Category — t. Disney’s MyMagic+ Project and Expansion Plans

OPENING DATE SET FOR DISNEY WORLD’S FANTASYLAND EXPANSION

The Disney Parks Blog announced here that the Grand Opening of the next stage of New Fantasyland will be on Thursday December 6, 2012. (I’d thought it would open by 12/8–see this.)

Previews will begin on November 19.

The Grand Opening on December 6 will include Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid, Be Our Guest Restaurant, Enchanted Tales with Belle, Ariel’s Grotto, Gaston’s Tavern and Bonjour! Village Gifts.

During “previews” Under the Sea may not be operating all the time, and may start after the park opens or close suddenly.  But since it’s a dupe of a fairly simply ride system that’s been in operation for a while in California, previews should be pretty clean.

“…We’re certainly on the trajectory to get back to our…pre-downturn trajectory on pricing…As we open DCA…we’ve announced [strong] price increases there…I think you’ll see a similar thing in Florida as we open the new product.”

– Jay Rasulo, CFO, the Walt Disney Company, at the Nomura U.S. Media, Cable & Telecomm Summit, May 30 2012.

PRICES AND VALUE AT WALT DISNEY WORLD IN 2013

There’s been a lot of reaction, some of it sensible, to Disney World’s 2013 price increases, especially when coupled with the recent announcement that evening Extra Magic Hours would be cut back from 3 hours to 2 hours beginning in January 2013.

For first time visitors, these price increases don’t matter much. The high absolute cost of going to Disney World matters a lot to them; the fact that it is more expensive in 2013 than 2012 is interesting, but largely irrelevant.

But for returning visitors, price increases matter a lot, as they may affect willingness to buy some items—e.g. the Dining Plan—or force some of them to delay their next visit. [Read more →]

A CLUE ABOUT NEXTGEN INTERACTIVITY?

Disney NextGen project is reported to have a lot of parts to it, and most of the attention over the last year has been on the problem or opportunity of scheduling a new kind of FASTPASS months in advance.

But from the start of the rumors about this project, another part of NextGen has been expected to be “increased interactivity.” This has had a bunch of components, from stuff at Disney World recognizing you by name to more play opportunities in areas like waiting lines.

Last week’s announcement and demonstrations of Disney’s Touché technology may illuminate a little more how the interactivity may work.

The technology, developed by Disney Research, Pittsburgh and Carnegie Mellon, according to Carnegie Mellon’s website

“makes it possible to not only detect a “touch event,” but to recognize complex configurations of the hand or body that is doing the touching. An object thus could sense how it is being touched, or might sense the body configuration of the person doing the touching.”

In other words, the parks may know not only who you are but what you are doing–and can then respond to your touch and even your gestures…

This is much more interesting than only knowing who you are, and creates lots of opportunities for making the parks more fun–making an entire park an interactive playground.

The full possibilities of the idea–understanding your gestures–require two non-invasive sensors on a body–e.g. two wristbands–although some simpler approaches, such as understanding your touch, don’t require any sensors on the body of the guest at all.

APPLE AND DISNEY, TOGETHER AT LAST?

Greg Sawchyn has an interesting speculative article today on Seeking Alpha, grounded in how Apple might spend its $100 billion pile of cash.

Where is Apple’s “headline grabbing growth going to come from in the future?,” he asks…and continues “[p]ure speculation of course, but the answer is Disney.”

An interesting thought…one with many things going for it…but I doubt it. [Read more →]

NEW FANTASYLAND OPENING DATE SORT OF ANNOUNCED

The Disney Parks Blog announced Friday that the “openings of Under the Sea ~ Journey of The Little Mermaid, Enchanted Tales with Belle, Be Our Guest Restaurant, Gaston’s Tavern, and Ariel’s Grotto” would be celebrated “this holiday season.”

(The same post noted that the next phase of Storybook Circus will open in July, and, as previously hinted, that the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train will open in 2014.)

Now, “celebrated during the holiday season” is pretty imprecise…since not only is the “holiday season” a vague term, but also something can be celebrated well after it is opened…

But based on this language, which replaces the old language of “late fall,” I have some confidence that, barring major problems, New Fantasyland will open in either early November or after Thanksgiving week, and that the latest likely opening date is December 8.

WHY THEN? [Read more →]

STARTING TO PLAN 2014 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

The first step in thinking about 2014 at Walt Disney World is the calendar.

Early and later dates for key holidays that move make a difference, and the days of the week that stable-dated holidays like Christmas and New Years fall on matter too.

EARLY 2014 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

A few key calendar points:

• New Years Day 2014 is midweek (Wednesday), and Presidents Day is on the earlier side (2/17/2014—the earliest possible day is 2/15)
• Easter 2014 is April 20, almost as late as it can be (4/25 is the latest possible Easter)

As a result, there won’t be as many low-crowd January and early February weeks as usual, but like 2011 with its late Easter, there should be not only good late February and early March weeks, but also good early April weeks.

The week before Easter 2014 will be mobbed as usual, but the week after Easter will be a little better—especially late week—than in 2012 and 2013, as many school districts that usually take the week after Easter off shift to the week before to avoid such a late spring break.

LATE 2014 AT WALT DISNEY WORLD

The key calendar points:

• Thanksgiving 2014, on November 27th, is almost as late as it can be
• Christmas and New Years Days are Thursdays in 2014

The result will be one more good November week at Disney World in 2014 than in some years, but only three good post-Thanksgiving weeks.

Christmas/New Years crowds will be split over two full weeks extending from December 20 2014 to January 4, 2015. Disney World will be horribly crowded both weeks, and the weekend of the 27th and 28th will be remarkable.

OTHER THOUGHTS ABOUT 2014 AT DISNEY WORLD

The Fantasyland Expansion will be complete in 2014, and there’s a good chance that NextGen will be fully in place as well. Avatar-land won’t.

MORE ON WHEN TO GO TO WALT DISNEY WORLD

• For when to go to Walt Disney World, see this
• For the next best dates, see this
• For the best and worst times to visit, see this
  • For 2012 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this
  • For the 2012 Week Picker, see this
  • For 2013 weeks to visit, ranked in order, see this
  • For early thoughts on 2014, see this
• For forecasting crowds at Walt Disney World, see this
  • For the 2012 Crowd Calendar, click here
  • For the 2013 Crowd Calendar, click here
• For seasonal pricing at Walt Disney World, see this
  • For 2012 price seasons, see this
  • For 2013 price seasons, click here
• For weather at Walt Disney World, see this