Universal first acquired the south campus property in the late 90s. They even said it was for another park shortly after Islands of Adventure opened. They then changed their plans, sold the land, changed plans again and bought it back. And even when they bought it back, Epic Universe was originally envisioned as a longer term project before being moved ahead to 2023.
Back in the early 2000s the Disneyland Resort had
thirdthemepark.com touting a future park on the Strawberry Fields now Toy Story Parking Lot.
Even Tokyo DisneySEA is on a plot that was part of the original land reclamation project back in the 70s.
It’s interesting because Tokyo DisneySea, if you adjust it for inflation it cost someplace between $6-6.5 billion dollars. It was around $2.7B originally, worse than regulation inflation too because construction costs increases have outpaced it.
Epic cost what, like $8B in the end plus some cost overruns? Tho they had to build the complex’s infrastructure which DisneySea didn’t since it is its own thing including many new facilities even for their existing parks, which would’ve been in the hundreds of millions of that at least just for the park, and I assume it likely includes the entire complex not just the park’s facilities, which was a big difference too, tho I don’t know.
It’s also only that low, at $6B today for DisneySea because deflation in Japan and PPP differences, specifically. Shanghai also would’ve cost more had it been made in America but Japan probably is even more of an outlier due to their unique economic circumstances for cost. It would cost upwards of $6B to build Tokyo DisneySea in America today almost without question, I’d imagine closer to Epic levels.
And DisneySea only opened with 2 E-tickets, arguably.
Epic has what, like 4 even if you don’t even include Mario Kart or a Donkey Kong? I mean, even today, with billions in expansions DisneySea will still have 220+ minute waits for its top 5 rides on peak days, Epic’s 180 waits for at most 3 of its rides doesn’t seem so horrifying for a brand new park anymore
Much rather this than DLP that plunges us into a dark age. We’re legitimately seeing the golden age of theme parks: competition is so wonderful!
Budget definitely went more towards rides at Epic, details in MiraCosta are way better than Helios, and a much larger emphasis on a berm, sightlines and positioning itself by the ocean to integrate with it, by a mile for example, but both the parks have similarly scaled lands and just stupid theming.
They’re really the only two parks in the world on that level, in that way in my opinion.
AK’s expansive, but the actual walking areas that are themed are actually pretty small, overall, which is sort of how they were able to get away with doing AK, for under a billion. It simply forgot to open with rides, or even multiple lands
It also sort of shows that when there’s a will there is a way. While there’s less access to cheap land in LA and Tokyo, they do have plots of land at Disneyland they could use or just buy property elsewhere. Tokyo can do the same, more likely just reclaim it. About $1-1.5 to do it, absolutely would be justified if they’re spending $8-10 on it.
Like easily.
What this does show however, is that a Tokyo DisneySea-level park today IS MORE VIABLE THAN EVER, and Disney had totally been selling themselves short for decades
