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Disney Playing catch up with Universal... Potter Disney's biggest mistake in 20 years...
- Thread starter CinematicFusion
- Start date
lebeau
Well-Known Member
Don't forget Marv... oh wait.
Magenta Panther
Well-Known Member
Just one LOOK at the place should convince a lot of people. Anybody who visits theme parks because they want to escape into an alternate, enchanted world would want to visit Uni right now. I don't see how they could resist.
DznyGrlSD
Well-Known Member
- In the Parks
- Yes
This should lead to some nice, calm, level headed discussion.
roodlesnouter
Active Member
Potter Hogsmeade has been a cash cow that has funded other attractions and expansions at Uni, Simpsons, Transformers, Revamped Citywalk, new hotel and ultimately Diagon Alley. Diagon Alley will again be a cash cow funding more expansion and new attractions, hotels and gates. This thing is a snowball which is fueling the way for uni to eat into Disneys market share. People are/will drop days from their Disney vacation to visit Uni, they will see how much Uni has come in such a short space and this will fuell return trips, taking even more market share.
If Disney had of gotten the rights and built the land they would/could have stopped Uni dead in their tracks,
Biggest mistake for 20 years? you betcha!
If Disney had of gotten the rights and built the land they would/could have stopped Uni dead in their tracks,
Biggest mistake for 20 years? you betcha!
kap91
Well-Known Member
Not a mistake as far as I'm concerned for two reasons
1. No way Harry potter would have been as popular as Universal's version as Disney had no need to pull out all the stops and build an entire land.
2. The last thing I would have wanted is for DHS to become "the Place that had Harry potter"
I'd also add that while entire lands based on one IP is cool is some respects, I really hope it's a momentary trend (let's get Star Wars out of Disney's system and move on please)and we go back to more general lands with original rides and/or occasion IP based rides in larger original lands. Too much to ask for these days?
Bairstow
Well-Known Member
Well again, until Universal chooses to build/buy enough parks to become its own 4-5 day destination complex, I don't think that the market share they take from Disney will outweigh the increase in overall Orlando tourism that Potter generates- an increase that Disney is probably benefiting from.
Unless they have some really clever tricks up their sleeve with the Wet n' Wild property, or unless they form a much stronger alliance with Sea World, I don't see Universal being able to do that anytime soon.
Uni could just as easily call WDW it's 2nd gate. How many people are gonna shave a few days off their Disney trip to check out DA? People arent shaving days off from a Uni trip, theyre doing all Uni has amd then going to WDW. Same people who would have spent their ENTIRE trip at WDW 5 or 6 years ago. Disney is loosing days while Uni is gaining them. I'd say Uni is the winner in this aspect also because It has the WOW factor with DA and those who take a few days off Disney to check it out may find other draws that Uni has and the new norm for their family vacation will be to split it between WDW and Universal. The total number of family vacation days sacrificed from Disney will seriously add up. Disney only stands to loose money in the long run while Uni's attendance and bottom line will increase.
What's sad is that WDW will probly have more visitors/profit from people checking out DA than from anything they (WDW) have recently done. It's obvious they're in a mad rush to get new Frozen in our faces as much as possible But Frozen sing-alongs in DHS won't get national media coverage. At some point Disney has to realize that M&G's are NOT the answer to everything. I'm so sick of hearing about new M&G's. And whoever chimed in to add that their MB worked flawlessly on their trip gets the fanboi "dueche of the day" award.
What's sad is that WDW will probly have more visitors/profit from people checking out DA than from anything they (WDW) have recently done. It's obvious they're in a mad rush to get new Frozen in our faces as much as possible But Frozen sing-alongs in DHS won't get national media coverage. At some point Disney has to realize that M&G's are NOT the answer to everything. I'm so sick of hearing about new M&G's. And whoever chimed in to add that their MB worked flawlessly on their trip gets the fanboi "dueche of the day" award.
GiveMeTheMusic
Well-Known Member
The difference is those transitions didn't cost $1 - $3 billion and come at the expense of park expansion, upgrades and maintenance. Infrastructure is important to be sure, but this was inefficient and for the price paid, foolish.
Disney was dumb to let Harry Potter go, but I'm glad they did - they would have done a horrid job with it.
roodlesnouter
Active Member
They have already shown they have plenty of "clever tricks" with the attractions they have built and land acquired and with more to come, Kong has already broken ground. Wet and Wild isn't the water park Disney should be worried about although that land will be useful. Uni will be "unrecognisable in 10 years time" with $$$$ already allocated to increase hotels, attractions and gates.
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Hobnail Boot
Well-Known Member
I think it was @marni1971 who said in the Spirited thread that Disney's leading contender for a HP ride was a TSMM style ride with wands.
WDWLover#1
Well-Known Member
Yh I remember hearing that. They showed Jk Rowling round The Dr seus area and showed how they painted every thing correctly. And when Geisel noticed something wrong they fixed it.
WDWLover#1
Well-Known Member
True. They were going to have a petting zoo.
Bairstow
Well-Known Member
Heh. Pull the string to cast avada cadabra at the 3d spider.
Repeat 5 times per second for the next 3 minutes.
Goofnut1980
Well-Known Member
A few more trips and I will have a garland for the tree.. I am up to 12 bands already!At least you will not have to buy christmas ornaments this year.
PrincessNelly_NJ
Well-Known Member
It isn't twice as much. The difference is about 40 dollars, to go from a 1 day base ticket to 1 day park hopper, 2 day base ticket to 2 day park hopper or 1 day ticket to 2 day ticket.
2 day base tickets are currently their more popular ticket option anyway...
I think Uni has done a great job spreading the word about this new expansion. It was trending Worldwide on twitter during media previews.
flynnibus
Premium Member
No - because you confuse not changing a well received product... with not changing anything.
Coke may be selling the same product, but how they sell, where they sell, how they promote, how they distribute, how they price, what size do you sell, etc are all examples of how the company and products change to ensure they remain current, leverage new opportunities, and generally keep growing.. without "changing" Coca-Cola itself.
There is no sound business strategy that starts and ends with "Its been working, so lets just call it a day and keep doing the same until we start losing money"
baymenxpac
Well-Known Member
the biggest thing here, as @TP2000 mentioned, is that disney is taking a gigantic PR hit on this. there's no way for them to spin this. the only thing better would have been if the article said, "while uni is doubling down on potter, disney is spending as estimated $2 billion and counting on rolling out their vacation planning, technology-driven program mymagic+, which has been met with mixed reviews."
i would argue that cutting investment into P&R post-9/11 would actually be their biggest mistake in 20 years. if WDW was still offering a fresh product, WWOHP -- while revolutionary -- would still largely be viewed as a tack on to a disney vacation. instead, it's a beast of a whole other animal.
i would argue that cutting investment into P&R post-9/11 would actually be their biggest mistake in 20 years. if WDW was still offering a fresh product, WWOHP -- while revolutionary -- would still largely be viewed as a tack on to a disney vacation. instead, it's a beast of a whole other animal.
kap91
Well-Known Member
While I disagree about it being foolish I think what people fail to realize is that it really doesn't matter. It's not like Disney spent a billion dollars on mm+ and now won't be able to build anything else in the future. They spent a billion on mm+, it's mostly finished, and now they're free to spend money on whatever they'd like, which undoubtedly will be avatar, then Star Wars, and who knows after. Focusing on the mm+ budget is a short sighted argument.
Now how good the future attractions will be is something else entirely, but considering what we've seen in carsland, and the stuff planned for Shanghai, even the last minute changes to mine train, I'd say the odds are better than good that what Orlando gets will not be disappointing.
People will probably be disappointed at the pace of change but I think it's way more important that change happens. Disney might be filthy rich but they still don't have limitless resources.
You know, in all honesty I wouldn't mind Disney getting a small but significant PR hit from this. I don't like the negative perception that it might engender but there is such a thing as being too popular and too big for your own good. I could list companies but Apple comes to mind at the moment. So many of WDW's problems stem from managing so many people and places it might actually be good if attendance dropped, give them the ability to be more nimble, and actually give incentive to build more, more impressive, and quicker.
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