HP at Universals impact on Disney

[ilm2000]

Anyone think the new HP attractions at Universal will impact the crowds at Disney this summer?

 

[Planogirl]

I think that WDW might actually see an uptick in attendance. People will likely jam Universal to see the new addition but most people won't go to Universal for their whole vacation. If we were going we would be at Universal for 3-4 days and then we'd head to Disney parks.

 

[ilm2000]

Is that what happened when the first phase of HP went in?

 

[xie]

Yes and Yes.

When the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened at Universal, a lot of people came to Orlando to see it. While they were here, they went to WDW as well, primarily to Magic Kingdom although some to Epcot also. The opening of HP coincides with when we began seeing hordes of "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" t-shirts all over Disney property, lol.

When the Diagon Alley expansion opens, a veritable TON of people are going to come see it. (Us included, in September, although we won't be visiting Disney property then.) And some of those people will either split stay at Disney resorts or they will buy tickets and come to Disney parks as offsite guests.

A rising tide lifts all boats. SeaWorld also saw a rise in attendance after the Harry Potter expansion opened at Universal.

Disney has actually profited nicely from Universal's Harry Potter work, and will continue to do so. If Disney ever opens anything as big as Harry Potter (and IMHO the only comparable thing would be Star Wars, Avatar doesn't have that big or devoted a following), Universal and SeaWorld will benefit from there being more tourists in Orlando.

 

[andyman8]

Yes and Yes.

When the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened at Universal, a lot of people came to Orlando to see it. While they were here, they went to WDW as well, primarily to Magic Kingdom although some to Epcot also. The opening of HP coincides with when we began seeing hordes of "Thing 1" and "Thing 2" t-shirts all over Disney property, lol.

When the Diagon Alley expansion opens, a veritable TON of people are going to come see it. (Us included, in September, although we won't be visiting Disney property then.) And some of those people will either split stay at Disney resorts or they will buy tickets and come to Disney parks as offsite guests.

A rising tide lifts all boats. SeaWorld also saw a rise in attendance after the Harry Potter expansion opened at Universal.

Disney has actually profited nicely from Universal's Harry Potter work, and will continue to do so. If Disney ever opens anything as big as Harry Potter (and IMHO the only comparable thing would be Star Wars, Avatar doesn't have that big or devoted a following), Universal and SeaWorld will benefit from there being more tourists in Orlando.

Did you get this right out of the Disney Stockholder Newsletter?

Any crowd increase would be negligible compared to regular annual attendance increases. That's not to say there wasn't any but it certainly wouldn't fall anywhere near "profited nicely". The fact of the matter is that most of the people flocking to DA are not coming to Orlando for theme parks but rather a Harry Potter, so large amounts of people wouldn't really be going to the other parks. A good example is USF. That park, just next door to the original HP expansion, saw attendance at first drop (during that summer to fall period) because everybody visiting didn't care to see the old stuff rather than the HP stuff. It was after the fan flocks moved out and the regular tourists came that that park saw some attendance increases but it's still kinda been left back int ghe dust compared to IoA hence why there putting so much into that park npw.

 

[xie]

Did you get this right out of the Disney Stockholder Newsletter?

Any crowd increase would be negligible compared to regular annual attendance increases. That's not to say there wasn't any but it certainly wouldn't fall anywhere near "profited nicely". The fact of the matter is that most of the people flocking to DA are not coming to Orlando for theme parks but rather a Harry Potter, so large amounts of people wouldn't really be going to the other parks. A good example is USF. That park, just next door to the original HP expansion, saw attendance at first drop (during that summer to fall period) because everybody visiting didn't care to see the old stuff rather than the HP stuff. It was after the fan flocks moved out and the regular tourists came that that park saw some attendance increases but it's still kinda been left back int ghe dust compared to IoA hence why there putting so much into that park npw.

Nope. I'm not a stockholder nor do I read said newsletter. I just know there are more people going to Orlando than there were before, more people at Disney than there were before, and more people at all of the other parks than there were before.

As for the attendance difference between IoA and USF, well, duh. You didn't need to buy a 2 park pass to get into HP. Now that you'll need a 2 park pass to see all of HP, those USF attendance numbers will shoot right up there.

Disney hasn't done anything, themselves, to warrant the higher attendance they've enjoyed over the last 2 years. It isn't as if they've been opening tons of new headliners to draw crowds.

 

[mesaboy2]

Nope. I'm not a stockholder nor do I read said newsletter. I just know there are more people going to Orlando than there were before, more people at Disney than there were before, and more people at all of the other parks than there were before.

As for the attendance difference between IoA and USF, well, duh. You didn't need to buy a 2 park pass to get into HP. Now that you'll need a 2 park pass to see all of HP, those USF attendance numbers will shoot right up there.

Disney hasn't done anything, themselves, to warrant the higher attendance they've enjoyed over the last 2 years. It isn't as if they've been opening tons of new headliners to draw crowds.

Um, New Fantasyland?

Of course it doesn't offer anything in the way of headliners, but I think it's safe to say it's boosted attendance in recent times.