For years now, I have read dozens of articles speculating where when and what a fifth theme park might be at Walt Disney World.
Throughout 2014, most links I clicked on speculated that we might be seeing a Star Wars theme park, due to several comments CEO Bob Iger has made about seeing an increased presence of the franchise in Disney parks in the not-so-distant future.
For the last few years after Pleasure Island closed, Downtown Disney suffered a period of zero growth simply due to the fact that they were land locked in how much space they had to expand and more importantly, the parking situation.
Considering how much money is being poured into infrastructure, it was when Disney decided to add all these additional features that Disney Springs essentially became Walt Disney World’s fifth park.
While the number hasn’t been released to the public, it’s fair to speculate that the amount of money Disney is spending to create Disney Springs well exceeds the $500 million mark.
I’m not saying that Disney Springs is a theme park in the traditional sense, but I am saying it will be able to hold nearly as many people and potentially generate as much revenue as an actual park.
All these rumors floating around don’t really add up to a lot of sense and in the end, Walt Disney World is getting a fifth gate, just not one that most theme park fans want.
Source: Theme Park University