Why Disney World’s 50th Anniversary Should Be Big
On the first night of our Walt Disney World honeymoon, we raced to Disney’s Hollywood Studios to catch the final evening of Star Wars Weekends. We met Darth Goofy, Jedi Mickey, R2D2, and Princess Lei Minnie before stopping at the Star Tours stage to see the final showing of Hyperspace Hoopla.
Following that, we headed to the Polynesian for dinner at Kona Cafe where we took advantage of a superior and cheaper version of the Disney Dining Plan and had some of the best steak at Walt Disney World. Following that exceptional meal, we were off to Magic Kingdom for one of the most memorable evenings of our lives.
We raced into the park just in time for the Summer Nightastic fireworks, one of the best spectaculars Magic Kingdom has ever produced. We then caught the second performance of Main Street Electrical Parade–a downgrade from SpectroMagic but better than nothing. Magic Kingdom closed at midnight that night, but had 3 hours of evening Extra Magic Hours, giving us run of the park and time to do about a dozen more rides. We finally left Magic Kingdom and boarded a bus back to BoardWalk at 4:10 am…
There’s a lot to unpack in those three paragraphs. The least of which for us being that we once stayed up past 10 pm, rather than falling asleep on the couch watching reruns we’ve seen dozens of times (but I digress…). Adding even more context, our Walt Disney World honeymoon was a decade ago last month, occurring in the aftermath of the Great Recession at a time when the travel industry was just starting to recover from significant losses.
Even before Walt Disney World closed temporarily in March, a lot had changed for the worse in the intervening 10 years. Prices and attendance had both skyrocketed. In the case of the former, some costs had roughly doubled during that time. With regard to the latter, attendance was up about 3 to 6 million annual guests per park. (So much for Disney increasing prices to reduce crowds, a falsity that way too many fans eagerly parroted.)
That’s to say nothing of the other changes, which have been a mixed bag. Park hours have been significantly shorter the last several years while perks and entertainment has been cut. On the other hand, big additions like Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Toy Story Land, Pandora – World of Avatar, etc. have debuted. The point of this is not to debate whether Walt Disney World’s parks are better or worse than they were a decade ago.
Rather, it’s to offer an illustrative example and assert that Disney needs to suppress its worst impulses to cut cut cut in the face of decreased attendance. Instead, the company should adopt a similar strategy of Summer Nightastic for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary. Add smaller scale enhancements, bring crowd-pleasing entertainment to Florida, and lean into nostalgic fan-favorites. In short, give passionate and longtime Disney fans a reason to visit Walt Disney World, and help fuel a recovery beginning in October 2021.
At this point, there’s mostly uncertainty about Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary. Over the last couple of years, a lot of announcements have come with the line that they’re opening “in time for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary.” At various times, this has included Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Tron Lightcycle Run, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, Harmonious, and the Play Pavilion.
We anticipate all of those additions still coming at some point, but now the only one that’s a sure thing before October 1, 2021 is Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure. Some of the rest might still arrive in time, but most will likely be delayed. So what does that leave? A color trend, spirit jerseys, and cupcakes are not going to cut it if Disney is looking to rebound.
Disney has always leaned heavily on nostalgia, and that has been doubly true for milestone anniversaries. They did for Walt Disney World’s 25th Anniversary, when it was “time to remember the magic,” and they did for both Disneyland’s 50th Anniversary and the Diamond Celebration.
Previously, rumors suggested that Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary would celebrate “50 Magical Enhancements” that would be promoted as part of an 18-month celebration beginning on October 1, 2021. That probably sounds more impressive than it would’ve been, with a variety of overlays, enhancements, special offers, and small stuff counting towards the tally in addition to the half-dozen headliner additions.
Some of those 50 enhancements would have focused on plussing or restoring fan favorite attractions. Think of this as a cross between “Project Sparkle” that Disneyland Paris rolled out ahead of its 25th Anniversary and the Diamond Celebration for Disneyland’s 60th Anniversary–a mix of character-driven things to appeal to new guests, and nostalgia-fueled fun for old-timers.
Note that most of this is past tense. Those rumors seemed less credible when nothing substantive was announced at last year’s D23 Expo. Their potential has slipped even further following the 4-month closure of Walt Disney World’s theme parks and ensuing economic uncertainties. As we cover in Will Walt Disney World’s Low Crowds Continue? the parks are in for a rough rest of the year, which will undoubtedly bleed over into 2021. In fact, a full recover for Walt Disney World is likely years away–we’re talking 2023 at the earliest.
However, I’d argue that the recent rockiness makes the case even strong for going big on entertainment, overlays, and nostalgia-fueled enhancements for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary. Not only are these the easiest additions with a quicker turnaround time, but they’re comparatively inexpensive and are necessarily the type of ‘limited time’ offerings to entice guests to visit the parks at a time when attendance is depressed.
Disney has employed this strategy to great success time and time again, especially at Disneyland and Tokyo Disneyland; how “nostalgia sells” among Disney fans probably does not need further elucidation. (Although we will offer plenty more in our conclusion.) Instead, let’s turn to some potential options…
At the top of my original wishlist would’ve been SpectroMagic 2.0. The reality is that since we haven’t heard anything about that yet, it’s not happening. Moreover, Disney can’t really start development on new fireworks or parades until it’s certain that they’ll be safe to run by next October. (For the sake of this post, we’re going to assume that’s the case.)
The good news here is that there are a lot of nighttime parade floats sitting around in California, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and maybe Paris (I’m not sure what’s up with Fantillusion–it has probably been destroyed or repurposed by now). A “new” parade could either be cobbled together from those floats or ported over directly. Walt Disney World has previously had the option of running Paint the Night and passed on it due to maintenance and operating expenses. It’s time to rethink that decision.
Next, a return of the Tapestry of Nations parade or something drawing from its spirit at Epcot. This was vaguely evoked (hinted at would be too strong) at D23 Expo ago, and it would be a good option for drawing back longtime fans. It would also be a good counterpart to Harmonious, which is going to skew towards new guests.
Recently, congestion and crowd flow have been a logistical impediment to both a Magic Kingdom nighttime parade and Epcot daytime parade. That shouldn’t be the case anytime in the next few years.
Continuing on, the revitalization of Tomorrowland is a project that’s underway and could offer a boost if it ends up being more than just a quick place-making project stripping back the Tomorrowland ’94 ornamentation.
Obvious choices here are substantive updates for the Tomorrowland Transit Authority PeopleMover (something’s gotta happen there regardless) and a new finale for Carousel of Progress (done with integrity). Ironically, there are a lot of other options for appealing to nostalgia while updating Magic Kingdom’s futuristic land.
Elsewhere at Walt Disney World, bringing back past offerings for limited engagements where possible would also be savvy and encourage return visits. Limited Time Magic at Disneyland would provide a great blueprint for this, where things like “A Salute to the Golden Horseshoe Revue” and “Long-Lost Friends Week” helped fuel local turnout and interest.
In general, Walt Disney World should be borrowing Disneyland’s playbook for the next couple of years. The Florida parks are going to be much more reliant on locals, Annual Passholders, Disney Vacation Club members, and return visitors than normal. First-timers are obviously still vital to Walt Disney World’s business, but fans are the lower hanging fruit for the foreseeable future.
Finally, some new and returning attraction overlays. Walt Disney World has long been concerned that bringing back Country Bear Christmas would crash their servers with people booking hotel rooms and buying tickets, but maybe it’s time to finally take that risk. The go.com infrastructure is pretty resilient.
Joking aside, there are probably more viable options here. Perhaps it’d be possible to negotiate ‘borrowing’ the Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay from OLC, using that for a ‘second push’ beginning around September 2022. (Remember, it’s likely an 18-month celebration.)
This is hardly an exhaustive list of ideas. Again, it’s the type of things that Walt Disney World could realistically offer on a relatively short turnaround time and limited budget that would incentivize visits by fans, locals, etc.
Our fear is that Walt Disney World is going to engage in further belt-tightening and austerity measures while going into survival mode, and all substantive plans and budget for the 50th Anniversary will be a casualty of that. Some such budget cuts are no doubt necessary and appropriate, but there’s a golden opportunity to leverage the upcoming anniversary to Disney’s advantage. Timing-wise, it couldn’t be more perfect–starting almost exactly when a bounce-back could be feasible in light of real world constraints.
Over the last several years, we’ve cautioned against short-term thinking for a business unit that should be more fixated on long-term health. In fact, we repeatedly harped on the dangers of Walt Disney World making deep cuts during times of record prosperity; those have significant long-term ramifications and provide little room for maneuvering when times actually got tough.
These points were best made in our Is Disney Eroding Fan Goodwill? editorial, which expressed concern about a variety of topics (still relevant today). As was the case then, the problem is if you trim too much fat, you start to hit bone. Now, attendance woes could become a self-fulfilling property when coupled with cuts that are supposedly to help stem the bleeding. Those reductions alienate long-time fans while also making first-timers less likely to fall in love with the place, and thus become lifelong fans.
Ultimately, this is not a new problem, and it’s long past time for Disney to address this. Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary would be the perfect time. There’s still over a year to develop new entertainment, ship nighttime parade floats over from California or Japan, bring back some fan-favorite entertainment from years past, and really play up the nostalgia.
Many lifelong fans–even ones who have become more jaded and cynical about Disney in recent years–are just looking for an excuse to come back in 2021. Walt Disney World could give them one, winning back old fans, making new lifelong enthusiasts, recapturing lost attendance, and undoing several years of damage in the process.
It’s not the cheapest or safest course of action, but it is the smartest. Unfortunately, it’s also unquestionably the riskier approach, and Walt Disney World leadership has become increasingly risk-averse. Cost-cutting seems the more likely path, and we will no doubt see that play out in terms of capital expenditures over the course of the next several years irrespective of what’s done for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary.
However, such moves also entail their own long-term risks and pitfalls. Cutting costs does not occur in a vacuum–even if that’s what Disney leadership might believe since their product has been so popular during the economic boom of the last decade that they’ve been able to make cuts and increase prices with impunity. (That’s no longer economic reality, and won’t be for at least a few years.) Those cuts also send a signal to guests, and there’s a negative behavioral feedback loop that results. Walt Disney World has the perfect opportunity to hit reset here at a time when year over year metrics to which they’re beholden have been obliterated and rendered meaningless. It’s time to break the cycle, going big for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary in a way that excites and reignites the magic for lifelong fans, old and new.
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Your Thoughts
Are you considering a trip for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary? What would ‘entice’ you to visit during the celebration? Think any of the ideas here are viable ways to lure back longtime fans? Should Disney instead focus on cutting operating costs and the planned big budget additions? Do you agree or disagree with our advice/assessment? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Tom, I think you hit the nail on the head with this one! You are so correct in that disney needs to get back to the nostalgia, the things that people have loved and looked forward to for years. New things are nice, but the nostalgic attractions are what people look forward to. The retheming and changing to meet someone’s idea of what is right is a poor decision on their part. History happened. Slavery happened. It is not occuring now. You cannot wipe out history just because you want to. That’s communism (the tearing down of statues, wiping out history, etc)
Returning to some of the special “deals” that has made disney special over the years is very much needed right now. The Year of Magic (I think that’s what it was called) was fantastic for the guests. It made us feel special. They need to fall back to what made the name and parks famous. They need to reduce prices on all things, even just a little. They need to stop the extra magic hours which are taking away that which used to be free with your ticket, just to charge more money. Keep the free extra hours at each park, as before. No cutting on new attractions. It’s a shame what we got with SWGE compared to what they were going to give us. So, I agree with all that you have said and I hope someone in their organization pays attention so our disney can return to it’s greatness.
Right on Ruthann about nostalgia
I have long planned an extra-long trip to WDW first the 50th anniversary. My plan has been for two weeks, in late September just overlapping the October 1 anniversary by a day or so– with an eye to being there for whatever they do on the actual anniversary while also taking advantage of lower September crowds with all the updates/construction/prep work being finished.
Like you I’m starting to wonder how the disaster of 2020 will impact the 50th anniversary. If operations are back to normal but crowds are still very low, that would be nice as far as it goes– but if the 50th anniversary gets scaled back to something underwhelming, or all the current construction at WDW is still ongoing due to delays, then it’ll be a huge disappointment, the Grand Golden Year (GGY) trip will be just an ordinary WDW trip.
Mind you, WDW is all the reason I need; I’ll still go on the trip. But it’ll be sad if GGY falls too short.
I was planning on a visit coinciding with the 50th anniversary. But, now I think I’ll wait for the Star Wars hotel to open, instead. Maybe it is blasphemous to say this, but the Magic Kingdom is my least favorite park In Disney World. I find it to be old and dated. Maybe it’s because it hasn’t changed much from when I was a kid. I rode Space Mountain in 2017 and that ride is positively decrepit. Especially when compared to the Harry Potter rides at Universal.
My favorite MK memory was on my first visit, They had this sign In the park that said: “Coming Soon: EPCOT.”
Thank you for all that you do Tom! I love your blog.
I hope Tom gets all of wishes granted (but I’m not optimistic). I wish he was in charge instead of Chapek.
Personally, the biggest issue I have had over the last decade has been decreasing park hours, decreasing EMH, and throttling ride capacity, AS ATTENDANCE INCREASED, making the parks more crowded. Meanwhile us Disney fans were trying to figure out which month to visit that doesn’t require waiting in line for an hour for POTC, oblivious to the fact that Disney wanted it crowded to maximize profit. The crowds and effort to plan a vacation is what drove off the majority of my previous Disney-going friends.
So I think I will get my Monkey’s Paw wish – low crowds and easy planning at Disney – at the expense of a global recession and many, many deaths. When this is all done, I look forward to staying at the Wilderness Lodge for $99 with free dining. I heard its beautiful at Christmas.
Have you been to every Disney park worldwide?
I miss Star Wars Weekends with the Disney characters dressed in Star Wars costumes. I would love to see them at a character meal at Hollywood & Vine.
That should be an easy no brainer
Planning to attend the 50th Anniversary. This will be our family’s first time visiting WDW! (We’ve all grown up on Disneyland). Needless to say planning a WDW vacation for the first time is daunting! Your blog has been a huge help. With homeschool kids we are pretty flexible. Not sure when (if) we’ll be back and I don’t want to miss anything. I’m aiming for October (hopefully). Thank you so much for all your information/updates and your pictures on your site are beautiful.
I have been planning to book for spring of 2022 to catch the 50th. We have never visited in the spring. Let’s hope that there’s plenty to look forward to by then!
Planning a visit for my 60th in November 2021. Any idea when bookings will open up for the Contemporary Resort during November/December 2021? The normal advanced booking was not available.
Thanks!
I have said for a few years now that my next big trip to Disney would be on my birthday in 2021 (I am the same age as Magic Kingdom ). I would like to go in September (do you think the celebration will start early?). There are plenty of new rides already since our last visit to look forward to, even if not everything planned is finished by then. I am really hoping to stay at Wilderness Lodge and I would really like to have the dining plan fully available by then or I would consider pushing our visit back.
A few months ago, I might’ve answered this question differently–starting the festivities in September might’ve relieved some demand during the off-season.
Now, I don’t see excess demand being a problem and I can’t imagine Disney starting the festivities then. There’s always the chance they kick things off at the start of summer, but I also view that as unlikely.
Hi Tom,
Don’t you think Disney would begin “celebrating” their 50th anniversary at the beginning of the calendar year (January)?
I would think they would want to capitalize on the entire year.
Thank you,
Gregg
It’ll likely be an 18-month event regardless of when it starts. I could be wrong, but I view a January start as highly unlikely. Disney’s fiscal year starts in October, so the actual calendar has little bearing on timing.
Totally agree with Tom! COVID’s economic havoc has surely put an end to a lot of the big capital expenditures like totally new rides and lands, so a focus on entertainment and holiday overlays is a more cost effective way to focus on luring back repeat guests. A nighttime parade is what the people want!!!
The tricky thing is no one knows when parades and nighttime spectaculars will be feasible, but for me that is one of the most important things that distinguishes a Disney trip from other theme parks (where parades and fireworks are nonexistent). Hopefully they will be able to have them again by fall 2021!
“The tricky thing is no one knows when parades and nighttime spectaculars will be feasible…”
With more and more research and studies showing that virtually no super-spreader events can be attributed to outdoor activities or gatherings, the argument could be made that they’re feasible now.
However, it’ll understandably take time for this shift in messaging and public perception to occur. Additionally, I can’t imagine that Disney wants to spend money on fireworks or full parades just yet.
When my husband and I went to WDW on our honeymoon in 1996 as poor college students, a day ticket was something like $35. Since then, Disney has added a lot of cool new stuff, but as you indicated, they have also done a great deal to erode good will. IMHO, the worst offense is poor cast member hiring, training, and retention. If they would focus on bringing back the magic in that way, I for one wouldn’t need expensive new parades or fireworks to restore my faith in the company or encourage me to show up.
I totally agree with your ideas for the upcoming celebration, and sincerely hope someone in the corporation follows your suggestions. I’ve been a Disney fan since 1986, normally taking a faimly visit every 2 years since then. I have been disappointed the past 5 years with the cuts in entertainment, the constant building of only DVC accomodations, the renovations at existing hotels being Non-Disney themed. My early year visits the hotels being Disney themed was just an added attraction. We normally participated in the Disney DIning Plan (whether free or not) but my opinion on the plan having been changed in the past 5 years, no longer enticed me to participate. One of the biggest disappointments has been the decrease of “disney attitude” from their workers (could be tied to low pay, or perhaps some employment constrictions and needles to say the constant up charges for everything (it really makes one believe that they (Disney) are forcing the “middle class”, totally out of the experience.
There’s a lot of truth with what you say and I agree. I’ll go as far as to say our experience there has been going downhill for the last 10 years. We’ve been doing other amusement parks more during those years like Dollywood and Silver Dollar City instead.
I do feel a let down with the Disney employees, too. I think there was more pride in the past.
Live entertainment cutbacks have hurt me the most. I especially miss DeVine in AK and the candy maker in Epcot’s Japan.
It’s been two years for us and our last trip there. I was looking forward to the new rides for the 50th celebration and now that seems to being cutback, too.
I would LOVE to have Spectromagic make a return!
Great post Tom, as usual! We have Pop Century booked for Sept 16-26 of ’21… extremely excited, but considering changing to mid or late October. Whatever may be open by then, much will still be new to us – we haven’t been since mid-2018, so it will be our first experience with Galaxy’s Edge, Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway, etc.
We are hoping things are somewhat back to some semblance of normal by fall ’21!
I hope the powers that be read your blogs.
I say this regularly of Tom and Sarah’s posts.
I get so scared sometimes for Disney’s future. It is like somebody up there is not using the brains God gave them.
“We anticipate all of those additions still coming at some point, but now the only one that’s a sure thing before October 1, 2020”
Tom, think you mean 2021? Time no longer has meaning during the pandemic, so maybe things did move up :-).
October 1, *2021*
Thanks for the heads up!
We made it all the way from California. Spent all day yesterday at Hollywood Studios and today is Magic Kingdom. It makes us miss our Disneyland so. Nice to be back in the magic!
I totally agree with what you have said. I want to do a four generation trip for the 50th anniversary but only if it’s special and worthwhile. Obviously, until a Covid-19 vaccine is readily available and effective I can’t see Disney going all out for the 50th celebration. If a vaccine doesn’t happen by early 2021 I’m afraid Disney World will do more cutbacks.
The way Disney World is right now I would not go. I am a longtime fan with over 50 trips there but I just don’t consider it a happy place to be right now. To be fair I am not sure I’ll take any vacations without an effective vaccine.