Comcast CEO: "Universal will compete aggressively with Disney"

[Magenta Panther]

Tony Baxter designed an Oz attraction for DL's FL before he retired. I think something like that wedged between Haunted Mansion and north of FLE would complete that section of the park, adding capacity and appeal at the same time. They need to give Space Mountain and BTMRR all the enhancements given to and planned for DL. Finally, they need to add the once-planned Fire Mountain inverted roller coaster to Adventureland. Then, MK would be "complete".

I think an Oz attraction would be problematic for Disney...because when most people think of an Oz movie, they think of the MGM film, not Disney's. And let's face it - Disney's Oz film pales in comparison. REALLY pales in comparison. So, unless Disney is willing to pay for the rights to incorporate the MGM version into an Oz attraction, it's building an attraction that will only remind people of the better film - and yet not satisfy their nostalgic fondness for that film. IMO, Disney would be better off building an attraction based on "Frozen" or "Wreck-It-Ralph" or, best of all, "Mary Poppins". I think my Cherry Tree Lane idea, with Admiral Boom's house and a dark ride based on Mary's adventures, would be ideal. "Mary Poppins" was Walt Disney's "Wizard of Oz" - and it's high time it found a decent presence in the parks. In fact, right now the time is perfect for it, given its raised profile via the box-office success of "Saving Mr. Banks".

 

[Matt_Black]

And let's face it - Disney's Oz film pales in comparison. REALLY pales in comparison.

Both of them, in fact. Remember, Oz the Great and Powerful wasn't their first time trying an Oz film.

 

[Tony Perkis]

If any Florida theme park opens an Oz attraction, it's going to be USO. They'll bring in an abbreviated version of Wicked, which is produced by Universal Studios.

 

[danlb_2000]

This is the part I found most interesting:

In other words, if they succeed in raising prices for park hopper tickets, you can bet Disney will do something similar between EC and HS, such as a people mover (which Hogswarts really is).

But what you be at either end? Hogwarts express isn't going to be a big deal just because it provides transport between the two parks, it's going to be a big deal because it's part of the entire Harry Potter experience at the parks. Simply putting a people mover between EC and HS won't give people a reason to pay more for a hopper ticket.

 

[Funmeister]

But what you be at either end? Hogwarts express isn't going to be a big deal just because it provides transport between the two parks, it's going to be a big deal because it's part of the entire Harry Potter experience at the parks. Simply putting a people mover between EC and HS won't give people a reason to pay more for a hopper ticket.

Also, there is already multiple "transportation" options in place between Disney parks. Efficient? No. Fun? To some degree. Not many places you can ride a boat or monorail (depending where you are from). Disney really cannot compete with Hogwarts Express except to improve their transportation infrastructure. Even if they do that it wil still not be the unique experience that is/will be the Hogwarts Express.

 

[RSoxNo1]

Cabana Bay will be successful in the sense that it will be profitable. Universal is simply tapping into an existing value-conscious market that wants to stay onsite at Universal but can't pay the prices of Uni's 3 existing Deluxe hotels.

What can be debated is where does that market stay today. Will Cabana Bay steal business from WDW or will it steal business from local hotels?

As I suggested to you before, my opinion is that Cabana Bay poses a bigger threat to Universal's partner hotels than to WDW.

I could be wrong though. In 2010, WDW's occupancy rate dropped from 87% to 83%. No one, not even Disney, can say for certain why that drop occurred. Was it because Disney offered fewer discounts? (That's my choice. Per Room Guest Spending plummeted 8% in 2009 because of heavy discounts, suggesting occupancy was propped up in 2009 by those discounts.) Was it because of the continued poor economy? Was it because of WWOHP?

Disney should be worried. Unlike Universal building more attractions, there's absolutely no upside for Disney when Universal builds a hotel. It can only hurt WDW's business.

No question, Diagon Alley is the big theme park event in 2014 in central Florida.

No question that Cabana Bay will tap into a market that wants to stay onsite for their visit to see Diagon Alley.

And there's no question that Universal is trying aggressively become its own one-stop vacation destination.

The last "Big theme park event" to happen on Disney property was in 2006 when Everest opened.

 

[Jimmy Thick]

And now, another fantastic analogy I have posted elsewhere but feel the masses deserve my insight.

World Of Warcraft.

Ever hear of it? Most people have, its the biggest video/PC game ever made and has made countless billions for Activision.

Billions, on a yearly basis.

See, when the game first launched almost 10 years ago, it was the first MMO, massive multiplayer online role playing game that got everything right. It appealed to just about everyone with a pulse and many, many people have poured countless hours into it. The game set a new standard in the MMO world, and no one has come close to that standard from a competitive standpoint. It reached a highpoint of 12 million subscribers, and 15 bucks a month, that's some serious change, but people move on and currently, its around 8 million a month, still nothing to sneeze at.

But when one thing is successful, someone always tries to steal the successful persons thunder.

Over the years, there has been countless WoW "killers", Star Wars Knight of the old Republic, Rift, Lord of the Rings, all of them came out, declared themselves the new sheriff in town and waited. They, all they wanted was a little of WoW's massive pie. And then, well, then they go free to play as a last resort for survival. All of them have.

And WoW? Still chugging along, still the undisputed king, and has no chance of being usurped anytime soon, and get this, they haven't released any new content in quite some time. Why? The just don't have to, people are going to play no matter what.

Its a pretty successful business model, makes you wonder why some people run billion dollar corporations, and some people just offer ignorant comments.

Where does the general public stand in this? That's for them individually to decide.

Jimmy Thick- Laying down the lumber with style and grace.

 

[marni1971]

*fart*

(Is a line from Despicable Me)

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

*fart*

(Is a line from Despicable Me)

bottom.

 

[marni1971]

bottom.

Yes. That's another!

 

[danlb_2000]

And now, another fantastic analogy I have posted elsewhere but feel the masses deserve my insight.

World Of Warcraft.

Ever hear of it? Most people have, its the biggest video/PC game ever made and has made countless billions for Activision.

Billions, on a yearly basis.

See, when the game first launched almost 10 years ago, it was the first MMO, massive multiplayer online role playing game that got everything right. It appealed to just about everyone with a pulse and many, many people have poured countless hours into it. The game set a new standard in the MMO world, and no one has come close to that standard from a competitive standpoint. It reached a highpoint of 12 million subscribers, and 15 bucks a month, that's some serious change, but people move on and currently, its around 8 million a month, still nothing to sneeze at.

But when one thing is successful, someone always tries to steal the successful persons thunder.

Over the years, there has been countless WoW "killers", Star Wars Knight of the old Republic, Rift, Lord of the Rings, all of them came out, declared themselves the new sheriff in town and waited. They, all they wanted was a little of WoW's massive pie. And then, well, then they go free to play as a last resort for survival. All of them have.

And WoW? Still chugging along, still the undisputed king, and has no chance of being usurped anytime soon, and get this, they haven't released any new content in quite some time. Why? The just don't have to, people are going to play no matter what.

Its a pretty successful business model, makes you wonder why some people run billion dollar corporations, and some people just offer ignorant comments.

Where does the general public stand in this? That's for them individually to decide.

Jimmy Thick- Laying down the lumber with style and grace.

And what does an MMO have to do with Disney vs Uni? You have cherry picked one example where the big popular thing has outlived all the things that tried to copy it. But there are plenty of examples of the opposite. I remember when Yahoo was THE site to go to when you were trying to find something on the internet, and MySpace what THE social network to be on.

 

[lazyboy97o]

And what does an MMO have to do with Disney vs Uni? You have cherry picked one example where the big popular thing has outlived all the things that tried to copy it. But there are plenty of examples of the opposite. I remember when Yahoo was THE site to go to when you were trying to find something on the internet, and MySpace what THE social network to be on.

My favorite part of all these "analogies" is how we're supposed to accept that those running billion dollar corporations are right and only doing the best things, unless that billion dollar corporation is Comcast in which case they're just a house of cards.

 

[PeterAlt]

But what you be at either end? Hogwarts express isn't going to be a big deal just because it provides transport between the two parks, it's going to be a big deal because it's part of the entire Harry Potter experience at the parks. Simply putting a people mover between EC and HS won't give people a reason to pay more for a hopper ticket.

Correct. Both EC and HS need a lot of TLC, so I'll let the Imagineers come up with something.

 

[Cesar R M]

And what does an MMO have to do with Disney vs Uni? You have cherry picked one example where the big popular thing has outlived all the things that tried to copy it. But there are plenty of examples of the opposite. I remember when Yahoo was THE site to go to when you were trying to find something on the internet, and MySpace what THE social network to be on.

agree, innovation is required to maintain the status.
Yahoo stopped evolving correctly and gave just plain awful services.. they keep going lower and lower...

same with MySpace.

 

[PeterAlt]

My favorite part of all these "analogies" is how we're supposed to accept that those running billion dollar corporations are right and only doing the best things, unless that billion dollar corporation is Comcast in which case they're just a house of cards.

Ah, you finally get it! (Except, for now, Comcast is the exception to this rule, but only for their theme park business. Their cable business is still a prime example of this.)

They've screwed up their cable business reputation so bad that they stopped branding it Comcast. It's now Xfinity. That's pretty bad.

 

[Cesar R M]

Ah, you finally get it! (Except, for now, Comcast is the exception to this rule, but only for their theme park business. Their cable business is still a prime example of this.)

Don't they have an almost monopoly (aka monopoly in large parts of the country) regarding cable?

 

[PeterAlt]

Don't they have an almost monopoly (aka monopoly in large parts of the country) regarding cable?

Yes, they control the largest slice of cable systems around the country. It's not a monopoly because they compete with service (Internet, phone, and television) from Fios (Verizon), U-Verse (AT&T), and the satellite companies. Also, they're still mostly family-owned. The Roberts Family should sell off the majority of their shares and let it be a true public company. A family shouldn't have that much power. It's not the Godfather. It's the USA - a democratic republic free market sovereign nation (or empire, depending on how you look at it)...

 

[Tony Perkis]

And now, another fantastic analogy I have posted elsewhere but feel the masses deserve my insight.

World Of Warcraft.

Ever hear of it? Most people have, its the biggest video/PC game ever made and has made countless billions for Activision.

Billions, on a yearly basis.

See, when the game first launched almost 10 years ago, it was the first MMO, massive multiplayer online role playing game that got everything right. It appealed to just about everyone with a pulse and many, many people have poured countless hours into it. The game set a new standard in the MMO world, and no one has come close to that standard from a competitive standpoint. It reached a highpoint of 12 million subscribers, and 15 bucks a month, that's some serious change, but people move on and currently, its around 8 million a month, still nothing to sneeze at.

But when one thing is successful, someone always tries to steal the successful persons thunder.

Over the years, there has been countless WoW "killers", Star Wars Knight of the old Republic, Rift, Lord of the Rings, all of them came out, declared themselves the new sheriff in town and waited. They, all they wanted was a little of WoW's massive pie. And then, well, then they go free to play as a last resort for survival. All of them have.

And WoW? Still chugging along, still the undisputed king, and has no chance of being usurped anytime soon, and get this, they haven't released any new content in quite some time. Why? The just don't have to, people are going to play no matter what.

Its a pretty successful business model, makes you wonder why some people run billion dollar corporations, and some people just offer ignorant comments.

Where does the general public stand in this? That's for them individually to decide.

Jimmy Thick- Laying down the lumber with style and grace.

For decades, the leader in consumer photography was Kodak. It revolutionized the industry, and despite attempts from very powerful competitors, they remained on top.

Until they sat on their riches and didn't innovate into the digital age.

You know who the leader in consumer photography is now? Apple and Google.

 

[Magenta Panther]

Both of them, in fact. Remember, Oz the Great and Powerful wasn't their first time trying an Oz film.

Oh, God, "Return To Oz", why did you have to remind me of it?

 

[PeterAlt]

The last "Big theme park event" to happen on Disney property was in 2006 when Everest opened.

That's the year Eisner left....