Comcast is going to cream Disney

[seascapemvy]

They did update the page later in the day, so this is true. The blackout dates were shortened for the studios, so tomorrow is valid. They did hold out longer to gauge it, it's still very packed over there.

So attendance is either down or not nearly what they were hoping for. Meanwhile Disney has extended hours and has lines that close at 5. Who is drawing more? Disney appears to be very strong and while I expect big gains at universal it looks like Disney will increase attendance is all 4 parks and not be hurt by DA.

 

[atricks]

So attendance is either down or not nearly what they were hoping for. Meanwhile Disney has extended hours and has lines that close at 5. Who is drawing more? Disney appears to be very strong and while I expect big gains at universal it looks like Disney will increase attendance is all 4 parks and not be hurt by DA.

Again, everything I've heard is the opposite, asking around it appears more to do with the LeakyCon potter convention starting tomorrow. Believe what you will though.

 

[disneymac000]

P.S. Animal Kingdom is by FAR the most beautiful theme park in the United States. Taker away Dino Rama and you have a theme park that is fully fleshed out with detail and immersive areas.

Disagree...I would say Busch Gardens Williamsburg is the most beautiful theme park as it is truly well themed.

 

[Disneychick75]

Disagree...I would say Busch Gardens Williamsburg is the most beautiful theme park as it is truly well themed.

Agree 100%

 

[disneymac000]

And if Disney was a relaxing vacation as some posters decided to argue saying you don't have to run around the parks like ludicrous...why do the strategies and plans board exist? Most Disney visitors are once in a lifetime some going into debt just to be able to say they took the family. They are going to run to get their money worth.

And just wait for the third quarter reports to come out...I think some people will be surprised at what they find.

 

[tjkraz]

We've been to Uni 18 times and have never seen this. Not to say it has never happened but we've been there on holidays and have still never experienced anything longer than a FP wait and that was on a very crowded day. Most of the time, we have 5 minute waits. It's great when the standby lines are long and we walk right on the rides.

Point isn't what you or anyone else has witnessed. It's the unpredictability of a system like Universal Express vs. FastPass.

FastPass distribution is relatively consistent throughout the day. A fixed number of FP reservation times are made available. Granted not all of them are taken for all attractions, nor are all used, but usage is certainly more consistent for the popular attractions.

At Universal, Express usage is completely unpredictable. An attraction could have 10 people show up one hour and 1000 the next. Those uncertainties carry over to wait times, impacting the standby waits in an unpredictable fashion.

Guess, I've been hallucinating. A lot of the people I've seen must have been sauntering in quick mode.

And if you look close enough, I bet you'll find people rushing around Universal, too. People tour the parks in any manner of their choosing. If guests decide to bunch-up their FastPasses and ADRs, and dash between attractions to ride more via standby, that's their choice. It's no more a requirement at WDW than it is at USF.

 

[Disneychick75]

Point isn't what you or anyone else has witnessed. It's the unpredictability of a system like Universal Express vs. FastPass.

FastPass distribution is relatively consistent throughout the day. A fixed number of FP reservation times are made available. Granted not all of them are taken for all attractions, nor are all used, but usage is certainly more consistent for the popular attractions.

At Universal, Express usage is completely unpredictable. An attraction could have 10 people show up one hour and 1000 the next. Those uncertainties carry over to wait times, impacting the standby waits in an unpredictable fashion.

And if you look close enough, I bet you'll find people rushing around Universal, too. People tour the parks in any manner of their choosing. If guests decide to bunch-up their FastPasses and ADRs, and dash between attractions to ride more via standby, that's their choice. It's no more a requirement at WDW than it is at USF.

FOTL and Express Passes are popular at Universal and the number of EPs sold each day is limited which I imagine would keep the FOTL queues from reaching "1000" at a time.

 

[jon18uk]

Point isn't what you or anyone else has witnessed. It's the unpredictability of a system like Universal Express vs. FastPass.

FastPass distribution is relatively consistent throughout the day. A fixed number of FP reservation times are made available. Granted not all of them are taken for all attractions, nor are all used, but usage is certainly more consistent for the popular attractions.

At Universal, Express usage is completely unpredictable. An attraction could have 10 people show up one hour and 1000 the next. Those uncertainties carry over to wait times, impacting the standby waits in an unpredictable fashion..

Yep this was my original point, the Express Pass line may still be no more than 5mins but they will stop taking from the standby line, pushing the wait time up for standby guests. As Universal Express pass guests are free to ride at any time there is nothing stopping huge numbers all arriving at once. Disney Fastpass should keep people more spaced out and the standby line should move at a more constant rate. (not saying which is better as both have advantages, but Universals is slightly weighted in favour of the people who paid for Express over the standby guest).

FOTL and Express Passes are popular at Universal and the number of EPs sold each day is limited which I imagine would keep the FOTL queues from reaching "1000" at a time.

Although there is a cap on sales of the Express Pass each day, the hotels can hold thousands of people which is probably the larger group of Express users. There is always the possibility that a large number all decide they want to get Transformers in before lunch resulting in the Standby line slowing down.

 

[OnSpaceshipEarth]

It sounds great, and I hope it pushes disney to do more, but...

When USO creates an attraction where you need to buy the upgrade on the ticket to ride it, and puts sales at each end of the ride, it is "financially brilliant". When disney does it, they are money grubbing suits who care about nothing but the stock price.

When USO builds an attraction which is "buggy" and having trouble getting up and running, it is "reportedly impressive". Disney would have been torn apart for having a their new ride (or magic bands) delayed for opening because of some glitches.

If you want to play in the big leagues......

To this I say a big...YUP!

 

[Tonka's Skipper]

To this I say a big...YUP!

I 2nd the Yup!

AKK

 

[atricks]

So attendance is either down or not nearly what they were hoping for. Meanwhile Disney has extended hours and has lines that close at 5. Who is drawing more? Disney appears to be very strong and while I expect big gains at universal it looks like Disney will increase attendance is all 4 parks and not be hurt by DA.

Here's an Orlando Weekly article about Universal attendance this summer, it matches what I was hearing earlier.

http://orlandoweekly.com/arts/visual/universal-s-project-340-and-epcot-norway-goes-frozen-1.1731237

 

[Disneychick75]

Here's an Orlando Weekly article about Universal attendance this summer, it matches what I was hearing earlier.

http://orlandoweekly.com/arts/visual/universal-s-project-340-and-epcot-norway-goes-frozen-1.1731237

Thank-you for the link. It backs up a lot information we've discussed here.

 

[tjkraz]

Thank-you for the link. It backs up a lot information we've discussed here.

Not sure that anything in that article was ever in dispute.

Universal is hitting all-time attendance? That's a no-brainer.

Interesting that he chose to compare alleged ridership of Hogwarts Express to attendance at Animal Kingdom since they are two completely different animals (no pun intended.) Haunted Mansion and The Great Movie Ride have higher daily ridership than Animal Kingdom's average attendance.

 

[johde]

So attendance is either down or not nearly what they were hoping for. Meanwhile Disney has extended hours and has lines that close at 5. Who is drawing more? Disney appears to be very strong and while I expect big gains at universal it looks like Disney will increase attendance is all 4 parks and not be hurt by DA.

The better term is attendance is not up as nearly as bad as they feared. After the opening of the first WWOHP and the infamous lines.

Universal did a lot to try and insure a repeat didn't happen again. One of those things was extending blackout dates at USF. Looking Back at the summer blackout dates:

2013: July 1-31 (USF Only)
2012: July 2 - 14 (IOA Only)
2011: July 1 - Aug 15 (IOA Only) (USF has only 7 days all year)
2009: Initially had blackout dates but they were all removed part way through they year (at least for FL residents).
Prior to that I'm pretty sure it was summer weekends.

Universal had contingencies in place for a major onslaught of people. Including, the infamous 1 ride per day on HE, return tickets for DA etc. So, by all indications, attendance has been very good. It hasn't been the crushing throngs the early days of HP1. So, they decided to go back to a more normal blackout schedule for the power pass (if there is such a thing).