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Disclaimer - Disney annual passholder here. In terms of where to locate the park, Disney was a big early believer in a analytical approach. They hired SRI to d

Disclaimer - Disney annual passholder here. In terms of where to locate the park, Disney was a big early believer in a analytical approach. They hired SRI to determine the best location for Disneyland back in the 1950s. They came up with a amazing amount of operational and systems research that we use now. The big factors where climate, access to a huge population base, and multiple access to freeways. When it came to Disney World, the factor where those, plus the ability to buy large amount of land before anyone was aware of it, and could drive up prices with speculation. Disney has tried a number of different strategies in the past to make parks more accessible - including the idea of building a Disneyland on a boat, that would travel the world, and stop in various ports for months, before packing up and sailing to the next trip. Most of the demand for Disney growth wise is international, with Brazil probably next to get a park. In terms of line waits, there are two things at play - one Disney has realized that they have been leaving money at the table. Contrary to this article, the vast majortity of the excess demand is not single day visitors at Disneyland, but rather season pass holders in California. This is why they have jacked up the cost for annual passes a ton. I was listening to a podcast recently that postulated that as much as 45% of the daily visitors to Disneyland might be annual pass holders. Expect the cost to go way up - it’s getting close to double the cost of a Disneyland pass compared to a Disney World pass. The other thing is that Disney is putting massive capital into the parks, to grow them. They just opened Avatar land in Animal kingdom, but the most exciting are the new STar Wars Land, Toy Story Land, Epcot overhaul, and marvel land in California. Disney will be adding a ton of capacity, but they are trying to raise ticket prices to offset.

pfranz 9y ago
I believe the reason is because they started doing payment plans for annual passes so sales shot up. I'm sure the capital costs are crazy for building a new park, but with all the demand I'm still a bit surprised there's no talk of building a Disney park in the middle of the U.S. They appear to operate very independently (the fact WDW has had fastpass+ and magic bands for years and DL is just now announcing a completely different system, Maxpass). You mentioned demand internationally. Disneyland Paris is the only park outside of the U.S. wholly owned by Disney. Not sure if it was a concession (I could see that for China) or as a risk-sharing thing. I would imagine Disney would want to own 100% of any new park if possible.
rdslw 9y ago
Can you explain reason behind annual pass? I've seen it once. Enough for 10yrs, maybe a lifetime. P.S. I do understand hobbies ;)
- wccrawford 9y ago
  My wife and I, and her family, have been Walt Disney World (Florida) passholders for years. My dad was a passholder for years until he moved another 45 minutes away from Disney. It's a little expensive, but there's always something fun to do. Most of us go to re-ride some of our favorite rides. My dad went to just walk around and get exercise and look at things. Epcot center also has a ton of live entertainment including live bands and performers. They also have events with foods from around the world, flower or butterfly festivals, and more. For what it's worth, my impression of Disneyland (California and Tokyo) wasn't nearly as good. They were fun, but they didn't have enough stuff to keep me coming back. But then, I don't live there, so maybe there's more to it. Those parks did have one thing that I wish Florida had: They change some of the rides once in a while to match another theme, such as Nightmare Before Christmas on the Haunted Mansion or "Hyperspace Mountain" (Star Wars) on Space Mountain. I have to say... You're the only person I've ever heard say they went to Disney once and have no interest in going back.
  - jshelly 9y ago
    You can add me to the list of people never wanting to go back. I was fairly excited to take my kids to Disney as I had never been there myself as a kid for unknown reasons. And while I had good time, once is certainly enough. I'd rather travel and see different places as opposed to going the same place year after year.
    - dagw 9y ago
      I guess it depends where you live and how far you have to travel. I live quite close to a major theme park (that many people travel a significant distance to visit) and for me it's a great place to kill a few hours on a lazy afternoon with my daughter when we have nothing better to do. Sometimes they have fun shows in the evening we'll drop by and watch. If nothing else it's a nice place for a weekend walk.
dkonofalski 9y ago
My biggest disappointment with Disney right now is that the parks no longer feel like places to escape for me. We mainly go to take the kids and, while they have a wonderful time, I used to actually enjoy going there to have fun. Now, every single bit of the parks and the surrounding areas have been engineered (perfectly, I might add) to make the most money for Disney even at the expense of being enjoyable. It used to be that I would gladly fork over a few dollars for a Mickey water-bottle fan because the rest of the park was so enjoyable but now it just feels like they care more about the money than they do about making it an awesome, "magical" place.

pfranz 9y ago

I believe the reason is because they started doing payment plans for annual passes so sales shot up. I'm sure the capital costs are crazy for building a new park, but with all the demand I'm still a bit surprised there's no talk of building a Disney park in the middle of the U.S. They appear to operate very independently (the fact WDW has had fastpass+ and magic bands for years and DL is just now announcing a completely different system, Maxpass). You mentioned demand internationally. Disneyland Paris is the only park outside of the U.S. wholly owned by Disney. Not sure if it was a concession (I could see that for China) or as a risk-sharing thing. I would imagine Disney would want to own 100% of any new park if possible.

rdslw 9y ago

Can you explain reason behind annual pass? I've seen it once. Enough for 10yrs, maybe a lifetime. P.S. I do understand hobbies ;)

wccrawford 9y ago
My wife and I, and her family, have been Walt Disney World (Florida) passholders for years. My dad was a passholder for years until he moved another 45 minutes away from Disney. It's a little expensive, but there's always something fun to do. Most of us go to re-ride some of our favorite rides. My dad went to just walk around and get exercise and look at things. Epcot center also has a ton of live entertainment including live bands and performers. They also have events with foods from around the world, flower or butterfly festivals, and more. For what it's worth, my impression of Disneyland (California and Tokyo) wasn't nearly as good. They were fun, but they didn't have enough stuff to keep me coming back. But then, I don't live there, so maybe there's more to it. Those parks did have one thing that I wish Florida had: They change some of the rides once in a while to match another theme, such as Nightmare Before Christmas on the Haunted Mansion or "Hyperspace Mountain" (Star Wars) on Space Mountain. I have to say... You're the only person I've ever heard say they went to Disney once and have no interest in going back.
- jshelly 9y ago
  You can add me to the list of people never wanting to go back. I was fairly excited to take my kids to Disney as I had never been there myself as a kid for unknown reasons. And while I had good time, once is certainly enough. I'd rather travel and see different places as opposed to going the same place year after year.
  - dagw 9y ago
    I guess it depends where you live and how far you have to travel. I live quite close to a major theme park (that many people travel a significant distance to visit) and for me it's a great place to kill a few hours on a lazy afternoon with my daughter when we have nothing better to do. Sometimes they have fun shows in the evening we'll drop by and watch. If nothing else it's a nice place for a weekend walk.

dkonofalski 9y ago

My biggest disappointment with Disney right now is that the parks no longer feel like places to escape for me. We mainly go to take the kids and, while they have a wonderful time, I used to actually enjoy going there to have fun. Now, every single bit of the parks and the surrounding areas have been engineered (perfectly, I might add) to make the most money for Disney even at the expense of being enjoyable. It used to be that I would gladly fork over a few dollars for a Mickey water-bottle fan because the rest of the park was so enjoyable but now it just feels like they care more about the money than they do about making it an awesome, "magical" place.