AdamEfimoff
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2015
australia?In a Country where the people are really prospering
australia?In a Country where the people are really prospering
australia?
India might be an interesting location actually.In a Country where the people are really prospering
to be honest I dont know which Country's are and are not, but when people are making lots of money, a Disney Park is the prefect getaway for a young family
I don't know if it's necessarily that. The issue with Australia is that they have a fairly small population in an isolated location. Texas has a larger population than Australia. The Shanghai metro area has more people. Australia certain has tourism, but it's somewhat out of the way for anything like a Disney park.
Another place that I wouldn’t be surprised to hear suggested is Dubai. Given how much money is going into securing Dubai’s future beyond relying on oil revenue, and the effort they are going to in trying to attract Western tourists, I am pretty certain that it’s on a list of possibilities somewhere, belonging to either Disney or the Dubai tourism board.
They would have to loosen up on a lot of their customs if they want to attract Western tourists, IMO. While they are one of the more 'liberal' countries in the region, there are still a lot of traditions, religious ones, that have to be overcome unless they want a lot of international incidents. Head covering, body covering, separating male/female at certain events and places, etc. All of the websites I checked to learn about traveling in Dubai list a lot of "don'ts". That doesn't work well with a large international tourist drive.
I think Australia seems that way from an American or Western Europe perspective, but it has an extraordinary level of tourism, and the Gold Coast is already an extremely popular tourist destination from Asia. I think it’s a viable option if you consider it as a tourist park, in much the same way as WDW was when it was built, rather than merely looking at the local population. I think Australia makes as much sense as Paris, as I assume that any Australian park would be on a similar scale, rather than it being the size of either of the American parks (I don’t know about the existing Asian parks so that’s why I’m not commenting on them).
The distance would still be an obstacle and the local population obviously wouldn’t be enough to support it. It’s not like the new place in Shanghai that has over 200 million people living within 1000 km who could arrive by high speed rail.
What WDW had was that it was in the United States. Disneyland has a sizable visitation from locals who visit on the spur of the moment. Crossing international borders is still a chore for most people.
Of course we’re mostly talking fantasy here.
Yes, I agree that none of this is likely to happen. I do understand your point about international travel, but in my experience (having lived in the UK, US and Australia) international travel is less of an issue outside of the US, which is why Disneyland Paris has managed to stay afloat. International travel is a bigger deal in the US, due to the size, the fact that you have such a big country that has beaches, mountains etc (ie no reason to leave), and the high cost of flights. In contrast, Europeans and Australians travel more abroad, because Europe is smaller and Australia is so isolated.
My guess would be that a hypothetical park in Australia or the Middle East would not be targeting the US market, with the exception of the die hard fans who want to visit all the parks. Instead, it would be targeting the local/regional market. That is my understanding of what is happening in the existing Asian parks, and is based on how Disneyland Paris is marketed in the UK and Europe.
Obviously all of this is hypothetical, but that’s my best guess.
I know that the US market isn't the issue, but targeting even Asia. Sure there's tourism from Asia going to Australia, but I don't believe it's huge numbers. As a destination area, I don't necessarily think Australia has what would be required for something of this magnitude. If the size/scope is pared down, then there would be accusations of simply trading on the Disney name without providing a Disney experience.
In Europe there's the Schengen Area that makes travel between European countries extremely easy. There's effectively no border controls. Europeans vacation in other European countries almost like someone in Louisiana might travel to Florida.
There are talks soon.........of building a Disney park in Termini IMERSE (near Palermo). Talks fell through in 2013.
The ship could make a stop at Palermo (as it did when we cruised in 2007/excursion for the day to the park). Just a thought. I don't think anything will come of this though.
Interesting nevertheless.
http://www.palermotoday.it/economia/parco-disney-termini-imerese-armao.html
Schengen currently covers more than 20 countries - 26 I think - but it started as an agreement between 5 countries. The expanded Schengen Convention didn’t come into force until 1995, three years after Disneyland Paris was opened. It was not brought into de facto EU law until much later. So while border-free movement within Europe is the norm now, it was not the case when Disneyland Paris was planned or even opened. Disney made an educated guess at how things would end up in Europe, but at the time that DLP was being planned there was significant resistance within Europe about the direction that the EU would take. It could have easily gone the other way.
I'd prefer San Antonio or Austin, but the coast isn't too far away, except for Houston traffic. I'd much rather drive in San Antonio.Texas is my choice too. Maybe between Houston and Galveston.
EPCOT comes to mind.I don't think Disney needs to build another theme park. I think they need to do some massive upkeep on the ones they currently have.