JHM claims "Disney's Night Kingdom" will be WDW's 5th gate

[princessjojo]

I read the Jim Hill article. It sounds good if I didn't do anything but read it and not think about what he was actually saying. And I agree, much of the information doesn't seem attainable such as the cost, or the timeline. Unless that is, that they do as mentioned previously and make it an addition to Animal Kingdom. It would, as you say Ian, make more sense especially with the cost and staffing numbers, but they still don't seem realistic quite yet.

I understand that many wouldn't pay that price to gain entrance, but look at the number of people who pay $50+/- to eat assembly line pancakes or roastbeef at CRT and how difficult it is to get adr's for that. I think you could easily find 2000 people/day to pay for that and many would find themselves planning a vacation around whatever date they could get reservations for DNK.

I think I'd pay for this type of experience once, but I'd have to think long and hard about it. It could get really pricey for any family ($1000-$1200 for my family), easily the most expensive part of the vacation and possibly more than the room itself.

One thing I can say is that if I'm going to put out that much money for an experience/"park" (and I use the term loosely), Disney had better make sure I enjoy myself. I don't want any Indiana Jones, ...Motorcars, Amer. Idol type of thing going on.

[Altair]

I thought AK closed early to give the animals some quiet time.

[shadowden]

...that I like the concept of this new park. Then again, I'm not the biggest fan of DAK.

[PirateStitch]

I have to say I don't think I would ever pay $250-300 pp for 8 hrs. Thats insane. And the hubby would never go for it. I think the idea is a little out there. Though neat. I just don't think its really Disney. Give me a another park like Magic Kingdom anyday with story book rides from newer movies, and shows.

[Grizz16]

IF this actually happens, I imagine it will be somewhat different than what's envisioned now. Due to budget cuts, creative differences and such.

[lockedoutlogic]

I have to say I don't think I would ever pay $250-300 pp for 8 hrs. Thats insane. And the hubby would never go for it. I think the idea is a little out there. Though neat. I just don't think its really Disney. Give me a another park like Magic Kingdom anyday with story book rides from newer movies, and shows.

Discovery Cove does just that...and you still can't get anywhere near it after 8 years....

there is a market for this...I just don't think it's Disney's market

The parks are basically a diversion in their attempt to sell plushies anyway...we know this....

Maybe not when the Disney Bros. built there parks in another era.....but now definitely....

think of how many children's stores....princess peddling shops...and pin stations they jam into parks at every turn....

[Ian]

One thing about Disco Cove, though ... it's swimming with dolphins. That's like a quintessential experience that virtually everyone wants to enjoy.

Conversely, I've never heard anyone say to me, "You know it would be really cool to drop two-fitty and go spelunking through a cave filled with bat guano!!"

[NJ Camper]

Where do you find these Jim Hill info is it JimHill.com sounds like it could be of interest

[chrisb26]

One thing I still can't get my head around is that Disney would seriously consider letting people watch Lions and Hyenas hunt other animals and would you want your kids to see something like that? I know I have seen a couple kids kind of get freeked out from the scene on Jungle Cruise where the Lions have the zebra and that is just AA and not the best looking ones either. Not sure I would want my kids to see that for real.

One thing about Disco Cove, though ... it's swimming with dolphins. That's like a quintessential experience that virtually everyone wants to enjoy.

Conversely, I've never heard anyone say to me, "You know it would be really cool to drop two-fitty and go spelunking through a cave filled with bat guano!!"

That is very true you also forgot to add man made cave cause I'm pretty sure there are no hidden caves under WDW.

Something that also has to be consdered is will people pay for a second trip? I see alot of people who say they would do it once but would this be something people would be willing to pay $500 + for a family to go every trip or even a couple times? I'm not so sure. If they can't get return visiters after a few years they probably wouldn't see the place fill up every night. Imagine if Magic Kingdom only had people that were there for their first time and no repeat visiters. The park would be very less crowded I'll tell ya.

[DizneyFreak2002]

I thought AK closed early to give the animals some quiet time.

Lie.... DAK was meant to be open at night... Heck, the safari is equipped to have night safari treks... There is nothing at the park that would bother the animals at night.... Unless there were to be a fireworks show, then that would have an adverse affect on the animals... Think about it, if the park was closed at night for the animals, then why have Extra Magic Hours at that park AT NIGHT???? Fact is, in the beginning, there was not much to do there, so keeping guests all day into the night was too difficult.... Hence the shortened hours...

[Ian]

DF is right ... they wanted to keep the park open all day (in fact, I'm not 100% sure they didn't when it first opened), but there was so little for people to do there that the place was virtually deserted by early afternoon.

They shortened the hours to save money, but I think they've let the "it's for the animals" rumor perpetuate out there to help save face.

I actually could see this as a good idea if it was just done after hours at Animal Kingdom. As I said before, it would somewhat solve the problems in needing 4,000 additional cast and it helps make that $520 million number sound more reasonable. If they can leverage the existing animals and infrastructure from AK, that would surely help keep costs down.

[kakn7294]

I can't imagine the Zoological Society (or whomever does the zoo accreditations) would actually approve this place and I wonder if Disney would really want to risk losing it's accreditation and breeding programs they seem so proud of. And I wonder if this were ever built, at those prices, are there really 2000 people willing to pay that kind of money for this experience everyday? I know that we wouldn't (and in some ways couldn't) pay for it - if we chose to do this, it would seriously cut down on the rest of the time we spend at WDW. I guess I'm just going to take Jim Hill's info with a grain of salt and a wait and see attitude.

[LauraSAnne]

Regardless if DNK is gonna happen or not, I thought when I read the article, 'who'd want to go do any of the stuff they'd offer, for that much money?'. I'm sure there are people who'd pay it, but I honestly find all of the 'attractions' that were listed, to be quite lackluster and boring. A glorified petting zoo just doesn't sound THAT exciting. I'd definitely like to see the money go elsewhere.

[John]

while I welcome any good additions to WDW, I also want them affordable
all I can say is
John, any comments?

As an after hours event, fine... As a park concept, I would like to see a lot of other things done before they waste money on this.

BTW, if this is a "fifth gate" - that is throwing around the term quite liberally. You might as well call Disney Quest, Typhoon Lagoon, Blizard Beach and others in as Major "gates" at that point.

[Ian]

Kinda curious to see if Mufasa will weigh in on this ... I'd like to hear what he has to say about it from an insider's perspective ...

[cgriff]

What I don't understand from the Jim Hill article is how the Adventurer's Club ties-in with close-up, nighttime animal experiences?!? Seems like two different Disney rumors given the 'smash-up' treatment.

Separate the two and they sound like fun things to do in their own right . For example: a relocated and expanded Adventurer's Club, offering guests a dinner + actual thrills/adventures ala archaeological exploration, solving cryptic riddles, discovering a treasure horde, etc. that sounds like it would be a blast! And offering a nocturnal tour of Disney's Animal Kingdom would also be something neat. But somehow, combining these two things and calling it a "5th park"... That's the part that doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

Just my .02

cgriff

[Polynesian Dweller]

Actually, Disney spent about $30 million on the redo of the Haunted Mansion alone. The big attractions, like Everest and Mission Space, cost well in excess of $100 million.

Actually, you had to read the Jim Hill article from the day before. He claims they'll be relocating Adventurer's Club. The new park won't be built anywhere near PI.

Actually I missed that part mostly because i had stopped paying attention to detail. Shouldn't do that. I'll wait to see what the truth is. As strictly an after hours addition to AK it might work but having been in bat caves I'm not paying to do it.

[DisneyFanaticDargon]

My first thought when I read that $520 million figure was, "That's it??"

That sounds pretty cheap for a park that's allegedly going to be "highly themed" and all that.

I think AK cost them well over twice that much.

That's true, I believe the official cost was somewhere close to a billion dollars to build Animal Kingdom.

[DizneyRox]

Bad idea if you ask me, however I think the $250-$300 or whatever number they are throwing around is a little low. While I would definitely be on board to do this new 5th gate, I really can't say that I know of many other people. In general, most people I talk to can't stand AK, so spending even more time there just doens't sounds like it's going to happen. Especially when Disney wants to yank another $250pp out of your wallet.

[lockedoutlogic]

That's true, I believe the official cost was somewhere close to a billion dollars to build Animal Kingdom.

Official being the operative world....

remember they cut out an entire themed area and most likely alot of rides, shops, and restaurant offerings to get the AK open....

and if you are familiar with disney's overhead and construction costs...the 1 billion figure is too low

They spend a billion when it was all said and done on EPCOT...in 1980

Almost bankrupted Disney...but at least they finished the job