From my perspective it will be quite hard for Universal to ever compare to Disney. I have two jobs, in two different kinds of work - work office setting and a store setting. At the work office setting I sit in a cubicle where I hear many conversation of different employees, especially in the morning. Many of them talk about trips to Disney, or wanting to go to Disney, but I have never once heard them talk about Universal. When someone mentions Orlando, the natural tendency is to bring up Disney..."heading to Orlando next week" "Are you going to Disney?" is the natural order of any conversation which brings up Orlando by most people I hear. At the store I work, where there is a lot more lower middle class families working, Disney is talked about even more. I notice a lot more AP and DVC members in this setting. Again, I never hear them talk about Universal (I myself am more of a listener, I don't bring up conversation as much but rather enjoy listening to others...and I am not always an active member of these conversations).
My family - I think they are a pretty typical/average target of Disney and Universal. We would visit Disney every 3 to 5 years. Now that me and my 2 sisters have grown up, and have families of our own, the trips have continued. I am the only die hard Disney fan, but I am not the one that typically plans the trips (in fact the last trip was the first trip I ever planned, and the two trips my family took before it I either skipped or only went for a couple days). Disney is always the place they plan to go. We went to Universal once (still went to Disney), and talk about going again, but it always seems to be the case that we say "maybe next time Universal, but we want to spend all of our time at Disney this time". I think this is more of the case with a lot of families. Sure we would love to go see Universal, but it just isn't the same as Disney. I know my mother would only go to Universal for 1 day, and probably only one more time, but she would continue to go to Disney (in fact she made a comment a few months ago that I only kind of think of now...she said she didn't want to go to Disney unless it was for at least 4 days)
I myself, again I think I am in a different target group then my family, but a target group none the less. I love amusement parks, have been known to make trips to see different ones. But Disney does go to a different level, even if there are some so called "better rides" other places. But the problem with Universal is actually Disney. Universal was neat the one time I went, and I definitely want to go back. But it is very hard to go when Disney is right there. I started planning a trip next year that we would go to Universal (my girlfriend loves Harry Potter), but as the trip keeps taking form, it is slowly shifting to a Disney trip. At this point I am not sure if we will get to go to Universal. I would love to see Harry Potter, but still very hard to say no to Disney. I think what will end up happening is we will spend 3-4 days in Disney and 1 day in Universal to see Harry Potter most specifically.
I know most of you complain about how "slow" Disney is at getting things done, but I personally think from the "typical" visitor that they make the most money off of, things get done at Disney at a perfect speed. Heck, I plan to start making more trips, and it sure seems like I can't make trips quick enough with the new stuff that is planned over the next 5 years. A family that visits every 3 to 5 years sees a lot change. Even those that come once a year have a lot to look forward to the next 5 years. And my family made a number of trips during the so called "slow time" for Disney, and never once did we lack new things to experience. I think this is mostly only happening to die hard Disney folks, and that makes up a very small percentage of Disney's target. And for all of us on here...if you are on a Disney message board, you are a die hard. 99% of people on here, especially a rumor thread, are die hards. And Diehards seem to be the most critical of anybody. Anytime I bring up some of the criticism said in these boards to anybody outside, they always seem to give me an odd look - especially when I talk about the comparisons people try to make between Universal and Disney.
All just my opinion. Also just my opinion - I think Disney pays attention to every move everybody makes, not just Universal. But I also think that much of what Universal does has helped Disney to this point, and may continue to do so. One odd thing I heard yesterday from one of the few Disney diehards I know (just met) -- I am not sure how true it is, but they said that Disney helped Universal get its start, that they actually gave them money to start their park. I am sure there is some truth to this, as well as not the complete truth (and I am sure most of you know much more about this then I).
Ok, way too much of my two cents.
