The Boldest Way to Correct the Planning Problems at Walt Disney World

[Mike_M]

In my opinion, a better idea would be to COMBINE the two parks at Disneyland Paris into one. The studios park at the Disneyland Paris resort is BY FAR the worst Disney park on Earth, but if it were a land, and if this land were beautified with more plants, fountains, etc., then it'd be a fine land instead of a crappy theme park unworthy of the Disney (or Universal, Cedar Fair, Busch Gardens, or Leggoland) name.

I know we are mainly talking about WDW in here, but this grabbed my eye.

I can understand this to a degree, but, one thing about DL Paris that I noticed was that although the park felt close to the size of DL, there was (at least in my opinion) a lot of empty space in between rides (especially in Adventureland. Indiana Jones is way off the beaten path it seemed) that I think would be better with more attractions. Combining the two parks would only make that space more apparent to me I think. It’s probably because I’m used to DL and how intimate (some might say compressed) it is.

COVID may screw this up, but the proposed redesign of the DHS backlot in Paris looked promising as a way to make it a better park and more deserving of the Disney name.

[jcruise86]

. . . With an EPCoT divided into two parks and with the associated expansion, Walt Disney World would, almost overnight, be able to increase room occupancy and dissuade Comcast from further siphoning guests to Universal Orlando.

The smart move, from Disney's point of view, would be to beat Universal to market by offering another theme park in the area that would make Epic Universe infeasible.

You're focusing on money as the end goal, but Walt Disney & Steve Jobs focused on making the coolest creations, confident that the profits would then follow. If Epic Universe is as innovative & amazing as The Wizarding WorldS (plural) have been, people like me will go there. The last time we were in Florida we spent two nights at Universal Orlando and were all blown away, so next trip we'll make it three nights. Also, I felt more relaxed at Universal after all the planning & regimented schedule-following that Disney World involved.

[PragmaticIdealist]

Please don't take this personally--Blue Sky proposals can be mercilessly gonged--but this is the second worst idea I've ever encountered on Micechat. Let's give guests two inferior parks out of one. I know you stated that the parks would then be expanded, but I don't trust Disney today to do this well or quickly.

They should keep it one park and add three best-ever new countries to World Showcase.
Options: maybe Russia, Korea, Brazil, India, Spain, Argentina, Australia, South Africa, or--just to piss off China--Taiwan.
[/I]"

The Walt Disney Company has a standard of allowing guests to experience ten to eleven attractions per day. Operating hours and the day-to-day variations in capacity are based on that number.

While EPCoT could, conceivably, expand without dividing into two parks, that outcome is unlikely, partly because of this standard. Moreover, Disney is focused mainly on lengthening resort stays by increasing the number of gates; Disney, importantly, enjoys its highest profit margins at the hotels. With an EPCoT divided into two parks and with the associated expansion, Walt Disney World would, almost overnight, be able to increase room occupancy and dissuade Comcast from further siphoning guests to Universal Orlando.

The smart move, from Disney's point of view, would be to beat Universal to market by offering another theme park in the area that would make Epic Universe infeasible.

[jcruise86]

...I would divide EPCoT into two theme parks. . .

Please don't take this personally--Blue Sky proposals can be mercilessly gonged--but this is the second worst idea I've ever encountered on Micechat. Let's give guests two inferior parks out of one. I know you stated that the parks would then be expanded, but I don't trust Disney today to do this well or quickly.

They should keep it one park and add three best-ever new countries to World Showcase.
Options: maybe Russia, Korea, Brazil, India, Spain, Argentina, Australia, South Africa, or--just to piss off China--Taiwan.

In my opinion, a better idea would be to COMBINE the two parks at Disneyland Paris into one. The studios park at the Disneyland Paris resort is BY FAR the worst Disney park on Earth, but if it were a land, and if this land were beautified with more plants, fountains, etc., then it'd be a fine land instead of a crappy theme park unworthy of the Disney (or Universal, Cedar Fair, Busch Gardens, or Leggoland) name.

OK, PragmaticIdealistic, now I feel a tiny bit guilty about having called your idea "the second worst," so just to put yours in third place,
here's an even worse idea:
Have the Republic of Kazakhstan be a World Showcase pavilion, but let Sasha Baron Cohen & Banksy create it,
and make it a parody of the other World Showcase pavilions.
Grand opening would be on April 1, and it would close a year and a day later on April 2. On the one year anniversary (the last day it's open), announce that because of Kazakhastan's failure to pay its bills, it will close tomorrow and will soon be replaced by a North Korea paviion.

Of course, never create a North Korean pavilion, unless it's a brilliant argument against totalitarian regimes with exhibits on the importance of a free press, independent judiciary, term limits, transparency in government, fair elections and the accurate perception of fair elections.
A thrill ride could be, "Escape from North Korea!"

[PragmaticIdealist]

EPCoT aligns nicely with S.R. 417.

However, if a mixed-use metropolis were to be built just north of EPCoT, the Virgin Trains station could be placed in an equivalent of the Transportation Lobby from Walt Disney's conception. That configuration would involve a slight northward detour for the trains.

[danlb_2000]

Lastly, I would add at least one new hotel at the existing entrance of EPCoT, as well as other new development clustered around the monorail line between EPCoT and the complex that is currently referred to as the Ticket and Transportation Center.
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This was actually going to happen, and they did infrastructure work prepare for it, but my understanding is that the project has been canceled.

[Mike_M]

Especially since the monorail was a key design element in the original EPCOT city design, I think it’s a missed opportunity on Disney’s part that the Monorail doesn’t connect everything. Every park should have a Monorail stop and every hotel should be close to a station as well.

That would have been something.

[PragmaticIdealist]

When EPCoT Center was conceived and built in 1982, the creators may have intended for the place to serve as an interpretive center for the city of EPCoT, which did not yet and does not currently exist.

In fact, the gated attraction did not and does not necessarily preclude the construction of a walkable, compact, socioeconomically-integrated, and transit-rich city that mainly features upper-story residential, office, laboratory, and studio space over ground-floor retail.

EPCoT Center's Future World, itself, seems closest in spirit to the industrial area of Walt Disney's conception. Modular research-and-development laboratories, design studios, and clean factories that use iterative manufacturing processes could become attractions in themselves.

Disney's consumer-products operation, itself, could do more to further the Utopian idealism EPCoT embodies. EPCoT represents, potentially, the application of the imagination and creativity for which The Walt Disney Company was once known to solving humanity's problems and to resolving the world's conflicts.

[Darth Scottie]

It will be very interesting to see how transportation is handled with social distancing. The capacity of bus, boats and monorail will be cut in half.

[PragmaticIdealist]

The southernmost part of Walt Disney World's monorail system is the most strategically-important part of the property.

I would divide EPCoT into two theme parks and expand both. I would allow guests with Park Hopper privileges to be able to easily walk between both parks. I would relocate the "it's a small world" attraction to the World Showcase side, and I would place a new resort hotel between the two parks.

I would add a new monorail station to the southernmost part of the monorail guideway, and I would configure the network of water transportation so that guests would be able to transfer between the monorail trains and the water launches without having to enter either park.

Additionally, I would design the new resort hotel so that it could be accessed without having to enter either park. Then, I would relocate the employee parking lot and change the existing one into something serving guests, particularly those of the hotel.

I would make this new transfer point between the monorail network and the waterway network the site of the proposed Virgin Trains station between Orlando International Airport and Tampa. I would connect the Riviera Resort, Caribbean Beach Resort, Typhoon Lagoon, Disney Springs, and the like via an extension of the waterways by the Germany pavilion. And, I would reconfigure access to the Soarin' attraction from the World Showcase side, instead of The Land pavilion.

Lastly, I would add at least one new hotel at the existing entrance of EPCoT, as well as other new development clustered around the monorail line between EPCoT and the complex that is currently referred to as the Ticket and Transportation Center.

Walt Disney World is much too automobile-oriented at the moment, so making the intra-resort transportation network more useful and making the entire place more pedestrian- and bicyclist-friendly is necessary, partly to help keep guests on property and to encourage them to forego renting cars. Walt Disney World should also be considering ways to incorporate mixed-use development that can help minimize the need for employee parking lots. Obviously, Walt Disney recognized this need when he originally conceived EPCoT in the first place, so the new train station may finally help provide the impetus for The Walt Disney Company to pursue the idea in a smart way that makes sense and that fulfills the lofty ambitions of Disney, himself.