Harry Potter at Universal

[larry_poppins]

I am so waiting for Harry Potter Land to open at Universal. If I had the dates now for the opening I would make the ressie today! Universal here I come!

 

[patsal]

I know we are going to use weekends to save points and again with the AAA plus Lowe's membership, Disney can't beat the upgrade to a suite. We've done Universal vacations and have found everything to be first class as well. I'll be hanging out a bit more on the US boards as time passes to get the scoop and make my reservation. I'm even considering it for this summer.

 

[snowbunny]

I wish Disney had gotten this one. http://www.universalorlando.com/harrypotter

Could have if they were willing to put up the $$$, but they weren't. Still living off the princesses, all of them getting pretty long in the tooth. Disney should thank its lucky stars for Johnny Depp.

Penny wise and pound foolish - once HP opens, Universal becomes a "must see" for most people, and the need to stay on property at WDW because that's where you are going to spend your entire vacation...not so much.

 

[DisFlan]

Could have if they were willing to put up the $$$, but they weren't. Still living off the princesses, all of them getting pretty long in the tooth. Disney should thank its lucky stars for Johnny Depp.

Penny wise and pound foolish - once HP opens, Universal becomes a "must see" for most people, and the need to stay on property at WDW because that's where you are going to spend your entire vacation...not so much.

It's just my opinion, but I think Disney didn't want to hand over the control (and money) J. K. Rowling wanted. At Universal, pretty much anything she says is what happens. She's very picky about it being right - and I think that's a good thing - for us. But I still think Disney really missed a BIG boat on this one. I'm sure short-sighted money-crunching was a factor, but giving JKR a say in the project (not Disney's style) would have ended up making Disney a big pile of $$$.

The Princess/party/castle meal/boutique thing has added hugely to Disney's bottom line (and it didn't take a big outlay of bucks to do it), but it can't last at its current pace forever, and I don't see another big must-do money-maker right behind it.

It'll be interesting to see what Disney will come up with to counteract HP when it opens. I agree - even with Disney's maneuvers to keep people on site, LOTS of folks (like us) will be leaving property to visit Universal. Not to mention the people who will be heading directly to Universal for HP - and not visit Disney at all.

DisFlan

 

[CarolA]

I have read some very reliable sources that MONEY wasn't the issue. JK Rowling was.... One Imagineer said that they were actually glad Disney lost. First it would have taken almost ALL the budget for anything else and two they had a feeling making her happy was going to be next to impossible. As I understand it she wanted the ability to veto anything at any time and to pull out....

Personally I am not sure it was a good finanical decision for Universal. It's a winner take all, but if they blow it they are in HUGE trouble. They aren't making much now and everything is tied up in Potterland (LOL!) For the price they better hit it out of the ball park. If not, it's going to be rough. They need to make it something you go back to again and again. That traditionally has been Univeral's problem. Folks go a few times and then they don't go back. Disney seems to have better "repeat" draw.


There other risk is timing. It will have been 3 years or so since the last book. That may work against them. While I expect HP to continue to be popular as kids grow into it, the "gotta go now" pressure is over for those books!


Plus all those "deals" you are counting on will dry up the moment this opens. Those Universal hotel rooms will be HIGH on weekends because "everyone wants to see HP" Universal is NOT giving better deals on tickets and hotels because they love us... it's because it's the only way to get us in the gates LOL! So if they have a draw.... figure those perks are gone (at least until the draw dies down)

 

[chalee94]

Plus all those "deals" you are counting on will dry up the moment this opens. Those Universal hotel rooms will be HIGH on weekends because "everyone wants to see HP" Universal is NOT giving better deals on tickets and hotels because they love us... it's because it's the only way to get us in the gates LOL! So if they have a draw.... figure those perks are gone (at least until the draw dies down)

yep...

fortunately my contract runs till 2042...i'll just have to be patient...

 

[Mtnman44]

I'm pretty sure disney passed on a Harry Potter Attraction / Land after they discovered that there was no Pixar movie to integrate into the themeing.

 

[larry_poppins]

My contract runs until 2042 so I can be patient too! When it opens I plan on buying a Universal AP and using my DVC for sleeping and swimming!

Larry

 

[ZekeKelso]

<flame suit>
If I were a HP fan, I'd be glad Disney didn't get the franchise. Disney has done a horrible job with just about anything that doesn't tie back to a Disney movie (what am I missing). They've been sitting on the Star Wars franchise for ages and what have the done with it? Star Tours? Ugh. Now, clearly somebody is starting to get a clue that they are sitting on the biggest money making franchise ever, and we see Star Wars weekends and maybe someday we will actually see "LucasLand". But, come on, they have totally dropped the ball.

Let's hope Universal does something truly magically with the HP franchise. Both because it would be cool to have, and because it might wake up the folks in Burbank.
</suit>

 

[colleen costello]

My family can't wait. We love Harry! This will definitely get us to Universal.

 

[dgaston]

I am one of the folks who love Universal too. I don't expect it to be Disney, and love the big coasters, and even kitschy things like Ghostbusters and the Sinbad stunt show or the rock revue with monsters. I really think Spiderman is superb technology and Popeye's and Bluto's Raft Ride amazing. I will look forward to HP and rack up a few more stays on my Lowe's card.

 

[Laxmom]

Ok, I am just now coming out from under my rock. What about points on your Lowe's card? This is something I have never heard about.

 

[almousefan]

My family is also looking forward to Harry Potter land at US. I have not been to US in over 10 years. I plan on going this summer and check out both parks!

 

[KAT4DISNEY]

Ok, I am just now coming out from under my rock. What about points on your Lowe's card? This is something I have never heard about.

I believe it may be a different Lowe's than you're thinking about Laxmom. Loews Hotels has the onsite accommodations at Universal.

 

[Laxmom]

Oh now that Loews makes sense. Not Lowes. I couldn't figure out the connection!

 

[Maribel]

I LOVE Universal, but with ages of my kids (4 and 1) it doesn't make sense to go there to ride everything on my own if I only traveling with DH and them. I went there last time in 2005 with my then 9 years old nephew and we had a BLAST. It was his first time in big coasters, which he loved, so he was in heaven. Mommy and the Shreck 3D were just opened, so there was something new for me too.
He is a really Potter fan, well he actually loves all this new stuff about wizards and enchanted worlds that are so popular with kids these days, so I would definetely invite him to check the HP world when it opens. By then my little one would be a bit older and may enjoy seuss land and barney, as I don't think there is anything else for little kids there.

 

[tea pot]

The new HP attraction will bring us to that park!! We never venture off WDW property, but we will once this new park attraction opens. I do wish they would've had Diagon Alley instead of Hogsmead, but I 'll take whatever HP attractions they are making!!LOL

I was hoping for Diagon Alley instead of Hogsmead as well.
I can't understand why they made that choice.
We haven't been to Universal in years and never usually leave WDW
but this last trip (just go back 4/20) we went over to Celebration for the afternoon and had dinner at Mama Della's at the Portofino Hotel for dinner.
It was a great trip and the dinner was excellent, so I know we will
rent a car for a day to go over to visit Harry.

 

[Disneyhappy]

We LOVE USF and cannot wait for HP. Although we do not maintain WDW APs, we do maintain our USF APs ($99 renewal). We love WDW and take at least one big vacation a year in our DVC and move to USF on the weekends when points are higher. We also take 2-3 long weekend trips to USF and stay a night before or after in our DVC. Two totally different experiences. I think USF is more for older children, though. USF has no WDW magic but the front of the line access can not be beat. We also love the "compactness" of USF as everything is a short walk or boatride away from the resort. We love the Loews resorts and get rates at least 1/3 less than WDW deluxes. I think that is because USF is smaller and has less overhead and maintenance than WDW Resort. We love ORLANDO period!!!!

 

[LauraAnn630]

We have done Disney to death. We cannot wait to see HP in 2009!

We plan to do...

US & IOA - Citywalk
Typoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach - still got passes
DTD
beach

 

[keys2kingdom]

Funny, when I saw this announced originally I said to DH, "This will be the thing that finally gets us over to Universal." We plan on visiting for sure.