Comcast CEO: "Universal will compete aggressively with Disney"

[culturenthrills]

still looks like they are pretty limited though... they could always buy some of the surrounding resorts...but even that space is limited

I assume the highlighted section is theirs?

The whole area around Wet and Wild is prime for redevelopment. A lot of older hotels and shops that can be snapped up for the right price.

 

[ABQ]

You might want to look up some historic aerial photographs of Disneyland. The berm has been pushed out a few times and is not a valid reference point for expansion.

Well if we're still just talking DL, not CA and DTD, it hasn't pushed out terribly far. I already agreed that New Orleans Square was a big expansion, aside from it to the SW and then Toontown up on the north edge, the park still sits relatively close to its boundary within the railroad lines as always. Assuming they didn't actually move the Rivers of America since 1955 or the freeway to the east.

 

[StarWarsGirl]

This is why I go to DLR, less travel and more (better) rides

With this whole FP+ thing, I wouldn't be surprised if my dad decides to get the annuals that get you into DL and WDW and instead of going to WDW in August, go to SoCal and go to WDW in the winter and possibly in June for a few days after SC. More of a cost issue than anything, but I wouldn't be surprised if it happens if FP+ does not change when it comes time to renew our APs again.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Well if we're still just talking DL, not CA and DTD, it hasn't pushed out terribly far. I already agreed that New Orleans Square was a big expansion, aside from it to the SW and then Toontown up on the north edge, the park still sits relatively close to its boundary within the railroad lines as always. Assuming they didn't actually move the Rivers of America since 1955 or the freeway to the east.

Look at how far north the Disneyland Railroad was moved in Fantasyland. Not to mention the expansion into backstage facilities located inside the berm.

 

[Voice of Disney sanity]

Anyone who thinks one will overtake the over totally is crazy.

What's really crazy is how people keep saying this over and over like that has been the argument. For us former Disney fanboys that are now tooting The UNI horn. We really don't care who is making more money or who is serving more people any more than when I go to TGIFridays to get me an awesome burger and some clown outside asks my why I'm going there when everyone knows McDonald's is a better burger company because they are selling more burgers and make more money. The fact of the matter is the burgers are better at Fridays regardless how many more Mickey Ds sell every year. Will Fridays ever over take McDonlds and start selling more burgers some day? He'll no, but as a burger lover I don't give a crap. I'll still go to McDonald's and eat and I still go to Fridays and i'll always love WDW and i eat at mcdonalds more than Fridays and go to WDW more than UNI but if someone asks me who makes a better burger im saying Fridays everytime. All us UNI converts are saying is don't try to convince us Mickey Ds or Mickey Mouse is a better burger cause it ain't any longer.

 

[TubaGeek]

What's really crazy is how people keep saying this over and over like that has been the argument. For us former Disney fanboys that are now tooting The UNI horn. We really don't care who is making more money or who is serving more people any more than when I go to TGIFridays to get me an awesome burger and some clown outside asks my why I'm going there when everyone knows McDonald's is a better burger company because they are selling more burgers and make more money. The fact of the matter is the burgers are better at Fridays regardless how many more Mickey Ds sell every year. Will Fridays ever over take McDonlds and start selling more burgers some day? He'll no, but as a burger lover I don't give a crap. I'll still go to McDonald's and eat and I still go to Fridays and i'll always love WDW and i eat at mcdonalds more than Fridays and go to WDW more than UNI but if someone asks me who makes a better burger im saying Fridays everytime. All us UNI converts are saying is don't try to convince us Mickey Ds or Mickey Mouse is a better burger cause it ain't any longer.

BRAVO, SIR!

 

[rioriz]

What's really crazy is how people keep saying this over and over like that has been the argument. For us former Disney fanboys that are now tooting The UNI horn. We really don't care who is making more money or who is serving more people any more than when I go to TGIFridays to get me an awesome burger and some clown outside asks my why I'm going there when everyone knows McDonald's is a better burger company because they are selling more burgers and make more money. The fact of the matter is the burgers are better at Fridays regardless how many more Mickey Ds sell every year. Will Fridays ever over take McDonlds and start selling more burgers some day? He'll no, but as a burger lover I don't give a crap. I'll still go to McDonald's and eat and I still go to Fridays and i'll always love WDW and i eat at mcdonalds more than Fridays and go to WDW more than UNI but if someone asks me who makes a better burger im saying Fridays everytime. All us UNI converts are saying is don't try to convince us Mickey Ds or Mickey Mouse is a better burger cause it ain't any longer.

Like.....BUT

you and others weren't Uni fan boys until very recent cause Disney is relatively dormant. ...The Circle of Life will continue and Disney will find its voice again and Uni will take a break.

This is a good thing I see. I am going to WDW in Sept only cause of Potter but I will be going to WDW in 2017 primarily of Pandora

and yes I realize that Kong may also be there by then but I feel Pandora and AK will be the more impressive overall draw to Orlando that year

 

[Voice of Disney sanity]

Like.....BUT

you and others weren't Uni fan boys until very recent cause Disney is relatively dormant. ...The Circle of Life will continue and Disney will find its voice again and Uni will take a break.

This is a good thing I see. I am going to WDW in Sept only cause of Potter but I will be going to WDW in 2017 primarily of Pandora

and yes I realize that Kong may also be there by then but I feel Pandora and AK will be the more impressive overall draw to Orlando that year

I can't speak for others but I am not a UNI fanboy. I'm just no longer a Disney fanboy and as such I can talk positively about UNI and negatively about Disney. When I was a disney fanboy I couldn't because I had blinders on but the staleness of the WDW parks, the declining condition of them and all the denial of such on here removed the blinders. I'm extremely excited about Pandora, I'm also excited about cold fusion energy... I just hope I'm still alive when they finally get here.

 

[draybook]

Why are pro-Universal people called "fan boys"? If we like both brands then what's with the "fan boy" label? I'm a fan of getting my money's worth, plain and simple. I work extremely hard and LONG hours to afford the vacations that we take, so I expect to be pleased with the experience that we pay for.

 

[rioriz]

Sorry didn't mean to insinuate you were a fanboy...agree with all your sentiment s.

I wonder sometimes if WDW is a victim of its own example lately

 

[draybook]

Hope I didn't come off as standoffish. I just prefer to enjoy both brands. There's things that each brand can pull off that the other can't.

Sure, I'm still jaded by our last trip(which you can see in my sig;shameless plug), but I still want to go back. I just have to realize that times are changing, like it or not.

 

[rioriz]

Why are pro-Universal people called "fan boys"? If we like both brands then what's with the "fan boy" label? I'm a fan of getting my money's worth, plain and simple. I work extremely hard and LONG hours to afford the vacations that we take, so I expect to be pleased with the experience that we pay for.

Because, and please feel free to disagree, when people on this board speak positively or overly positive about WDW now they are called fan boys, pixie dusters, etc. Seems only fair to have a label for the more positive Uni lovers that have arose lately? ????

Maybe Muggle Lovers?

 

[draybook]

I would label only a handful as Dust snorters. I would absolutely label Jimmy Thick as the leader of that cult. Those would be the folks that see no fault in anything that Disney does. As much as I've praised Universal in the last year or two, they still have some areas for opportunity.

 

[ParentsOf4]

you and others weren't Uni fan boys until very recent cause Disney is relatively dormant. ...The Circle of Life will continue and Disney will find its voice again and Uni will take a break.

Sadly, no. Disney might never find its voice again and that's what concerns us former pixiedusters the most.

I spent decades thinking Walt Disney World was the most "magical" place in the world, I truly did.

Until a few years ago, I still felt that way. But I also knew something that most did not. I knew from an insider what corporate Disney would become under Bob Iger. That it would be turned into a soulless conglomerate with massive profits and soaring stock prices. That the customer came second, a very distant second, to shareholder equity and corporate leadership's stock options.

Still, I did not want to believe. I grew up adoring Walt Disney World. Was Iger really that much different than Eisner?

Eisner, for all his many faults, still cared. Still believed in the product. Still believed in Imagineering. Still believed that Walt Disney World needed to build, to expand, to add. To explore new ideas. To reward customer loyalty. Eisner still believed that the Disney brand meant something special.

Not Iger.

Iger has no vision. Iger is a numbers guy, a bookkeeper running a multibillion dollar corporation. He could be the head of any of massive money-making institution. Iger has no passion for the product, for the parks. They are just numbers to him, nothing more.

After years of skyrocketing prices, stagnation, quality cuts, miserly pays increases for Cast Members, and rounds of layoffs because Disney's billions in profits were not enough, I've come to realize that my source was all too accurate. That MyMagic+ was nothing more than a poorly conceived money grab created by those who spent as little times as possible in the theme parks they run, a waste of corporate funds that could have been used to build so much more.

I've come to realize that Iger is the epitome of what's wrong with corporate America today. Charge customers more for less. Take advantage of fan loyalty, of the brand name. Allow the product to grow stale. Squeeze employees while simultaneously cashing in on multi-million dollar stock options and attending the latest $1,000 per plate "benefit" for whatever politician or social cause was in vogue at the moment.

I fear that like so much of America, the Walt Disney World that I grew up loving might be gone forever.

 

[Funmeister's Delight]

I just say screw Orlando all together.

 

[Doctor Cash]

Its fanboi. Get it right.

 

[rioriz]

Parentsof4 I don't disagree with anything you wrote. I guess I do hold hope that the post Iger era will come one day. I am in no belief WDW will boom like the 90 cause realistically it is too big too now. But with Pandora and the love AK will get I am hopeful Epcot and Hollywood Studios will receive similar treatment.

until then I will look forward to universals growth and seeing the progress made at the Animal Kingdom

 

[lazyboy97o]

Because, and please feel free to disagree, when people on this board speak positively or overly positive about WDW now they are called fan boys, pixie dusters, etc. Seems only fair to have a label for the more positive Uni lovers that have arose lately? ????

Maybe Muggle Lovers?

Who though is outright denying the problems that remain at Universal Orlando Resort? It's not that they are unacknowledged, they're just forgiven due to the general upward trend the resort has taken and the actions of management (at all levels) that show a commitment to maintaining the momentum. That is the pivotal difference. Being excited about Universal doing the bare minimum would be the standard for a "Muggle Lover."

 

[Voice of Disney sanity]

One more thing I want to point out and this is just MHO. As a former pixie duster, I have been to WDW many times beginning when I was very young. When I go into the parks and see trash floating on splash mt or broken animatronics and other forms of serious decline it makes me very very sad. The word depression almost comes to mind. It's like the feeling of remembering a lost family member. You remember the way things were and you smile, then you realize it's gone and Instead of supreme joy, its deep sadness. im not talking about discust i mean real sadness. The wdw folks need to be very careful as visiting the parks is beginning to have the OPPOSITE effect on some of its most loyal base.

 

[Matt_Black]

Sadly, no. Disney might never find its voice again and that's what concerns us former pixiedusters the most.

I spent decades thinking Walt Disney World was the most "magical" place in the world, I truly did.

Until a few years ago, I still felt that way. But I also knew something that most did not. I knew from an insider what corporate Disney would become under Bob Iger. That it would be turned into a soulless conglomerate with massive profits and soaring stock prices. That the customer came second, a very distant second, to shareholder equity and corporate leadership's stock options.

Still, I did not want to believe. I grew up adoring Walt Disney World. Was Iger really that much different than Eisner?

Eisner, for all his many faults, still cared. Still believed in the product. Still believed in Imagineering. Still believed that Walt Disney World needed to build, to expand, to add. To explore new ideas. To reward customer loyalty. Eisner still believed that the Disney brand meant something special.

Not Iger.

Iger has no vision. Iger is a numbers guy, a bookkeeper running a multibillion dollar corporation. He could be the head of any of massive money-making institution. Iger has no passion for the product, for the parks. They are just numbers to him, nothing more.

After years of skyrocketing prices, stagnation, quality cuts, miserly pays increases for Cast Members, and rounds of layoffs because Disney's billions in profits were not enough, I've come to realize that my source was all too accurate. That MyMagic+ was nothing more than a poorly conceived money grab created by those who spent as little times as possible in the theme parks they run, a waste of corporate funds that could have been used to build so much more.

I've come to realize that Iger is the epitome of what's wrong with corporate America today. Charge customers more for less. Take advantage of fan loyalty, of the brand name. Allow the product to grow stale. Squeeze employees while simultaneously cashing in on multi-million dollar stock options and attending the latest $1,000 per plate "benefit" for whatever politician or social cause was in vogue at the moment.

I fear that like so much of America, the Walt Disney World that I grew up loving might be gone forever.

The thing is though, Iger was appointed precisely because he was a numbers guy. The first half of the decade was not kind to Disney. Animation wise, you didn't have any really huge hits; in fact, a good number of the Disney animated films with the lowest scores on sites like Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic come from this period. Parks wise, you had the post 9/11 travel slump. The association with Pixar was about to end. AND there was the recession. Iger has turned things around for the company.

To use a Dark Knight style defense, he is not the CEO we wanted, but in some respects he was very much the CEO the company needed.