New Animal Kingdom Opening Procedues

[Goofyfan]

With AK opening up earlier, is this for Disney resort guests, or all guests?

[Cardinals314]

With AK opening up earlier, is this for Disney resort guests, or all guests?

For all guests if there is no morning EMH that day. Epcot and DHS do the same procedure

[yodiwan1]

Wizard hit it on the nose. I have 3 zoos within a 45 minute drive that have more animals than AK, and are a fraction of the price. I can do all the shows and rides by 1pm easy. Planet Watch has nothing really to do, and the worst is when the train breaks down. You're trapped. It's happened to me a handful of times, and I was there for over an hour.

[Amy]

Not really an opening procedure, but I see that AK has a new walk around character ala Devine ~ this one is called Bamboo (photo from Orlando Attractions Magazine)

[theBIGyowski]

doesn't look like Bamboo would be able to blend in quite as well as Devine...but still pretty cool

[Amy]

doesn't look like Bamboo would be able to blend in quite as well as Devine...but still pretty cool

That was my first thought as well, but I think he actually will blend pretty well. Divine stuck out like this when she was on the pathway as well. But as soon as she settled, she blended in really quickly!

[Cardinals314]

I wouldn't be surprised if AK was planning to have people walking around as Navii in the Avatar area with the a similar set up.

[Len90]

Not really an opening procedure, but I see that AK has a new walk around character ala Devine ~ this one is called Bamboo (photo from Orlando Attractions Magazine)

Not really that new. She was there back in May.

As for rumors about Jammin Jungle to end... I hope that is not the case. Looking at the timeframe Festival of Fantasy is slated for mid March 2014. The last Celebrate a Dream Come True is slated for December 19. That leaves a three month period with no afternoon parade at MK. Now take away Jammin Jungle and you will have a three month period where there is no afternoon parade. So within a one year span Disney will go from having three afternoon parades to none for a short while?

[Wizzard419]

If I recall, part of the reason for MK (and possibly AK) having no parades is due to construction. They intentionally do it at the slowest time so the fewest number of people miss out. They might also do what DCA did during construction and have a rolling show that goes to a set point, performs, and then goes back the way it came.

[Len90]

If I recall, part of the reason for MK (and possibly AK) having no parades is due to construction. They intentionally do it at the slowest time so the fewest number of people miss out. They might also do what DCA did during construction and have a rolling show that goes to a set point, performs, and then goes back the way it came.

That is possible, but I think we would have heard something a while ago given that the walls have been up on the Africa bridge now for 3-4 months. I didn't think there was supposed to be an impact on the parade with the new building for festival of the lion king.

[Wizzard419]

If they do anything, they probably won't further than a socom post because, even under the best circumstances, it would only push the needle in the wrong direction in regards to bookings since it is basically saying "this park is under major construction".

[Len90]

If they do anything, they probably won't further than a socom post because, even under the best circumstances, it would only push the needle in the wrong direction in regards to bookings since it is basically saying "this park is under major construction".

But look at what happened with MK fantasyland and DCA renovations. With Animal Kingdom Avatarland construction should not impact the rest of the park as it will be occupying the former Camp Minnie-Mickey, which is isolated from the rest of the park. The construction of the new show building for Lion King also will be isolated from the rest of the park. Really no need to think this is a park under major construction with Animal Kingdom.

[Wizzard419]

Yes, look at them, they also did not promote interim content during construction beyond Socom posts and they also limited any and all construction news to the same channels.

Since you visit at least once a year, you are not the normal guest they cater towards. Odds are better that the visitors they have may only come once every decade or possibly never again since this is a destination vacation rather than a quick trip like DLR is. Now, knowing that you wouldn't be back for a long time, you probably wouldn't be terribly enthused that you are too early/late to see something. The other issue is that since the parks don't scale their gate prices to reflect what is operational, the guest who comes during major construction is paying the same as the guest who came a few months earlier and was able to see everything.

[Len90]

Yes, look at them, they also did not promote interim content during construction beyond Socom posts and they also limited any and all construction news to the same channels.

Since you visit at least once a year, you are not the normal guest they cater towards. Odds are better that the visitors they have may only come once every decade or possibly never again since this is a destination vacation rather than a quick trip like DLR is. Now, knowing that you wouldn't be back for a long time, you probably wouldn't be terribly enthused that you are too early/late to see something. The other issue is that since the parks don't scale their gate prices to reflect what is operational, the guest who comes during major construction is paying the same as the guest who came a few months earlier and was able to see everything.

It's an argument you've made before, but I still counter it with saying that there is a large percentage of guests who return year after year or even visit multiple times in a year (APs). I understand there are not as many locals as DLR, but WDW still attracts plenty of repeat guests.

As for the announcements, why was Fantasyland so widely announced throughout the progress? It was all over the parks blog during construction.

[Wizzard419]

I would say large number, but not a large percentage of repeat vacation customers, otherwise their model would have to change since they can't let stuff get stale.

And again, you re-affirm what I was saying, they announced it through Socom only.

It is kind of cold-blooded, but Disney does want to basically trick guests in regards to booking. They do this by not sharing the entire year's planned schedule for closures. If they provided too much info, it could affect bookings for the slower times, since some guests may look to alternative dates if the ride they like/too great a number of rides are closed.