News

• Every show should begin with a round of self-congratulations. Here’s a few things that we predicted would happen, that have been announced:

• We said last year that TRON’s likely opening date was April, and to expect previews in February or March.  This week Disney announced April 4, 2023 as TRON’s official opening date.  And some folks have already got emails saying to watch out for preview dates before that.  So I’m guessing late February or early March for those previews.

• If you’re DVC or AP, look out for emails to sign up for previews.

• We said on the D23 wrap-up show that Harmonious would be replaced with EPCOT Forever and that the barges would likely not remain. And this week Disney announced that Harmonious’ last day is April 3, 2023, replaced with the interim EPCOT Forever, and that the Harmonious barges would be removed.

• Reedy Creek Fire Dept was all over World Showcase on Wednesday, probably looking at fireworks launch points.

• Likewise, we said that based on fireworks testing over the summer that it looked like Happily Ever After was coming back.  Disney announced that Happily Ever After will return to the Magic Kingdom on April 3, 2023.  

• So you can see the return of HEA on April 3, and the return of EF on April 4.

On to the big news:

• Universal Parks and Resorts announced two major expansions on Tuesday:
  

• A brand-new theme park, designed for families with small children, to be built in Frisco, Texas, about 30 minutes due north of Dallas.  Quotes from the press release:

The new park concept, set in a lush green landscape and featuring immersive themed lands, celebrates Universal’s iconic brand of entertainment, humor and innovation and brings to life its beloved characters and stories in ways that will wow even the youngest theme park goers.

The proposed park will be designed to be more intimate and engaging for younger audiences and will be sized for a regional audience. It will be full of family-friendly attractions, interactive and playful shows, character meet and greets, unique merchandise and fun food and beverage venues. Although smaller in size, it will still carry the same quality as Universal’s other larger resort destinations.

Part of 97 acres of land recently purchased by the company, the proposed park also has plans for an adjacent themed hotel and room for expansion. The entire area is intended to have a completely different look, feel, and scale than Universal’s existing parks and will appeal to a new audience for the brand.

A couple of things about this:

• Texas is the second-fastest-growing “large” state, behind only Florida, and the 5th-fastest-growing state overall. (Idaho, Utah, South Carolina, Florida).
• Land is much cheaper in Texas than in Central Florida

• The metro population of Orlando is 2.5 million people
• The metro population of Dallas is 7.5 million people
• While Orlando was the country’s 3rd-fastest-growing city in 2020 at 19%, Dallas was 8th at 16%.

• I know one of the big questions for Universal was whether building another theme park would expand their market share, or cannibalize guests from their existing theme parks.  But by specifically making a theme park for young children, it looks like they’re trying to grow market share.  And probably at Disney’s expense.
  

• A new development in Las Vegas!  The press release:
  
  Straight from Universal Parks & Resorts, the creators of Halloween Horror Nights – the world’s most popular global Halloween event – comes a brand-new permanent entertainment experience in Las Vegas. This original concept will bring to life Universal’s vast library of classic horror films and today’s most terrifying tales.

With a variety of unique, immersive, fantastic horror-centric experiences that surround high energy food and beverage spaces by day turned haunting bars and eateries by night, the new concept marks the first time Universal has created a permanent horror experience beyond its theme parks. It will deliver on the thrills and frights its horror fans have come to love and excite anyone looking for a new level of experiential entertainment. The space will also feature a continuously updated experience, must see seasonal events, and one-of-a-kind merchandise.  

Universal has long defined the horror genre with its classic films featuring iconic characters such as Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy and the Wolf Man – and redefined modern horror and suspense stories through collaborations with such high-profile filmmakers as Jason Blum, James Wan and Jordan Peele.  Only Universal could ignite the thrill of and excitement of this genre in full scale and three dimensions.

“Universal is known for our ability to deliver original, highly-themed and terrifying horror entertainment experiences for millions of fans every year,” said Page Thompson, President, New Ventures, Universal Parks & Resorts. “We are excited to give our global fanbase yet another way to get scared and have fun with fear in the heart of Las Vegas, the perfect place for this type of unique concept.”

Universal’s new horror experience will be the anchor tenant in a new 20-acre expansion of Las Vegas’ immersive AREA15 entertainment district that initially opened to the public in September 2020 and has attracted more than four million visitors since that time. Occupying a 110,000 square-foot space, the new Universal experience is an innovative, creative complement to AREA15’s roots in experiential art and entertainment.

Len’s notes:

• This is a 20-acre expansion of Area 15. Universal’s HHN is around 110K sf. I’m told a typical HHN house is around XXX sf in size.
• Universal is partnering with an established group in Area 15

• Sold 1.7 million tickets their first year
• If “more than 4 million” is the number now, that would put second year at at least 2.3 million visitors?
• Las Vegas gets around 32MM visitors annually

• Area 15 is about 2 miles west of the Wynn and Encore, at the north end of The Strip. So not pulling in directly from the Strip, but a relatively short drive away

• Let me say that as someone who rarely leaves The Strip or Downtown, I’d make a special trip to Area 15.

• Area 15 anchor tenant is Omega Mart, which is best described as an interactive, role-playing game that takes place inside a grocery story from another dimension.  It’s developed by Meow Wolf, which I think started as an artist collective.  Len met some of the folks from MW at IAAPA in November.
• Jim, it’s worth pointing out here that you can rent out these locations for corporate gigs.

Other Disney announcements:

• Disney’s dropping the nightly parking fee for Disney Resort guests and going back to offering complimentary parking.  These costs were $15, $20, or $25/night depending on the resort.
  
• Annual passholders who visit their first park after 2 pm will no longer have to make a park reservation, except for the Magic Kingdom on Saturdays and Sundays.
  
• Guests who purchase Genie+ will also get PhotoPass for attraction photos.

Len goes to the Reedy Creek Improvement District public meeting on January 11.

• I went because I wanted to see if, you know, RCID decided to issue $100 billion in non-early-redemption bonds.
• I’ve never been to a public meeting before. I think Laurel and I were the only non-Disney, non-RCID people at the meeting.  It seemed like everyone knew everyone.
• Most of it was straightforward: Approval of meeting minutes from last meeting, getting approval for new representatives, etc.  
• One interesting thing: the RCID asked for approval of a land use resolution that covers a bunch of things:

• Additional hotel rooms
• An increase in the maximum number of major parks by 1
• An increase in the maximum number of minor parks by 2
• That was approved

• Background

• The RCID creates a Comprehensive Long Term Plan regularly.  The last one was approved in 2010 for 2020.
• It seems to have been adopted as-is at the May 25, 2022 meeting to be the 2032 plan
• That also included 1 more major park and 2 more minor parks

• And this leads to a bunch of questions:

• Was there an approved land use resolution for all of this before?

• If yes, why do you need another one?
• If no:

• We went 12 years without an approved land use resolution?
• Why ask for it now?
• Why ask for just 1 more major and 2 minor parks, instead of, you know, 10?
• Why include hotel rooms?

• Was there another land use resolution that covered the hotel rooms that opened in the last 12 years?        

• Also, based on the number of follow-ups that came to the RCID, it looks like they don’t get many questions from the general public on a regular basis.  But, you know, one side effect of allowing the general public to ask questions at meetings, is that you have to answer questions from the general public at meetings.

Other things Len did this week:

• Also along with the new voices at Morocco:

• Imagineers were in Morocco talking about which walls were load-bearing. They had lasers to measure things, maybe?
• They were specifically looking at the wall to the right of the entrance arch.

• Len & Laurel at Toledo. We had dinner for $101.50, with AP discount.

• Menu
• Here’s what we had:

• Rioja-braised Chorizo ($15)
• Pan con tomate ($12)
• Olives ($11)
• Flight of Four Pintxos ($13)

• Chilled Mussels ‘Escabèche’, Olive Oil-poached Tuna with Lemon , ‘Tortilla Española’ Spanish Potato Omelet, Valdeón Blue Cheese with Fig and Honey

• Shishito peppers ($8)
• Toledo Tapas Bar dessert ($12)
• Chocolate Avocado Mousse ($12)
• Laurel had a gin and tonic ($16.50)
• I had bottled water ($6)

• Walk around Coronado Springs - Which All-Star Resort would you demolish to replace with a tower, and why? What theme would you give the tower?

• I ran a poll of this on social media, and here were the results:

• All-Star Movies: 11%
• All-Star Music: 16%
• All-Star Sports: 73%

• The next day Len & Laurel played DuckTales World Showcase Adventure. We also tried to get a drink at Space 220 and failed.

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Listener Questions

Next Week: Why have the parks been so busy?

Paul’s email on starcruiser DVC costs