Did Disney Just Answer Epic Universe With The D23 Announcements? 

They did announce a lot, but I don't know if the destruction of Rivers of America and Tom Sawyer Island is the proper thing to do. There apparently has been some backlash that Disney was not expecting. As someone who grew up with Tom Sawyer, I find it a shock, but honestly, I cannot tell you the last time I went. Of course, I will visit often before it is destroyed, but this area is not popular with children today. It is nostalgia, but it is not a significant loss for me. The river boat, on the other hand, is a shameful destruction and will change the entire feel of Frontier Land - they might as well bulldoze the whole area. I'm surprised at your thoughts about Space 220 - it is still quite difficult to get reservations, and has always been packed when we went - and yes, walkup is the best way to get in. I happen to enjoy the restaurant and have no complaints about it whatsoever. I suspect the lounge at Space Ship Earth will replace the corporate lounge that is in the back of the building (the large windows on the second floor facing the World Showcase. Bell, AT&T and Siemens used to sponsor SSE, and that was their corporate space. Back in the early '80s, I would visit the lounge on corporate trips from Bell Labs - the lounge hasn't been used in years - and has been left intact. There are other lounges as well - in The Land (from Kraft if I remember correctly), The Seas has an awesome one with floor to ceiling glass looking out at the aquarium, and had a glass (I think, or might have just been clear plastic) grand piano! I do not remember the sponsor but was my Ma's favorite. GM still has one at Test Track, and HP still has one at Mission: Space. Kodak used to have one at the Imagination Pavilion. American Express had one at The American Pavillion - still in use, but for private functions. Not really a lounge, but even Norway has a loft area, that is above the area that used to have the Norway movie. Norway is the only spot I have not seen - yet! Glad to hear of the changes in AK - but I do not feel that Indiana Jones belong there, first it’s an OLD IP, and it’s kind of dead (IMHO). Looking forward to Monsters - and yes, it is one of my favorites movies - so definitely looking forward to this addition. I just hope they do not destroy the Muppets area; the other area is Launch Bay - and there is NOTHING going on there at all anymore, other than SW meet and greats. Definitely need a new show at Smuggler's Run. MK definitely needs a nighttime parade - they used to have The Electrical Parade which was awesome. Hopefully it will be similar. Love the idea of Cars - just not where they want to put it - expand, don't destroy and replace. Villains is LONG OVER DUE!!! That would be awesome with an underwater ride - the last one was the 20,000 Leagues under the sea submarine ride, so that would be great. I just hope that this is real and not blue sky. I suspect - honestly - that most of it is not. I DO NOT think this is an answer to EPIC. It's more like a few sentences compared to an essay. Not that I am getting down on Disney, but they are nowhere near in coming up with new stuff like Universal. Disney will make a mark, but nothing compared to Universal (IMHO). I tend to agree with a 2030 date. Great video rundown. Be well.

What's the 5th park? Or are you referencing all the parks around the world? Did they confirm the Pokemon and Zelda expansions? I haven't heard anything about it, but that would be awesome!

I definitely agree, MK is a great park, but it really doesn't cater much toward the older audience right now. Villains could really spice that up, and I know cars will be fun and creative, but I don't think it'll be quite the push to make it as nice for older visitors. I just hope we get at least 2 decent attractions in that land with some fun stuff to do!

I'm really curious to see where they end up putting everything. We do know that villains and cars will be happening in replacement of Tom Sawyer island, and AK has the new land taking over dinoland, but I don't know about Monsters Inc yet.

I think they would need a bit more to compete, but it could be the start, ya!!

I agree, it'll be hard to compete with Epic for a few years! But it's still exciting news either way. I think if they funneled ALL of the announcements into just Orlando updates, we may have a different story, but they had a lot spread throughout all of their parks/entertainment.

It's still very exciting. Answering epic with a 5th park would not have been the best move. It's better to expand and develop the parks they already have. Epic may be the shiny new toy in orlando. But once the shine wears off, I don't ever see it overtaking magic kingdom as the most visited park.

And flying dragons.

@@BRMakesStuff They've looked so cool testing!

@@metallicnole4514 I think Epic will be the king at least for the first few years. There's too much there to NOT visit. MK, minus Tron, really has nothing new and hasn't had anything new in awhile. Tianas is still just Splash with a retheme. Once the new D23 announcements come to fruition, there's at least something to be a conversation of "most popular". But I do think Epic will hold the top spot for quite awhile. Villains can bring it back for sure, but I'm not even sure Cars will get them there. But that's speculation, we'll see the data numbers in time!

I feel like Disney has SOOOO many villains at this point, I'm sure they have quite the reach! I think both will be a lot of fun, but I wonder if it's going to deliver the same way that Dark Universe will. Just excited to see more Villain style lands.

@@Dillon.Thomas You can find the rumors online, but as far as I'm aware they're just rumors. not sure if they have any evidence to back it. I didn't want to get my hopes up so have been ignoring them lol

@@Gtneff Ya, I know a lot of people have speculated, but as far as I know, there's nothing announced or leaked even. So, I'd love it if it were the case, but I won't hold my breath yet lol.

Small world is here to stay haha. I would say there is definitely a rivalry, but I think it's a really positive one. As one succeeds, the other responds, which means more cool stuff for all of us! I know a lot of people are really excited about Epic, but I'm seeing more and more people talking about waiting so long till they go. Probably just too much demand immediately that it will be hard to actually get in the park honestly. I do think if Epic has too many weird stipulations with their tickets, however, it could be kind of bad news. I could see a lot of backlash, but I think that ticket stuff is only for 3rd party, and so direct sales from Universal may still offer single day tickets!

​@@Dillon.Thomas 🤣those dolls just keep getting creepier lol. That's a good point about their rivalry; they push each other to continue to grow. I just wish Universal would push Disney into a regular express pass lol. Now, as much as I'm going to miss Dinosaur, I'm always open to switching things up. But I wonder why Indiana Jones. If that area will have Encanto, wouldn't it make sense to add Coco? Maybe Indy will fit fine; I'm going to ride it regardless lol. As far as Epic, I'm just going to sit back and wait awhile because the crowds are going to be unbearable when it opens. And that whole ticket situation to me just seems....strange lol. A one day ticket is like a preview because there's no way to see everything in just one day. Another reason to wait because of all the confusion that's bound to take place.

@@lashaysmith7783 Lol you can't ride that ride without talking about "what if..." I think both parks have things they'll never stray from. I know the parks overseas even do their express stuff differently, too, from what I read. But most of the time they won't veer from from their current offerings, maybe just adjust haha. As for Indiana Jones, not sure, I think they know it's just a more popular ride at Disneyland I guess, so they figure maybe Dinosaur is too much for kids? But it's such a fun ride, but it's very dark, so maybe this will have it be more bright? I don't know lol, but for theming purposes, I guess Encanto is kind of out in the forest...ish? LOL. So maybe they just wrote it in to work it out? Ya, Epic will be a madhouse I assume early. Everyone will want to be first, and it'll be tough. I know it's selfish, but I'd love for them to offer passholders like a month or a few months in early, and then they can just cut them off for like 2-3 months or whatever. Since I know they're concerned about making their money, and passholders will attempt to go like EVERY day lol. So, one way to combat that, allow them in before single/multi-park ticket purchases, and then you just cut them off for a bit. Plus, you could get a better gist of operations with slightly lower attendance lol, and then it prepares you. Wishful thinking... but it'd be cool! I'm very curious about how tickets will be working, I heard August/September they were supposed to give full details. But we haven't heard yet 🧐

Oh that's awesome! Can't wait to get more information about the attractions and offerings there.

Yes, and the pirates lounge that I added later. Though I assume that's all wrapped into the Tropical Americas, to be fair.

There are a lot of people upset that they are replacing old attractions/lands for sure. I'm more excited for the NEW lands vs retheming a land for sure. But I want to see the ground break first before I start to get too hyped LOL.

It's going to be an interesting few years, that's for sure! I think EPCOT was obviously a pretty bad fumble from what we were expecting, what was removed and reality. It's hard to call that a success. Tiana's wasn't this massive drop that people loved. So maybe all of this moving forward can help out and turn that ship around? But I also know a lot of people are upset about Tom Sawyer island now and the location of it all. So, we'll see. I think if all of this comes to life and it delivers, I think it'll be a hit. If it takes forever or gets "budget cut" then there may be some REAL upset guests lol.

@weaseljavelin9443 hey Craig, I think both of us would say space mountain! It's a classic that still holds strong today!

Time will tell! SUPER excited for this land.

@mattisnotridley Agree! I just hope they weren't lying about dirt moving already haha. I want to see these projects come to life!

While I agree, they tend to "imagine" things, and not really put it into motion. BUT, they have things in the works, and we were confirmed this is all happening. Obviously we can be lied to lol, but I'd assume this is all legit. Timeline is another story, though. I think were looking at 2027/2028 before any of these lands opens. And I think by the time all of the announcements are finished, I would assume Universal is in the process of adding something additional to at least one of their other parks.

You're not technically wrong lol

I think Hollywood Studios is such a question mark, as we didn't get location compared to the other lands announced. We know Tropical Americas is going where Dinoland is. We know Villains and Cars are going next to BTM and utilizing Tom Sawyer island and Rivers of America to now make it's land. But Monsters Inc. Land has no location yet, so everyone speculates. I would think there's a few locations, that animators courtyard could be a location, but they would have to widen that up like crazy since it's kind of tight. But a lot of people predicted where the starcruiser was, too. So we'll have to see!

@@Dillon.Thomas question with Disney world getting IP into their attractions, do you suppose that they would include Disney characters to its a small world like the one in Disneyland?

@@dannygrau2983 I don't think they will be changing small world much more at this point, but they certainly could!

@garry7218 Thank you! 🙂

Ya, they made the announcement after I made the video haha. I think that was like the very end, last day where they revealed all of that haha. But now we know!

Definitely going to be theme park wars back in Orlando which is really fun! Hoping it's a lot of back and forth between the 2 as they both start to give us more value as the consumer!

What flops?