Comcast CEO: "Universal will compete aggressively with Disney"

[Voice of Disney sanity]

For me, Disney will always hold a special place in my heart, but last few years I haven't felt the magic at all. Maybe I have finally sniffed enough pixie dust that I am immune. I mean, I went from an avid fan back in 2003 to a DVC member in 2005 to dumping DVC last year. That term "declining by degrees"? I am sorry, but really see no value in return visits when very few real attractions have been added over the years, the standardization of the restaurant menus, to squeezing bus transportation to run "as lean as possible", to decreased park maintenance, to housekeeping decline, the list goes on. Man, I even remember my first stay to AKL, I was blown away by everything, even down to the pool bottom being painted a murky green to give the feel of a real watering hole. Now, it's friggin painted bright blue, no doubt enough of the life-style crowd complained that the pool looked dirty. I will no doubt return to WDW someday, but I don't know when, and quite frankly the mouse will never see my vacation dollars in the amount$ he once did.

For me, Disney is not trying, and it is really starting to show.......Uni on the other hand, I wouldn't be surprised come 2017 when Avatarland is further delayed (which I really want to check out, even though I can never sit through that movie!) people over in the mouse house are going to be wondering why the "fad" up the street continues to draw large numbers, and how is it possible a Uni park surpassed a WDW park in attendance?

^THIS!

 

[englanddg]

I was excited to show off the new mermaids at the now ruined POTC to my kid...

They were not working that day.

Yeah...it sucks. My kid doesn't see it, but I do.

 

[Funmeister's Delight]

Are you in any relation to @Funmeister ?

No but I have had several other names on this website. ;D

 

[englanddg]

I thought WDW was a great value, until I did a Disney Cruise...I was blown away. My room service was top notch (I left him a $250 dollar tip), the treatment on board was amazing, my kid adored it, and we had unique and wonderful experiences.

I can't ever look at WDW the same until they change their mission. Not their model (as they have with MM+), their mission.

There was a time when WDW sought to be the vacation resort for the world.

They don't do that any longer...they scrape along with the base quality they can, and call it "amazing".

 

[englanddg]

For comparison. I checked into my room at POFQ, and I was missing a on the drawer for my kid. I called it into the front desk.

Did it get fixed during my stay? Nope.

Did my 10 days cost 200 bucks? Nope...more like 5k after tickets and Dining plan. Was I upset? Nope, but that shouldn't matter. I shouldn't have to do anything more than say "my drawer is missing a " to the front desk to escalate it getting fixed. In fact, if they were truly top notch in service, I shouldn't even have had to notice it as it wouldn't have happened.

But, frankly, POFQ rooms are run down and poorly maintained with terrible service. Their food court, hell, want a picture of the roach I saw there? And the general filth.

This is NOT Disney. But this is what Disney has become.

And, they are going to erode their brand loyalty, even through people like me, until it is all gone.

And that is sad.

 

[englanddg]

This is what you get when idiots manage idiots and come up with idiotic ideas.

 

[englanddg]

Disney has come full circle and become the nasty place to stay with the run down attractions that Walt meant to avoid.

 

[marni1971]

Disney is being run right, this should not be questioned.

As a company? Possibly.

Disneyland? Probably as good as it can be. If the rumoured hold of projects due to capex running away elsewhere is true this would obviously change.

WDW? Nowhere near.

The other 5 parks don't count since they're outside of TWDC jurisdiction.

 

[Funmeister's Delight]

As a company? Possibly.

Disneyland? Probably as good as it can be. If the rumoured hold of projects due to capex running away elsewhere is true this would obviously change.

WDW? Nowhere near.

The other 5 parks don't count since they're outside of TWDC jurisdiction.

This is why I only go to Cali now.

 

[SirLink]

But will shareholders be willing to trade quick profits for long-term profitability?

Good companies ignore shareholders and their wishes.

 

[LucyK]

HERE HERE!!!!

Have a butterbeer (or two) and a pumpkin juice on me!!!

Best 800 calories ever!

 

[maxairmike]

Nice post.

But Disney is investing in their parks and building new ones. I have complete faith in Disney that they will take a look at WDW when all their other building is complete. People need to remember all Disney parks combined outdrew all Universal parks by like 100 billion people.

Universal is investing in their parks, great, fantastic, but they still have billions of miles to go to be considered true competition. Its why I have to laugh when people say how they are, the numbers say differently.

Jimmy Thick- Potter phase two? After one year, attendance around 8.2 million, all Disney parks over 10 million, at least...

Attendance is a small time metric. How many times must that be repeated before you get it? If you're going to look at anything related to attendance as a meaningful number, the best you can do is percentage changes. The usefulness of attendance as a meaningful metric is further lessened by the fact that Disney (and Universal, or any park, for that matter these days) won't address real numbers publicly, leaving us with only foggy estimates that likely greatly over inflate numbers and have even been accused of being slightly skewed in favor of Disney. You want to look at numbers, then look at numbers like the sales of Butterbeer being astronomical, the insane jump in revenue that Universal experienced after opening the WWOHP, the swing in F&B revenue in the Studios park after the Simpsons area retheme opened. Or maybe the aggression of building out their room capacity, almost doubling it with the construction of one hotel. Those are much more useful and meaningful statistics than attendance numbers will ever be.

 

[ParentsOf4]

Attendance is a small time metric. How many times must that be repeated before you get it? If you're going to look at anything related to attendance as a meaningful number, the best you can do is percentage changes. The usefulness of attendance as a meaningful metric is further lessened by the fact that Disney won't address real numbers publicly, leaving us with only foggy estimates that likely greatly over inflate numbers and have even been accused of being slightly skewed in favor of Disney. You want to look at numbers, then look at numbers like the sales of Butterbeer being astronomical, the insane jump in revenue that Universal experienced after opening the WWOHP, the swing in F&B revenue in the Studios park after the Simpsons area retheme opened. Or maybe the aggression of building out their room capacity, almost doubling it with the construction of one hotel. Those are much more useful and meaningful statistics than attendance numbers will ever be.

As many have said, McDonald's serves the most people. It doesn't make them the best restaurant.

Four years ago, I'd have had no problem saying WDW was the best theme park in the United States. (TDL is arguably the best in the world.)

But then Cars Land and WWOHP opened.

Then WDW spent a big chunk of change to turn a large area of MK into a kiddie park and spent an even bigger chuck of change to monetize what used to be included in the price of admission.

Things change.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Who cares what a random bawbag with a keyboard says, the world wide reaction to the podcast is more telling.


Laughing at you not with.

 

[twebber55]

Jim Hill really sounds like a "Uni drooler" on the latest episode of The Disney Dish Podcast. There is an excitement in his voice I have never heard before on anything else where I've heard him.

Just listened to it and i agree
He was giddy. I ve never heard him talk like that

 

[bhg469]

Who cares what a random bawbag with a keyboard says, the world wide reaction to the podcast is more telling.


Laughing at you not with.

Can you specify which podcast and episode. I can't stomach most disney podcasts as I put them in the same category as mommy bloggers. I do want to hear what you're referring to however.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Can you specify which podcast and episode. I can't stomach most disney podcasts as I put them in the same category as mommy bloggers. I do want to hear what you're referring to however.

I think he meant the webcast of the announcement.

 

[71jason]

Disney has come full circle and become the nasty place to stay with the run down attractions that Walt meant to avoid.

You're really onto something here. Surely just coincidence, but even down to facial hair on the employees and alcohol in the park.

 

[71jason]

I think he meant the webcast of the announcement.

I think they are actually referring to Jim Hill. Here's a youtube link: . He did an interview with @lentesta after visiting the construction site this week.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I think they are actually referring to Jim Hill. Here's a youtube link: . He did an interview with @lentesta after visiting the construction site this week.

The Thick one was claiming a lack of a real response to the announcement and even said that the website was down/slow due to a DDoS attack and not genuine demand.