andyman8
DIS Veteran and WDW Passholder
- Joined
- Mar 17, 2011
I know there's been quite a few "just back" threads lately, but I just returned from a wonderful 9-day stay at AKL and chatted with a number of friends and folks very familiar with the happenings at WDW who shared a few bits of interesting information and updates, so I thought I'd share what I learned, but be warned, this post may be nearly as long as the hike to my room at AKL. I've also included some touring strategy as well. If you don't have the time, I'll bold the important info.
First off, as someone who has visited during many summers past, I can personally attest to the drop in crowds this summer. To be clear, I am in no way saying it's not crowded but rather just less crowded than in past summers. MK didn't even close to capacity on the Fourth interestingly enough. Last Thursday, I was actually able to get a prime spot on Main Street for the FoF parade just 15 mins prior to showtime. While tempting to attribute this slower summer to the tragic events in Pulse and the GF, it seems to be more because of the South American economic downturn and Brexit lately. Though still there, the South American tour groups are fewer and further between than in the past. That said, the gator attack has had an effect on the GF, which has apparently seen bookings drop drastically and cancellations rise steadily. My understanding is that this dip in crowds means that the Spring budget cuts (i.e. shorter hours, CM scheduling cuts, fewer entertainment, etc...) won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Oddly enough, Disney saw this coming (though not quite as bad as it panned out to be), which was part of the reasons these cuts came about, but they chose to "blame Shanghai" in an effort not to set about long-term worries in shareholders. The good news is the new castle stage show (Mickey's Royal Friendship Faire) is fantastic!
Crowds have been especially light at DHS too though. At some point in the early evening on Wednesday, no ride at DHS had above a 30 minute wait. These cuts seem to also mean a slower buildout for SWL and TSL. Despite to SoA closing in April, only the LMA site and Catastrophe Canyon have apparently been demoed. A friend of my in the know with the DHS redevelopment project also mentioned that the other unannounced additions to DHS (i.e. phase 2, which supposedly would include Cars Land) may be off the table for the time being as well. Managers at DHS seem to really be pushing for more entertainment for that park, and while their latest project (Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular) is wonderful, there are some issues. Pushback from DAK is why this show involved fewer fireworks and more projections, but though it is impressive, many of the effects will be missed if not standing at the very front.
The other new nighttime show at WDW, Jungle Book: Alive with Magic, wasn't as wonderful. Please, do not pay for the dining package for this show; it's not worth it! RoL remains delayed indefinitely, and while they were hoping for a September debut, even November now seems ambitious to some on the project. I won't get into the various issues with the show, but I'll say that DAK at night is still worth a visit, even if just for the Tree of Life Awakenings and the Sunset Safari. Beyond that, I got to try Tiffins for the first time as well. It's an absolutely beautiful space but certainly a pricey one as well. My understanding is that they're doing alright business at dinner (dining room was only about half full the day before Fourth of July) but lunch is struggling, which is why they've rolled out this more affordable special for lunchtime meals there. Disney expects this restaurant to perform much better once Pandora (which is making really solid progress actually) opens. They're hoping to have Pandora up before the Fourth next year.
Epcot is actually poised for some expansion as well. Soarin' Around the World is a great update, and they've successfully reduced the wait time to a more manageable amount throughout the day. On the other hand, Frozen Ever After remains a mess. Don't get me wrong it's an absolutely awesome ride (that Olaf AA is UNBELIEVABLE!), but it just opened well before it should have. Despite a glimmer of hope last week (as downtime was minimal), it seems it's still struggling, as they shut it down when more than half of the AAs are down. I was able to get on with about a half-an-hour wait after I finished an 8:20am Akershus breakfast (fantastic by the way). I know there's talk of an EMM event with access to both FEA and the Gran Fiesta Tour in addition to meeting Anna & Elsa at the RS and a breakfast at La Cantina, but that can only happen once they feel comfortable with FEA's reliability. I know at one point there was talk of bringing it down for refurb later this year, but it seems they've decided against it for the time being. Regardless, the big news at Epcot comes from Future World where there may actually be truth to to those GotG rumors about UoE. It seems that the project is moving full steam ahead with the only complication coming from Legal, which is still trying to actually figure out if they can actually use the GotG IP in Florida. Of course, GotG is not the only IP that may be headed to Epcot. There are still significant rumblings about an Inside Out redo for at least part of the Imagination pavilion and the Ratatouille ride from DLP for the France pavilion both coming online ahead of WDW's 50th anniversary. Whether these pan out or not, I definitely get the sense WDI is changing the direction of Epcot from edutainment to purely IP-based entertainment.
A few little odds and ends as well. Was at UOR yesterday and got a chance to get on Kong. I thought it was good, but it appeared like some of the effects weren't working. Keep in mind, I waited about 90 minutes when the wait was posted as 45, so there were clearly some issues. The theming is incredible, especially in the queue, and it seems like this is just the beginning for UOR with Volcano Bay looking to be completed by next June and their new hotel opening next week. That's just the beginning with a new value resort and much, much more (think about all the land they just purchased) on the way. Big announcements are coming soon. Oh and back at WDW, Disney Springs looks great. Just keep in mind that the walkway in between the Marketplace and Landing (in front of T-REX) for the most part is now closed, so you have to go back through Town Center, so that takes a bit more time, but overall, it was pretty crowded both times I went.
Thoughts? While most of this comes from reliable sources, I will say that all of these tidbits should be treated as rumors until confirmed.
ETA: I understand some of the acronyms may be a bit tough, so here are a few of the translations:
GotG - Guardians of the Galaxy - A popular 2013 Marvel movie
SWL - Star Wars Land - new expansion at DHS
TSL - Toy Story Land - new expansion at DHS
SoA - Streets of America - themed area of DHS that closed earlier this year for Star Wars Land
UoE - Universe of Energy - Pavillon at Epcot that houses Ellen's Energy Adventure
DLP - Disneyland Paris - theme park resort in Paris
EMM - Early Morning Magic - separately ticketed early entry event, originally rolled out for Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom
FEA - Frozen Ever After - new ride based on Frozen in Norway at Epcot
First off, as someone who has visited during many summers past, I can personally attest to the drop in crowds this summer. To be clear, I am in no way saying it's not crowded but rather just less crowded than in past summers. MK didn't even close to capacity on the Fourth interestingly enough. Last Thursday, I was actually able to get a prime spot on Main Street for the FoF parade just 15 mins prior to showtime. While tempting to attribute this slower summer to the tragic events in Pulse and the GF, it seems to be more because of the South American economic downturn and Brexit lately. Though still there, the South American tour groups are fewer and further between than in the past. That said, the gator attack has had an effect on the GF, which has apparently seen bookings drop drastically and cancellations rise steadily. My understanding is that this dip in crowds means that the Spring budget cuts (i.e. shorter hours, CM scheduling cuts, fewer entertainment, etc...) won't be going anywhere anytime soon. Oddly enough, Disney saw this coming (though not quite as bad as it panned out to be), which was part of the reasons these cuts came about, but they chose to "blame Shanghai" in an effort not to set about long-term worries in shareholders. The good news is the new castle stage show (Mickey's Royal Friendship Faire) is fantastic!
Crowds have been especially light at DHS too though. At some point in the early evening on Wednesday, no ride at DHS had above a 30 minute wait. These cuts seem to also mean a slower buildout for SWL and TSL. Despite to SoA closing in April, only the LMA site and Catastrophe Canyon have apparently been demoed. A friend of my in the know with the DHS redevelopment project also mentioned that the other unannounced additions to DHS (i.e. phase 2, which supposedly would include Cars Land) may be off the table for the time being as well. Managers at DHS seem to really be pushing for more entertainment for that park, and while their latest project (Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular) is wonderful, there are some issues. Pushback from DAK is why this show involved fewer fireworks and more projections, but though it is impressive, many of the effects will be missed if not standing at the very front.
The other new nighttime show at WDW, Jungle Book: Alive with Magic, wasn't as wonderful. Please, do not pay for the dining package for this show; it's not worth it! RoL remains delayed indefinitely, and while they were hoping for a September debut, even November now seems ambitious to some on the project. I won't get into the various issues with the show, but I'll say that DAK at night is still worth a visit, even if just for the Tree of Life Awakenings and the Sunset Safari. Beyond that, I got to try Tiffins for the first time as well. It's an absolutely beautiful space but certainly a pricey one as well. My understanding is that they're doing alright business at dinner (dining room was only about half full the day before Fourth of July) but lunch is struggling, which is why they've rolled out this more affordable special for lunchtime meals there. Disney expects this restaurant to perform much better once Pandora (which is making really solid progress actually) opens. They're hoping to have Pandora up before the Fourth next year.
Epcot is actually poised for some expansion as well. Soarin' Around the World is a great update, and they've successfully reduced the wait time to a more manageable amount throughout the day. On the other hand, Frozen Ever After remains a mess. Don't get me wrong it's an absolutely awesome ride (that Olaf AA is UNBELIEVABLE!), but it just opened well before it should have. Despite a glimmer of hope last week (as downtime was minimal), it seems it's still struggling, as they shut it down when more than half of the AAs are down. I was able to get on with about a half-an-hour wait after I finished an 8:20am Akershus breakfast (fantastic by the way). I know there's talk of an EMM event with access to both FEA and the Gran Fiesta Tour in addition to meeting Anna & Elsa at the RS and a breakfast at La Cantina, but that can only happen once they feel comfortable with FEA's reliability. I know at one point there was talk of bringing it down for refurb later this year, but it seems they've decided against it for the time being. Regardless, the big news at Epcot comes from Future World where there may actually be truth to to those GotG rumors about UoE. It seems that the project is moving full steam ahead with the only complication coming from Legal, which is still trying to actually figure out if they can actually use the GotG IP in Florida. Of course, GotG is not the only IP that may be headed to Epcot. There are still significant rumblings about an Inside Out redo for at least part of the Imagination pavilion and the Ratatouille ride from DLP for the France pavilion both coming online ahead of WDW's 50th anniversary. Whether these pan out or not, I definitely get the sense WDI is changing the direction of Epcot from edutainment to purely IP-based entertainment.
A few little odds and ends as well. Was at UOR yesterday and got a chance to get on Kong. I thought it was good, but it appeared like some of the effects weren't working. Keep in mind, I waited about 90 minutes when the wait was posted as 45, so there were clearly some issues. The theming is incredible, especially in the queue, and it seems like this is just the beginning for UOR with Volcano Bay looking to be completed by next June and their new hotel opening next week. That's just the beginning with a new value resort and much, much more (think about all the land they just purchased) on the way. Big announcements are coming soon. Oh and back at WDW, Disney Springs looks great. Just keep in mind that the walkway in between the Marketplace and Landing (in front of T-REX) for the most part is now closed, so you have to go back through Town Center, so that takes a bit more time, but overall, it was pretty crowded both times I went.
Thoughts? While most of this comes from reliable sources, I will say that all of these tidbits should be treated as rumors until confirmed.
ETA: I understand some of the acronyms may be a bit tough, so here are a few of the translations:
GotG - Guardians of the Galaxy - A popular 2013 Marvel movie
SWL - Star Wars Land - new expansion at DHS
TSL - Toy Story Land - new expansion at DHS
SoA - Streets of America - themed area of DHS that closed earlier this year for Star Wars Land
UoE - Universe of Energy - Pavillon at Epcot that houses Ellen's Energy Adventure
DLP - Disneyland Paris - theme park resort in Paris
EMM - Early Morning Magic - separately ticketed early entry event, originally rolled out for Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom
FEA - Frozen Ever After - new ride based on Frozen in Norway at Epcot
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