Disney's Hollywood Studios (General Discussion)

[keeper]

Has attendance shifted lately? I mean I would just love to know for curiosity sake, what the implications (financially, perceptionally) would be if they closed the park for a year or two. Couldn't they save some operational costs, allocate team members to other parks, and really have no limitations in doing construction? I feel like it would be beneficial as you can truly go to town in demolition/renovation. I mean yeah its one less offering, but it shows that they realized the park is in trouble and that it isn't worthy of paying customers until its ready. I feel like that would speak volumes in itself.

I support this but also agree that they can't do it because of the perception of having failed. I've also thought with the possible exception of the MK a great plan during non-peak times would be a regular schedule where, for example Studios are closed Mondays, AK closed Tuesdays and Epcot closed Wednesdays. You could save staffing, do bigger maintenance projects and absorb the attendance in the open parks. Disney has made it very clear that they are selling a multi-day product. As long as guest knew which days a park was dark they could adjust their touring appropriately. They do it successfully with water parks and the with the number of gates they have in Orlando it could easily be done with theme parks. If I'm not mistaken ages before DCA came to town they even did this at Disneyland.

 

[Nick]

Last night Jim Hill brought up the idea that the closed attractions had little impact on actual guest satisfaction in the park. Discuss.

Tbh, they haven't closed anything beloved by anyone (yet... once animation and OMD goes, then we'll talk).

And on a related note, i'm not even sure they've lost any FP+ attractions over the closures. Frozen replaced AI, I can't remember if BLT had FP+ or not, but that would be it. But really, being honest, nobody gave a crap about the stuff closed, the biggest impact is longer lines because of less things to do.

 

[Nick]

What I've heard? Yes, even worse.

Probably why they're adding the Bibbidi Bobbidi Frozen to the park in the short term

 

[tielo]

Slashfilm is reporting that the overhaul will cost $3B...

Disney Hollywood Studios Changes Could Add More Star Wars, Pixar And Indiana Jones

But that number doesn't say anything. For the price of 1 sign at a Disney attraction Universal is building an E ticket ride!

With all the timeshare guests and brand loyal guests Disney doesn't give a sh!t about their guest experiance because they'll come whatever mediocer stuff Disney is doing at WDW.
It makes me sad, what once was a world class destination has become the laughing stock of theme park fans.

 

[Nick]

But that number doesn't say anything. For the price of 1 sign at a Disney attraction Universal is building an E ticket ride!

With all the timeshare guests and brand loyal guests Disney doesn't give a sh!t about their guest experiance because they'll come whatever mediocer stuff Disney is doing at WDW.
It makes me sad, what once was a world class destination has become the laughing stock of theme park fans.

The last time they poured that type of money into a park overhaul things turned out pretty well...

 

[Mad Dog]

My opinion, for the little it's worth, is that the final result is going to be an immersive entertaining park. But the next four to seven years are going to be a total train wreck, since they took too long to start on this and Disney's construction process is excruciatingly slow. They easily could have started on this when they first closed the Backlot Tour last year or when they brought the DCA Imagineers to look at this mess two years ago, but they've already lost a lot of time by dragging their feet. My guess is that they'll put in the ultra cheap Toy Story Land, and it's carnival flats, in first, since that can be done quicker than the major lands/attractions. That'll keep the stroller crowd coming to a degree. But, it's going to be a really tiny park for a good while, and they're bound to lose tons of attendance, which will make MK even more crowded. Without the Osborne Lights there for the holiday season, the holiday attendance will really drop, for one.

 

[kimlovesfl]

Seems obvious to me that Disney needs to lower admission prices to this park, if one is purchasing a one-day ticket (does anyone do that for DHS?).

I, too, have wondered what their guest service comments look like? Does GS at DHS get a lot of complaints about things being closed, nothing to do, long lines, crappy and/or overpriced food, if one can get into a restaurant at all? Or do the masses just suck it up because it's Disney? I would LOVE to see guest service comments regarding DHS.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Hearing if $3bn is coming it's for the whole resort. Roads, DVC, power lines, infrastructure, and rides. IF.

 

[Mad Dog]

Hearing if $3bn is coming it's for the whole resort. Roads, DVC, power lines, infrastructure, and rides. IF.

If that's the case, especially with the cost of redoing the parking lot & roadway entrance to DHS, BriMan's concept of half the amount would possibly be in the ballpark. And since it costs Disney a lot more to do a land/attraction than Universal, it may be in the DCA expansion range after allowing for inflated construction/development costs over that period of time.

 

[Nick]

Hearing if $3bn is coming it's for the whole resort. Roads, DVC, power lines, infrastructure, and rides. IF.

Well that's what has been said over at Magic for at least 3-4 days, maybe close to a week now. Money will be spent throughout the resort to plus it for the 50th, but the majority will be at DHS.

 

[rhino4evr]

So I just realized that this rumor is coming from "infamous Billy the kid"....I'd take it with a Huge grain of salt. This guy would post anything to get hits to his website. He's known for posting nonsense "exclusives".

I don't doubt that more Star Wars and Pixar is coming, but some of his other speculation is just that. He doesn't know anything more then anyone else does. His "source" is probably the magic forums and his own imagination.

 

[Nick]

So I just realized that this rumor is coming from "infamous Billy the kid"....I'd take it with a Huge grain of salt. This guy would post anything to get hits to his website. He's known for posting nonsense "exclusives".

I don't doubt that more Star Wars and Pixar is coming, but some of his other speculation is just that. He doesn't know anything more then anyone else does. His "source" is probably the magic forums and his own imagination.

If you are talking about Tom Corless, no, he latches on to what other people break just quickly enough for people to think he broke it. This was broken or confirmed by about 4 different insiders over at WDWMagic.

 

[Scarletwebslingr]

Hopefully D23 with reveal their plans for adding a dash of Marvel to Studios because a Guardians ride would be dope. Also, Halloween Town would be an enduring and worthy addition as well. Wishful thinking aside, Studios has nowhere to go but up, and I think a 3 billion drop on Indy, Star Wars, and Pixar is a very giant step in the right direction.

 

[Nick]

Hopefully D23 with reveal their plans for adding a dash of Marvel to Studios because a Guardians ride would be dope. Also, Halloween Town would be an enduring and worthy addition as well. Wishful thinking aside, Studios has nowhere to go but up, and I think a 3 billion drop on Indy, Star Wars, and Pixar is a very giant step in the right direction.

Don't get your hopes up about Guardians.... at least yet. And that $3B is rumored to include some for MK and Epcot as well (possibly a new fireworks show and i've heard Imagination re-do thrown around, but isn't it always?) either way it's too early to truly know anything besides that it will be basically an entirely new park.

 

[Scarletwebslingr]

Don't get your hopes up about Guardians.... at least yet. And that $3B is rumored to include some for MK and Epcot as well (possibly a new fireworks show and i've heard Imagination re-do thrown around, but isn't it always?) either way it's too early to truly know anything besides that it will be basically an entirely new park.

Yea, my hopes are secured. I was just wishing out loud, haha. Epcot certainly needs some hard renovations. Innovations is weak, Imaginations is a waste, and EO can go. They have a lot of land to work with there. And, whole I like Illuminations, it's stale. A new nighttime show is welcomed by me.

 

[SeventyOne]

Even if the number proves true (and people I trust say it is), I wouldn't get my hopes up. TS:MM and Idol cost a lot of money--neither proved to be an E-ticket for the ages. The same people saying $3B also said the first draft of Star Wars plans was rejected for being too boring. Apparently the Echo Lake --> Dagobah rumor was the centerpiece of it--all the locales in six movies, you pick Dagobah???

I'll be blunt. Home on the Range cost more than The Little Memaid. And Hogsmeade was built on the (relative) cheap. When it comes to art, money isn't the factor, talent is. I've seen nothing since 1992 indicating Imagineering still has that.

 

[tielo]

The studios could be awesome: Star Wars, Indy, Pixar. a Villain land, the list is endless of what Disney could do if they cared.
But I'm afraid we get a black box with a foodcourt in there and a metalic painted ping pong ball above the entrance and Disney will call it the death star dining experiance (and call the death star ping pong ball force(d) perspective) where you can find authentic food in the shape of a Vader helmet or Joda's head on a stick and authentic TaunTaun poop.

 

[MillenniumDragons]

I would hope Disney would stop going the cheap route. Money is never an issue with Disney. They realized DCA was a failure and they decided to invest a tiny drop in their budget and attendance increased 23% I believe. I truly believe if done correctly, Hollywood Studios could be as immersive as Diagon Alley. Immersive Star Wars, Pixar, Indiana Jones, and any other land they could possibly dream of. We shall see, albeit in another 10 years, but we'll see.

 

[Nick]

Even if the number proves true (and people I trust say it is), I wouldn't get my hopes up. TS:MM and Idol cost a lot of money--neither proved to be an E-ticket for the ages. The same people saying $3B also said the first draft of Star Wars plans was rejected for being too boring. Apparently the Echo Lake --> Dagobah rumor was the centerpiece of it--all the locales in six movies, you pick Dagobah???

I'll be blunt. Home on the Range cost more than The Little Memaid. And Hogsmeade was built on the (relative) cheap. When it comes to art, money isn't the factor, talent is. I've seen nothing since 1992 indicating Imagineering still has that.

Didn't FremantleMedia pay for Idol?

 

[ThemeParks4Life]

Are people seriously concerned more than two billion dollars isn't enough to get this park in proper shape? I know many of WDW's choices of late have sucked, but there's no way they can screw DHS up. If you're going to be worried, be worried about MK and Epcot's additions.