Universal In, Disney Out.

[Mad Hattered]

Don't let the door knob hit ya.

pssssst.....we are being civil in this thread. Maybe you missed that part.

 

[asmit4]

pssssst.....we are being civil in this thread. Maybe you missed that part.

I love this thread- so many great opinions and thoughts without people being snarky!

 

[NYDisGuy]

And here lies the dilemma with WDW...Star Wars vs. Avatar.

Star Wars would be a HUGE HUGE draw for WDW, myself included. But does anyone actually think James Cameron would sign off on Pandora (in 2011 actually), not to be opened before sometime in 2017/2018, and have Star Wars Land compete with it from an IP standpoint?

The Disney Star Wars comes out at the end of 2015, correct? Avatar 2 comes out a year later at then end of 2016. Will Disney appease Cameron, or will they cave to public demand and build SWL on one of the coasts? It''s obvious that DL is short on space but Avatar is a done deal at WDW so now what? Is Disney capable of building multiple lands at the same time, all the while being on the stockholder's watch? Or is the IP the fans are really screaming for a distant dream?

I love me some Harrsion Ford as much as the next guy...but the dude can hardly speak anymore without sounding stoned or old. Not that there is anything wrong with any of those two scenarios. I blame Ally McBeal, but I digress. Should we just get him on film now for future use or are we gonna bank on kids being captivated by whatever CGI role Andy Serkis plays?

(not to get off topic but I am really excited to see Andy Serkis reprise his "role" of Caesar in the new Dawn of the Planet of the Apes movie coming out this year )

Are we really facing 3 or 4 more years before a new attraction opens? Or should we expect more opportunities to pay at least an extra $120 for tickets for the likes of Harambe Nights? Something seems "off".

Disney has multiple projects going on right now so they definitely can handle it and I doubt Cameron has a say on what happens at Disney World. There's no way Disney doesn't cash in on Star Wars but it also depends on how real they want to get with it. Will they make it more of a "celebrate all the characters" type land or will it be specific to the Disney moves with the original history as more of a background. Disney has ordered full scale models of the Millennium Falcon, AT-AT's, land speeders and other things which you know will end up in a park eventually. I just think they may wait until they can go over the script and see which parts they want to incorporate.

 

[Princess Disney Mom]

After having experienced Universal I can't imagine going back to Disney World. Though we might give Disney Land a chance after the move. Can anyone point me towards a good forum for Universal lovers - preferably one that also covers Universal Hollywood? I would love to remain part of a larger community, but I've completely converted to the Dark side so I'm not sure Disboards is the right place for me anymore.

I don't know about universal Orlando but universal Hollywood was a 1 day 1 time park for me. It was fun but have not interest to go again. All the rides were the same simulator type ride. The studio tour was cool.

 

[KatieCharlotte]

I haven't been to universal in 20 years but as my son gets older- this place is on my radar. I just don't see him 'loving' DW at 12yo. For those who have boys- do your boys love disney as preteens? I can't see him getting excited about IASW at 11yo. There really aren't a ton of 'boy' things to do at DW right now. It seems universal might cater to the older boy crowd better.

For me- even as a young girl- 11 or 12- I had NO interest in meeting princesses. Give me COASTERS baby!

My preteen boy has some sensory issues and doesn't like coasters or simulators, so there's still a lot at Disney that interests him. He does hate Small World. But, at MK, he enjoys Haunted Mansion, Speedway, Buzz, Pirates, Jungle Cruise, the Treehouse, Peter Pan, the new parade (finally, a parade he didn't consider lame), TTA (so lame that it's fun), even Pooh and Dumbo. However, most of his friends think WDW is for little kids.

 

[Ofinn]

I don't know about universal Orlando but universal Hollywood was a 1 day 1 time park for me. It was fun but have not interest to go again. All the rides were the same simulator type ride. The studio tour was cool.

Universal Orlando is nothing like Universal Hollywood. Orlando has a lot more attractions. I would say it's similar to DL and DCA in terms of size.

 

[Tramp68]

My biggest "gripe" with UOR (and really, it's probably my only one) is that so few of their rides accommodate people that are Pooh-sized. I know there's at least one seat on the Hulk, but I can't think of any others off-hand. (Admittedly, it's been a couple years since I've been back, so maybe this has changed)

HPatFJ pooh size fiasco was a bit of an embarrassment, but they have rectified the situation. I do not know of a single other ride that has a size issue at UO as all of the coasters have modified seating.

 

[La2kw]

I don't know about universal Orlando but universal Hollywood was a 1 day 1 time park for me. It was fun but have not interest to go again. All the rides were the same simulator type ride. The studio tour was cool.

Jurassic Park is not a simulator and neither is The Mummy.

 

[disneyhousewife]

Harry Potter is way bigger than you give credit for. It's huge to a whole generation of people just entering their twenties. Watch and see what happens when Diagonal Alley opens.

Very true. My friends asked me if I was going to pay to go into the main Universal park when DA opens up, even though I don't really like Universal and I said, of course I will. I'm in my twenties and I have HP banners hanging in my living room.

 

[bumbershoot]

HPatFJ pooh size fiasco was a bit of an embarrassment, but they have rectified the situation. I do not know of a single other ride that has a size issue at UO as all of the coasters have modified seating.

They haven't rectified it enough (and they really can't change it any further), and the modified seating on other rides isn't enough for everyone. There are still many people who cannot ride the rides. Sadly, one of them is DH.

And yet, despite not being able to ride the things he longs to ride (still treating a pituitary tumor, his metabolism is totally messed up, and he travels for work and has to estimate the caloric content of much of what he eats on the road...he's recently started taking his generous overestimation of whatever is on his plate and doubling it, which seems to be working, albeit slowly) he still loves the place.

 

[DRDISNEYMD]

~Harry Potter phenomenon is gone with the proverbial wind~

May 12, 2013|By Patrick C. Fleming | Guest columnist

Universal Orlando last week announced Diagon Alley, an expansion to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter, which opened in 2010.

Coming on the heels of the new Transformers ride, the expansion will no doubt be a success. But if the students in my college writing classes are any indication, then the Harry Potter phenomenon is beginning to wane.

When I began teaching freshman composition in 2008, my students had grown up with Harry. Born in the early 1990s, they were children when Harry left for Hogwarts in the series' first installment and in high school when he finally defeated Voldemort. In a very real sense, these students grew up alongside Harry, Ron and Hermione.

Knowing that composition classes tend not to be student favorites, I leveraged students' interest in the series. For several consecutive semesters, every student who came into my class had read at least four of the novels. Most had read all seven.

Beginning with books they already knew, I taught these 19-year-old students to express their own views, to engage with the opinions of others (even if they disagreed), to consider arguments from scholars in different disciplines and to support their claims with evidence.

Just as important as students' interest, for my purposes, was the fact that experts in a variety of fields had written about the books. This breadth of interest is what made the Harry Potter fad into a phenomenon, something different from other popular children's book series.

Literary critics, religious pundits, marketing firms — everyone was interested in Harry. I assigned readings about intellectual property law, and we discussed how author J.K. Rowling was sued by another writer for trademark infringement and how she defended her own copyright.

I assigned readings about psychoanalysis, and we discussed a psychologist's use of Harry Potter to encourage children to participate more actively in group-therapy sessions. Most of my students had no particular interest in literature for its own sake, but they were able to connect Rowling's books to something they were interested in — be it business, law, therapy or sociology.

For these students, Harry Potter was a bridge to academic writing and intellectual rigor.

Lately, though, the excitement hasn't been there. Now that the book series has finished and the films are all released, students are less invested in Harry Potter. It's not that they haven't read the books — most have. And it's not that they don't enjoy them — they do. But the emotional investment that made the Harry Potter phenomenon special has disappeared.

In 2000, Rowling's books had been topping The New York Times bestseller list, and in response the Times relegated children's books to a separate list. Literary critic Harold Bloom saw the books' popularity as a symptom of a nationwide "dumbing down," and asked why anyone would read something that didn't enrich their mind, spirit or personality?

I've given Bloom's column to dozens of students. In 2008, the response was outrage: students felt their minds, spirits, and personalities had been enriched. Who was Harold Bloom to tell them otherwise? They wouldn't abandon their attachment to the books, and were willing to defend their enjoyment. They were even willing to write about it.

Now, though, the response is apathy. Students see the Harry Potter series as just kids' books: fun to read, and that's it. These students haven't gone to book-release parties, or written fan fiction, or had Wizard-themed birthday parties. They are quite ready to abandon their attachment to Rowling's books, unwilling to follow that attachment into new arenas.

Diagon Alley will be successful, and thousands will flock to Orlando to visit it. And maybe another series will give rise to a similar phenomenon (though fans of "Twilight" and "The Hunger Games," two popular series that followed in Rowling's wake, aren't nearly as invested.)

But once, Harry Potter was something special, something that could connect childhood reading to adult critical thinking. That time has passed.

Patrick C. Fleming is a visiting assistant professor of English at Rollins College, where he teaches courses in British literature and children's literature.

~Theme park attendance report shows Potter's spell starts to fade~

The spell that Harry Potter cast on Universal Orlando has begun to wear off after two years of spectacular growth in attendance.

The stratospheric jumps in attendance triggered in 2010 and 2011 by the Wizarding World of Harry Potter in Universal's Islands of Adventure theme park eased last year, according to a closely watched industry report on annual park attendance worldwide.

Attendance at Islands of Adventure which added the $265 million Wizarding World in 2010 grew 4 percent in 2012 to nearly 8 million visitors, compared with gains of 30.2 percent in 2010 and 29 percent in 2011.

Last year's growth, while much reduced, was still enough to make Islands the fastest-growing major theme park in Central Florida.

And Universal Orlando has already announced its follow-up act: Next year, the company intends to open a London-themed expansion of Wizarding World, called Diagon Alley, in its Universal Studios theme park next door to Islands.

The growth leader last year among North American theme parks, according to the industry study, was Disneyland's California Adventure, where attendance jumped an estimated 22.6 percent to 7.8 million people.

The Walt Disney Co. recently spent $1.2 billion on renovations there, including the addition of a 12-acre "land" based on the company's "Cars" movie franchise.

Disney's Magic Kingdom remains the most-popular theme park in the world, with an estimated 17.5 million visitors in 2012, up 2.3 percent from a year earlier. Disney's three other Orlando parks each boosted attendance by 2.2 percent, for the following totals: Epcot, 11.1 million people; Disney's Animal Kingdom, 10 million; and Disney's Hollywood Studios, 9.9 million.

The attendance estimates are compiled each year by the Themed Entertainment Association, an industry trade group, and the economics practice of AECOM Technology Corp., a Los Angeles-based conglomerate. Although the estimates are unofficial none of the major theme-park operators publicly discloses annual attendance figures they are widely referenced throughout the business.

The report's authors attributed the North American attendance gains to new spending by theme-park companies.

"It is our view that, given the economic conditions, theme parks have done a good job this year in maintaining single-digit [percentage] growth in major markets," the report concluded. "The market in North America was, this year as last year, driven by major reinvestment at major operators' parks.

"Last year, Orlando led the way with the Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Studios Florida. This year, it was Southern California, with substantial increases at Disney California Adventure (where additions included Cars Land) as well as Universal Studios Hollywood (which added Transformers: the ride 3-D)."

Universal, Disney and SeaWorld Orlando would not comment on the attendance report.

Orlando's other theme parks also had improved attendance last year compared with 2011, according to the report: Universal Studios attendance grew 2.5 percent, to 6.2 million guests; and SeaWorld Orlando attracted an estimated 5.4 million people, up 3 percent.

The only theme park among the top 10 in North America with an estimated decline in attendance: Disneyland, in Anaheim, Calif., where attendance fell 1.1 percent to a little fewer than 16 million people.

Some of Orlando's major theme parks have raised their prices in recent weeks. Universal Orlando increased the cost of its single-day ticket to $92, while Walt Disney World increased the cost of a single day in the Magic Kingdom park to $95 and in its other parks to $90.

~I like Universal but it does concern me that the Harry Potter IP is more recognizable than the Universal Studios brand. I'm not a Harry Potter "fan" -- I'm just indifferent to it now.

~When I visit Disney it's because of the Disney brand and all of what it stands for -- not just for a single land or two connected to one IP.

~I hear too many people say they visit Universal only because of Harry Potter -- and that's not necessarily a bad thing but it does raise an eyebrow. The WWoHP and Diagon Alley are super popular at US but hardly no one is talking about "Harry Potter" outside of Universal Studios. I don't see any Potter toys at Toys R Us and it's been years since I've seen a kid dressed as Harry Potter for Halloween.

~With that said, I do enjoy both Disney & Universal -- both parks have their strengths and weaknesses. I have no reason to choose between the two when I can enjoy both.

 

[Racemom17]

I just took my oldest son to US...we had a great time and enjoyed the proximity to the parks, the thrill rides, etc...however I still don't think the parks are equal comparisons. For me Disney is about the nostalgia, the love of Disney...and is just more magical even though they are trying to separate me from all my money....I love them both for different reasons.

 

[johde]

They haven't rectified it enough (and they really can't change it any further), and the modified seating on other rides isn't enough for everyone. There are still many people who cannot ride the rides. Sadly, one of them is DH.

And yet, despite not being able to ride the things he longs to ride (still treating a pituitary tumor, his metabolism is totally messed up, and he travels for work and has to estimate the caloric content of much of what he eats on the road...he's recently started taking his generous overestimation of whatever is on his plate and doubling it, which seems to be working, albeit slowly) he still loves the place.

Sorry to hear about your husbands problems but it sounds like he's making progress. I've been on the larger side most of my life. I didn't put it in my earlier reply but I agree that Disney is the Gold Standard when it comes to Pooh sized Friendly Rides. The rides Disney choose to install in general fit the widest variety of body types.

Universal while not that great is still pretty good. You've got maybe 5 rides that cause people troubles. Hulk, Dragon Challenge, HPatFJ at IOA and HRRR and the Mummy and USJ. All of those but the Mummy modified seating that make is easier for Shrek sized guests (yes had to switch to a USF reference).

By comparison a local themepark many of you have probably heard of Cedar Point in Sandusky Ohio. Even after fitting in all of the rides at Universal at 4 Roller Coaster I had trouble riding. There were still a good 9 or 10 I could ride, but the ones I couldn't included some of the newest and most popular rides at the park. Fortunately, when they installed their newest coaster, it has a row of modified seats for larger guests.

 

[Suellen]

Personally I think of the parks are totally different things. Just as each WDW park has it's own time for me ~ Universal does too. I enjoy all eight parks we have passes to on different days for different reasons.

DH pressed me to drop at least one and I had a reason to keep each one.

Sea World = Halloween and Christmas are AMAZING
Busch Gardens = Great Animal encounters and great roller coasters
Universal/IOA = Minions, Harry Potter, Suessland, Grinchmas, Mardi Gras, awesome bands
Animal Kingdom = animals and rides for everyone
Magic Kingdom = nostalgia
Epcot = Food and Wine, Flower and Garden, live music
DHS = TSMM**

Actually if I could drop ONE park it would be DHS. Hope they add something meaningful there soon!

 

[TuneTownMagic]

First off, I just want to say I'm amazed at how civil the discussion has been in this particular thread.

And very nice post, Tune. I completely agree in regards to the t-shirts. They are so thin now that the only next plausible move would be to make them out of colored Saran Wrap.

I think the NFL looks wonderful. I think they did a great job on the overall themeing of it. They've got the rock work down to a science. The transition from old to new doesn't bother me that much because it's the classic look I remember from my childhood. I would agree that is does look somewhat out of place being stuck between the well-themed restrooms and Mine Train.

Thanks, Mad Hattered!

Yes, it's nice to see people looking at this topic as a fun discussion and not necessarily involving a "winner".


That T-shirt remark, so funny! Sadly true!

I didn't want to repost your pictures and create too much scrolling, but thanks for posting those, King Kong looks so awesome! I forgot how fun it was. It'll be great to see what the reimagining of it will be like.

 

[TuneTownMagic]

~I hear too many people say they visit Universal only because of Harry Potter -- and that's not necessarily a bad thing but it does raise an eyebrow. The WWoHP and Diagon Alley are super popular at US but hardly no one is talking about "Harry Potter" outside of Universal Studios. I don't see any Potter toys at Toys R Us and it's been years since I've seen a kid dressed as Harry Potter for Halloween.

~With that said, I do enjoy both Disney & Universal -- both parks have their strengths and weaknesses. I have no reason to choose between the two when I can enjoy both.

Wow, great articles, very interesting read. You may be on to something there, that slowly Harry Potter is becoming less engrained in kids' imaginations and less a part of their literature and pop culture fascination. However, I think about attractions at WDW that are pretty memorable and that I'm assuming kids still enjoy such as Peter Pan and Laugh Floor and the like, and consider that these attractions are well made and really fun and engaging and maybe a lot of those kids haven't even seen the movies they are based on yet. So I think even if kids and people aren't invested in the books or even the movies of HP, the WWoHP really can stand alone and be enjoyed anyway and popular anyway (of course, there are probably references to things here and there that would be missed by the park guest). But, I guess time will tell!

 

[vcgirl925]

I kind of feel like all Disney cares about these days is the bottom dollar, and innovation is something that just costs more then they want to dole out. Universal on the other hand (While having money as a top priority) is willing to dole out cash to make it, and because of that it has captured the innovative spirit that Disney used to have.

After going to Universal I find that Disney rides make me feel as though I'm riding through a doll house, while Universal makes me feel like I'm actually IN the movie. Disney has nothing that can compete with that feeling, at least not for me.

I also found myself enjoying Express pass far more then I did Fast Pass and I personally found the employees at Universal to be far frienldler then the ones we encountered at Disney World over all.

You answered this perfectly and I felt exactly the same way. I just felt immersed in the movies at universal. While at disney it just feels like a boat/shell ride through a doll house on most attractions. Express pass can't be beat. Service was impeccable as compared to my past three disney trips.

 

[vcgirl925]

I think people will love the Harry potter worlds regardless of seeing the movies. Just like my kids loved ET and Jurassic park and they've never seen those movies.

 

[momtosam]

Just back from US/IOA today. In the future we will definitely do this over HS unless we are park hopping and just have to hit Toy Story Mania and Star Tours.

 

[Bluegrrl]

And how many kids have actually seen Cinderella, Dumbo, Snow White, Peter Pan, Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty, The Aristocats, or even Mr. Toad? The hand-drawn animation, effects and slow moving story would bore the pants off of many kids now.

Personally, I adore the animation, think it's beautiful and absolute perfection. But I can see a kid who is used to the latest and greatest "whiz-bang" CG animation being bored.

Point, movies like HP may get old or Cinderella may fade, but the idea of them never does. Characters last.

I'm going to Universal this week, so I'll get the chance to compare them soon. And get some great pumpkin juice as well - that stuff is delicious!