Looking for some concrete information on Disney's World of Color? Then check out this week's Why For

Jerry C. writes in say:

Jim,

I really enjoyed that photo you ran last week of the empty Paradise Bay. Do you have any stories to share yet about DCA’s night-time water pageant, “Disney’s World of Color” ?

Dear Jerry –

At this point, we’re only about ten weeks into this multi-million dollar construction project. The draining of Paradise Bay actually began back on November 3^rd and it took more than two weeks to reach the bottom of this man-made lagoon.

As of right now, most of the on-site survey work has already been completed. So what lies ahead now is several weeks of serious deconstruction. As crews rip up concrete at various spots along the bottom of the now-empty Paradise Bay.  In preparation for those hundreds of high pressure nozzles and pieces of supply piping that are about to be installed.

While all of this work is going on, the Imagineers will also be ripping that amphitheater that they built along the north side of Paradise Bay to then make room for that tiered 9,000-person viewing area that they’ll be adding to DCA. Which will (hopefully) be able to accommodate those huge crowds that will turn out nightly to watch performances of “Disney’s World of Color.”

Given that California Adventure is about to get a brand-new night-time water pageant that will reportedly put the Fountains at Bellagio to shame, I know that it may seem somewhat ungracious – if not downright rude – to begin carping about “Disney’s World of Color.” But me? I can’t help but wonder how much money the Disneyland Resort would have saved if they’d just done even the bare minimum  preparatory work for California Adventure's new water pageant when this theme park was first being constructed back in 1999 / 2000.

Copyright Tokyo Disney Resort. All Rights Reserved

I mean, that’s what WDI did at Tokyo DisneySea. Long before all those parade barges for BraveSEAmo! first floated out onto  Mediterranean Harbor, back during the initial construction phase of the Tokyo Disney Resort’s second theme park, the Imagineers had a lot of the plumbing and electrical necessary to support this sort of show placed at the bottom of that concrete harbor. Which made it that much easier to get a night-time water pageant up out of the ground … er … water when BraveSEAmo! finally got the green light.

Of course, the Oriental Land Company was okay with this sort of expenditure. Given that they realized that it would be far cheaper in the long run to lay the groundwork for a TDS lagoon show while that theme park was still being constructed. Whereas the executives who were riding herd on the construction of Disney’s California Adventure were trying to do everything related to that theme park on the cheap. So any suggestions about doing prep work in Paradise Bay for a future waterfront show was quickly dismisses as “We can’t afford to do that right now. “

Which is why The Walt Disney Company is now forced to spend tens of millions of dollars ripping up the bottom of that concrete lagoon to make room for all of the underwater equipment needed to present & support “Disney’s World of Color.” All because of WDI's penny wise / pound foolish attitude 10 years ago.

Mind you, there is an upside. Because all of this work is now being done in 2009, rather than back in 1999 or 2000, DCA will have a totally state-of-the-art fountain show. One that features the latest & greatest equipment when it comes to high pressure hoses and fine spray nozzles. So when you see a full-sized replica of Sleeping Beauty Castle sculpted entirely out of water suddenly rise up out of Paradise Bay and/or the wildebeast stampede sequence from “The Lion King” play out on a series of 80-foot tall mist screens … Hopefully, all of the extra time & expense involved here will have been worth it.

Copyright 2008 Disney. All Rights Reserved 

But last month, as my daughter and I looked out over the now-empty Paradise Bay … Well, as much as I was looking forward to seeing “Disney’s World of Color” in 2010, there was a part of me that still wished that Dick Nunis had gotten his way.

You see, Dick always felt bad that one of the attractions that Walt had originally proposed for the 1955 version of Disneyland (Which was a Monstro-the-Whale themed Shoot-the-Chutes attraction) had never made it off the drawing board. Which is why – when Nunis learned that DCA was supposed to have a recreation of California’s beachfront amusement piers – he proposed that the Imagineers add a Shoot-the-Chutes to Paradise Pier’s line-up of attractions.

Unfortunately, given the “Less is More” attitude that pervaded much of the design & construction phase of DCA, WDI humored Nunis by having some concept art drawn up for a Shoot-the-Chutes attraction for DCA (Which – FYI – is still on display over at Disney’s Paradise Pier Hotel). But they never actually had any intention of building a recreation of this 1900s-era thrill ride as part of Disney’s California Adventure.

 And speaking of Dick Nunis … Christopher S. writes in say that …

It just makes me sick the way the modern Walt Disney Company continues to cut corners at its stateside theme parks. You can bet that, if Walt were alive today, that the Disney Company wouldn’t dare pull the sort of cr@p that they’re pulling today. Cutting back on the number of performances of “Fantasmic!” that they present every week. Eliminating prime rib from all the restaurants on property …

Christopher’s e-mail goes on and on like this for another couple of paragraphs. There’s no real point in reprinting the rest of his e-mail. Given that it keeps going over (and over and over and over and over … ) the same very idea that Walt would have never compromised the Guest experience at his theme park just to save a few bucks.

Which isn’t exactly true. I mean, Disney was a showman. But he was also a businessman. And as much as he may have prided himself on delivering a top quality Guest experience to all those who paid to enter Disneyland, Walt still couldn’t bring himself to spend money on projects for the Park that wouldn't then bring about some sort of financial return.

Case in point: Back in the 1960s, Dick Nunis was area manager for Adventureland. And even back then, this part of Disneyland – due to its tight, tight quarters and extremely poor layout – was always crowded & congested.

Copyright Disney. All Rights Reserved 

And as Nunis watched tourists struggle daily to make it across Adventureland, he knew that something had to be done to improve Guest flow through this part of the Park. Which is why Dick proposed pushing the load / unload area for the Jungle Cruise back 10 – 15 feet.  Which would then make it possible to add far wider walkways to Disneyland’s Adventureland section.

The only problem with what Nunis was proposing was that it would have cost upwards of $3 million. And given that no new food service and/or retail space was going to be added to the Park as part of shifting the Jungle Cruise’s load / unload area back, Walt couldn’t justify the cost.

“I’m sorry, Dick,” Nunis remembered Disney saying. “But unless this change that you're proposing for Adventureland includes some sort of financial benefit for the Park, I just can’t allow it to go forward.”

Dick’s response to this news? Well, he sort-of kind-of called Walt an @$$#0le and then – while attempting to make a dramatic exit from that particular meeting – accidentally walked into a closet. But the upside is … Disney’s personal opinion of Nunis really went up that day. Given that Dick had proven that he was a guy who was willing to fight for what he truly believed in. Which was improving Park Operations as well as the overall Guest experience.

I know, I know. That sounds like kind of an unlikely story. But Nunis actually told this tale recently – in front of a hall full of themed entertainment professionals, no less – as part of Marty Sklar’s “My Ten Best Tips” presentation at last year’s IAAPA convention. Here’s hoping that Dick eventually puts this story in print as part of those memoirs that he’s now rumored to be writing.

Dick Nunis (L) and Marty Sklar (R) during their joint appearance at the 2008
IAAPA Attractions Expo. Copyright 2008 International Association of
Amusement Parks and Attractions. All Rights Reserved

And – finally – Kathryn P. writes in to say:

I’m confused. Last week, you posted a story that said things were looking so rosy at Walt Disney World that they were about to turn those long-abandoned buildings at Pop Century into family suites. Yet today you run an article that times are so tough for Disney Parks & Resorts right now that the Company’s begun offering buyouts to longtime managers & directors.

So which is it, Jim? Are things looking up for the WDW Resort? Or is Disney World – due to what’s happening with the economy – going to take a real hit in the coming months?

Kathryn P.

Look, when it comes to talking about the Walt Disney World Resort these days, it helps if you take a two-tiered approach: Taking into consideration both the long range and the short term view.

In the short term, WDW is definitely heading into a weird patch. Where – instead of people booking their Walt Disney World vacations at least six months out – the window for advance reservations has now seriously shrunk. These days, people are booking trips to WDW just two & three weeks in advance. Which makes it extremely difficult when it comes to properly staffing & scheduling Cast Members at the Resort.

Which is why – as Disney waits for the economy to right itself. More importantly, for consumer confidence to return – it’s begun to fixate on quick fixes. And among the many ways that the WDW Resort can improve its bottom line (at least when it comes to the short term) is by reducing the head count within its executive suite.

Now if you take into consideration the long range view … Well, Disney feels that it's already has enough anecdotal evidence in hand to suggest that the U.S. economy will be well on its way to full recovery by the middle of 2010. Mind you, folks who will be traveling to the Resort then will still be extremely cautious about how they spend their money.  Which is why these would-be WDW visitors will seriously be looking for bargains.

And if the Mouse has a hotel within its Disney World inventory that would then allow large families to all stay together in the same place for one low price … Well, Disney is betting that a Resort like that will be extremely  popular with Guests who are trying to stretch a dollar as far as it can possibly go.

Which is why it makes sense to start work on the Animation Inn & Suites project ASAP. So that this revamped version of Pop Century will actually be ready to start taking reservations by this time next year. When (hopefully) WDW’s advance reservation window will have shifted back to its normal six-months-out time frame.

This is also why – even though many high rollers have had their portfolios trashed by what happened on Wall Street last Fall – Disney is still pushing forward with construction of that on-property Four Seasons Resort. Yes – in the short term – most Guests vacationing in Orlando won’t really have the  money necessary to stay at a posh hotel like that. But if you take the long range view – looking two & three years down the road, when the U.S. economy has (hopefully) finally fully recovered – people will then be looking to be pampered once more as part of their Disney World vacation experience. And when this new Four Seasons Resort officially opens in 2012, it will then be properly positioned to fill that need in the marketplace.

Concept art for the Four Seasons Resort to be built on property at Walt Disney World
Copyright 2008 Disney / Four Seasons Hotels & Resorts. All Rights Reserved

So long story short here, Kathryn  … In order to really understand what’s going on at The Walt Disney World Resort these days, you always have to take into consideration the bigger picture. That the stuff that Mickey is doing in the short term (i.e. offering buyouts to 619 managers & directors) will then allow the Resort to better position itself to make some  very serious dough in 2010 and beyond. When Disney hopes (Hell, we all hope) that the U.S. economy will be on its way to a full & complete recovery.

Anyway … That’s it for this week’s Why For. Again, if you’d like to see your Disney-related questions as part of this column, please send them along to jim@jimhillmedia.com.

Have a great weekend, okay?