Disney 10 Year Plan

[plutoboy]

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet or even posted but there was actually a really good article in the Orlando Sentinel (I know shocker) about Walt Disney World's 10 year plan.

The article mostly comments on information provided by Reedy Creek Development and what has been submitted by Disney Corporate. It ackowledges a 5th theme park as well as what is referred to as two more minor park (water parks or recreation of that sort). It also mentions that if the plans do come through that those projects will take up close to if not all the land that Disney currently has prepared for future development.

Not sure if I can post the link on here or not but if you go to the sentinel website they have a Disney News section.....it is listed under older posts.

Happy Turkey Day!!!

[DisneyFanaticDargon]

Interesting. I thought Iger made it clear that Disney was only focusing on international expansion for the foreseeable future.

I think the biggest barrier right now to Disney building a 5th gate is turnover, which I'm not sure has improved with the economy being the way it is. Grant it, it's been 11 years since DAK opened, but I'd be shocked if Disney announced a fifth gate instead of fixing what they have by improving DHS and DAK.

I'd agree they could use another water park. TL is 20 years old, BB is 13. They probably want to compete with Aquatica in ways that they cannot at the current water parks.

I'd also like to point out that Eisner came out with one of these ten-year plans in the 90s and many of the things listed never came to be.

[brownie]

Interesting. I thought Iger made it clear that Disney was only focusing on international expansion for the foreseeable future.

He did indeed say that. However, it would be unwise to not have plans in place such as this. If you have already done some of the preliminary work, you can get started all that much faster in the business environment changes.

[GrumpyFan]

Just so there's no confusion here, this is NOT DISNEY'S PLANS FOR WDW EXPANSION!!!
This is Reedy Creek's plans anticipated plans for the next 10 years. Reedy Creek is the government district that operates in and around Disney World. They have to submit plans to the state every so often on what they might be doing in the coming years. It's used by government officials in overall planning for infrastructure including highways, airports, electrical requirements, etc.

From the article:

On the other hand, Reedy Creek’s new maximums do allow for one major new theme park to be added during the following five years, through 2018. But Reedy Creek officials stress the projections are essentially long-term guess work and not based on Disney’s internal development plans. (It’s also worth noting that Reedy Creek’s previous 10-year forecast, submitted in 1998, also allowed for a fifth theme park to be built; obviously, none ever was.)

So, before anybody gets too excited, go read the full article. Also, keep in mind that over the next 5 years, the Disney company overall will be working on at least 3 major projects including DCA re-build, Fantasyland expansion, and the newly announced Shanghai Disneyland. These are all huge investments for the company, and a lot of things can happen in 5 to 10 years. Also, look back at the history of WDW and see how many projects that were previously announced, DIDN'T get built, or at the least , changed significantly before opening. One good example of recent is Animal Kingdom. Point being, take this with a big grain of salt, it doesn't mean anything until the project(s) are in soft opening. Another good example is the STILL UNFINISHED Pop Century Legendary Years buildings, UGH!

[Red Randal]

Yeah. This is only a plan that ALLOWS for them to build this stuff SHOULD THEY DECIDE TO.

Anything can happen in the next 10 years. This a contingency plan for a huge economic boost to the travel industry, Florida, the Disney company, and the world economy in general.

Basically all it means is Disney WON'T be building TWO parks in the next ten years.

One interesting thing I noticed is that the article seemed to, I think, really lowball the number of new restaurants. I don't remember the exact figures but with dining being about the only thing in extremely high demand it seems like the place they would be most likely to expand (as opposed to, say, more hotel rooms when they've got unfinished properties and the like.)

[mickclub1955]

I hate reading these things because they always say a lot without really saying anything.

[BMan62]

One interesting thing I noticed is that the article seemed to, I think, really lowball the number of new restaurants. I don't remember the exact figures but with dining being about the only thing in extremely high demand it seems like the place they would be most likely to expand (as opposed to, say, more hotel rooms when they've got unfinished properties and the like.)

Yeah, but if they are only going to put in more of the same 'homogenized menu' restaurants, they might as well not bother.

[lockedoutlogic]

Yeah, but if they are only going to put in more of the same 'homogenized menu' restaurants, they might as well not bother.

Amen, brother!!