Originally Posted By PeterPan1313 Here's the latest rumors I've been hearing regarding the godzilla-sized StarWarsLand project that WDI is working on, a project that the company's brass is increasingly viewing as the Disney's answer to Harry Potter, as well as a sure-fire bet to lure young boys to the increasingly princess centric parks. Recently, Bob Iger hinted at accelerated plans to build SWLand in multiple theme parks. The first SWLand will go into the Simba Parking Lot, as previously reported by yours truly, and will be Disney's answer to Potterland/Springfield over at Uni Hollywood. Plans have been pretty much finalized, but the company is still working on some of the final aesthetic design details for the land. The second SWLand project, which will be constructed more or less contemporaneously with the one in Anaheim (but which may take slightly longer to open due to it being around 15% bigger), will begin this summer with the demoltion of the Richard Petty Driving experience in WDW and the expansion of the TTC's parking lot. For years Disney execs have mulled over the construction of another hotel, and even yet another water park in the MK-sized space to the esat of the TTC, but the economics didn't justify it just yet, though a boy named Harry has changed how the company views guests expectations. Currently, the brass plans on building SWLand to the east/southeast of the TTC as a semi-fifth gate for WDW, the admission to which will be included with admission to the MK. Guests will buy a ticket to the MK (or a park hopper) and gain access to SWLand via the monorail, boats, or a large fleet of trams which will shuttle guests directly to and from SWLand via a special turn-around from the MK for the years after this experience opens. The real benefit of building SWLand in this location is the room available for a Star Wars themed hotel close to the monorail line, and with plenty of available parking. Should SWLand hit capacity (a real possibility), this will be immediately communicated to the tram pick-up at the MK and guests will be notified, and tram service will be halted, (guests who have family members inside of SWLand will be directed to use the monorail/boats to travel to the TTC and talk to CMs at the SWland entrance.) It is expected that eventually, this SWLand/mini-park will be expanded with other franchises over the coming years, though it is expected to be immensely popular and profitable in the first years.
Originally Posted By trekkeruss The WDW rumor is ridiculous. Why would the company build a "land" in a parking lot, when they could revitalize Hollywood Studios?
Originally Posted By PeterPan1313 >>>The WDW rumor is ridiculous. Why would the company build a "land" in a parking lot, when they could revitalize Hollywood Studios?<<< No, they're not building SWLand *in* parking lot, they're expanding the TTC parking lot by demolishing the racetrack and they're building SWLand in basically an empty lot to the Southeast of the TTC. They'll need more parking for SWLand, which the biggest hurdles are by far logistics.
Originally Posted By PeterPan1313 >>> when they could revitalize Hollywood Studios?<<< Uh, aren't they already doing that with expanding Toy Story Mania? Regardless, ain't enough space in DHS for a Star Wars land, in the end, it came down to logistics and TTC already has a parking lot, which it has already been annouced will be greatly expanded. . . plus they want room for a SW Hotel.
Originally Posted By ExpDave I agree that it sounds absurd to build a whole new ticket at WDW especially when they need to revitalize the studios park and there is already a strong Star Wars presence there. I don't think the studios park has ever performed to expectations and Star Wars there could change that.
Originally Posted By phruby So now we have a disconnected MK land. It keeps the Disney fans happy because technically there is no Star Wars presence in the MK at the same makes Star Wars fans happy having their own park.
Originally Posted By Dabob2 Yet another ridiculous, nonsensical "rumor" that exactly one person on the planet has "been hearing." What's the message board equivalent for putting one's foot further and further into one's mouth?
Originally Posted By trekkeruss "No, they're not building SWLand *in* parking lot, they're expanding the TTC parking lot by demolishing the racetrack and they're building SWLand in basically an empty lot to the Southeast of the TTC." Semantics. It still wouldn't be within one of the existing parks. "They'll need more parking for SWLand, which the biggest hurdles are by far logistics." People would park at the TTC, schlep over to the MK, hop on a tram/monorail/boat to get to this new 'land?!" Why not just put a ticket gate at the entrance to the "land," instead of wasting money on transporting guests to the "semi-fifth gate?"
Originally Posted By PeterPan1313 >>>Semantics. It still wouldn't be within one of the existing parks.<<< Uh, no. But it would be closely linked to the MK through the admission ticket and transportation, at least for the begining. >>>People would park at the TTC, schlep over to the MK, hop on a tram/monorail/boat to get to this new 'land?!" Why not just put a ticket gate at the entrance to the "land," instead of wasting money on transporting guests to the "semi-fifth gate?"<<< There will be an entrance adjacet to the TTC, of course. As I said in my post, guests could take either trams, monorails, or boats from MK to SWLand, of course it would have a gate at the TTC that's the whole point of having it there, i.e. parking lot, ticket sales and monorail access.
Originally Posted By PeterPan1313 >>>So now we have a disconnected MK land. It keeps the Disney fans happy because technically there is no Star Wars presence in the MK at the same makes Star Wars fans happy having their own park.<<< Well, it will be sort of a 1/4 day experience, when you'r done you hop on a quick tram ride to MK (or take the monorail to MK or another destination, or the boat to MK, or a bus). Eventually, they'll expand with new lands/rides.
Originally Posted By PeterPan1313 The racetrack will be demolished this summer and construction will begin on the massive parking lot expansion, I think around August . . .
Originally Posted By FerretAfros >>Uh, aren't they already doing that with expanding Toy Story Mania?<< Right, because all that failing park needs is a carbon copy of a ride they already have. That will certainly make it a full day experience!
Originally Posted By berol That doesn't help make sense of your "rumors" at all. I could go into why, but it'd just lead to more of the same. Plus, you posted this in the wrong section *again*.
Originally Posted By PeterPan1313 >>>Right, because all that failing park needs is a carbon copy of a ride they already have. That will certainly make it a full day experience!<<< I didn't know that DHS was "failing", WDW overall has record attendance, and DHS definitely gets traffic. True, it could use another ride, or two, but SWLand is a whole other beast than adding a ride.
Originally Posted By FerretAfros Last year's Frozen Summer event was literally thrown together in 10 days because of how desperate they were to get bodies through the turnstiles. Even before they closed the tram tour, the park was struggling to keep people all day, but that was the real nail in the coffin The park only has 5 rides. There are a handful of shows, the newest of which is a decade old this year (or 13 years old, since it's a copy from Paris). The small "in between" exhibits and minor attractions have slowly been whittled down through the years, and the park just has a distinct "going out of business sale" vibe throughout it. It's clear from your numerous posts that you haven't been to WDW in years, but the Studios is really in bad shape. I would be surprised if anybody went there without a park hopper ticket, since it's a genuine struggle to spend more than 5-6 hours there
Originally Posted By PeterPan1313 >>>Last year's Frozen Summer event was literally thrown together in 10 days because of how desperate they were to get bodies through the turnstiles.<<< Just because a park has a special event doesn't meant that it's gasping for air. DHS, naturally, makes a good venue for special events such as Frozen, you couldn't exactly do some of this stuff in Epcot. It seems WDW's attendance is breaking a record every year, you can't really argue that the resort is hurting attendance wise. Even as DHS is a half-day park, it still makes money. The fun of WDW is parking hopping. >>>Even before they closed the tram tour, the park was struggling to keep people all day, but that was the real nail in the coffin<<< Not really, I don't think anybody expected DHS to be a full-day park for everybody. >>>The park only has 5 rides. There are a handful of shows, the newest of which is a decade old this year (or 13 years old, since it's a copy from Paris). The small "in between" exhibits and minor attractions have slowly been whittled down through the years, and the park just has a distinct "going out of business sale" vibe throughout it.<<< Maybe if you're a frequent visitor of WDW/DHS, but this doesn't necessarily mean StarWarsLand, it means a new show and a new ride down the line. >>> I would be surprised if anybody went there without a park hopper ticket, since it's a genuine struggle to spend more than 5-6 hours there<<< DHS is a half-day park, but it is still must see for a lot of fans, especially for special events like Osbourne Lights and such. Who knows? Maybe they'll put SWLand in DHS's parking lot, but the buzz recently has been for the boutique park.
Originally Posted By PeterPan1313 But, seriously, regarding DHS, all they need to do is put in an E-Ticket attraction, such as that Incredible E-Ticket they were working on, in the Pixar area of the park and you've got more attendance in this area of WDW (if they event want infrastructure-wise) for years to come . . .
Originally Posted By PeterPan1313 Interestingly, the Racetrack is about the size of the current DHS parking lot. When they expand the TTC parkig lot it will be *huge* and be able to accomodate the traffic to SWLand.
