Universal becoming more popular than Disney?

[Skip]

Well as I pointed out in my opening remarks to this thread, I knew that several people would use the argument that people must prefer Disney, because their attendance figures are larger. But as I stated (and as the one guest at Fort Wilderness said to us...and I think he was onto something), Disney's attendance figures are more about the reputation they've built over the years. It doesn't really say anything about what people are enjoying at any given moment, or on any given visit. After all, Disney has a 19-year lead on Universal, and they already had 3 parks open before Universal ever opened it's first park. That's a long time to develop a lasting impression, and for most of Disney's history, they have really set the bar as far as service and quality. It's only in recent years that Disney has started to decline noticeably (though it seems to get worse each year). So it stands to reason that their attendance figures will be higher, based on that reputation. But it seems to me that if you evened the playing field and both resorts were to open today, with no preconceived ideas and no reputations on which to ride, Universal would very likely come away the winner. As many have posted here, Universal has a lot going for it, and a lot of hardcore Disney buffs just don't want to give it a chance. This is evident in many of the remarks made here. When people post comments like, "Disney ALWAYS will be better", that's very telling. How can a person possibly know what something will "always" be? That reflects more of a closed mind, in my opinion. Likewise, when people post comments that indicate Universal (or even IOA) is "just a thrill park", I think that shows they either haven't really visited the park themselves, or they weren't paying attention at all. In reality, IOA is no more of a "thrill park" than DHS. Most of the Jurassic Park section, for example, is mostly for kids and families. It's just the ride itself that is more of a thrill ride (along the lines of Splash Mountain as opposed to a wild thrill ride). It also has the entire Seuss Landing section which is very obviously for kids. One could easily make the argument that DHS is a thrill park because of RnRC, ToT, or even LMA. I think that referring to US or IOA as thrill parks (or even genuinely believing them to be so) also reflects a closed mind.

In terms of attention to detail (something Disney Imagineers pride themselves on, and something that makes all of us huge fans of Disney in the first place), I would say US is outstanding. In particular, the New York, San Francisco, and Hollywood sections are incredible. I love how they each have major areas that are just for show (i.e. no rides or gift shops are set up...they are just there to provide ambiance). A close second might be some of the areas of AK.

This guy has the right idea. :sohappy:

-Skip

 

[3fordisney]

We try to go to WDW once a year and we always stay on property. We have no desire to go to US or IOA. My husband used to live in Tampa when he was a teen and had passes to Busch Gardens. His parents aren't "Disney" people. They went to US on opening day and never went back.

We have never wanted to go because we know what kind of experience we will have at WDW. We don't think our son will be excited about Sea World. Our son, who is 5, rode EE and ToT. He won't meet the height requirements for US yet. We know the kind of atmosphere we get at WDW and won't consider going to US until he gets older and can ride all the rides there. We all love WDW and can't think of going anywhere else while we are there. There is something about the Disney experience thats more than just well-themed sections. Its all the work in the smallest of details that sets Disney apart. Its why we won't consider going anywhere else while we are there.

There are people who will prefer US over WDW and vice versa. Its a matter of preference. I really doubt that US would ever top WDW. They can try, but I don't think it will happen. Do people travel from overseas to see "Shrek" 3D or ride "Twister" ? No, they come to see a mouse.

 

[ROTM]

Do people travel from overseas to see "Shrek" 3D or ride "Twister" ?

I only go for the Waffel House, but the parks are a nice side. Let me get them smothered and covered. :zipit:

 

[fireworkz]

I only go for the Waffel House, but the parks are a nice side. Let me get them smothered and covered. :zipit:

:ROFLOL:

What if they put a Waffle House where the PI clubs were hmmm?
*ducks flying objects from AC fans*

Seriously though, I have yet to visit USO/IOA. Just have a block against Universal. After two boring trips to Universal Hollywood (including one where I received food poisoning from a burrito) I just can't bring myself to try Universal Orlando. Now I know Orlando is supposed to be much better than Hollywood (seeing it's only a small park shoehorned in on top of a working studio) but still can't get the motivation to go. Maybe my wife being a big Potter fan might be what finally gets me there, until then Disney has more than enough for me.

 

[ChrisFL]

There are people who will prefer US over WDW and vice versa. Its a matter of preference. I really doubt that US would ever top WDW. They can try, but I don't think it will happen. Do people travel from overseas to see "Shrek" 3D or ride "Twister" ? No, they come to see a mouse.

Actually I know several people who travel overseas to visit Universal to see those attractions.

Making broad generalized statements like that without proof is part of the problem I see with certain Disney fans.

The mentality that "Disney will always be better" is something that I'm sure Paul Pressler, Michael Eisner and others loved to hear when they started to cut back on the quality and guest experience year after year.

I followed the construction of IOA from the very beginning, and it was very exciting, finally here was a park that could challenge what Disney had to offer and just maybe Disney would turn around and improve their parks to compete. Well it never quite turned out that way yet, although we did get a couple of attractions we may never have seen if it weren't for US/IOA.

People can rant and rave about all of the problems that Disney is having with the guest experience on these boards and others, yet continue to spend money and vacations there. Again, Competition is a GOOD thing for all involved, especially when people actually check out "the dark side" and see that it actually is a really well done experience (again, from those ex-Disney Imagineers!)

Disney is still benefitting from its older attractions that still bring people in, I mean, it isn't Stitch and Monster's Inc that keep people coming to MK

 

[agent86]

:ROFLOL:
Seriously though, I have yet to visit USO/IOA. Just have a block against Universal. After two boring trips to Universal Hollywood (including one where I received food poisoning from a burrito) I just can't bring myself to try Universal Orlando.

This is a very common, though understandable to some degree, mistaken assumption that a lot of people make. In reality, the Universal in Orlando and the one in Hollywood are nothing like one another. I think US in Orlando is one of the best theme parks anywhere. I think the one in Hollywood is one of the dullest. I almost wish they weren't both called Universal Studios, because they are so dissimilar to one another. So my point is, if your experience at the one in Hollywood is what's keeping you from giving the one in Orlando a chance, then I'd strongly recommend reconsidering.

 

[dandaman]

We have never wanted to go because we know what kind of experience we will have at WDW.

If you never try any new foods, you're bound to have quite a limited menu. :shrug:

(Though a Universal stay would be the equivalent of a $500 steak, so I understand it from that side of the metaphor. :lol: )

 

[MickeyJman06]

maybe maybe not but let me do a lame documentry
i bet soon attendence WILL drop in my POV because of many reasons.
first off is IOA, yes they have the only LSM B&M coaster and the only inverted dueling coaster and etc but all they've been doing is nothing for the past few years. yes they are building harry potter which construction is basically causing the entire lost continet (sorry. my spelling is going )
to close so we have Dueling Dragons, Flying Unicorn, and some more crap closing just for HP. and HP was only supossed to take dueling dragons!
yes i know AK is the same way but hey there projects are advanced (EE) and take years to build. Sylverster's oh blah blah blah (that new ride at IOA)was pre-built so thats not advanced. if u still don't know im talking about, go to the 04 screamscape awards!
Now to USF. in caps lock THE SIMPSONS RIDE WASN'T NECESSARY!!!!!!!! they could've just did a long refurbishment to get new cars and restore the film but they decided to build simpsons. anyride SBNO is with me. and Simpsons is part of my downpour because many families don't let their kids watch them and simpsons being at the park will just reverse that familie's plans. USF isn't that lazy as IOA but i remember earlier when HP was announced some said that the ride has cool concept art but the actual ride was poo-poo.
and the rest of the resort is the laziest probaly in the world. Disney allways updates there hotels, Just look! were getting Contemporary and AKL villas. is universal doing that to there hotels? NO! all 3 are being lazy! yes DL has 3 but there updating with grand californian villas and those exclusive things at the DL hotel for YOMD. yes citywalk is lazy too. we havn't seen any custom nightclubs or interactive stuff from them. they just built the stores we can easily find at local malls.
that sums why i think universal smells like poo-poo and disney takes showers
thanks for reading!
-MickeyJman06:wave:

 

[jorgetheviking]

maybe maybe not but let me do a lame documentry
i bet soon attendence WILL drop in my POV because of many reasons.
first off is IOA, yes they have the only LSM B&M coaster and the only inverted dueling coaster and etc but all they've been doing is nothing for the past few years. yes they are building harry potter which construction is basically causing the entire lost continet (sorry. my spelling is going )
to close so we have Dueling Dragons, Flying Unicorn, and some more crap closing just for HP. and HP was only supossed to take dueling dragons!
yes i know AK is the same way but hey there projects are advanced (EE) and take years to build. Sylverster's oh blah blah blah (that new ride at IOA)was pre-built so thats not advanced. if u still don't know im talking about, go to the 04 screamscape awards!
Now to USF. in caps lock THE SIMPSONS RIDE WASN'T NECESSARY!!!!!!!! they could've just did a long refurbishment to get new cars and restore the film but they decided to build simpsons. anyride SBNO is with me. and Simpsons is part of my downpour because many families don't let their kids watch them and simpsons being at the park will just reverse that familie's plans. USF isn't that lazy as IOA but i remember earlier when HP was announced some said that the ride has cool concept art but the actual ride was poo-poo.
and the rest of the resort is the laziest probaly in the world. Disney allways updates there hotels, Just look! were getting Contemporary and AKL villas. is universal doing that to there hotels? NO! all 3 are being lazy! yes DL has 3 but there updating with grand californian villas and those exclusive things at the DL hotel for YOMD. yes citywalk is lazy too. we havn't seen any custom nightclubs or interactive stuff from them. they just built the stores we can easily find at local malls.
that sums why i think universal smells like poo-poo and disney takes showers
thanks for reading!
-MickeyJman06:wave:

[SARCASM] That had to be the most open minded post I've ever seen. [/SARCASM]

Your post seems to just refer to Universal as poo poo the whole time. :lookaroun
Honestly you really should stop posting until you learn to actually contribute to a discussion. Have a nice day. :wave:


Now onto my view. I really enjoy both. Universal has some outstanding super-cool attractions. Disney has amazing classics, and new attractions. Both Resorts have there flaws though. Universal's would be abandoning IOA for so long. Disney's adding a bit too much pixar-based attractions to the parks. I would love to spend a day at either WDW or UO. They're equal in my opinion.

 

[bluejasmine]

HATED Universal

We went to Universal in early June b/c I couldnt afford to bring 5 ppl to WDW this yr (going for honeymoon Sept) and we feel we just wasted our money. Everything we did we compared to disney and it was lacking with the exception of MIB which we found to be better than Buzz. The service, the food (the meal deal was a rip off) even the park hrs! Here it is June and the park is closing before its even dark.. We will never pay to go back to Universal again..

While we were there we heard many ppl making the same comparisons and complaining.. City Walk was horrible, we were given free diner at Citywalk b/c of some experiences we had at the parks and even it was horrible!

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

City Walk was horrible, we were given free diner at Citywalk b/c of some experiences we had at the parks and even it was horrible!

So you are able to judge all the city walks food on that?

By that logic Disneys is bloody terrible based on my experiences at mama Melroses.

 

[bassman02]

i love universal,especially IOA.
i think that IOA is far superior to most disney stuff in terms of groundbreaking ride/attraction technology eg spiderman,hulk,posiodens fury.
and in general theming,i havent seen one part of IOA that isnt correctly themed to the area,even the toilets.
and with the new harry potter attraction/land being built that will be greatly increased.

having said that,i still love disney,there is just something about disney that makes it so magical and memorable.
whenever i go on holiday to florida i have to go 2 both universal parks,i still have to experience city walk but it looks awesome,but i absolutly have to go 2 disney.

the long and short of it is that i feel that universal has somethings that are miles better than disney,but disney at the same time has loads of stuff that is miles better universal.i feel that they are both as good as one another,i dont see any competion between them both.

 

[MickeyJman06]

Your post seems to just refer to Universal as poo poo the whole time. :lookaroun
Honestly you really should stop posting until you learn to actually contribute to a discussion. Have a nice day. :wave:
.

i wasn't saying universal is poo-poo the whole time, i was explaning why universal will get a downpour in my POV. Maybe you should get a life, think twice or deal with it.

 

[DisneyYorkian74]

Fair enough. I just see it tossed around so often, as if it "proved" that Disney's popularity was better then Universal because it WAS better.

However, I don't think you can fairly state that Universal has zero chance of defeating Disney ever. While Disney may have the bigger numbers now, it's possible that in many decades it COULD overtake them, should they acquire more expansion space, or Disney continues to be lazy and ultimately destroys what was fun about their parks. Am I saying it's likely? No, it really isn't. But is it possible? Yes. If you need an example of a smaller competitor defeating a larger one, just take a look at Atari vs. Nintendo.

-Skip

I'm going to have to repeat myself by saying that Universal has zero percent chance of even coming close to WDW in terms of attendance.

A 37 million gap in visitors between the 2 resorts is HUGE, and saying it's HUGE is really an understatement.

A million people is a lot of people and even a 1 or 2 million gap would be a gap wide enough to give Universal a pretty hard time catching up.

Orlando is also the town it is today solely thanks to WDW.

The other tourist attractions in Orlando would only reap the negative effects if WDW slid in attendance.

 

[bluejasmine]

So you are able to judge all the city walks food on that?

By that logic Disneys is bloody terrible based on my experiences at mama Melroses.

Actually we ate there another night also BUT the night we were given dinner by Guest Relations we went two other places first and were ignored by staff.. At one place it appeared everyone was drunk, including staff..

 

[sknydave]

oh god

 

[Skip]

Oh boy, this is going to be interesting...

maybe maybe not but let me do a lame documentry
i bet soon attendence WILL drop in my POV because of many reasons.
first off is IOA, yes they have the only LSM B&M coaster and the only inverted dueling coaster and etc but all they've been doing is nothing for the past few years.
Not true...
yes they are building harry potter which construction
You just contradicted yourself...
is basically causing the entire lost continet (sorry. my spelling is going )
to close so we have Dueling Dragons, Flying Unicorn, and some more crap closing just for HP. and HP was only supossed to take dueling dragons!
All of the above is incorrect. As far as we know only Merlinwood and possibly the Sinbad area is being RETHEMED. Dueling Dragons and Flying Unicorn are not closing, they are being RETHEMED. They will be the same actual rides, just with new eye candy.
yes i know AK is the same way but hey there projects are advanced (EE) and take years to build.
I lol'd at this. You think Harry Potter isn't "advanced" or "taking years to build"? That's just laughable. Harry Potter was announced a while ago and it isn't planned on being completely open until 2010. The thing's been in development for a lot longer then that, even.
Sylverster's oh blah blah blah (that new ride at IOA)was pre-built so thats not advanced.
You're kidding right? Sure, there was a Sylvester ride that was never opened due to some logistical problems. But they tore out the track and REPLACED IT with an all-new track with interchange-able dual loading stations. The thing is also technically a powered roller coaster. I don't think you can judge whether a ride is "advanced" or not, and even if isn't advanced, that doesn't mean it's bad. Here's a suggestion: Why don't you go check out Animal Kingdom's other "advanced" project, Chester and Hester's Dino-Rama?
if u still don't know im talking about, go to the 04 screamscape awards!
Now to USF. in caps lock THE SIMPSONS RIDE WASN'T NECESSARY!!!!!!!!
As much as I loved Back to the Future, it was getting old and dated. A replacement was probably needed. they could've just did a long refurbishment to get new cars and restore the film but they decided to build simpsons.
A refurbishment isn't going to attract new audiences. anyride SBNO is with me. and Simpsons is part of my downpour because many families don't let their kids watch them and simpsons being at the park will just reverse that familie's plans.
Um, says who? Do you have any data to back this up? If they were adding a South Park ride or something, I might agree, but I don't know anyone who wouldn't let their kids enjoy The Simpsons Ride (which is very fun I might add). USF isn't that lazy as IOA but i remember earlier when HP was announced some said that the ride has cool concept art but the actual ride was poo-poo.
Um, just to let you know, the parks are run by the same management. They aren't people who are capable of being "lazy". I saw the concept art, and it looks AMAZINGLY cool. The actual ride was poo poo? Seriously? Has the ride even been BUILT yet? How are you or anyone supposed to know how the ride will be?
and the rest of the resort is the laziest probaly in the world. Disney allways updates there hotels, Just look! were getting Contemporary and AKL villas.
Um... just wow... they're building DVC unit buildings, one of which is going to mar the wonderful structure that is the Contemporary A-Frame... since when do you have to expand a hotel with timeshares to "update" it?
is universal doing that to there hotels? NO! all 3 are being lazy!
Again, hotels aren't people, they aren't capable of being lazy... and their management isn't lazy, either, all three of them are fantastic resorts.
yes DL has 3 but there updating with grand californian villas and those exclusive things at the DL hotel for YOMD.
Oh dear... Universal's resorts blow the Paradise Pier and Disneyland hotels away. They're about on par with the Grand Californian.
yes citywalk is lazy too. we havn't seen any custom nightclubs or interactive stuff from them.
Um... once again... Citywalk is run by the management, it isn't a person... and actually, in case you didn't know, Citywalk JUST opened "The Rising Star", which is a hip karaoke bar concept with live bands and backup vocals. They also in the recent past opened the Red Coconut Club as well as Blue Man Group, which is a spectacular presentation.
they just built the stores we can easily find at local malls.
Um... is Disney any different? Seriously? Disney has a handful of unique stores, so does Citywalk... also, isn't Disney CLOSING all of their nightclubs and replacing them with MORE generic shopping and dining?
that sums why i think universal smells like poo-poo and disney takes showers
Wow, seriously, no comment.
thanks for reading!
-MickeyJman06:wave:

i wasn't saying universal is poo-poo the whole time, i was explaning why universal will get a downpour in my POV. Maybe you should get a life, think twice or deal with it.

:brick:

-Skip

 

[Legacy]

We went to Universal in early June b/c I couldnt afford to bring 5 ppl to WDW this yr (going for honeymoon Sept) and we feel we just wasted our money. Everything we did we compared to disney and it was lacking with the exception of MIB which we found to be better than Buzz. The service, the food (the meal deal was a rip off) even the park hrs! Here it is June and the park is closing before its even dark.. We will never pay to go back to Universal again..

While we were there we heard many ppl making the same comparisons and complaining.. City Walk was horrible, we were given free diner at Citywalk b/c of some experiences we had at the parks and even it was horrible!

Well, I'm glad you recognized what your problem was.

Stop comparing. Start enjoying.