WDW and Universal. Who wins?

[mickeyluv'r]

I was at WDW for two weeks in March '22. There were many more than just one or two days when Epcot was sold out on the day of and several days before--as were all the others. (I know because I was trying to move park days to no avail.)

In Universal's defense, IOA is a fantastic park. Sure, some parts have aged poorly, but still: it is a fantastic example of themed entertainment, and as good as just about anything Disney had produced by then, with maybe the exception of AK. Since Potterverse 1.0, the UO parks have just gotten better, and by a lot.

The above is what I found from Touring Plans.

I was in WDW over Spring break as well, as an AP holder I had few limits.

Friends who had regular parks tickets and made last minute reservations could not get MK, but they could get Epcot. Easter week they had: 1 day in MK, 1 day in HS, 1 day in AK, and the rest they had Epcot. They could have swapped 1 or 2 of their days to AK, but they figured Epcot was better because of the Flower Festival.

Were you staying offsite? As I recall, they were onsite, but they did not know about park reservations until after they arrived. They booked the hotel over teh phone. Somehow thier agent did not tell them about park reservations.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

just nervous i guess haha

Huh, because it reads more like a DISboards rule violation. See #4, No sarcasm.
https://www.wdwinfo.com/guidelines.htm/

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[Aluminum Falcon]

Huh, because it reads more like a DISboards rule violation. See #4, No sarcasm.
https://www.wdwinfo.com/guidelines.htm/

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I am sorry to hear that you feel that way

 

[Brian Noble]

I guess the passholders in Typhoon Lagoon I overheard on several different days complaining that they couldn't even get into Epcot were just wrong then.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Not just nostalgia, but a whole immersive environment. Clearly Universal has greatly stepped up their game in that regard; I haven't seen their Diagon Alley area in either Florida or California, but by all reports it's fantastic. And maybe their other new areas will be similarly impressive. But Disney has been the trendsetter in that regard, and I hope they continue to set a high bar. Personally, I think Galaxy's Edge is wonderful. And I remember when Tower of Terror opened how incredibly better it was than the bare-bones drop rides at other amusement/theme parks. That's the Disney difference that they need to consider every time they make changes in one of their parks.

If you like the HP movies, then to me, walking into Diagon Alley felt like I was walking into the world of the movies. The level of detail is exceptional.

The interactive wands are $$, but the spells are really neat. WDW doesn't currently have anything like them. While it isn't all that hard to figure out how they work, they have the feel of actual magic.

Simpsons is not as well executed though, except the Twirl N' Hurl. I love the jokes on that one!

Universal is a bit more of a mixed bag than Disney, but Universal has some individual attractions that are just stellar. It depends a bit how much you like the IP's though, and Universal's rides are a bit more physically intense than WDW's.

 

[Brian Noble]

You're not kidding about that last bit. Velocicoaster is one of the most intense coasters I've been on--and I've been on a few.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I guess the passholders in Typhoon Lagoon I overheard on several different days complaining that they couldn't even get into Epcot were just wrong then.

You eavesdropped on random strangers' conversations?

On some unspecified date?

 

[mickeyluv'r]

You're not kidding about that last bit. Velocicoaster is one of the most intense coasters I've been on--and I've been on a few.

I liked it better than many other coasters I've ridden, including Hulk. The newer coasters are a lot smoother, and that helps. I also wasn't a fan of the old Dueling Dragons. GoG is fantastic though! Coasters don't need to be super intense to be fun, IMO.

 

[Brian Noble]

You eavesdropped on random strangers' conversations?

They were standing right next to me in both cases. Hard not to notice--especially because I was experiencing my own frustrations with park passes.

But I guess I was wrong too, and I'm tired of arguing with you. Bon chance.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

They were standing right next to me in both cases. Hard not to notice--especially because I was experiencing my own frustrations with park passes.

But I guess I was wrong too, and I'm tired of arguing with you. Bon chance.

Back to the thread title...there is no such thing as a winner, IMO, between WDW and Universal. They are different.

The only way we can say one property 'wins', is to look at factual information about a specific aspect of each property. So that's my main interest in this thread.
More or less all else is opinion, and this is WDW website. We tend to have an emotional bias towards Disney.

Touring Plans is a relatively trustworthy site for factual data. I'd like to see more complete data, but I couldn't find a chart that covers all of 2022. I thought I saw one before, but I could not find it today. Factual data showing all the days WDW parks reached capacity would be helpful.

We know though, or at least I think we all know, that capacity was fluid in 2022. WDW adjusted March park pass 'capacity' multiple times. In 2022 capacity was not actual capacity (2019 capacity) but mostly WDW trying to equalize guests across the 4 parks. (Plus some staffing issues.)

Another website I use sent out announcements when WDW made adjustments. At one point, I want to say around the end of Feb, much of March was yellow, but a few days later it was almost all green again.

Disney got sued by CA AP holders and FL AP holders. AP holders were then granted near 100% ability to visit all 4 FL the parks in 2022 until the lawsuit was settled. The CA was settled a few days ago, the FL one is still pending.

https://www.disneyfoodblog.com/2023/07/21/disney-settles-important-lawsuit-with-passholders/#:~:text=In the Florida case, the,of the Park Pass system.

Next year WDW is mostly abandoning the concept of park reservations.

It would seem park reservations are a bit of a failure.

 

[popy]

Pretty simple, Disney stands on 25,000 acres compared to USO 840 acres.
USO got a long way to grow. However, USO rides are more. trilling. but hands down more to see and do at Disney and many are free, just to see.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Both companies have a pattern of buying more land. Disney bought a big chunk of land in 2020, for example.


Disney's Wildrness Preserve is 11,500 acres = land they will never develop. Several websites said the total WDW acreage is more like 30,000, of which they have developed about 7,100. They are also using 80 acres to develop an affordable housing development, which will open in 2026.
MK = 142 acres
HS 154 acres
Epcot 300 acres
AK 500 acres

That still leaves at least a whopping 11,320 acres available for development, even if they didn't buy any more land. (Assuming they don't sell any land.)

Universal's North campus, which houses 2 current theme parks, water park, CityWalk and most of the currently open hotels = 735 acres
(IoA = 110 acres, US park = 108 acres)
Endless Summer property = 64 acres
New south property = 750 acres. In addition to the park, it will have 3 hotels.
So 735 +64 + 750 about 1550 acres. (They recently bought a little more land for road improvement.)

Disneyland- both parks = about 500 acres
Disneyland park = 80 acres
California Adventure = 72 acres

Sea World Orlando= 200 acres

Yet of the 6 US Disney parks, Disneyland attendance generally ranks #2, only topped by MK.


(Another website lists: MK at 107 acres; HS at 135 acres, and AK at 580 acres.)

 

[RedK]

I think Disney and Universal are starting to focus on different customer segments.

With Universal having more intense rides and events like Halloween Horror, I think they are focused more on families with tweens/teens and adults up to about age 30. That lets Disney focus on families with young children and older adults. They complement each other.

that said, I do think Universal is more aggressively trying to grow its customer base. Between maintenance issues, lower food quality, etc, Disney is making it easy for Universal to out-compete them.

 

[Aluminum Falcon]

I think Disney and Universal are starting to focus on different customer segments.

With Universal having more intense rides and events like Halloween Horror, I think they are focused more on families with tweens/teens and adults up to about age 30. That lets Disney focus on families with young children and older adults. They complement each other.

that said, I do think Universal is more aggressively trying to grow its customer base. Between maintenance issues, lower food quality, etc, Disney is making it easy for Universal to out-compete them.

the numbers between the two are no where near each other so it's hard to say that Uni is gunning for Disney. The two have always had different philosophies when going to market, they both have their strengths and weaknesses, Disney is just in a different weight class from Uni

 

[Minnie1222]

I kept seeing posts about Disney having poor or lower quality food. What food are you all talking about?

 

[greeneyedchick]

My opinion: WDW sells nostalgia. Universal sells a theme park. The last few additions to WDW seemed to be more about keeping up with Universal than creating nostalgia. WDW needs to decide if they want to have 'just another theme park,' or go back to their roots of creating an experience. Long term, if they try to compete at Universal's game, WDW will lose. If they focus more on the guests, then WDW will win. That is how WDW has been able to stay on top while having rides and shows from the 70's. Just my opinion, but, one day, when I am CEO, that is what I'd do.

What you said makes me realize why Galaxies Edge doesn't resonate with me even though I was a big Star Wars fan. Disney made the decision to build it around the new IP rather than building a land that would allow me to live in the Star Wars universe of my childhood. The land does not tap into nostalgia. Only Star Tours does that for me. If only they had allowed me to walk around the Ewok Villages' tree houses and see cute little furry Ewoks. I would have been ok with a bunch of cute Pogs, too. Disney needs to go back to the nostalgia business.

 

[BrianL]

I kept seeing posts about Disney having poor or lower quality food. What food are you all talking about?

Generally I find the food to be pretty good, excepting the basic theme park burgers and that lousy pizza. If you stay away from that, usually it's fine. It's overpriced for sure, but there are a lot of really great options. There are always a few misses, but generally I enjoy what I eat there.

 

[fatmanatee]

What you said makes me realize why Galaxies Edge doesn't resonate with me even though I was a big Star Wars fan. Disney made the decision to build it around the new IP rather than building a land that would allow me to live in the Star Wars universe of my childhood. The land does not tap into nostalgia. Only Star Tours does that for me. If only they had allowed me to walk around the Ewok Villages' tree houses and see cute little furry Ewoks. I would have been ok with a bunch of cute Pogs, too. Disney needs to go back to the nostalgia business.

They’re still in the nostalgia business, they’re just targeting a younger generation’s nostalgia.

 

[Titanium]

I guess my question is why is this always a zero-sum question?

Lot's of folks like both and they are both very successful entertainment companies. If you love roller coasters and the Universal IP you'd probably prefer Universal. With WDW's size it has tons of options Universal just can't offer.

The question reminded me of the revisions to football rules to eliminate ties. They are a recent artifice to mold the sport into a more sell-able TV show.

 

[juxtapose]

I think they can both help each other, and I know a lot of people who go to Orlando to go both places. We’ve been to both several times.

The HP lands at universal are by far my favorite lands in Orlando. However, my whole family finds all the rest of universal sub par at best. The food is ehh and none of us like intense roller coasters. If Epic focuses on immersive lands with several rides each it could be a really amazing park. Universal is 2 days max for us the way it is now.

Disney doesn’t have a land that compares to HP but overall has better food and way more rides that we like. We spend 5 days there. They really need to add an immersive land to AK with 3 rides though.