Anaheim Approves DisneylandForward, Paving Way for Resort Expansion

SirwalterraleighJun 20, 2024

China was a bad idea for the wrong reasons…bob duplicate that DCA was trying to fit more than they had room for and then Cheaping out…no excuses for that Paris was a disaster that had them obligated to build a second park or face huge penalties…the place was close to going under as is.

MistaDeeJun 19, 2024

Don't disagree the current regime seems to have tons of unforced errors, I just think that recency bias tends to rule the day. Disney chose to cheap out with DCA/Studios - that was a management too, they were just overcorrecting from the EuroDisney disaster which was even more management failures. All said, I'll take what we've got now over the Pressler/late Eisner era - even if they are still fumbling. Would love to see Tom Staggs and some of the brain trust from the DCA 2.0 management decision-makers make a return.

SirwalterraleighJun 19, 2024

That’s the “gold standard” But some of that was forced and they did not have the same financial means at the time Now seems to be a lot of unforced errors A couple of recent openings between Orlando and the Bahamas appear to be inexplicably bad. That’s management

MistaDeeJun 19, 2024

I absolutely get where you're coming from but the brain trust around the Paul Pressler era: DCA 1.0, Disney Studios Paris, and Hong Kong 1.0 still goes down as the all time worst in my book.

SirwalterraleighJun 14, 2024

The decks of the management ship need to be swept with grapeshot at this point… I have begun to make the case this is the worst Disney management group by talent and vision in its history… …prepare to get annoyed by this 🤪

SirwalterraleighJun 14, 2024

Disney makes its profits off selling the disposables…not by the gates or the hotel rooms. Obviously those are “gateways” to the easy profits… There is a reason why the “model” works…that’s the reason

TP2000Jun 14, 2024

Seeing what they just came up with for Tiana's Bayou Adventure, I'd be thrilled if Josh D'Amaro and his team take all the time they want with this DisneylandForward project. Hell, send 'em on three years of Immersion Trips, just to start. That way, there's a better chance that D'Amaro and the current execs will be fired by '27, and a new group will be installed who will return WDI creatives and the Parks executives to the standards and values that made the parks so great in the first place for the first 50 years; showmanship, hospitality, professionalism, and respect for the guest.

NiryaJun 13, 2024

Idk, it kinda tracks if you think of the hotel stays as highlighting a customer that is going to bring in higher profit compared to an AP, especially considering that a visiting guest staying at a hotel is having to spend the premium price for the hotel room + is more likely to pay extra for various things (Genie+, premium dining packages, experiences like the Boutique) because of the "once-in-a-lifetime" phenomenon than an AP is willing to do. Meanwhile, the average profit per visit for APs goes down with each visit because they've already paid the price to get in up-front. So for example, at the highest level, an Inspire Key AP that visits eight times is bringing in ~$206.13 per visit, but when you bump that up to 10 visits, it goes down to $164.90 per visit, and so on. That obviously doesn't include any add-ons they may buy (just as an example, I visited the parks four times last week and only bought Genie+ once, and since I have an Inspire Key I wasn't paying for parking on any visit) but your APs almost by definition are not going to bring in nearly the same profit as a hotel guest. That said, I can also see the math being very different for Anaheim than it is Orlando because Anaheim is a locals park while Orlando is advertised as a vacation destination. Getting hotel guests at the resort is great and Disney would obviously love more of them, but at the same time the AP program brings the company some budget stability as far as income that they can supplement with day tickets and hotel stays.

co10064Jun 13, 2024

Maybe I didn’t articulate myself well. I meant that TDA makes more in profit per individual at a resort versus their theme parks. Of course, more people visit their theme parks, so the theme parks are earning more profit overall. In other words, 100 guests at a hotel (even if those 100 don’t go to theme parks at all) is generating more revenue than 100 different guests visiting their theme parks… the hotels are more lucrative in per guest revenue (though the hotels obviously wouldn’t survive without the theme parks).

PiratesMansionJun 13, 2024

I absolutely buy this for Orlando, but not sure that I do for Anaheim. Do you have any data to support this?

co10064Jun 13, 2024

The inherent problem I see with the resort’s layout and any potential expansion is this: What from I can tell, Disney makes more profit per guest* from hotel stays than theme park visits in Anaheim, due to their very high room prices and large share of APs visiting the parks. It follows that Disney is primarily interested in expanding its on-site hotel catalog. However, Disney knows new attractions are needed to keep guests coming. The Toy Story lot isn’t large enough for a third theme park when you consider backstage support, parking, etc. Therefore, new attractions are most likely to go west of the existing theme parks. Existing hotels west of the theme parks limit the size of attraction expansion, meaning a third theme park couldn’t fit there either. Disney can’t demolish these hotels because they are unwilling to lose the inventory, DVC contracts prevent it, and perhaps a potential issue with the land usage rights for the Pixar Pier Hotel. Therefore, new hotels must be built in the Toy Story lot… but these hotels will be the furthest away from the theme parks. Even if themed and priced as deluxe hotels, you are still going to have to take a bus to get to said theme parks. And while new attractions are sure to increase attendance, a third theme park would do a better job of increasing the length of stay for their on-site hotel guests (even if the hypothetical attraction count would be the same as DL & DCA expansions), because many guests have been conditioned to the “one day per theme park” model. That’s not to say the business plan is flawed; in fact, any expansion will surely increase attendance and revenue for the Walt Disney Company. But it’s not as easy as they’d like it to be. *edits for clarity in bold

SirwalterraleighJun 12, 2024

The “inference” was “we got more coming than just what our unpaid internet press agents talk about on forums all day rent free 😐…” But this is the standard schtick from the “era of under delivery”… Talk big, take forever, under produce

TP2000Jun 12, 2024

Did I miss something? Was it related to the Tiana's Bayou Adventure opening? Let me guess, he said something about something happening some day beyond Thunder Mountain? Again?

mickEbluJun 11, 2024

Yeah it does sound like a lot. I’ll probably just have to go in realizing I’m not going to do everything and just focus on hitting the Must Do’s. Doing EVERYTHING and not killing yourself probably can’t happen unless you go for like 2 weeks. Fitting in 1-2 days at Universal also probably means not hitting any WDW park more than once. Might need park hoppers for insurance. Anyway, didn’t mean to turn this into a trip planning thread. This is at least 21 months away.