More on Universal's "Owners"

[Tony M]

More Global corruption (ala ENRON) as Universal's "Owner" is getting in deeper trouble.
Hope this leads to some news about New Owners SOON
http://www.cinescape.com/0/editoria...d=37237&type_id=270284&cat_id=272956&sub_id=0

 

[EUROPA]

Gossh I hope it does not lead to new owners soon! Unless they plan on adding more then 3 new E-ticket Type attractions in the next year or so. Which is what the current owners are doing.

 

[IOATech]

The current "owners" are Universal City Development Partners and we are indeed developing 3 new attractions, regardless of Vivendi issues in the news. There will be more and more new projects as time passes. Is 3 a bad number or is there something I am missing.

 

[EUROPA]

Nope if you will take another look you will see that I'm praising the current owners as they are spending $$$ in the parks. I see no reason to replace the current owners unless someone is going to come along and spend more money on great new attractions.

There is no need for reading between the lines in my post. I have no need for those type of post.

 

[MIB999999]

Originally posted by IOATech
The current "owners" are Universal City Development Partners and we are indeed developing 3 new attractions, regardless of Vivendi issues in the news. There will be more and more new projects as time passes. Is 3 a bad number or is there something I am missing.

that's great IOATech but how long can the OWNED business keep spending money while the OWNER is having troubles. what if those three new attractions are due to Enron type financial tomfoolery by the OWNER (VIVENDI) and there is really no money there to pay for the new attractions????

 

[kellymonaghan]

My guess is that the parks and a bunch of other Universal assets will wind up being owned by Barry Diller.

Don't ask me why, it's just a hunch.

 

[BarryHom]

I think Kelly can save Universal with the riches from his book royalities.

 

[MKPcm]

Universal Orlando is owned by Universal Vivendi and the Blackstone Group not just by Universal. I believe it is 50/50 ownership. Blackstone has been on a buying spree lately. Also the U.S. part of Vivendi is not totally intergrated with the parent company. It is the parent company that is having problems and Universal is making money. I believe the money is there to keep Universal Orlando fresh and exciting.

 

[ksdave]

Hey, if I win the Powerball tonight, think they'll sell me the Spiderman ride?

 

[larworth]

There will be more and more new projects as time passes

I'm glad to hear there is some positive momentum on the "yes we need" new attractions front.

However, I assume the persistence of this momentum will depend a great deal on how these next 3 attractions are received by the public (do more bodies come through the gate). After some period of relative famine we almost have a feast for 2003.

US - Shrek and Neutron
Disney - Philarmagic, Space, ToT4, and the JIYI re-do
BGT - Goodbumps 4D, ???

I fear everybody will be looking to see what bump in attendance their new offerings bring. A fragmented results may play into that notion that the market really is saturated and this will reduce their appetite for further investment?

 

[kellymonaghan]

Originally posted by Barry Hom
I think Kelly can save Universal with the riches from his book royalities.

From your lips to God's ears.

 

[ksdave]

I fear everybody will be looking to see what bump in attendance their new offerings bring. A fragmented results may play into that notion that the market really is saturated and this will reduce their appetite for further investment

I agree 100%. I also feel that, if there is not a long, drawn-out war in Iraq, the economy should be coming back pretty strong by third quarter 2003, which will result in a pretty healthy increase in the parks' traffic. Hopefully, this will come about the same time as most of these attractions full openings and will create enough of an appearance of the bump you mention to convince UO, the mouse, and everyone else to spend more on new/reworked attractions.

 

[the Dark Marauder]

Originally posted by ksdave
Hey, if I win the Powerball tonight, think they'll sell me the Spiderman ride?

if you win like $200 million, maybe

 

[ksdave]

Powerball is up to $215M for Saturday. If I win, I'll host a week long party at HRH for everyone on the UO board

 

[ksdave]

By the way, here's an article that talks about that big increase I mentioned yesterday. Notice the fifth paragraph.


LOS ANGELES, Dec 20 (Reuters) - North American theme park attendance was down less than 1 percent in 2002 as local visitors picked up the slack left by slow international travel to big U.S. parks, a leading industry magazine said on Friday.

Walt Disney Co.'s (DIS) properties continued to lead the pack, with 96.47 million visitors worldwide, about double the 50.49 million of Six Flags Inc(PKS)., Amusement Business magazine reported in its annual estimates for the sector.

Disney's venerable Disneyland in Anaheim, California showed a rise in attendance in 2002, bucking the trend at other major Disney parks, according the magazine, which independently compiled the forecasts.

Destination parks such as Orlando, Florida based properties owned by Disney, Universal and competitors, managed to make up partially for a drop in international visitors with more local promotions, Amusement Business parks and attractions editor Tim O'Brien said.

"While the international people are away, the local people are coming to play," he said. "They are building up a strong base with locals ... We are probably going to see a real huge jump in attendance at all these destinations parks in the next couple of years as the international comes back."

Total North American theme parks visits fell to 170.8 million, down 3.2 million from 2001 and off 4.3 million from the best year ever, 2000, the trade publication said.

Disney's global total was up from 94.7 million visitors the magazine had estimated for 2001, thanks largely to a strong start at DisneySea, the second Disney Tokyo amusement park, which opened in September 2001.

Six Flags total attendance dropped from 51.2 million the previous year.

Attendance at the largest U.S. Disney parks was down 4 percent to 8 percent, expect for Disneyland, where attendance rose 3 percent to 12.7 million.

Tokyo Disneyland lost its No. 1 global spot, falling to 13 million visitors from nearly 18 million the previous year, as some guests went to the new, second Tokyo park. Tokyo's DisneySea had 12 million visitors, making it the fourth biggest park in the world by attendance.

The Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World took the No. 1 spot with 14 million visitors, down 5 percent from the prior year. REUTERS

© 2002 Reuters

 

[USO2003]

You need to spend money to make money.

 

[MIB999999]

it worked for enron