Walt Disney Parks and Resorts chairman Jay Rasulo said they're considering building several small theme parks that will afford families high-quality experiences, albeit shorter ones and closer to home.The trick is to do so without diluting the brand or cannibalizing customers who would otherwise be visiting Disney's major resorts in Florida and California.Full Story: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/film/news/e3i3b47d6942f2f90f109cfed16ac67daa1
Man, that sounds a lot like the way Shapiro described his vision for SF - a regional, more affordable alternative to the full blown 'Disney experience'...
But SF bought pre-existing parks and really did very little to "Disney-fy"....costumed characters (which I have spent *hours* praising) notwithstanding. Shoot, I probably got more pics with costumed characters last year than Shapiro did! ;)
Disney, no way, no how, NOT buying a pre-existing park....NOT.GONNA.HAPPEN.
You still have Zoidberg.... You ALL have Zoidberg! (V) (;,,;) (V)
Blurring the time frame, Gator. Shapiro didn't buy dick - he's the one selling it.
Shapiro wants to take the parks and market them as a closer, cheaper, easier alternative to the full-blown Disney vacation. That's all we heard from the guy at first in regards to his plans as CEO.
This sounds nice but slightly stupid at the same time. I have always thought of disney being more of a one of a kindish place to go not some regional park. I'm sure Walt wouldn't want this. But they will do what they want. Although it would be nice for people who can't aford the big nice disney trips.
^^ Walt Disney, before his death, tried to build a park in New Orleans. If I remember correctly, this was going to be a smaller park with a larger indoor section. So the idea itself isn't so far-fetched.
Personally, I'd rather see the company improve the parks they already have. That said, a Disney FEC or LBE isn't a bad idea, as long as it's going to be well-kept. It might give SF and CF a run for their money.
Disney is only purchasing Michigan's Adventure so they can name it Disney's Michigan Adventure. I'm sure it'll have a huge world of motion pavilion taking another hint from SF when they built their largely successful Auto World. Then comes the 200 foot hyper clone of California Screamin' called Michigan Screamin' that the park has needed for so long. *** Edited 2/10/2007 2:57:58 AM UTC by P18***