There is also a lot of uncertainty right now. The projections made that justified new projects were all based on life pre-covid. Economic and behaviour changes can lead to different return on investment from what was originally predicted, and they might need more information to know what should continue and what should be removed or postponed.
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Just FYI, what the site currently looks like. Iām guessing some value engineering is going on right now at WDI.
https://twitter.com/bioreconstruct/status/1263850718387212288
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Looks like a perfect location for a dance party (shudder)ā¦ 
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Doing some rough math based on best guesses and assumptions, Disney is losing somewhere around 20 million in Park revenues, and another 10 million in resort revenues per DAY. This is likely a low-ball estimate and I did not consider the water parks, mini golf, etc. If you multiply that by the number of days that WDW will be closed, you get roughly a 350 million dollar loss of gross revenue for the period. And when it reopens, the capacity will be much lower, so they wonāt be back at pre-Covid revenue for (Iām guessing) most of a year. Of course I have no access to receipts before and after Covid, so there is no way to determine the net losses.
When doing long range planning for major capital expenditures, unexpectedly losing a full quarterās income is a major issue to deal with. Word is that theyāre trimming 900 million from a several billion dollar capital improvement plan; we donāt know if that will mean cutting full projects or āvalue engineeringā projects, or a combination of both. Iāve heard from a fairly reliable source that Rat, Tron, GotG, Space 2020, and the SW hotel will be completed as planned; everything else is a question mark.
Iām guessing that Tron will be the highest priority as they want that open for next yearās 50th. Rat is so far along in itās completion (Iāve heard but not confirmed that the ride system is already installed and itās just a matter of finishing the exteriors, detailing, and training operators). Space 2020 is also very close to being operable. Iām sure they want GotG done by the EP 40th anniversary. As the SE rennovation was supposed to be major, lasting over a year, I have to assume that by cancelling (or at least postponing) that project will put quite a few dollars back in the budget. With the major recent additions to AK and DHS I think itās safe to say that those two parks will see very little in the way of additional construction (unless you count the SW hotel as being an off-shoot to DHS).
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For Epcot, as you said Ratatouille is almost done so that should be completed. I think they will have to somehow finish out the Innovations area refurb, whether that means demolishing it into an open area with a few trees and benches, or leaving whatās left of the buildings and putting retail in there, they will have to do something. They could abandon SE refurb indefinitely, but I suspect after they turn the cycle in a few years they will pick that project back up since it is due for some sort of refurb (maybe scaled down from initial plans).
Mary Poppins will probably be cancelled, but they really need another ride in WS, particularly on that side, so I hope they someday come back to it and do something even bigger than they would have done. Probably 7-10 years away though.
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My understanding was Mary Poppins was going to be little more than an indoor carousel or something. Not a major ride at all.
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Iām going in December, what are the chances SE renovation gets postponed til next year?
Probably pretty good. They havenāt announced whether it will be refurbed or not.