EricsBiscuit
Well-Known Member
Could that low throughput on MU also be from demand? I do tend to notice that many of the ride vehicles go unfilled.
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Universal Epic Universe (South Expansion Complex) - Now Open!
- Thread starter Bob Harlem
- Start date
Tom Morrow
Well-Known Member
Very few people who are locals with APs are ever buying LL. LL users are almost entirely people on vacation buying it out of FOMO, which in turn drives up usage of the LL queues, which makes the standby lines longer, which makes even more people buy LL, etc.
Jrb1979
Well-Known Member
If you limit it like every other park does, then it doesn't cause that problem. I'm sure Universal limits the amount of Express passes sold per day
lentesta
Premium Member
Absolutely.
Lil Copter Cap
Well-Known Member
Also sharing this write up that does a fine job of breaking down (pun intended) May 28th:
themeparkmagazine.com
Epic Universe: Creative Excellence Meets Operational Chaos
Epic Universe has taken the definition of a theme park to new levels thanks to Universal Creative. But operations have failed...
themeparkmagazine.com
Tom Morrow
Well-Known Member
Both LL and Express have a limit to how many are sold per day, but the cap for both is far above the amount at which either would not affect the standby line.
A lot of Universal fans will insist that Universal’s Express Pass doesn’t affect's the standby lines the way Disney’s LL/Fastpass do, but anyone who has worked a high demand attraction at Universal (and pays attention) will tell you that it does. Especially when considering that a lot of Universal guests get “free” Express - the queues get slammed by Express right at 4:00 PM for the AP premiere pass “express after 4” users, for example.
Jrb1979
Well-Known Member
HIgh demand attractions will always be affected the most. All I'm saying is if Disney got rid of the cheaper version of the LL pass it would be much better on standby. A lot of those people that buy the cheap one won't spend the money on the premier pass.
Just wanted to add, I don’t think they hit their hiring goals for Epic.
Central Florida may have finally reached the tipping point where there simply aren’t enough people willing to work in the parks. Or, conversely, the people who are willing may be running into rehire restrictions from past employment that are keeping them out.
lentesta
Premium Member
At the Magic Kingdom at least, standby waits in May were lower than they've been in at least a decade. And that's with steady or rising attendance.
I think they've made some operational changes:
- Slightly de-prioritizing LL and prioritizing standby when it comes to boarding guests
- Maybe posted wait times are less inflated ("even more accurate", if you will) than they've been
Sir_Cliff
Well-Known Member
This may be a little bit of a diversion, but looking at some of these operational issues that Epic has been having leads me to wonder what the opening months of Disney's Animal Kingdom were like.
That park opened with far fewer attractions and before the days of all these ticketing schemes aimed at limiting capacity, so watching some of the challenges Universal has faced makes we wonder how Animal Kingdom didn't absolutely collapse when people showed up to experience a new park with so few attractions. Is it just that memories have faded of those challenges? Was the technology more straightforward and thus reliability better? Or is there some kind of other mix of factors?
That park opened with far fewer attractions and before the days of all these ticketing schemes aimed at limiting capacity, so watching some of the challenges Universal has faced makes we wonder how Animal Kingdom didn't absolutely collapse when people showed up to experience a new park with so few attractions. Is it just that memories have faded of those challenges? Was the technology more straightforward and thus reliability better? Or is there some kind of other mix of factors?
JusticeDisney
Well-Known Member
Where are all those folks (and they were many around here) who proclaimed that Epic would spell doom for WDW? Asking for a friend.
Purduevian
Well-Known Member
The park has been open for 8 days... I'm still going to guess in 2026, we will see a decrease in the amount of people going to EPCOT, DHS, and AK as they trade 1 day of their Disney vacation to see EPIC.
FTFY
JusticeDisney
Well-Known Member
I wouldn’t count on that, but ok. In any event, I was making a larger point, which is that some people keep insisting that Universal is going to dethrone Disney. It’s simply never going to happen. Universal does great theme parks, there is no question about that. And plenty of people prefer Universal over Disney. But on the whole, Disney will always remain king.
Purduevian
Well-Known Member
I don't think many people thought this park was going to bankrupt Disney, but even a small dent in their profits and attendance (which can be contributed to EPIC) might cause them to invest more into the parks.
Regarding USO and IOA loosing attendance. I'm sure they will, but my guess is the gains from EPIC will outpace the losses from USO and IOA (essentially UOR gets more guests even if spread through 3 parks instead of 2).
Sir_Cliff
Well-Known Member
You would certainly hope that UOR gains attendance overall after Epic's opening. It would be something of a disaster after all this investment if it just stayed flat overall.
It's all still up in the air where the attendance will come from in terms of people shifting from other parks versus the market growing. I do think there was perhaps a little too much fantasising from those who want to see Disney take a hit about how this would cause Magic Kingdom to drop down on the list of global attendance or how it would finally provide management with their comeuppance for under-investment, price rises, etc. As time has gone on, the capacity limits if nothing else have suggested that Epic's impact on Orlando's other parks can only be so great for the time being.
My suspicion is more of those in the park on a given day will be people who would otherwise have been at one of Universal's other two parks than at any one of Disney's four, thus the hit to Disney will be less obvious. Again, that is to be expected and I don't know why anyone who wants it to be seen as a success has been pushing the notion that it will be mostly sucking attendance from Disney. If it does that, great for them. It is a big ask, though.
Andrew C
You know what's funny?
As you said, it will take some time for everything to pan out. We should come back to this post in about a year or so. Maybe even two
Sir_Cliff
Well-Known Member
Certainly. I suspect, though, people will only want to come back to it if there are indeed tumbleweeds blowing down Main Street USA!As you said, it will take some time for everything to pan out. We should come back to this post in about a year or so. Maybe even two
MK now that EU is open...
