Disney made almost 1 billion in "theme-park profit" during the last quarter.

[TP2000]

*cough* Diagon Alley *cough*


But seriously I get your point, a coaster like Mako will always be cheaper and quicker to build than a coaster like Everest. Universal are the only park trying to get close to the Disney style of theming and in parts the Harry Potter stuff does immersion better than Disney. I think recently though SeaWorld/Busch is also thinking why compete with Disney when we can offer something different, hence the hypercoaster.

Very valid point on Universal. They are clearly a cut above Sea World and that penguin ride.

Universal's construction timelines for Potterland weren't much different than Disney's for bigger expansions like Cars Land or Star Wars Land. The most recent Universal timeline for Potterland in Hollywood was 32 months, 3 months shorter than Cars Land or Star Wars Land in Disneyland. And Hollywood's Potterland is a notch less ambitious than either of those two Disneyland expansions down the freeway in Anaheim.

Hollywood Potterland Media Announcement: December, 2011
Hollywood Potterland Groundbreaking: August, 2013
Hollywood Potterland Grand Opening: April, 2016

 

[raven]

But really, no one in American theme parks is attempting to do anything close to what Disney is doing in their parks.

But they could easily do what Disney does and get it done in the same amount of time as other attractions. WDI spends months and months on researching shades of grass and other details that most guests won't even notice. This is the time and money killer.

 

[RSoxNo1]

To be fair, recent history has only Sea World coming close to anything Disney might do with their Empire Of The Penguin exhibit/ride. That was 18 months from announcement to opening in May, 2013, with about 14 months of construction. Although the facade and facility of that attraction was very modest compared to Disney's recent work with Cars Land, Avatar Land, Star Wars Land.

The catalog-purchased roller coasters your local Six Flags or Cedar Fair park puts up over the winter are not at all comparable to anything Disney would do.

But with Sea World, we are comparing a 4 acre land with a short and underwhelming dark ride, a gift shop and one restaurant, that took 14 months to build this...

To the project Disney did at this same time, Cars Land; a 12 acre land with a massive E Ticket ride that gets rave reviews, plus two smaller spinner rides, three gift shops, a restaurant, a food court and a snack bar that looks like this...

Avatar Land is only slightly smaller, and Star Wars Land will be slightly bigger than Cars Land's 12 acres. I can't imagine this type of project taking any less than 24 months from groundbreaking to grand opening, no matter how much money you throw at it. Disney seems to tack on an extra 9 to 11 months onto these projects however.

But really, no one in American theme parks is attempting to do anything close to what Disney is doing in their parks with Cars Land, Avatar, Star Wars, etc. We're two years and 10 months away from seeing what they cooked up for Star Wars Land, but something tells me it will be better than Empire Of The Penguin.

You forgot Africa... a better land than all of them.