Disney expanding into Canada?

[TheRapidsNerd]

Slightly left of topic and mentioned before, but if Disney is going to build a new thrill park in Orlando in the next few years, why not modify Animal Kingdom instead and use your resources more efficiently? Could this Villain theme be woven into the current AK fabric somehow?

 

As far as a Disney Canada park, nothing a bit wrong with snow cones and Dole Whip, though the idea is a strange brew.

[ParkTrips]

I wonder if Disney would consider a regional, "discount disney" sort of chain of parks. Kind of like a normal Disney park, but a smaller, cheaper, closer to home option without the resort. I think they could do some serious market eating and put companies like Six Flags and Cedar Fair in even more trouble if they could bring Disney quality and branding on a local level. Obviously they would still offer the major destination resorts, but most people don't go to those every year... whereas they may go to a local park every summer.

 

I'll stop before I sound any dumber

[upside down]

And hey, it already has a CyberSpace Mountain, albeit a semi-crappy one.

 

Actually they tore it down and replaced it with DDR.

 

If it was a disney quest type thing, I hope the games would be free.

[ginzo]

I wonder if Disney would consider a regional, "discount disney" sort of chain of parks. Kind of like a normal Disney park, but a smaller, cheaper, closer to home option without the resort. I think they could do some serious market eating and put companies like Six Flags and Cedar Fair in even more trouble if they could bring Disney quality and branding on a local level. Obviously they would still offer the major destination resorts, but most people don't go to those every year... whereas they may go to a local park every summer.

 

I'll stop before I sound any dumber

 

Interesting idea. I'd definitely visit a regional Disney park. Two problems I can see with it:

 

1) Disney parks are extremely expensive to build. And they might not want to cheapen their image by constructing ersatz versions of their own attractions.

 

2) They might revisit something like Dick Kinzel's conundrum with Geauga Lake. DLR and WDW are far enough apart and different enough in focus to not eat away at each other's business. But, if you start putting more Disney parks closer to the existing ones, you just might start to cannibalize your own business. Not exactly what they're after considering the magnitude of their investments in Anaheim and Orlando.

 

On the other hand, this could be an opportunity to go after people who either can't afford or don't want to travel to Orlando or Anaheim. It could be an underserved market.

[dandaman]

^^Haven't been there in three years, so I think the only thing I can remember that still exists are the go-karts. In any case, should the Dis decide to make a DQ (no, ACEr's, NOT Dairy Queen) in Canada, that'd be some prime real estate just outside the city. Though Mississauga is quite a big city unto itself...

 

^Also, point #2 reinforces my idea of triangulating the North American market. It's far enough north from either Orlando or Anaheim to not steal away their business, either. (Though if they erect a DQ and not a park, it's like comparing apples to pomegranates.)

 

Dan "Waited 5 pages to use the word 'erect' in a sentence" Smith

[BeemerBoy]

This was an AP article from sometime last fall, I believe.

 

 

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Walt Disney Co. is considering "blue sky concepts" of creating smaller theme parks and stand-alone hotels, retail, dining and entertainment centers, Jay Rasulo, chairman of Disney's Parks and Resorts told analysts at a conference on Wednesday.

 

Building stand-alone hotels in urban areas where families already travel would give Disney the chance to reach out to parents who feel their children are still too young to appreciate a trip to a Disney theme park, Rasulo said.

 

Along those lines, Disney could locate versions of its Downtown Disneyland, a high-end retail, dining and entertainment district, in urban areas far from its parks, he said.

 

The company also was exploring alternatives to full-size theme parks, including "a smaller, deeply immersive park" that would offer consumers a more interactive experience at higher prices.

 

These ideas are "blue sky concepts" that will not be executed unless the new businesses could achieve a high return on invested capital, Rasulo said.

 

Disney also was looking into expanding its water park offerings beyond Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach and possibly adding ships to its two-vessel cruise lines, Rasulo said.

 

Rasulo had little to add about the lackluster performance by Hong Kong Disneyland, which opened in September of 2007, and failed to meet first-year attendance target of 5.6 million.

 

"Hong Kong Disneyland developed a little more slowly than we expected in 1999 when the deal was put together" but the company was confident of its growth trajectory, he said.

 

"We identified some challenges to be addressed in the near future in sales and marketing and seasonality," he added.

 

Some of this stuff may fit well into a business model for the Northeast, but the day Disney opens a large scale new "gate" in Canada is the day I run naked through the streets of Toronto. I still think the author of the original article on page one of this thread is smoking crack.

[dandaman]

The day Disney opens a large scale new "gate" in Canada is the day I run naked through the streets of Toronto.

 

Or a "skinny polar bear dip". Either way it's the new definition for shrinkage.

 

I think I've reached my usefulness to the subject now...

 

Dan "Polar bear dips either leave you invigorated or dead... it's about 50/50" Smith

[Teacups Make Me Sick]

The author is looking at it from a stock perspective...the author is obviously not into theme parks but instead giving a rounded idea of where the company is heading and also informing the audience that it might be a good idea to buy b.c the company is looking to expand.

 

I don’t think that the info in this article was to be read in verbatim, more to inform an average person.

[mr_teisco_delrey]

 

Interesting idea. I'd definitely visit a regional Disney park. Two problems I can see with it:

 

1) Disney parks are extremely expensive to build. And they might not want to cheapen their image by constructing ersatz versions of their own attractions.

 

 

 

On the other hand, this could be an opportunity to go after people who either can't afford or don't want to travel to Orlando or Anaheim. It could be an underserved market.

 

How about a scaled down Fantasyland paired up with a "puffed up" Disney Quest to test the waters. Using a Hong Disney expansion road map as a template for growth, a regional park could be feasible. I'd visit something like that quite often.

 

Also, with fuel costs the way they are. you never know what could happen over the long haul with Florida tourism. Wouldn't hurt to have some small regionals to hedge the bet.

[denning]

There was supposed to be a DisneyQuest opening in downtown Toronto as part of huge downtown transformation.

 

Basically, the city has attempted to create its version of Times Square and DisneyQuest was to be the anchor tenant. After Chicago failed, the project was delayed for several years.

 

It's finally buildt with a giant Best Buy like store and a multi-plex.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toronto_Life_Square

 

I think if there is any truth to the rumor, it may be a purchase of or something near Marineland.

 

Niagra Falls is a major tourist destination and its about an hour from Toronto without traffic.

[dandaman]

^I think they used to have the Olympic Spirit place around there. I went there 3 years ago on a Grade 8 grad trip. (Though it's kinda bad when its most redeeming factor was the dancing naked hobo out back...)

[WildStangAlex]

I must agree that this will probably be more of a Disney Quest type place, or even just a Disney Vacation Club resort. Those seem to be popping up all over the place, so why not Canada, eh?

[disneylanddork50]

Disney isn't a company to buy a park, and them turn it into their own. Although it would be cool to see a park go into Canada, i don't think it would happen. But i did hear that they might be building another park in Orlando . Hopefully it comes true, and is better than Animal Kingdom.

[thecoasterkid]

I'm still thinking the only possible realistic "park type" aquisition they would be making would be to transform Playdium into a Disney Quest. Mississauga is a VERY large city (population of over 700,000) for a suburb and this would be located right in the heart of the city. The location is perfect on many levels. It's right beside a major shopping mall and surrounded by restaurants, there's a highway for semi-easy access (traffic is always horrible anywhere in the Toronto area) right beside it, and the main hub for Mississauga Transit is also right next door.

 

If they bought some extra adjacent land they could even build a mini Downtown Disney too.

[Pufferfish]

I think this would actually be a cool thing for Disney to make a park in Canada. It would be cool to see Mickey and Donald playing Hockey .

[thrillerman1]

If this comes true I just might be more than a little jealous of you Shawn!

[BrownStreak]

I could see them buying Ontario Place- they already have that cute little themed log flume that could be changed into Splash Mountain and that place does have some nice landscaping, something that looks a bit like the Epcot Ball and room to expand.

[ginzo]

Also, with fuel costs the way they are. you never know what could happen over the long haul with Florida tourism. Wouldn't hurt to have some small regionals to hedge the bet.

 

My guess is it would take severe fuel increases to impact Florida. Disney has had strong attendance even with record fuel prices. And fuel is a pretty small portion of the cost of visiting WDW. A $50-100/person fuel surcharge imposed by the airlines wouldn't be a deal breaker for me.

[Darksin]

I'm just going to give my own opinion here based on things I've heard and facts. As well as the opinion as someone who put in time working for the rat, the fish and the woodpecker. (Sorry, that's my running joke about working at one time for all the Central Florida parks!)

 

I don't remember when it was but Disney at one time said that they would never purchase and "disne-fy" a park not of their own building. I wish I could remember when it was so I could find it on a website! It had something to do with not being able to design systems and such the way they wanted. While I do think Disney will expand into other cities, it will be things like DisneyQuest. Because it's an enviroment they can control and lets face it, Disney as a whole are OCD control freaks at heart.

 

While makes me believe if they ever DO build a real park outside of California and Orlando, it would probably be someplace like Virginia (EXAMPLE!) where they could go mostly year round as well as put a entertainment companies panties in a knot. You have to look at locations, Disney wants to be open year-round so that really limits the area's we could speculate on. They'd establish someplace that already has somekind of smallish tourism market as well as major airport/highway nearby.

 

Disney much like people, sometimes amaze me.

People go into debt in order to have the "Disney World Experience" as well as the entire Central Florida vacation. I've seen this frist hand, I've heard the numbers and my mind boggles. The average family will save for ten years for a 10 day vacation to WDW/Florida, the same goes for ten years worth of debt.

The thing that keeps Disney World in record attendance is the "memory" factor. People went there as kids and in a world of ever growing distance in families people will take their's to Disney to share that experience. I personally have not been impressed with WDW for the last 6-7 years and feel that the reason for the records numbers are because of the memory factor. Disney is loosing ground to other more advanced thrill parks and they know it, which was a big part of the "Memories" campain they had not to long ago. You also need to look at where this business is coming from, there has been a huge spike in international visitors to Disney, most of this is because the US dollar is worth jack right now. Thus making those vacations VERY affordible to those outside the US, so it's also a factor to look at.

 

The Villian thrill park has to happen just based on the need to keep up. Universal and Seaworld are also drawing record numbers lately because they have enviroments similar to WDW but with the thrills to appeal to all ages and the adults shelling out their lives savings to have them! At one time Disney was the leader in theme park technology, that can't be said for the last 10 years or more. Thats why I feel that somekind of Disney Thrill park will be coming in the future.

 

At least in my opinion!