Lawsuit against Universal related to development of potential 4th (or 3rd?) gate

[HopperFan]

I agree that they have to work out the legal issues. I hope the legal eagles who work for Universal have it all under control.

I just read a little more about Skyplex. Do you know anything about that? Apparently Universal fought against zoning for Skyplex because it features a 500 foot tall coaster that could mess up sight lines and theming for The Wizarding World (who wants to see a towering 500 foot coaster behind Hogwarts?) but it looks like the zoning change was approved for Skyplex to go ahead.

Skyplex holds practically no interest for me, and I would sure hate for it to mess up my being immersed in Harry Potter World.

Universal and Thomas' company seem to be battling right now and it could get uglier.

Yup, Skyplex got approved. I watched the zoning meetings live, interesting. Most were in support of it. Those who spoke against it didn't have valid reasons, they were there for Universal's purposes. Universal didn't want it more because they knew they were going to buy this other land, they knew they were closing Wet & Wild and this property sits in a place that they likely wanted to scoop up as well and make their properties more connective. Where it is going needs something to upgrade that area and be the beginning of change for north I-Drive area. Universal may have just waited too long to start grabbing that land.

Skyplex is not behind Hogwarts, it is across I-4 off International and Sand Lake Drive. Will it be visible from points in the park? Maybe, but that is what happens when you build theme parks with zero land buffers. It will be up to Universal to plant, and design/build illusions.

 

[HMANSION LOVER]

awyers can certainly have this recinded especially since Universal was the owner then and now (and old owner probably had recourse as well) ... but it looks like this company is looking for compensation as they will probably claim they lost it in foreclosure due to the restrictions placed on it. Trying to hold Universal to the restrictions unless THEY agree (they seem to think they own that decision even though they no longer own the land) is basically a threat to hold up the project unless ...... $$$$$

That's what I thought. They simply want to claim that the restrictions, imposed by Universal, caused them to lose the property in foreclosure because they could not develop an amusement park on the land. And Universal should pay them for their loss if Universal moves forward and creates what they were not allowed to.

 

[HopperFan]

So Universal has announced a new hotel .... 16 stories ... just happens it will be located where it can strategically block the view of SkyPlex from Wizarding World and many other park locations.

http://blog.universalorlando.com/whats-new/universals-aventura-hotel-2018/

 

[Scalemaster34]

Yeah, but will that glass giant improve the skyline any?

I think growth at Universal is great! Competition can be a very good thing for the consumer...

 

[Steelerman04]

Yeah, but will that glass giant improve the skyline any?

I think growth at Universal is great! Competition can be a very good thing for the consumer...

I totally agree with the second statement, the rapid growth of Universal over the last few years isn't the primary cause, but it's lead to Disney's Imagineering going into overdrive and unveiling a lot of plans to the public because for a while Disney was the unquestioned king and they let the parks go somewhat (in terms of building new attractions).

To be perfectly honest, Universal and Disney cater to different audiences, but its similar enough to force the two to compete with each other. I like what the future looks like for the customer! My money is still on Universal announcing a (real, not waterpark) third gate within the next year.

 

[Josh Hendy]

Who knows ... besides stimulating Disney to build more and better attractions ...

If Uni has a lineup of three full parks plus a completely new water park, in order to fill them they're going to have to price themselves so that they appeal to a lot more customers than just first timers and other people with the urge to splurge.

Maybe Universal will upset Disney's plan to cherry pick its customers by concentrating mostly on highly profitable, well-off (or highly indebted) first timers and discouraging the value-minded locals, AP holders, DVC members etc. More parks and attractions in Orlando means lower prices, more incentives and better value.

 

[wilkeliza]

Who knows ... besides stimulating Disney to build more and better attractions ...

If Uni has a lineup of three full parks plus a completely new water park, in order to fill them they're going to have to price themselves so that they appeal to a lot more customers than just first timers and other people with the urge to splurge.

Maybe Universal will upset Disney's plan to cherry pick its customers by concentrating mostly on highly profitable, well-off (or highly indebted) first timers and discouraging the value-minded locals, AP holders, DVC members etc. More parks and attractions in Orlando means lower prices, more incentives and better value.

I do have to say that when I was at Disney I did not feel like I was cherry picked by being the highly profitable. Now at Universal you really do feel the pay more to play more category. At every turn you are being peddled express pass or their photo cards or the dinning deal or refillable mugs or whatever. I usually buy the express pass and refillable mug but when you pay what you do to go then to have to pay for the pass it makes the cost of the vacation go up. Of course we could have stayed on property to make the pass "free" but we were staying at Disney with a pretty good discount and with a group of friends and split our days at Uni to the first and last of the trip so it wouldn't have really been smart to move over to their hotel twice. Now when we go back we will stay at Universal for the Universal portion of the trip then go to Disney for the DIsney portion to save the front end expense for express pass.

 

[Josh Hendy]

I do have to say that when I was at Disney I did not feel like I was cherry picked by being the highly profitable. Now at Universal you really do feel the pay more to play

Maybe Uni isn't trying hard right now to appeal the middle class, value-conscious customers that (some feel) Disney is leaving behind. But I speculate that when faced with three full parks plus Volcano Bay to fill in the (near? I hope) future, they will feel the need to compete very heavily on price and perks for the business of value-minded, repeat visitors and locals.

As for express pass, my experience is several years out of date but when I was visiting USF and IOA without it I never had that feeling of unfairness that I used to have at WDW when riding standby and watching a huge number of FP holders walk past me onto the ride. In other words I think the high cost of Express Pass means that riding on standby is far less noticeably devalued than at WDW.

 

[Sparkly]

Maybe Uni isn't trying hard right now to appeal the middle class, value-conscious customers that (some feel) Disney is leaving behind. But I speculate that when faced with three full parks plus Volcano Bay to fill in the (near? I hope) future, they will feel the need to compete very heavily on price and perks for the business of value-minded, repeat visitors and locals.

As for express pass, my experience is several years out of date but when I was visiting USF and IOA without it I never had that feeling of unfairness that I used to have at WDW when riding standby and watching a huge number of FP holders walk past me onto the ride. In other words I think the high cost of Express Pass means that riding on standby is far less noticeably devalued than at WDW.

But Disney's Fastpass has always been free with your ticket? It's never been something you've needed to pay extra for.

 

[Josh Hendy]

But Disney's Fastpass has always been free with your ticket? It's never been something you've needed to pay extra for.

The feeling of unfairness that I referred to is simply the feeling sometimes among non FP holders that while FP is a great thing (and more or less free, booking windows aside), the allocation of ride capacity is too much in favor of FP holders and against standby riders.

Uni's ExpressPass (from the non holder's point of view) although an expensive perk, never seemed to me to be unfair to the standby rider because relatively few people had the pass and I never saw the standby line blocked for several minutes to let a large number of pass holders through.