1. Hotels, Disney Springs, and outside the parks

Interestingly, one of the biggest growth areas for Walt Disney World is the time its guests spend outside the theme parks. It’s weird to think of a place as massive at Walt Disney World lacking things to do, but this is clearly something they’ve started to consider.

It’s important to remember that the Disney company doesn’t actually consider Universal its primary competition. For Disney, the entire vacation industry is Disney’s competition: cruise lines, travel companies, cities and towns abroad – all of it. They don’t want guests to ask themselves, “Universal or Disney” – they want guests to ask, “Rome or Disney?” That is the scale the company thinks on.

It was this ethos that led to the construction of the many beaches of Walt Disney World, hoping to lure guests in from the shores of Florida. It was why Disney eventually built luxurious resort hotels and spas like the Grand Floridian – trying to capture the luxury travel market. It’s why Disney constructed its massive water parks, its many golf courses, and its convention spaces. And, now, it’s why Disney is trying to transform Downtown Disney from solely a post-theme-park hangout spot into a true shopping destination.

The Disney Springs project is massive, and it’s clearly very important to the Walt Disney Company. While there are things we know are coming – like awesome new restaurants and things like Apple Stores – I would argue that is only scratching the surface. We’ve long heard a rumor that Disney would commission a new Cirque du Soleil show to perform in the La Nouba theater, and I think this one is likely to happen. Cirque is a big name, and a show themed around Disney characters would not only fit that company’s current direction, Disney would clearly love such a thing to help spike attendance at that show.

Another thing I’d expect to see are more resorts constructed in the Disney Springs area – likely, with one opening around 2025.

Think of it like this: the last Disney hotel to open on property was the Art of Animation hotel in 2012. With the additions coming to the resorts over the next half-decade, Disney will need somewhere to house all those new guests. And, with Universal upping the hotel game in the last few years with the Cabana Bay Beach Resort and the forthcoming Sapphire Falls Resort, Disney will need to answer back. And, one way to make those new resorts feel special is to give them added value – like walking access to Disney Springs.

A last point outside the parks: Anyone hoping for an expansion of the monorail line or something similar is likely to be disappointed. The ease of operation for the Disney bus line, plus the falling cost of oil, makes it unlikely that Disney would most past that model in the near future. Although a capital investment in something like a resort-wide PeopleMover system would be lovely, it just doesn’t seem like Disney feels the economic pressure to require such a move.

And, ultimately, that means that getting to the parks in 2025 will likely be a lot like it is today: Waiting at your resort bus stop. However, you’ll probably be able to see the timetables for those buses on your MyDisneyExperience App – so at least there’s that.

2. MyMagic+

I’m a MyMagic+ agnostic. On the one hand, yes, it has made my vacations to Disney easier and more seamless. On the other hand, I think the potential of this technology is limited at best. Disney will continue to integrate it into aspects of Walt Disney World, and by 2025, we’ll see things like the much-hyped personal character interactions come into play – where characters in Disney’s meet and greets are able to talk to you about rides you’ve ridden that day, where you’re from, and what your interests are.

I think we’ll also see more passive integration of MyMagic+ -- with things such as locating missing children using the RFID technology, as well as RFID-triggered animatronic interactions on rides. There are capabilities of the system that are easy to build on, and presumably, that will continue.

However, I don’t think the Disney vacation in 2025 will be dramatically different due to MyMagic+.

We’ve now seen Disney roll out the Shop Disney Parks app – a new application that boasts the ability to have guests buy merchandise remotely and have it delivered to their hotel room. However, that doesn’t take into account the fact that souvenir purchases at Walt Disney World are more emotional than anything else. It may help guests track down that rare item they want, but it probably won’t change much about the actual process of buying things: buying it in the park is half the fun.

MyMagic+ will still be around in 2025, and its current capabilities will continue to help Disney mine data from its visitors while giving guests benefits on the fringes of their vacation, but it won’t overhaul the entire Disney experience in that time frame.

OK, enough of the boring stuff. Let’s get to the parks.