Disney World’s government starts to spend for Fantasyland expansion
Jason Garcia, News — By Jason Garcia on January 27, 2010 at 3:47 pm
With Walt Disney World preparing to break ground on the big Fantasyland overhaul at the Magic Kingdom soon, the government that oversees the property is preparing to spend money on the work, too.
The Reedy Creek Improvement District’s board of supervisors this morning signed off on a tentative budget to pay for extending the district’s electrical and reclaimed-water lines to serve the expanded Fantasyland. The price tag? A little over $1.3 million, though that figure includes about $186,000 in contingency money to handle cost overruns.
The district’s board also approved spending the first $60,000 from that $1.3 million budget to cover early design work.
Tags: Disney World, Magic Kingdom, News
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7 Comments
Harry Potter, watch out.
Seriously? Really? Yeah those Princesses really draw a crowd! Princess and the Frog did $87m in it’s full run in the theaters, Harry Potter series: $4.4 billion. Disney is going after one market pre-K to Tween ‘girls’. HP has a very diverse core group of fans.
No battle, or commpetition for Universal.
Did you really try to make a point by comparing ONE movie to an ENTIRE series? Of course that ENTIRE series is going to make more money than ONE movie. The ENTIRE Disney Princesses absolutely obliterate Harry Potter. You lose.
Yes Frank. A larger base. But that larger fan base in Universal. But you tend to forget theres quiete a large difference between guests in WDW vs. Universal. Universal Fails. =] We can compare 2009 attendance any day and at the end of the year thats all that matters.
Harry Potter will be fun to visit.
But even with it, Universal will remain a pimple on WDW’s backside
Nothing can compare to the Disney experience when done right. Disney is Legendary. Harry Potter may be a great place to visit, but when an actor dressed as a Wizard says Hello, can it really compare to seeing Mickey and Minnie? NO – that’s pure magic. Universal will NEVER be able to compete with Disney on the guest experience. Their “cast members” are not up to par. When I go to Universal, they take my ticket and I have seen the ticket takers swearing amongst one another out in the open. Disney cast has never acted like that.
This is a totally ridiculous thread from the outset. Understood, Disney does compete in a sense for a portion of attendance/revenue versus other area attractions. It is just the nature of the business. However, to look at this expansion as an answer to the Harry Potter attraction in hopes to “win” the attendance numbers for opening year and going forward is silly. What is the purpose for such an argument anyhow? The Disney brand of entertainment is completely different and far more expansive than what Universal can offer. Granted, Universal can be a nice two day excursion, but for many families that travel to Orlando, that is exactly what it is, an add on to their Disney vacation. Not only that, but one attraction drawing more attention than another is not going to sink either Disney or Universal, so enjoy them individually for what they are.
Yes, the last post is true on guest experience… there is no place on the planet that stresses guest experience to their cast members. As for Universal… it would seem, in a tongue in cheek fashion, that this is where all the smart a$@es go to work!