Disney and Universal: Two very different paths

[nor'easter]

No one said I did...I'm just not a negative doom and gloomer while sipping on butterbeer

Don't like butterbeer. Been to IOA once...been there, done that (but will visit again as more attractions come on stream).

Doom and gloom? Given Disney's approach to their parks, unless something changes the outlook is indeed gloomy. Most people here are realists. But you'll find lots of fanboi communties out there more attuned to your World view. (If you play your cards right you might even get a $50 gift card. )

 

[jt04]

[quote="jt04, post: 5710661, member: 13037]

~how bout another movie with dinosaurs?~

~and ROBOTS!~ [/quote]

NO! Make them time traveling robots!

 

[jensenrick]

Look...I'm not here to get a rise out of stupid posts by anyone...I'm here to see the latest Disney news and rumors within a Disney fan community....not an anti Disney community

Honestly I have a lot of the same beliefs many of you have about Disney not up to the same standards they use to be and are slow to do anything these days....HOWEVER the doom and gloomers go waaaaay overboard drooling about everything Uni does and thinking they will overtake wdw and as if they will be closing their doors in a few years. Unreal

Disney will do big things for a while and then Uni will do big things and then it'll keep repeating. We all win

I'm not against Uni heck I welcome competition. This can only be a good thing for Disney and especially for us. I'm trying to be realistic here...the more fun either creates the more fun we will all have but the complete anti-Disney anything talk as if they can do no right ever again is ludicrous

What is ludicrous is to react to a thread that compares and contrasts the factual statements of Burke and Rasulo by saying "oh here we go" or "the doom&gloomers are drinking butterbeer again." Do you have anything to actually to add about what was actually SAID by those men, or do you just want to ridicule those who do want to discuss it?
Additionally ludicrous is to react to thoughts that Rasulo is not reacting as hoped, as being "anti-Disney " or that "they can do no right ever again" when NO ONE SAID THAT.

 

[jensenrick]

I think the adding 10,000 to 15,000 hotel is a very risky move, the hotel industry in orlando is already quite over saturated and that would be a very difficult amount of rooms to keep occupied. One reason Disney can keep their rooms mostly occupied even in the slowest season is from the huge, and quite lucrative convention/ conference market that they have a very firm grasp on. As former Chicago mayor Daley said regarding Chicagos struggling status as a major convention/ conference hoster "Its hard to beat the mouse"

Over expansion can be every bit as bad and even worse as sitting idle. And while UNI would never have to worry about that if they continue to improve their current offerings, when they start adding a third gate, and 15,000 hotel rooms they might be stretching themselves a little thin, which some could say is the situation that WDW currently finds itself in.

Actually, I wonder if the convention business might not be be more up for grabs. I recall when I was at a ASCLS convention, many members were VERY upset that our hotel was on Hotel Plaza Blvd., but the convention itself was at OCCC on I-Drive. Many of our previous conventions were in Chicago and Las Vegas, and people were livid at the cost of taxi rides back and forth in Orlando.

I wonder if having a significant number of resort hotel rooms significantly closer to OCCC might tip a lot of convention business to UO's direction.

Not to mention the significant contrast in nightlife options between Citywalk (plenty) and the current incarnation of Downtown Disney (not much).

 

[jt04]

~and ROBOTS!~

NO! Make them time traveling robots! [/quote]

"So, Optimus prime travels back in time to deal with T-Rex so he can't be cloned in the future!?"

"Now you are tracking"

 

[doctornick]

The one issue Universal still has is that there is not enough appeal for little kids.

I think that is part of it in terms of things specifically geared towards kids (though it isn't that bad with Suess and the Kidzone), but IMHO Universal really lacks the "family friendly" rides that appeal to all ages, but aren't thrill rides. They need their POTC/HM type rides that everyone in the family can ride and enjoy.

My dad, who is not a thrill rider at all, felt that there wasn't a lot for him to do at Universal during his recent visit. He enjoyed it, but didn't think it compared to Disney. Even with Future World being gutted (which he loved), he felt there is far more for him to enjoy at WDW. I'm not saying that he is a typical guest, but I do believe that some omnimover type rides with impressive physical sets is the next area that Universal needs to address.

 

[jt04]

NO! Make them time traveling robots!

"So, Optimus prime travels back in time to deal with T-Rex so he can't be cloned in the future!?"

"Now you are tracking" [/quote]

"But that won't help sales of our JP Box Sets"

"Have you seen our sales of DVDs?"

 

[Captain Chaos]

You all win....if your life is happier bashing everything Disney does or doesnt do and drooling over anything uni does...then have at it....I'll be enjoying the parks and happier/less negative doom and gloom fan communities

don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya on your way out... You won't be missed...

 

[Captain Chaos]

If the doomers and gloomers are drinking butterbeer, what are the pixie dust addicts drinking after taking a healthy dose of dust up their nose, or into their veins? LeFou's Puke Brew, you know, Disney failed attempt at a specialty drink to rival Butterbeer...

 

[KJC]

Isn't a market? In 2012, 48 million people went to WDW, but only 14 million went to Uni. For Uni there is a huge untapped market, 34 million people coming to Orlando who aren't currently going Uni.

I don't post much, but this attendance statistic keeps popping up and it's driving me crazy.

You can't add up the four WDW resort attendance numbers and two UNI attendance numbers to make a comparison of overall attendance for each resort. The tallies aren't for unique visitors. There weren't 48 million visitors to WDW Resorts last year. It was a lot closer to 17.5 million, the attendance at their top park, Magic Kingdom.

Same with Universal Resorts. There weren't 14 million visitors because around 8 million went to IOA and 6 million went to USF. Their number was closer to 8 million.

Both resort totals will be a bit higher than their top park because some visitors would indeed go to one of the less-attended parks but not the top one. But the idea that 48 million visitors came to WDW last year but 30 million of them skipped the Magic Kingdom should be a red flag to anyone that something's off.

 

[danlb_2000]

Universal has become reactionary and desperate. The mouse has not. This thread has now concluded as nothing more can be added.

~how bout another movie with dinosaurs?~

I

I don't post much, but this attendance statistic keeps popping up and it's driving me crazy.

You can't add up the four WDW resort attendance numbers and two UNI attendance numbers to make a comparison of overall attendance for each resort. The tallies aren't for unique visitors. There weren't 48 million visitors to WDW Resorts last year. It was a lot closer to 17.5 million, the attendance at their top park, Magic Kingdom.

Same with Universal Resorts. There weren't 14 million visitors because around 8 million went to IOA and 6 million went to USF. Their number was closer to 8 million.

Both resort totals will be a bit higher than their top park because some visitors would indeed go to one of the less-attended parks but not the top one. But the idea that 48 million visitors came to WDW last year but 30 million of them skipped the Magic Kingdom should be a red flag to anyone that something's off.

True, but it doesn't change the fact that people are making a lot more trips to Disney then Uni, and thus Uni has an untapped market.

 

[GoofGoof]

"So, Optimus prime travels back in time to deal with T-Rex so he can't be cloned in the future!?"

"Now you are tracking"

"But that won't help sales of our JP Box Sets"

"Have you seen our sales of DVDs?"

Are you having a conversation with yourself? Interesting concept. I do it myself a lot at work since its the only way I can have an intelligent conversation. Never saw anyone do it with an online forum.

 

[RSoxNo1]

I think until Disney fully realizes My Disney Experience and MyMagic+ it's going to be slow on purpose. I think Disney is trying to get their act together as an operation. How do they operate what they currently have (significantly more than Universal) and how they operate the best where no one can touch them.
Once they have an operation that makes guests and cast members happy (and believe me..they'll figure it out and make it happen) then they can start to open new projects left and right.
New attractions + better operation for guests = competition.

Disney didn't get this far by being stupid. They're innovators and if you don't understand what they're doing right now because they don't have cranes everywhere like Universal well then you're exactly where they want you. For years Disney has been at the front of speculation and people trying to figure out what secrets Disney is keeping and now they can work on things and nobody is trying to figure them out thanks to the distraction that is Universal.

Just wait- once Disney has MyMagic+ down. It'll be go time.

While there is some truth to this, they're still going to see Universal catch their parks in attendance if they don't start adding new attractions.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Concerning Uni and "family friendly" attractions, Uni knows that given the "Orlando Demographic", that the area that they need to expand upon is in that domain. They already have the Tweens through young adult market wrapped up. So their most recent and up coming attractions are all going to be "family friendly". While K&K's T&H is a spinner, it is another thing for the little ones. But the Hogwarts Express and Gringott's are both VERY IMPRESSIVE state of the art attractions that have no or low height restrictions. Both of the attractions being added to JP are aimed at the family demo. And they are adding The Lorax Dark Ride in 2015 along with the multiple attraction JP expansion. So by 2015 Uni will have added HE, Gringott's, multiple family rides to JP, and The Lorax. But their big push for kids is the 2016 KidZone redo.
Since IOA's inception, Uni's focus has been to lock up the non-Disney Demo and they have done quite well at it. Now Uni has positioned themselves to actually go after the Mouse's bread and butter; Families and hotel nights. If the mouse's tail didn't tighten up when Burke said 10K new hotel rooms then I have no idea what will motivate the Mouse.

 

[GoofGoof]

I think that is part of it in terms of things specifically geared towards kids (though it isn't that bad with Suess and the Kidzone), but IMHO Universal really lacks the "family friendly" rides that appeal to all ages, but aren't thrill rides. They need their POTC/HM type rides that everyone in the family can ride and enjoy.

My dad, who is not a thrill rider at all, felt that there wasn't a lot for him to do at Universal during his recent visit. He enjoyed it, but didn't think it compared to Disney. Even with Future World being gutted (which he loved), he felt there is far more for him to enjoy at WDW. I'm not saying that he is a typical guest, but I do believe that some omnimover type rides with impressive physical sets is the next area that Universal needs to address.

More typical than you might think. There are a lot of adults who aren't into thrill rides. You also have elderly people and people with health issues as well, but families with kids are the juiciest demographic. If Universal is serious about overtaking WDW in Orlando they need an answer to MK. Seuss and kidzone while nice aren't getting it done. Someone earlier or in another thread mentioned that they should have built Legoland closer to civilization. A Legoland style third gate geared specifically towards younger children is exactly what Universal would need to make a dent in the family market. I'm sure if they did that we would hear a lot of grumblings about Universal gearing too much towards kids.

 

[nor'easter]

Are you having a conversation with yourself? Interesting concept. I do it myself a lot at work since its the only way I can have an intelligent conversation. Never saw anyone do it with an online forum.

No one else wants to talk with him. He'll go away after a while...always does.

 

[jensenrick]

Concerning Uni and "family friendly" attractions, Uni knows that given the "Orlando Demographic", that the area that they need to expand upon is in that domain. They already have the Tweens through young adult market wrapped up. So their most recent and up coming attractions are all going to be "family friendly". While K&K's T&H is a spinner, it is another thing for the little ones. But the Hogwarts Express and Gringott's are both VERY IMPRESSIVE state of the art attractions that have no or low height restrictions. Both of the attractions being added to JP are aimed at the family demo. And they are adding The Lorax Dark Ride in 2015 along with the multiple attraction JP expansion. So by 2015 Uni will have added HE, Gringott's, multiple family rides to JP, and The Lorax. But their big push for kids is the 2016 KidZone redo.
Since IOA's inception, Uni's focus has been to lock up the non-Disney Demo and they have done quite well at it. Now Uni has positioned themselves to actually go after the Mouse's bread and butter; Families and hotel nights. If the mouse's tail didn't tighten up when Burke said 10K new hotel rooms then I have no idea what will motivate the Mouse.

I would add that Despicable Me seems to have broad appeal for the entire age spectrum.

 

[Goofyernmost]

I would add that Despicable Me seems to have broad appeal for the entire age spectrum.

Along with Shrek, ET, Simpsons, Sponge Bob and others. Even Twister and Disaster are family friendly. There are all kinds of places in IOA that are family/kid friendly as well. I don't understand the logic that there isn't anything there for kids. I know there are others that I cannot think of right now.

 

[WDWDad13]

don't let the door hit ya where the good Lord split ya on your way out... You won't be missed...

I rest my case

I'm sorry but this board has gone downhill with the unbelievable negativity and confrontation. I thought this was a forum for news and rumors but yet it turns into uni is awesome vs Disney sucks discussion with unrealistic bashing and hate while some posters a few idolize posts bits and pieces of all negative Disney stuff to get everyone all fired up (which is proof from the spirited discussion alone)

If that is what makes this "magical" for some of you have fun....I'll be in the parks having fun with my family and the true Disney fan community while some of you continue wasting time trying to convince everyone how terrible Disney is

 

[nor'easter]

I rest my case

I'm sorry but this board has gone downhill with the unbelievable negativity and confrontation. I thought this was a forum for news and rumors but yet it turns into uni is awesome vs Disney sucks discussion with unrealistic bashing and hate while some posters a few idolize posts bits and pieces of all negative Disney stuff to get everyone all fired up (which is proof from the spirited discussion alone)

If that is what makes this "magical" for some of you have fun....I'll be in the parks having fun with my family and the true Disney fan community while some of you continue wasting time trying to convince everyone how terrible Disney is

How many times do you have to post essentially the same thing??? If you want to go, we understand. Bye!