Future WDW Additions/Expansion

[Mad Dog]

Like others have said, with the current week to week uncertainty around trade and tariffs, big companies like Disney can't plan ahead like they need to. Many of the decisions they need to make are long-term, but those things need be be either set into motion or changed now. Uncertainty is just as bad as bad trade news. Now Disney is stuck between a rock and a hard place. Maybe they've learned from pumping the brakes during covid, but we'll see later this year if attractions do close as expected or not.


I"m not sure. I'd argue that many of the places the GP gets their news from online IS from people in these hardcore fandom circles. Look how rapidly whatever influencers have been saying about Epic has been spreading online even outside to non-theme park circles. Piss of those people, and you impact all the people consuming content down the line from them.

Sure, it's gotten to the point that many people get their news via social media. But, my point is that most people don't pay close addition to any theme park news, regular or online, until the time they plan on vacationing. So, if they're not going to go to WDW for a few years, they pay little, or no, attention to announcements or what's happening or going to happen down the road. I would bet very few future, or even present, WDW tourists even know what D23 is or what was promised there.

 

[AustinT]

I would bet very few future, or even present, WDW tourists even know what D23 is or what was promised there.

We're saying different things. My point was that if the people who the GP get their theme park news from have a strongly negative view of the company, that'll be reflected in the way they cover Disney stuff and that same sentiment gets passed down to the GP. It's been happening in the movie space, and I don't see why it can't also happen in the theme park space.

 

[Mad Dog]

We're saying different things. My point was that if the people who the GP get their theme park news from have a strongly negative view of the company, that'll be reflected in the way they cover Disney stuff and that same sentiment gets passed down to the GP. It's been happening in the movie space, and I don't see why it can't also happen in the theme park space.

Movies would be looked at by the GP in situations that they are possibly interested in attending the particular movie in the present or near future. But the GP that aren't interested in that film, or have no current plans to attend, will probably not even notice reviews. But that's still the same as theme parks. Only the GP that's about to go on vacation is possibly, though probably not in most cases, going to notice any info about future expansions.....This future expansion talk is tailor made for us theme park 'ultra' fans, but gets lost in all the other more important daily news of life for the GP. Even casual theme park internet site followers may skim over that stuff too. Probably way too much emphasis is placed on who actually gives a s . . t about this info that we value so highly, and is so far away in the future. We're a very tiny minority......Just like the Epic news. The park has been bandied about on social media for years, lots of it prominent. But hardly anyone knew of the park until the past few weeks when the regular media, activated by a huge Universal marketing spend, and social media spurred on by free actual visits to the park, spread the word. That was a mass media event, much of it activated by Universal's media spend and Universal's free entrance to various media and social media drivers. Once this initial paid for thrust settles down in a few months, the coverage will lessen.