A Spirited Dirty Dozen ...

[GoofGoof]

No, the original poster compared the cost of a WDW stay to a trip to Europe. Luv is the one who tried to compare the trips themselves to theme parks.

And flights from Orlando to Bora Bora in mid-November will run you $3009, per Expedia two minutes ago.

Per person. For a couple that's $6K and for a family with 2 kids that's $12K and that doesn't account for the mental anguish I (and my fellow passengers) would suffer being on a plane with my kids for that long

 

[SorcererMC]

I agree with this. It was Universal's decision to up their quality combined with the purchase of the Harry Potter rights which has led to their parks being on par with Disney's parks in the market. There seems to be an idea out there that somehow Disney could have prevented Universal from competing by investing more at WDW. My opinion is that the only thing that could have severely limited Universal's success would have been buying those Harry Potter rights. Universal still would have had the opportunity to raise the bar without Potter but that single decision to buy Potter gave Uni the customer base to feel confident spending heavily on the rest of the parks.

Ok. 'Inevitable' is a loaded word that always jumps out at me. WDW could have invested and expanded their lead, but their ability to do so was limited at the time according to the prices that the market would bear due to the 2008 recession (I think, ETA: as the direction WDW went in was great for business, not necessarily great for fans. Agreed re: UO.)

 

[Bairstow]

No, the original poster compared the cost of a WDW stay to a trip to Europe. Luv is the one who tried to compare the trips themselves to theme parks.

And flights from Orlando to Bora Bora in mid-November will run you $3009, per Expedia two minutes ago.

You're missing the point.
He was illustrating that it's silly to try to compare travel in general to travel to a major park complex.

 

[GoofGoof]

Ok. 'Inevitable' is a loaded word that always jumps out at me. WDW could have invested and expanded their lead, but their ability to do so was limited at the time according to the prices that the market would bear due to the 2008 recession (I think, ETA: as the direction WDW went in was great for business, not necessarily great for fans. Agreed re: UO.)

By inevitable I was more referring to competition in general. Since the mouse first moved to Florida there have been smaller "mice" eating at the scraps left behind. None could compete individually with WDW but collectively they took a chunk out of Disney's market share. That part was inevitable. Universal is the first company to really compete directly at a similar level although Sea World came pretty close at times purely as a park but was more animal show based and lacked the merchandise, food and lodging that are so profitable for WDW.

 

[flynnibus]

Really? Where, and what theme parks are you visiting there that compare to WDW?

I just about fell out of my chair reading this. Theme parks vs the real thing...

 

[flynnibus]

Oh, and I don't know where you live, but from where I live, the absolute cheapest airfare we could get is about $4,800. We haven't spent even half that amount for ANY Disney vacation. Please stop with the nonsense.

Except that fat DVC check up front... but let's not let facts get in the way.

 

[flynnibus]

WDW has theme parks. Except for Paris, Europe does not. Doesn't matter how you look at it, it is apples and oranges, and 2 completely different kinds of vacations

This is what people talk about when they say Americans are self-centered and lack global awareness.

 

[flynnibus]

You're missing the point.
He was illustrating that it's silly to try to compare travel in general to travel to a major park complex.

Only for the people who think a Disney park is all their soul needs...

 

[VJ]

Still can't top the Mickey's 60th Birthday Parades at WDW and Disneyland in 1988/1989

I love the Mickey's 60th Birthday parade music so much. So catchy.

 

[BernardandBianca]

You're missing the point.
He was illustrating that it's silly to try to compare travel in general to travel to a major park complex.

Why don't you try actually reading what people write. He wrote "Where, and what theme parks are you visiting there that compare to WDW?"

 

[Mike S]

I agree with this. It was Universal's decision to up their quality combined with the purchase of the Harry Potter rights which has led to their parks being on par with Disney's parks in the market. There seems to be an idea out there that somehow Disney could have prevented Universal from competing by investing more at WDW. My opinion is that the only thing that could have severely limited Universal's success would have been buying those Harry Potter rights. Universal still would have had the opportunity to raise the bar without Potter but that single decision to buy Potter gave Uni the customer base to feel confident spending heavily on the rest of the parks.

The only problem with Disney's lack of investment is and always will be the capacity problems they now face. If Disney didn't slow down so much in the past when they had less crowds there would be more for today's crowds. Harry Potter was always going to come as Universal's last ditch effort. It probably would've helped if Disney didn't let go of major players as well. Some of which now work for Uni.

 

[brb1006]

I love the Mickey's 60th Birthday parade music so much. So catchy.

I really love the music for the WDW version.

 

[VJ]

I really love the music for the WDW version.

I prefer the Disneyland version. I actually didn't know WDW's version had different music until now.

 

[Bairstow]

Why don't you try actually reading what people write. He wrote "Where, and what theme parks are you visiting there that compare to WDW?"

Ok, I see it now. I don't think that was his intended point, though.

 

[VJ]

I started watching Clone Wars last year. Yes, late to the party.
I expected it to be slightly mediocre, but it is really rather good, increasingly so with each season.

Star Wars is more than one family with severe hereditary mental illness.

The Clone Wars doesn't really pick up until season 3. Same with Star Wars Rebels (both shows share an executive producer, Dave Filoni, who also acts as a sort of showrunner for both shows), which is also a great show but didn't find its footing until its current season. I do love both shows a lot though.

 

[Absimilliard]

Really? Where, and what theme parks are you visiting there that compare to WDW?

What theme parks over there I can visit that compare to WDW?

Off the top of my head:

Efteling in the Netherlands was a place that Walt Disney visited when he was researching places for Disneyland. Today, they have an incredible mix of fun roller coasters and dark rides in a beautiful green space. Their signature rides are Fata Morgana, a boat dark ride through the 1001 Nights on the scale of Disneyland Pirates of the Caribbean, Droomvlucht, a beautiful suspended dark ride and the Baron 1898, a highly themed Dive Coaster with a dark ride portion and insane theming. Coming in 2017 is Symbolica, a 35 million Euros (around 40 millions USD) high tech dark ride.

Here is a video of Fata Morgana:



Next, we have the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Danemark. It has been open for hundreds of years and in addition to rides, it is filled with restaurants and is a popular meeting place.

Here is a picture at night:

Port Aventura as someone else mentioned. It was built by Busch Gardens and Tussaud back in the 1990's. Universal then took over and now, the park has local owners. It has incredible hotels, a neat water park and are opening a third gate next year called Ferrari World.

Over in Germany, might I recommend Phantasialand? Located near Cologne, this park has some strict noise and visual restrictions which forced them to be quite imaginative. Whereas Disney just bought off the shelf spinning coasters, Phantasialand went with custom spinning coasters in a large building with elevators, moving track 12 years before Gringotts and other things. Their latest ride is Taron, an incredible launched coaster through a beautiful environment.

Taron.

Europa Park is currently the second most visited park in Europe, ahead of Walt Disney Studios Paris. Owned by a ride manufacturer, it is used as a showcase for their ideas and their hotels are incredible true 4 stars experiences.

This is a room at the "El Andaluz", an older hotel there.

They opened a pretty dark ride experience a few years called "Arthur- The Ride". They have a ton of dark rides, over a dozen roller coasters and their efficiently at moving lines make today's WDW pale.

 

[ford91exploder]

Now we've got the pixie dusters claiming WDW is better than a trip to Europe?! LOL, what a great read that was over my morning coffee. Guess what? There are tons of places in this Florida swampland that are better than WDW. Just wow

Amazing is it not,

Read the book 'The True Believer' for an explanation of the psychology of 'True Believers' in any field from Pixie Dusters to cultists.

 

[ford91exploder]

What theme parks over there I can visit that compare to WDW?

Off the top of my head:

Efteling in the Netherlands was a place that Walt Disney visited when he was researching places for Disneyland. Today, they have an incredible mix of fun roller coasters and dark rides in a beautiful green space. Their signature rides are Fata Morgana, a boat dark ride through the 1001 Nights on the scale of Disneyland Pirates of the Caribbean, Droomvlucht, a beautiful suspended dark ride and the Baron 1898, a highly themed Dive Coaster with a dark ride portion and insane theming. Coming in 2017 is Symbolica, a 35 million Euros (around 40 millions USD) high tech dark ride.

Here is a video of Fata Morgana:



Next, we have the Tivoli Gardens in Copenhagen, Danemark. It has been open for hundreds of years and in addition to rides, it is filled with restaurants and is a popular meeting place.

Here is a picture at night:

Port Aventura as someone else mentioned. It was built by Busch Gardens and Tussaud back in the 1990's. Universal then took over and now, the park has local owners. It has incredible hotels, a neat water park and are opening a third gate next year called Ferrari World.

Over in Germany, might I recommend Phantasialand? Located near Cologne, this park has some strict noise and visual restrictions which forced them to be quite imaginative. Whereas Disney just bought off the shelf spinning coasters, Phantasialand went with custom spinning coasters in a large building with elevators, moving track 12 years before Gringotts and other things. Their latest ride is Taron, an incredible launched coaster through a beautiful environment.

Taron.

Europa Park is currently the second most visited park in Europe, ahead of Walt Disney Studios Paris. Owned by a ride manufacturer, it is used as a showcase for their ideas and their hotels are incredible true 4 stars experiences.

This is a room at the "El Andaluz", an older hotel there.

They opened a pretty dark ride experience a few years called "Arthur- The Ride". They have a ton of dark rides, over a dozen roller coasters and their efficiently at moving lines make today's WDW pale.

Damn I always miss the fun when I visit Europe, Fly there spend 12-16 hours trapped in a conference room, taxi back to hotel do this for a few days and return home on first available flight. No the company does not pay me to play tourist.

 

[ford91exploder]

I agree with this. It was Universal's decision to up their quality combined with the purchase of the Harry Potter rights which has led to their parks being on par with Disney's parks in the market. There seems to be an idea out there that somehow Disney could have prevented Universal from competing by investing more at WDW. My opinion is that the only thing that could have severely limited Universal's success would have been buying those Harry Potter rights. Universal still would have had the opportunity to raise the bar without Potter but that single decision to buy Potter gave Uni the customer base to feel confident spending heavily on the rest of the parks.

The great irony in this is Disney had first crack at the Harry Potter rights, And from the stories completely blew it apparently Disney pitched 'TSMM with wands' and lots of retail and dining and Rowling was disgusted and went to Universal who agreed to build her vision (Yes Universal WAS desperate at the time but) HP showed them that they could compete with Disney on Disney's own terms and turf , Yet the takeaway from all this is once again Disney was unwilling to invest in a proper immersive environment and actual ATTRACTIONS.

For the past 10 years it's been the same story over and over Disney does not want to build attractions the ultimate expression of that was FP+ which was pitched as a way to redistribute guests to less popular attractions.

 

[ford91exploder]

Except that fat DVC check up front... but let's not let facts get in the way.

Or the 3000 per NIGHT rate on the Pizza Huts.