Desperate desprate disney

[wannabeBelle]

I have been to both and have friends who work at both Disney and Universal. I will not bash either one, although for my own style Disney is my preference. I still see Universal as a one day excursion during a longer Disney trip, although to be fair I havent stayed at Universal yet. One of these days I just might do that. While I certainly enjoy some of the rides at Universal ( Hulk so far being the favorite) I think the atmosphere of Disney is superior. Just an opinion and not necessarily right for everyone. I think that each park has it's own audience and appeal. Belle

 

[GoofyGeek1989]

I think that disney_nutter is simply trying to stir things up and the post was done in humor, and has obviously had the reaction that she/he hoped for :goodnevil

All I can say is that I like many guest from the UK, do both disney nd universal, always have and always will. I like both, but prefer disney becuase of the amazing and magical atmosphere and also its superior levels of guest relations.

The fact is, that as mentioned above, both parks are money making businesses and both r going 2 do marketing programs. Some people will always prefer Universal some always Disney. Like everything else in the world, there are many difference between people, so y don't we all stop the "bashing" and get back to discussing the magic of Disney.

 

[disney_nutter]

I think that disney_nutter is simply trying to stir things up and the post was done in humor, and has obviously had the reaction that she/he hoped for :goodnevil

All I can say is that I like many guest from the UK, do both disney nd universal, always have and always will. I like both, but prefer disney becuase of the amazing and magical atmosphere and also its superior levels of guest relations.

The fact is, that as mentioned above, both parks are money making businesses and both r going 2 do marketing programs. Some people will always prefer Universal some always Disney. Like everything else in the world, there are many difference between people, so y don't we all stop the "bashing" and get back to discussing the magic of Disney.

Goofygeek, im glad someone finally found out what i was doing.

 

[isitingood]

I have been to both and have friends who work at both Disney and Universal. I will not bash either one, although for my own style Disney is my preference. I still see Universal as a one day excursion during a longer Disney trip, although to be fair I havent stayed at Universal yet. One of these days I just might do that. While I certainly enjoy some of the rides at Universal ( Hulk so far being the favorite) I think the atmosphere of Disney is superior. Just an opinion and not necessarily right for everyone. I think that each park has it's own audience and appeal. Belle

I agree, although I like Universal the atmosphere is much better at Disney:wave:

 

[DisneyYorkian74]

Any local business is a threat to WDW, every dollar you spend elsewhere is a dollar Disney desperately wants. When it comes to competing businesses, if you're not number one, you're desperate to BE number one. But if you ARE number one, you're desperate to STAY number one.

You could say Disney is "Desperate" to remain the World's number one tourist destination, but it is certainly not even close to being desperate to remain number one when it comes to Orlando.

Walt Disney World really doesn't have much competition when it comes to the other destinations. Walt Disney World gets more than 43 million people a year, Universal gets only 10 (On a good year) and that number is continuing to decline, and Sea World only gets 5 million.

Walt Disney World's market share in Orlando is HUGE. Too huge for Universal or Sea World to ever even come close to challenging it.

But Disney does have to be careful about the other tourist destinations that receive more than 40 million people a year if they want to remain number one in that category.

I'm not too sure of which other tourist destinations receive more than 40 million people a year, but I know that Las Vegas and the Mall of America receive that much.

So I'd say the YOMD is not to compete with the barely competition across the street, it's to compete with the places across the country.

 

[kengels]

First of kengels i never once said i was against disney im actually one of disney biggest supporters but at the same time a massive universal fan, the reason why i posted this thread was just to see how people like having disney scrutinized. A few people here have actually caught the meaning of this post so dont try to make this personal. Its just a thread to get back at the universal bashers and see how they like having it done to disney.

It's your profile, I was just quoting your remarks.

 

[emmersandjack]

Giving away prizes is NOT being desperate IT'S being generous.

this could be the most articulate post thus far.


could not have said it better.

 

[wannabeBelle]

I agree, although I like Universal the atmosphere is much better at Disney:wave:

Very cool!!! :wave: :wave: Belle

 

[mickster]

Actually, I would consider that particular statement to be a fact, not an opinion. He actually made two statements in that sentence:

1) I have never been to the Universal Parks. Fact.

2) And quite honestly, have no desire to. That is a fact as well. It is a fact that he has no desire to visit the Universal parks. Now, if he had said "Universal sucks", that would be an opinion. But instead, he stated his particular personal preference, which is that he is not interested in visiting the Universal parks. That he doesn't have any interest in visiting, is a fact.

Speaking from a purely grammatical standpoint, sure. But the idea he was expressing was his opinion. Expressing a desire, or lack of desire, toward something is expressing an opinion.

I'll assume that since you didn't pick apart my other examples of how he was expressing opinions and not facts, that it means you agree with me on those. :wave:

 

[mickster]

It is not very good marketing mentioning your competition, especially when they are better than you. Somebody got their marketing degree at Walmart:ROFLOL:

Well, if you believe this to be an actual marketing philosophy ("it is not very good marketing mentioning your competition") then I would say Walmart marketing degree was issued to you, my friend. Just as I stated to another poster, there is no such marketing credo that says you shouldn't mention the competition, and there's nothing unwise about doing so.

 

[sbkline]

Speaking from a purely grammatical standpoint, sure. But the idea he was expressing was his opinion. Expressing a desire, or lack of desire, toward something is expressing an opinion.

I'll assume that since you didn't pick apart my other examples of how he was expressing opinions and not facts, that it means you agree with me on those. :wave:

:lol: Ya, I do.

But like I said, I think you read his posts wrong. It looked to me like he was agreeing with us that there is no need to be so loyal to Disney that you have to bash the competition at every turn. It looked to me like he was expressing his personal preference in favor if Disney and his personal preference not to visit Universal, but that he was saying it is silly to be so blindly loyal and obsessive about Disney that you hate Universal and refuse to visit for no other reason than that they are competition to Disney.

 

[slappy magoo]

Originally Posted by DisneyYorkian74

Giving away prizes is NOT being desperate IT'S being generous.

this could be the most articulate post thus far.


could not have said it better.

Because I'm flabbergasted, AND lazy, and oh-so-desperate to pad my post count rather than belabor the argument, I'm just gonna copy-and-paste what I wrote before, and bold it up where necessary...

Well, you COULD argue that WDW is desperate to destroy the competition. I'm essentially paraphrasing what others have said in the "desperate desperate Universal" thread (which also means I'm paraphrasing myself, how meta of me), but Disney has made a point of creating "experiences" comparable to other attractions at other parks, or in fact whole other parks, to keep people on property. Sure, they had River Country, but when Wet n' Wild started siphoning off people looking for a more thrilling water park, they built TL and then BB. When Universal announced plans to build their first park in Orlando, WDW hauled butt to not only announce a movie-themed park, but to get it opened first (and personally, I think that speed has always hampered The Studios' park, and they've been trying to bring it up to par ever since. I'd even consider Universal more a full-day visit then The Studios, despite my love for ToT and Muppets). The same could be said for Animal Kingdom, vis a vis Busch Gardens in Tampa.

To lure people into staying on site, they offered extra hours in the parks just for resort guests. Church Street used to be Orlando's go-to place for nighttime entertainment. Pleasure Island pretty much decimated it. To keep people from eating off-site, they've started more affordable dining plans. You need rainy day activities? Disney Quest will keep you from looking anywhere else. Movie theater on site. People are going off-site to play miniature golf? Sacrilege! Make a mini golf park! Hell, make TWO!

And while it's far too soon to tell, I really wouldn't be surprised if the new Beltway property will include outlet stores to keep people from going to all the Orlando outlet stores.

And finally, sorry to break it to you, contests are NOT just about being "generous." If they can convince people on-the-fence about visiting that they might win some awesome prizes if they go, it might persuade people to go, especially with that emotional call-to-action that is spending a night in the Castle, something so many people have dreamed about. When Coke has a million-dollar giveaway, it's not because they want to give away a million dollars. It's because they don't want YOU to drink Pepsi. When a car dealer offers free movie passes with a test drive, it's not because they're cineasts. They're really hoping you'll buy the car, and are willing to shell out a few ducats to get you in the car to try it out. Disney's contest is all about influencing a decision to get you to go to the parks. All us Disney nuts are always planning to go, but for a lot of people, it's an occasional treat, maybe a once-in-a-lifetime event. And a big contest might be the incentive people need to go sooner rather than later.

Now, you can argue that Disney is merely giving the customers what they want. But that doesn't mean they're doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. They don't want you to leave. They want all of your money. Just because they're not making decisions out of necessity doesn't mean they aren't, techincally, "Desperate" to quash the competition by providing everything you need on-site. Any local business is a threat to WDW, every dollar you spend elsewhere is a dollar Disney desperately wants. When it comes to competing businesses, if you're not number one, you're desperate to BE number one. But if you ARE number one, you're desperate to STAY number one.

 

[perculata]

Originally Posted by DisneyYorkian74

Giving away prizes is NOT being desperate IT'S being generous.





Because I'm flabbergasted, AND lazy, and oh-so-desperate to pad my post count rather than belabor the argument, I'm just gonna copy-and-paste what I wrote before, and bold it up where necessary...

Well, you COULD argue that WDW is desperate to destroy the competition. I'm essentially paraphrasing what others have said in the "desperate desperate Universal" thread (which also means I'm paraphrasing myself, how meta of me), but Disney has made a point of creating "experiences" comparable to other attractions at other parks, or in fact whole other parks, to keep people on property. Sure, they had River Country, but when Wet n' Wild started siphoning off people looking for a more thrilling water park, they built TL and then BB. When Universal announced plans to build their first park in Orlando, WDW hauled butt to not only announce a movie-themed park, but to get it opened first (and personally, I think that speed has always hampered The Studios' park, and they've been trying to bring it up to par ever since. I'd even consider Universal more a full-day visit then The Studios, despite my love for ToT and Muppets). The same could be said for Animal Kingdom, vis a vis Busch Gardens in Tampa.

To lure people into staying on site, they offered extra hours in the parks just for resort guests. Church Street used to be Orlando's go-to place for nighttime entertainment. Pleasure Island pretty much decimated it. To keep people from eating off-site, they've started more affordable dining plans. You need rainy day activities? Disney Quest will keep you from looking anywhere else. Movie theater on site. People are going off-site to play miniature golf? Sacrilege! Make a mini golf park! Hell, make TWO!

And while it's far too soon to tell, I really wouldn't be surprised if the new Beltway property will include outlet stores to keep people from going to all the Orlando outlet stores.

And finally, sorry to break it to you, contests are NOT just about being "generous." If they can convince people on-the-fence about visiting that they might win some awesome prizes if they go, it might persuade people to go, especially with that emotional call-to-action that is spending a night in the Castle, something so many people have dreamed about. When Coke has a million-dollar giveaway, it's not because they want to give away a million dollars. It's because they don't want YOU to drink Pepsi. When a car dealer offers free movie passes with a test drive, it's not because they're cineasts. They're really hoping you'll buy the car, and are willing to shell out a few ducats to get you in the car to try it out. Disney's contest is all about influencing a decision to get you to go to the parks. All us Disney nuts are always planning to go, but for a lot of people, it's an occasional treat, maybe a once-in-a-lifetime event. And a big contest might be the incentive people need to go sooner rather than later.

Now, you can argue that Disney is merely giving the customers what they want. But that doesn't mean they're doing it out of the goodness of their hearts. They don't want you to leave. They want all of your money. Just because they're not making decisions out of necessity doesn't mean they aren't, techincally, "Desperate" to quash the competition by providing everything you need on-site. Any local business is a threat to WDW, every dollar you spend elsewhere is a dollar Disney desperately wants. When it comes to competing businesses, if you're not number one, you're desperate to BE number one. But if you ARE number one, you're desperate to STAY number one.

Lol, you're really stretching on that one. Sure Disney wants to stay number one, but there is nothing desperate or dire about their situation. Disney is number one by a large margin. I'd understand you saying that they are desperate if any other attraction in orlando was close to them in attendance. However, nothing in Orlando is a close second. As stated previously, Disney gets around 40 million guests a year. Universal is no where near that mark.

Disney has no urgency to attract new guests. Their bottom line is doing fine either way. Universal urgently needs guest on their property in order to help them financially. Once Disney starts to lose money because of the competition, then maybe their actions to attract further guests could be seen as desperate.

If Disney ever severly lowers their ticket prices, or worse, actually sends out free tickets to florida residents because of declining attendance, then you may have an argument. But until anything else can actually threaten Disney, their actions cannot be deemed as desperate.

Seriously, stop grasping for straws. Universal is a great theme park and it's a shame that more people don't experience it. But until they raise attendance and revenue, they're in trouble. Lowering prices and giving away tickets are definitely a sign of desperation when you are struggling.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

Originally Posted by DisneyYorkian74

Giving away prizes is NOT being desperate IT'S being generous.





Because I'm flabbergasted, AND lazy, and oh-so-desperate to pad my post count rather than belabor the argument, I'm just gonna copy-and-paste what I wrote before, and bold it up where necessary...

[]

Its post count envy......0h look im nearly at 3700. Now if I only had a life and was a grown up.

 

[DisJosh]

:lol: Ya, I do.

But like I said, I think you read his posts wrong. It looked to me like he was agreeing with us that there is no need to be so loyal to Disney that you have to bash the competition at every turn. It looked to me like he was expressing his personal preference in favor if Disney and his personal preference not to visit Universal, but that he was saying it is silly to be so blindly loyal and obsessive about Disney that you hate Universal and refuse to visit for no other reason than that they are competition to Disney.

:wave:

 

[slappy magoo]

Seriously, stop grasping for straws. Universal is a great theme park and it's a shame that more people don't experience it. But until they raise attendance and revenue, they're in trouble. Lowering prices and giving away tickets are definitely a sign of desperation when you are struggling.

Not grapsing at straws at all. I started my rant because some people on the board seem to think WDW only offers special promotions and contest because they luuuuuuuuuv us. I'm just doing my part to dissuade them from that notion. Disney luuuuuuuvs our money. IMHO, they certainly make a better product than the competition, which is why their attendance numbers are so much higher than even the nearest competition, and they understand how important a superior product is, but they'd certainly rather not have ANY competition at all. And the deals and the contests and the marketing all reflect that desire to keep you from ever setting foot off property. Therefore, in my estimation, there is a degree of desperation in Disney's long-term plan. It's just that it's a self-imposed desperation, one borne of wanting and not of needing. Just like any individual with a driven, type-A personality. They can have everything they need, everything they want, but they even want stuff they don't want. And if you're in the way, they don't just want more than you, they want you to have none of it.

 

[slappy magoo]

Its post count envy......0h look im nearly at 3700. Now if I only had a life and was a grown up.

Aw that's OK, you'll have a life someday. Possibly. Who knows, one day you may even be able to appreciate sarcasm!

 

[L Fisher]

People talk abour Universal bashing, but what about the commercial that says that you can get a 2 day pass for the price of one Disney pass? I haven't heard Disney naming names in their commercials.

 

[slappy magoo]

People talk abour Universal bashing, but what about the commercial that says that you can get a 2 day pass for the price of one Disney pass? I haven't heard Disney naming names in their commercials.

Haven't you heard? the first rule of Advertising 101 is Never mention your competition! :lol:

I kid. I kid because I love. Honestly, Disney is in such a position of strength, they don't really need to mention the competition. What you may notice (if not with their current campaign, then perhaps one day) is a dinstinct NON-mentioning of the competition. Something like "Everything you want, and everything you need in your vacation, at the most magical palce on Earth!" That sort of thing. It lets you know you don't have to go to UO or Sea World or Busch or anywhere else, they've got you covered, without actually mentioning the competition by name.

As far as UO mentioning WDW goes, UO is far enough behind WDW in terms of attendance levels that they find a benefit in the comparision. They're implying that with a UO-based vacation, you're getting more for less. Some people feel it's foolish to mention the competition. My take is, WDW is the 800 pound gorilla in the room. You can't NOT notice it. UO is the closest competitor to WDW in terms of scale and scope (again, they're not nearly as big, just the biggest out of any other non-WDW theme park in the Orlando area). They can pretend WDW doesn't exist in their marketing, but as some threads in this forum can attest, there are plenty of passive tourists who don't even realize WDW & UO are competitors. They look for ET in the Magic Kingdom, and Shrek in The Disney Studios. They arrive at one park with a ticket for the other, assuming they can park hop from WDW to UO. Not everyone cares for the WDW or theme park experience as much as people on these boards, they just want a good time out of their vacation. It's their fault for not being educated about what they're getting out of their vacation dollar, but it's gotta suck to be a UO employee telling a family of 6 that their WDW passes won't get them in, or the Disney resort guests who knows the Jurassic Park raft ride used to be right over here where this Dinosaur ride is, they must've got rid of it.

So Universal tackles the issue by direct comparison- in their marketing, they offer a comparable experience (if not a better one) for far less money. Not only do they establish themselves as a different entity, they (attempt to) establish themselves as the better value.

 

[wannabeBelle]

Very eloquent Slappy Belle