Disney Rumors You Need to Know for July 2019
Massive changes are afoot at Disney theme parks. We’ll learn the extent of them at the 2019 D-23 Expo next month. For now, all rumors are precisely that: rumors. And a lot of this may seem outdated and comically incorrect in just a few weeks. Keeping that in mind, here’s what we’re hearing about Disney rumors this month.
The Grand Floridian Path and What It Means
As recently mentioned in MickeyBlog News, Disney has confirmed (but not announced) that they’re constructing a walking path. This new pathway will connect Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa to Magic Kingdom.
A friend recently did some quick calculations and determined that the path will be roughly 0.70 miles. As a FYI, that’s a shorter walk than from Disney’s BoardWalk Inn to Disney’s Hollywood Studios. In other words, it’s a breezy 10-minute walk from a luxury hotel directly to your favorite theme park.
The more important aspect of this revelation has nothing to do with the Grand Floridian. Instead, it’s kind of a proof-of-concept of a rumor percolating in some Disney circles. Many insiders believe that changes are coming to Disney’s Transportation and Ticket Center (TTC).
Disney strategists have long coveted this parcel of land, feeling that a bit of tweaking could maximize the valuable property. They’d relocate some entrances and parking areas currently reserved for the TTC and thereby “regain” the space for something else.
A New Disney Resort in the Magic Kingdom Area?
What does Disney have in mind? In a perfect world, they’d reclaim enough space to construct a new Disney resort on the north side of Seven Seas Lagoon. This possible hotel would fall somewhere between Disney’s Contemporary Resort and the TTC.
You don’t have to know a lot about Walt Disney World to understand the value of such property. One of the strongest selling points of the Contemporary is its proximity to Magic Kingdom. While this resort wouldn’t be quite as close, it would still have rival Grand Floridian as the second-nearest hotel to the park.
Speaking of the Grand Floridian, this selling point wouldn’t even be the best one. An anecdote gets passed around about Bob Chapek, Chairman of Disney Parks and Resorts, so much that it’s presumed true by many, even if it’s baseless.
Keeping Up with the Joneses
The story goes that Chapek is envious of the nearby Four Seasons at Walt Disney World Resort. He perceives it as the most upscale hotel on the Disney campus and resents that a third-party holds that claim. As such, the Disney Parks boss is taking steps to reinvigorate the Grand Floridian to bring it into the 21st century. He would thereby make it more competitive with the Four Seasons.
What’s even easier to do than renovating? Yes, the answer is building something entirely new. The Four Seasons had the benefit of coming 30 years after the Grand Floridian. It could evaluate the current measuring stick for deluxe Orlando accommodations and then take steps to surpass the rival resort.
With a new construction area, Disney could return the favor. They could feasibly build a luxurious new property that dwarfs the Four Seasons in terms of theming and overall quality. This idea appeals to Disney officials, whether the Chapek anecdote is real or not. Another high-end hotel with Deluxe Tier room rates would undoubtedly boost the company’s bottom line.
Timeless vs. Modern
I’m inclined to believe that Disney wants to build a new hotel. In the interim, they’re still taking steps to modernize the Grand Floridian, which isn’t a welcome idea to some.
Diehard Disney fans love the timeless Victorian-era charm of the hotel. They don’t want a 21st-century style or intellectual property-based changes like the Beauty and the Beast lounge that’s already confirmed.
Improvements like the walking path to Magic Kingdom indicate that Disney will make the hotel better anyway that they can. But an entirely new hotel with a modern theme would do even better than one built in the 1980s.
Photo credit: Bioreconstruct | Twitter
Of course, this possible property would open another can of worms. Would Disney add a monorail station for it? Or possibly even a Disney Skyliner station? Nobody has any idea, but my opinion is that the latter makes more sense than the former. It’s probably cheaper, too.
Speaking of the Monorail…
The hottest topic of conversation over the past couple of years is the monorail system. Disney’s had several highly publicized mishaps during this timeframe. A door came open during a ride once, and a door fell off entirely on another occasion. Just last week, guests got stuck on the monorail for 30 minutes.
Each incident is a black eye for Disney. On top of that, it sets off another wave of “When will the company replace the outdated monorail fleet?” internet debates. The outcry is one-sided in these discussions, too.
Well, we recently got our answer, and it wasn’t what any of us had expected. Disney restored the Silver line of the monorail fleet during July. Yes, they’ve refurbished an existing train rather than introducing a new one.
To Disney’s credit, the updated Silver Monorail does look nice. They’ve redone the carpet interiors and emphasized the silver in the new look. The legendary blue seats are gone, replaced by silver ones.
Yes, when you’re lucky enough to board the Silver Monorail, you get to sit down on a new seat. It’s a nice change from the ones that seem older than the couch you left sitting on the curb at garbage pickup.
Overall, the new look silver vehicle has improved so much that you’ll spot it from afar. It looks cleaner than the rest. Presumably, Disney will perform a similar renovation on the others in the coming months.
But I think I speak for all of us when I say that a new fleet would have been better. I’m still hopeful that Disney will find the money to replace the current trains by the 50th anniversary of Walt Disney World in 2021.
Waiting for 2021 to come in Dec for Birthdays