Lol @ Disney trying to play catch-up to Universal Studios

[Ofinn]

Congratulations on your acquisition of a time machine.


Spoken like someone who hasn't looked at actual attendance figures.

I'm not saying Disney is putting out their best work, nor am I saying that Universal isn't doing incredible things right now, but to claim that Disney is somehow lagging behind and is now looking to emulate Universal is either intellectually dishonest or grossly ignorant. Personal opinions are fun, but the only accurate test of a theme park's reign is attendance and dollars earned, and right now Universal is in the same position it's been in the last two decades.

Universals attendance has increased dramatically in the last few years. The expect profits in 2015 to be double what they were in 2009. To say that Universal has been in the same position for the last two decades is just false. I don't think they will ever surpass Disney in attendance and profits, but I think a lot more people that visit Orlando are splitting their time between both resorts.

 

[bumbershoot]

Nobody goes to Disney World anymore. It's too crowded.

Heh heh.

It's so funny how different experiences are. My wife is obsessed with HP and we went to universal last summer over our stay in Disney. Our first thought upon entering the world was "how do we get anywhere" The whole place seemed so condensed and overcrowded we literally couldn't push our stroller through there. We spend about half a day in the park and got fed up with the place and left.

The next day we did EPCOT and Disney just does it better. The pathways in Disney are so wide and open we had no problems anywhere.

I will never go back to Universal ever.

That's so sad to me. We will probably be at uni in Oct. if you are in town, come with us. We will tour together. First step in a small area...leave the stroller behind. Gotta be more mobile in there!



When my son and I entered the new DCA in Anaheim, we gasped. Not in joy, but in sadness. Because it felt exactly like parts of universal. There was nothing new. When we saw New Fantasyland we had the same feeling. Visually it's too much like the area over the Mythos restaurant. No originality. We LOVE universal but didn't want to see it redone in our formerly favorite park (DCA) or in MK. My son now calls Disney "the copycatters" because of all this.

 

[fairyprincess88]

It's so funny how different experiences are. My wife is obsessed with HP and we went to universal last summer over our stay in Disney. Our first thought upon entering the world was "how do we get anywhere" The whole place seemed so condensed and overcrowded we literally couldn't push our stroller through there. We spend about half a day in the park and got fed up with the place and left.

The next day we did EPCOT and Disney just does it better. The pathways in Disney are so wide and open we had no problems anywhere.

I will never go back to Universal ever.

Yep completely different opinions which is cool, it's what makes us human. For me, I didn't want to go back to Disney, I just wanted to sit in Hogsmeade all day and never leave. I loved that it was to scale and not huge because it's not supposed to be, it's supposed to be a small wizarding village with small shops and cobblestone paths. For me, I would've hated it, as a Potter nerd, if they had changed it to be stroller friendly. I wanted Hogsmeade and I got Hogsmeade. One of the main things I am looking forward to in Diagon is the tiny pathways and the small twists and turns. It's supposed to be an Alley, not a shopping mall and from pictures I've seen, Universal is nailing it.

That's the thing with Potter, you can't change it to make it huge or else it's not Potter, it has to be to scale or it's just a bunch of Potter themed stuff thrown in a theme park and that would've sucked.

 

[Ofinn]

It's so funny how different experiences are. My wife is obsessed with HP and we went to universal last summer over our stay in Disney. Our first thought upon entering the world was "how do we get anywhere" The whole place seemed so condensed and overcrowded we literally couldn't push our stroller through there. We spend about half a day in the park and got fed up with the place and left.

The next day we did EPCOT and Disney just does it better. The pathways in Disney are so wide and open we had no problems anywhere.

I will never go back to Universal ever.

Never say never. When your kid gets to 11+ years old. He or she may be begging you to go. I would give it another shot when your kids are older.

 

[JimmyV]

We spend about half a day in the park and got fed up with the place and left.

The next day we did EPCOT and Disney just does it better. The pathways in Disney are so wide and open we had no problems anywhere.

Up until this point, I agree. But past performance is a poor predictor of future behavior. It cannot be overlooked that Universal has hired away a lot of Disney talent in the last year or two. So many of the people who were responsible for Disney doing it better are now going to be responsible for Universal doing it better. And if not better, then at least catching up. The idea that Universal has always been the inferior park and thus must always be the inferior park ignores the concept that the company is only as good as the people who run it. As long as Disney keeps losing high level talent to Universal, there is every reason to believe that the gap can close. Personally, Universal hasn't gotten a dime of my money in the past 15 years except for a HHN two years ago. (A product that Disney does not have, does not attempt to have, and never will have). But that is not to say that I think that the die is cast for Universal for all time. Talent is what makes a park great, and Universal is acquiring talent. The idea that Disney can skate by forever with inferior talent is short sighted. All that said, I don't agree with the OP. At least, not at this time. Disney is not currently playing "catch up". But it is not impossible for that day to come. Remember when "Made In Japan" was an insult, especially as it realted to automobiles? Honda and Toyota catch up to Detroit? Impossible!! Until it wasn't.

 

[prudence64]

It's so funny how different experiences are. My wife is obsessed with HP and we went to universal last summer over our stay in Disney. Our first thought upon entering the world was "how do we get anywhere" The whole place seemed so condensed and overcrowded we literally couldn't push our stroller through there. We spend about half a day in the park and got fed up with the place and left.

The next day we did EPCOT and Disney just does it better. The pathways in Disney are so wide and open we had no problems anywhere.

I will never go back to Universal ever.

We also had a miserable day at universal ioa. Going to give it a few years for the Harry potter stuff to calm down before I try it again.

 

[JoshuaShaw]

Universals attendance has increased dramatically in the last few years. The expect profits in 2015 to be double what they were in 2009. To say that Universal has been in the same position for the last two decades is just false. I don't think they will ever surpass Disney in attendance and profits, but I think a lot more people that visit Orlando are splitting their time between both resorts.

I didn't say they weren't making more money, or that there hasn't been an increase in attendance, I said they were in the same position: namely, below Disney in theme park ranking. As you have already stated, they are second to Disney parks in both regards.

 

[W.E.D.]

999DoomBuggies, love your user name and pic!


Now shut up and drink the kool ade.

 

[Bullseye]

How does Seaworld play into all this??

US/IOA is just a suburb of WDW!!

 

[mulan1123]

I was actually disappointed with US except for the HP world (although I expected HP to ave more shops), the Mummy Returns and the ET ride. I found that many of the rides were in 3D, which I don't mind but going on 3 or 4 of them 3D rides is enough for on day! And parade at the end of the day only had about 6-8 small floats.

We went in November and US and IOA was not busy at all, all the SB lines were 5-10 mins except for the Forbidden Journey which was about 20 mins. There were a couple of rides that looked fun but were closed.

I am interested in what the new Diagon Alley will look like as I'm a huge HP fan.

I just find Disney has a lot more to see and do for everyone.

 

[sethschroeder]

Since this moved to the top of the list.

http://www.aecom.com/deployedfiles/...ents/2012 Theme Index Combined_1-1_online.pdf

Lets play with some facts:
Fact - Disney has 8 parks with more attendance than the first Universal Park which is in Japan
Fact - California Adventure had a huge attendance increase last year to be on pace to pass Island of Adventure in Orlando
Fact - WDW has over 50 million in attendance compared to 14 million at Universal Orlando

While Disney will look to Universal for new ideas just as Universal looks at Disney there likely isn't a feeling of needing to catchup at Disney. If we look at Disney they now have the infrastructure base (MDE, FP+, resorts, transportation) to be ready for the next 20 years.

Disney also has stories and rides that will survive the times and be relevant for another 50+ years. (Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Dumbo, Snow White, ect...) Does Universal have the same or do they need to completely reinvent their whole park even 5-10 years?

All this love for Harry Potter is great but is he going to be relevant in 10-20 years?

 

[Ofinn]

We have been to WDW 8 times and nothing has changed. We have been to Universal three times in the past 3, and each time there was a new ride. I really wish Disney would add new attractions. The new Fantasyland did not impress me at all.
I'm not sure why some Disney fans get so bent out of shape if you say anything good about Universal. I enjoy WDW and Universal equally. They are very different, but both are great experiences. Universal is expanding right now so it's exciting to see what's coming next. Hopefully Disney will announce something in the near future that will get me excited about visiting again.

 

[mulan1123]

Disney also has stories and rides that will survive the times and be relevant for another 50+ years. (Peter Pan, Alice in Wonderland, Dumbo, Snow White, etc...) Does Universal have the same or do they need to completely reinvent their whole park even 5-10 years?

All this love for Harry Potter is great but is he going to be relevant in 10-20 years?

Agreed, as much as I love Harry Potter. My parents don't know who Harry Potter is, or Terminator, Simpsons, Dr Seuss or Men in Black.

But they do know (or at least recognize) most of the Disney characters.

 

[W.E.D.]

I'd bet Harry Potter will be far more relavent than Avatar.

I just want to grab WDW management and yell "you bought the rights to Star Wars! You bought the rights to Star Wars! Don't any of you understand?!?! You own the rights to STAR freaking WARS!!!"

[ahem]

Back on topic. I have been to the Universal side of Orlando once. I was amazed that the theming was close to, if not right on par, with everything at WDW. I was blown away by the technology used in Spider Man--far exceeding any simulator (at that time--2006) at WDW. What they don't have over there is room--I agree with a PP that it was very tight walking around the park.

I've never understood the inability to see shortcomings at WDW. I've never understood why pointing them out makes you a hater. I point them out because I want my favorite place on Earth to be perfect just like the rest of you. I would like one billion dollars spent on the upkeep of the things that made WDW what it is today.

 

[Ofinn]

Agreed, as much as I love Harry Potter. My parents don't know who Harry Potter is, or Terminator, Simpsons, Dr Seuss or Men in Black.

But they do know (or at least recognize) most of the Disney characters.

I don't know how old your parents are, but I don't think that's Disney's or Universals main target. I think a good percentage of families vacation at theme parks because the kids enjoy it. My kids don't remember watching most of the Disney cartoons Dumbo, Bambi etc when they were under 5, but they have seen Spiderman, Transformers, Simpsons, Men in Black and Harry Potter. I can't believe anyone young or old hasn't read Dr Suess books.

I'm not sure Disney characters are timeless. Most of the movies coming out now are 3D. Are kids really going to want to watch these antiquated cartoons. I think Disney know this that's why they bought Marvel.

 

[Viva Las Disney]

I'm sure Disney is very aware of everything Universal is doing but as long as Disney attendance numbers keep going up I honestly don't think they care.

Until Universal starts eating into Disney attendance it's kind of a non factor, if attendance starts dropping Disney has huge amounts of land, money, Disney movies, and IP's they've bought to choose from to compete and judging by Carsland in DCA Disney are still masters at theming, when they open the purse strings a bit.

Universal is doing some amazing things but Disney has no incentive to drop huge money to "keep up" as long as they are the king of the hill making money hand over fist. They've also shown with DCA they aren't afraid to spend money when expectations aren't met which is why I expect Pandora to be equally as impressive, not because of anything Universal is doing but because AK has never lived up to Disney attendance expectations.

Edited to include: At the moment I wouldn't be surprised if Disney isn't benefiting from Universals spending spree, I'd guess most people Universal draws to Orlando will probably spend a day or 2 in Disney since they are so close. Universal poaches a lot of days from WDW guests but I'm sure the same is true and Disney poaches days from guests that specifically go to Orlando for US/IOA.

 

[RMulieri]

I think the problem is Disney has gotten to big for itself.Too much real estate and not enough money to put back into it,they seem to be content with riding solely on its name .Sure they have done things, Mk expansion for one, but there are areas that are seriously lacking.Epcot has become just a small glimmer of what it once was.DHS can use more family friendly rides...That said, we were also 100% all about Disney...Until Jan 2012 when we did our first onsite , non-disney Universal trip.After that trip, we decided..We loved what we saw, had a relaxing vacation for a lot less money than what our Disney trips costed us, the resort benefits there far outweigh those at WDW anymore..Even my 10 yr old ( she was 8 at the time) loved Universal and the resorts..We will still go to Disney on daytrips .But the days of us spending $$$ at a disney deluxe resort on property for 7-10 days( sometimes 2 times in a year) are gone, at least for now.I hang over at the Uni boards alots, and have to say there are ALOT of new people coming over there looking to try Universal these days..

 

[sethschroeder]

.DHS can use more family friendly rides...

This I do not agree with if anything HS needs to become more teen/adult oriented and leave the kiddie stuff to other parks.

As far as pricing Disney onsite can be cheaper than Universal but I have no way of comparing what's comparable. We will likely do Universal at some point but it has nothing to do with Disney but more with just checking out Harry while it's still popular in the next 5 years or so.