What will come first a 5th disney park or a 3rd universal park?

Andy Whitfield

Andy Whitfield

Active Member
if i was a betting man i'd say a 3rd uni park. Only because disney has so much to do to 3 of their 4 current parks to bring them up to speed and uni seem to want to expand asap
 
DisneyDaver

DisneyDaver

Well-Known Member
A 3rd for Universal. There is plenty for WDW to do at Epcot, AK and DHS before a 5th gate should even be considered. I'm actually not sure a 5th gate will ever be needed. Keeping 4 in top shape has been an enormous challenge for WDW the past 10 years. After the addition of a couple more attractions to Islands of Adventure, I think Universal will be ready for a 3rd gate (though it probably won't happen for 5-10 years).
 
cheezbat

cheezbat

Well-Known Member
Disney doesn't even sound interested in a fifth theme park in Orlando. Obviously Universal is VERY interested in stealing more vacation days away from WDW, and building a third theme park is in their plans. I say we'll probably find out the answer in the next ten years.
 
JordanNite

JordanNite

Well-Known Member
A water park is a little underwhelming to be honest ... there's already so many.

A game changer would be another park ... i would honest base myself around Universal then.

Disney essentially only have 3.5 theme parks - Disney Studios is only a half day park at best.

Build a third park, incorporate Sea World and it's Aquatica into a flexi ticket and they will really hurt Disney.
 
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J

JT3000

Well-Known Member
danlb_2000 said:
3rd park at Uni. I think Disney is a LONG way from getting a fifth gate. There is still plenty of room for improvement and expansion on the four existing parks.
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That's never stopped them before.

It doesn't really matter though. Whoever makes the first move, the other will probably whip something up just to compete. Disney in particular has a history of being very reactionary. Just pray it consists of more than a small handful of attractions on opening day.
 
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JordanNite

JordanNite

Well-Known Member
If Disney build a 5th gate it will hurt Universal terribly.

At the moment most people tend to spend a wee in Orlando, with 4-5 days Disney and tend to use the spare day (or two) doing Universal - whilst not all, the majority.

If they were to develop another gate, there will be less spare date for people to travel down to Universal.
 
J

JT3000

Well-Known Member
JordanNite said:
If Disney build a 5th gate it will hurt Universal terribly.

At the moment most people tend to spend a wee in Orlando, with 4-5 days Disney and tend to use the spare day (or two) doing Universal - whilst not all, the majority.

If they were to develop another gate, there will be less spare date for people to travel down to Universal.
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This conclusion rests on the assumption that all such people will cut out a Universal park and not one of the other Disney parks. They could very well hurt themselves by further developing in an already saturated market.
 
TubaGeek

TubaGeek

God bless the "Ignore" button.
Disney is much closer to that point of diminishing returns already. And, to be a broken record, they need to finish three of their parks and get the other one up to suff.
Uni, though, is very excited to keep expanding their market. I just hope they wait 5-10 years till after some more NON-Potter projects.
 
stretchsje

stretchsje

Well-Known Member
I think the untapped potential for Disney is at a Villains-themed park that would be geared a little more toward adults. It doesn't matter that the other parks still have room for expansion; it's about broadening the appeal of the Disney brand by expanding the umbrella. We're already seeing this shift in Disney's cinema releases with stories told from Oz's of Maleficent perspective. Disney has a huge catalog of villains that need a home. The marketing potential is there and I think the movies are paving the way.

Add to that, a villainy park could quite easily be themed to be for older children and adults, which is exactly the market Universal seems focused on. If Universal builds a third gate, this could be Disney's head-on reaction. Very few people bring two and three year olds to Universal; it's older kids and adults that finish out their Orlando vacation at Universal. Disney needs to keep adults on their property, not young children.

Star Wars, Guardians of the Galaxy, and some other big Disney IPs all could fit neatly within the current parks, so I wouldn't expect a fifth gate until those franchises are represented in the existing parks. As we all know, that is going to take a while, so my expectation of a villains park is ten years out at the earliest.

So in all likelihood, Universal will build another gate first, then Disney will respond around 2021. Probably October 7th.
 
DisneyDaver

DisneyDaver

Well-Known Member
stretchsje said:
I think the untapped potential for Disney is at a Villains-themed park that would be geared a little more toward adults. It doesn't matter that the other parks still have room for expansion; it's about broadening the appeal of the Disney brand by expanding the umbrella. We're already seeing this shift in Disney's cinema releases with stories told from Oz's of Maleficent perspective. Disney has a huge catalog of villains that need a home. The marketing potential is there and I think the movies are paving the way.

Add to that, a villainy park could quite easily be themed to be for older children and adults, which is exactly the market Universal seems focused on. If Universal builds a third gate, this could be Disney's head-on reaction. Very few people bring two and three year olds to Universal; it's older kids and adults that finish out their Orlando vacation at Universal. Disney needs to keep adults on their property, not young children.

Star Wars, Guardians of the Galaxy, and some other big Disney IPs all could fit neatly within the current parks, so I wouldn't expect a fifth gate until those franchises are represented in the existing parks. As we all know, that is going to take a while, so my expectation of a villains park is ten years out at the earliest.

So in all likelihood, Universal will build another gate first, then Disney will respond around 2021. Probably October 7th.
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I agree with you that a more adult themed park might make sense for WDW, but I think your time frame of 10 years is probably off. At the rate WDW is moving, I think it will take at least another 10 years (more likely 15) to finish out the existing parks. EPCOT and DHS each need substantial work that hasn't even commenced. After that is complete, then I could see a 5th gate. I suspect an opening year for a 5th gate of more like 2030 than 2021.
 
misterID

misterID

Well-Known Member
A 5th gate makes zero sense for DISNEY. They are still making money as is. They still need for the existing parks that are under performing to play catch up. MK is carrying a lot of of those attendance figures on it's back. And if Disney opens another park their modus operandi when opening a new park is to have as few attractions as possible and coast off the parks "newness" for a couple of years. I don't see that as being a trump card in destroying UNI. If anything it'll be another park people drop to go to UNI and another park they have to gradually invest in to keep people going through the gate.

UNI builds fast, big and way less than what Disney spends. That's not a race Disney can win, or should even attempt. I would go as far to say that if they started building new parks at the same time UNI would have their park opened at least a year before Disney, and that's being very generous... By the time they did open their fifth gate UNI would already be expanding there third.
 
Todd H

Todd H

Well-Known Member
orlando678- said:
But what could this third park's theme be?
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I know what theme I'd want to see...

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