I suppose those big boy CEO salaries aren’t high enough to ensure the dudes in charge of these companies do something radical like, boy, I dunno, pay attention to what the people running for president say they’re gonna do if elected lmao.

 

[OrlLover]

I love that this genre of spec is inferring Disney and Comcast are completely caught flat footed by the tariffs. I suppose those big boy CEO salaries aren’t high enough to ensure the dudes in charge of these companies do something radical like, boy, I dunno, pay attention to what the people running for president say they’re gonna do if elected lmao.

Exactly they knew these tariffs were coming as soon as he was elected.

Whether that impacts the parks remains to be seen.

In Florida they are already started construction on some so I feel they are committed to those at least.

 

[HandsomePete]

At this point it's all speculative, but aside from the DAK work nothing else has even a hint of an opening date so timelines could end up just getting stretched while still telling Wall Street that they're "still moving forward with our ambitious plans something something something."

They might rethink the RoA move to just Villains instead of Cars, etc. (or vice versa).

I'm ambivalent on RoA, but my hope is that they genuinely reconsider the Cars ride on the grounds that the concept, no matter where they put it, just isn't that good. It would not be the first or second or third time in recent years that WDI promised the world and then delivered something meh.

 

[TheUniC6]

Some not so good updates from Len Testa:

Uncertainty around tariffs can delay the projects that haven't already started construction.

My guess is that Cars, Villains, and Monsters, plus whatever's coming in Animation Courtyard, is $2B+ in project costs.

A decent chunk of that is systems, materials, and tools made internationally. For example, a complex ride system is probably $70MM to $100MM+ by itself, from companies like Vekoma or Intamin. Both of them are based in the Netherlands. I'm told that Disney doesn't think anyone in the US has that kind of capability right now.

I believe any WDI project above $1B has to get board approval. But the tariffs on the cost of materials has swung between 0% and 20% just in the last week for the Netherlands. And nobody knows what China's is going to be tomorrow.

That makes it impossible to tell the board how much these things are going to cost. And since they can't tell the board, they can't get approval.

 

[OrlLover]

Some not so good updates from Len Testa:

Uncertainty around tariffs can delay the projects that haven't already started construction.

My guess is that Cars, Villains, and Monsters, plus whatever's coming in Animation Courtyard, is $2B+ in project costs.

A decent chunk of that is systems, materials, and tools made internationally. For example, a complex ride system is probably $70MM to $100MM+ by itself, from companies like Vekoma or Intamin. Both of them are based in the Netherlands. I'm told that Disney doesn't think anyone in the US has that kind of capability right now.

I believe any WDI project above $1B has to get board approval. But the tariffs on the cost of materials has swung between 0% and 20% just in the last week for the Netherlands. And nobody knows what China's is going to be tomorrow.

That makes it impossible to tell the board how much these things are going to cost. And since they can't tell the board, they can't get approval.

They will figure it out I mean Disney literally can’t afford not to invest into WDW at this point.

I don’t have much sympathy for a billion dollar company that could been smarter with its budgets.

 

[TheUniC6]

They will figure it out I mean Disney literally can’t afford not to invest into WDW at this point.

I don’t have much sympathy for a billion dollar company that could been smarter with its budgets.

Someone on WDWMagic shared a meme with Iger at a whiteboard that read "Iger's excuses" with COVID, too hot, and hurricanes crossed off, and tariffs were next.

Disney needs to figure out Universal can fund a whole new park during COVID during all the supply chain issues and economic uncertainty.

 

[Mad Dog]

Iger had his fingers crossed during his new attractions speech....hoping some sort of disaster would pop up so they could back out of the costly new attractions. He was rooting for tariffs/hurricane/alien invasion/asteroid hit .

 

[HandsomePete]

I believe any WDI project above $1B has to get board approval.

This statement suggests to me that it’s still a bit speculative because I would describe it as not close to accurate.

I think it’s common sense that everything is in flux with everything going on.

I guess on the bright side, an absurd amount of WDI overhead gets layered onto projects and that’s mostly just layers upon layers of US-based labor.

 

[DarkMetroid567]

Someone on WDWMagic shared a meme with Iger at a whiteboard that read "Iger's excuses" with COVID, too hot, and hurricanes crossed off, and tariffs were next.

Disney needs to figure out Universal can fund a whole new park during COVID during all the supply chain issues and economic uncertainty.

Tariffs are quite different. The economic downturn during COVID was decently well recovered and you can blame TWDC’s focus on Disney+ for the parks being neglected.

The potential tariffs aren’t like that. It’ll affect everyone — you’re not getting full-fledged domestic expansions to Epic or Islands if these tariffs stick.

 

[Freak]

Tariffs are quite different. The economic downturn during COVID was decently well recovered and you can blame TWDC’s focus on Disney+ for the parks being neglected.

The potential tariffs aren’t like that. It’ll affect everyone — you’re not getting full-fledged domestic expansions to Epic or Islands if these tariffs stick.

I mean….didn't the pandemic effect everyone? I understand there are some uncertainties with these tariffs, but Covid was absolutely uncertain. Yet Universal chugged ahead with Epic.

Disney needs to add stuff. If they don’t do it now, why should anyone pay way more money when they have nothing to show for it, economic uncertainty or not? This is on Disney for being too full of themselves and now they have to sink or swim at this point.

 

[DarkMetroid567]

I mean….didn't the pandemic effect everyone? I understand there are some uncertainties with these tariffs, but Covid was absolutely uncertain. Yet Universal chugged ahead with Epic.

Disney needs to add stuff. If they don’t do it now, why should anyone pay way more money when they have nothing to show for it, economic uncertainty or not. This is in Disney for being too full of themselves and now they have to sink or swim at this point.

Sure — but uncertainly is a very different ballpark from what would be the immediate increase of imported materials. The pandemic certainly added costs, but we didn’t get the most inflationary effects until years later.

I agree that at a certain point Disney is going to have to budge, and that the pause in spending is going to ultimately reverberate. Sucks for them. I just think that we’re talking about is less a “put your money where your mouth is” scenario like it was during COVID and now more a “oh no, things are actually getting dramatically expensive” scenario.

 

[Clive]

Sure — but uncertainly is a very different ballpark from what would be the immediate increase of imported materials. The pandemic certainly added costs, but we didn’t get the most inflationary effects until years later.

I agree that at a certain point Disney is going to have to budge, and that the pause in spending is going to ultimately reverberate. Sucks for them. I just think that we’re talking about is less a “put your money where your mouth is” scenario like it was during COVID and now more a “oh no, things are actually getting dramatically expensive” scenario.

Put another way, Disney balked during Covid and is paying for it now. Universal kept going during Covid and is about to enjoy those dividends.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Put another way, Disney balked during Covid and is paying for it now. Universal kept going during Covid and is about to enjoy those dividends.

Same thing happened in 2009/10, Disney folks were laughing about Universal building Potter during the recession.

 

[Clive]

Same thing happened in 2009/10, Disney folks were laughing about Universal building Potter during the recession.