Chip and Co.

Walt Disney World may one day add a fifth theme park. But it won’t happen in the next five years.

At least, that’s according to projections by planners at the Reedy Creek Improvement District, the semi-autonomous government that oversees Disney World.

Reedy Creek is in the midst of updating its 10-year growth plan for state regulators, which includes “projected maximums” in various categories. Reedy Creek’s new projections show no major theme park being added between 2009 and 2013.

On the other hand, Reedy Creek’s new maximums do allow for one major new theme park to be added during the following five years, through 2018. But Reedy Creek officials stress the projections are essentially long-term guess work and not based on Disney’s internal development plans. (It’s also worth noting that Reedy Creek’s previous 10-year forecast, submitted in 1998, also allowed for a fifth theme park to be built; obviously, none ever was.)

The updated projections offer a few other interesting glimpses at how Disney World has grown over the last 10 years and how it might grow over the next 10.

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