Disney Playing catch up with Universal... Potter Disney's biggest mistake in 20 years...

[kap91]

And this is the first post I see ... yep, this is clearly a fun thread. ... Why can't Disney fans simply acknowledge that WDW has become second rate in so many areas? Why can't they think rationally? Why does BRAND marketing 'MAGIC" and Pixie Dust mean more to so many than quality and value? ... MAGIC Bands and door locks and kiddle coasters are somehow more MAGICal than cutting edge immersive themed family areas based on beloved IP? No, I don't get that. Not at all.

Can some people simply be honest and fair and say ''I know this may not be normal or healthy, but I am addicted to WDW?''

And, by the same token, can UNI fanbois not act as if the sky parted and a lightning bolt from the heavens came down and created Diagon Alley and anointed a park that still has plenty of flaws as the crystal clear standard of best park in the world?

Neither of those will happen, so let's play ...

Ok I'm back for this. I think if you read my earlier posts you'd see I attempted to be fair and balanced. My continuing beef is this general sentiment that the apocalypse has happened at WDW when it hasn't. And of course I'm addicted to WDW - why on earth would have I joined this site if I wasn't?

 

[WDW1974]

Yes, we all know this. It isn't new. Avatar is an attempt to recreate the success Uni is having with Harry. It is a misguided attempt, however.

At attempt totally driven by the pettiness and ego of the CEO of TWDC.

 

[mahnamahna101]

I enjoy Toy Story Mania way more than I do Forbidden Journey.

...so you enjoy neither? it's by far the most phoned-in dark ride I've ever seen. Toy Story Midway Mania's budget ran out in the queue. People complain about Universal's overreliance on screens... yet Toy Story Midway Mania is a ride which legitimately features just a couple of TV screens while you spin around on a track. Sure, you shoot at the targets. But you can play the mini-games at home AND have better precision since your Wii remote isn't stationary.

Forbidden Journey and Gringotts both have sets in them - detailed sets. And detailed queues and facades (aside from the glaring showbuilding problem for FJ). Sure, there's screens, but it's a solid mixture of both. Screens and sets/AAs can co-exist.

 

[Bairstow]

...so you enjoy neither? it's by far the most phoned-in dark ride I've ever seen. Toy Story Midway Mania's budget ran out in the queue. People complain about Universal's overreliance on screens... yet Toy Story Midway Mania is a ride which legitimately features just a couple of TV screens while you spin around on a track. Sure, you shoot at the targets. But you can play the mini-games at home AND have better precision since your Wii remote isn't stationary.

Forbidden Journey and Gringotts both have sets in them - detailed sets. And detailed queues and facades (aside from the glaring showbuilding problem for FJ). Sure, there's screens, but it's a solid mixture of both. Screens and sets/AAs can co-exist.

Midway Mania would have made a really nice coin-op arcade cabinet.

 

[BigTxEars]

Being a fan of both parks it is a win win when they drive each other like this. Potter may be driving Avatar but _______ at Disney drove Potter. It's a circle that we the guest win because of.

I agree with whoever posted above, Star Wars could not only dent Potter but knock it off the road for a while if done correctly. I am am much bigger fan of Potter than Star Wars myself but in general the SW fans are much more devoted than Potter fans from what I have seen, SW is much more of a generation crosser as well at this point.

 

[WDW1974]

Ok I'm back for this. I think if you read my earlier posts you'd see I attempted to be fair and balanced. My continuing beef is this general sentiment that the apocalypse has happened at WDW when it hasn't. And of course I'm addicted to WDW - why on earth would have I joined this site if I wasn't?

I didn't. I am having trouble with the first page of posts. Yours just appeared when I posted my first and I felt it required a Spirited response. But it could either be the coffee or the fact I just ed off someone that makes Bob Iger look poverty-stricken, I'm really in the mood to be honest. Like Hulk says (you know, Disney owns him now and they're going to make UNI give him up and he'll be doing Epcot meet-greet-and-grunts with Snow White near the German pavilion soon! A bus driver told me and folks who understand complex contract law here agree!), ''You listen truth!!! You no handle truth!!! HULK SMASH!!!!''

I think you can enjoy WDW, you can even love the place, but not be addicted. Addiction is bad. It messes with your ability to cognitively make wise and rational adult choices. Yes, Pixie Dust rots the brain. Disney is quite aware that many of its fans are really addicts and takes advantage. Really, how else can you explain fanbois giving Disney money for a fan club like D23 that is the opposite of what a fan club should be? How can you explain fanbois giving Disney money, thanking them, for destroying beloved attractions but putting out tees and pins and plastic/vinyl that 'commemorate' the long destroyed classics?

The same behavior that will elicit talk of ''UNI may be building impressive attractions, but I don't care. I'm never leaving WDW.''

Mental illness runs very strong within the Disney fan community (no, even though I shouldn't have to, I will place the disclaimer that I am not talking about you but many fans in general).

 

[PrincessNelly_NJ]

Hogwarts Express is a C or D ticket up-charge attraction. A cute ride, but not to the level of pre-opening hype.

Oh tell us more about DA since apparently you have already been there...

 

[DinoInstitute]

 

[WDW1974]

Just because Disney didn't make the same move Universal did doesn't mean they made a mistake.
Universal and Disney might be competitors, but they're not playing the same game.

No, it doesn't mean they made a mistake, but common sense and talking to anyone in the theme park business will tell you that they did.

And you are quite right, the only playing Disney is doing is playing its fans and guests by offering the same old, same old mixed with tracking devices and a new version of FP that creates 40 minute standby queues for attractions like SSE when the parks are uncrowded. Nope ... not the same game at all.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Being a fan of both parks it is a win win when they drive each other like this. Potter may be driving Avatar but _______ at Disney drove Potter. It's a circle that we the guest win because of.

Outside of Avatar, which is just about Iger's obsession with franchises, there has no been pushing between the two. Universal is acting of their own accord and Disney still thinks its 2006.

 

[mahnamahna101]

And this is the first post I see ... yep, this is clearly a fun thread. ... Why can't Disney fans simply acknowledge that WDW has become second rate in so many areas? Why can't they think rationally? Why does BRAND marketing 'MAGIC" and Pixie Dust mean more to so many than quality and value? ... MAGIC Bands and door locks and kiddle coasters are somehow more MAGICal than cutting edge immersive themed family areas based on beloved IP? No, I don't get that. Not at all.

Can some people simply be honest and fair and say ''I know this may not be normal or healthy, but I am addicted to WDW?''

And, by the same token, can UNI fanbois not act as if the sky parted and a lightning bolt from the heavens came down and created Diagon Alley and anointed a park that still has plenty of flaws as the crystal clear standard of best park in the world?

Neither of those will happen, so let's play ...

Agreed... USF still has problems that need to be addressed.

1. KidZone
2. the awkwardness of World Expo
3. Fear Factor
4. Twister
5. T2 3D
6. Animal Actors (building looks way too late 80s/early 90s for my liking)
7. the entry plaza
8. Shrek
9. lack of any all-ages dark rides (E.T. has a 34" height requirement)
10. lack of a water ride of any kind
11. what the park's theme should be (is it still a studio? or is it a real-world adventure based in urban/suburban locales?)
12. the convoluted backstory of their version of Revenge of the Mummy

IOA has issues, too

1. the whole front half of Toon Lagoon (everything except Sweet Haven and Dudley need to be overhauled, especially the theater/carnival games area)
2. Dr. Doom (Universal should tear it down for a ToT-esque E-ticket. A Space-Shot doesn't belong in a world-class resort)
3. the empty Trikes plot
4. Pteranodon Flyers' inaccessibility to adults
5. Dragon Challenge (I don't think Hogsmeade has huge steel coasters diving over retention ponds back when the queue had skeletons, the ride still dueled and IOA didn't have FJ and Kong, Dueling Dragons was indeed a world-class highlight.... takes up a huge chunk of land that would allow a sizable Hogsmeade/Forbidden Forest area)
6. the purpose of Lost Continent
7. No E-ticket for Seuss
8. Seuss Trolley having a 40" height requirement
9. Cat having a 36" height requirement now
10. Lack of all-ages dark rides
11. Lack of C-tickets and D-tickets (that adults can enjoy along with kids)
12. Lack of Streetmosphere/nighttime entertainment

USF and IOA still have a long way to go until they're perfect... but so does Disney. Listing all of their issues would be over 100 items IMO

There's a middle ground between blind devotion for any resort and blind hatred for any resort.

 

[WDW1974]

Not everyone reads the Spirit threads

True, Princess. True. It just seems they do because all of the important people do!

 

[BigTxEars]

"There's a middle ground between blind devotion for any resort and blind hatred for any resort"

Not around here!

 

[flynnibus]

Hardly the same thing.

No its not the same thing as MM+ - but we only got that last year... and how many years did we go with junk to NOTHING... while the rest of the world was so far ahead of that? Disney didn't need MM+ to be a leader or even on pace in the space of mobile.. but they had crap. It wasn't until NextGen and the push to what would be MM+ that they put out an app for everyone (and not the verizon POS). Meanwhile, a dude in his basement built a company around doing what Disney couldn't.. or wouldn't do with wait times and mobile. That's reality.. and has been for 5+ years.

You see something they've done recently and think that somehow erases all of history and they must be on some great track going forward! Look at the bigger picture.. not just individual milestones.

 

[kap91]

I didn't. I am having trouble with the first page of posts. Yours just appeared when I posted my first and I felt it required a Spirited response. But it could either be the coffee or the fact I just ed off someone that makes Bob Iger look poverty-stricken, I'm really in the mood to be honest. Like Hulk says (you know, Disney owns him now and they're going to make UNI give him up and he'll be doing Epcot meet-greet-and-grunts with Snow White near the German pavilion soon! A bus driver told me and folks who understand complex contract law here agree!), ''You listen truth!!! You no handle truth!!! HULK SMASH!!!!''

I think you can enjoy WDW, you can even love the place, but not be addicted. Addiction is bad. It messes with your ability to cognitively make wise and rational adult choices. Yes, Pixie Dust rots the brain. Disney is quite aware that many of its fans are really addicts and takes advantage. Really, how else can you explain fanbois giving Disney money for a fan club like D23 that is the opposite of what a fan club should be? How can you explain fanbois giving Disney money, thanking them, for destroying beloved attractions but putting out tees and pins and plastic/vinyl that 'commemorate' the long destroyed classics?

The same behavior that will elicit talk of ''UNI may be building impressive attractions, but I don't care. I'm never leaving WDW.''

Mental illness runs very strong within the Disney fan community (no, even though I shouldn't have to, I will place the disclaimer that I am not talking about you but many fans in general).

I'll admit I have a bit of a bias, but it was also hard won on the part of Disney - providing over two decades of quality experiences for me. Universal has not done that for me in that same time period despite having gone there more often for a good portion of time. I'll be the first to acknowledge that the Disney offerings in Orlando have been lacking in certain respects lately, but also know that A) it's an Orlando only thing and B.) doesn't bother me so much as the previous history gives me faith in the future. It's the opposite with Universal. I acknowledge that HP 1 was and 2 looks to be amazing but there's also a twenty year history of overall negative experiences I have with Universal that gives me little faith in their future. I can't help but often think Stuart Craig is the only reason HP is as amazing as it is and he won't be there for non Harry things. All I've been asking for, for years at this point, is a bit more balance that acknowledges Disney's hits and Universal's misses without claiming the sky is falling or messiah has come. Thank you for attempting to do that.

 

[WDW1974]

Running a business includes making sure you have a bright future... running stagnant and missing opportunities ARE mistakes... no matter how much money you made riding on your history.

You should place this on the bottom of every future post of yours (even the crazy ones!) because it does perfectly explain how Disney is run and how it should be in one run-on sentence!

 

[Tangled21]

What theme park is using mobile tech to a greater degree? As far as I know Disney is the only resort embracing mobile tech and meeting it's guests where they are. Disney is linking every possible system to it's mobile app and MM+ in a seamless way, has free, reliable wifi throughout the park, an accurate wait time system, restaurant reservation manager, ride booking system, full set of location aware maps, payment system, room key system, photo system, all linked to it's app and bands. If there is any theme park, or indeed any destination at all, that has created something anywhere near the scale of this and is actively using it I'd love to see it.

Congrats to Disney for making it a priority to have reliable wifi in the parks. Unfortunately, I'm part of the rare breed that prefers not to have my face buried in my phone after spending a hundred bucks on a theme park ticket.

 

[BrianLo]

Regardless of ones opinion of Universal and the level of WDW fanboism, everyone should understand that Universal rotting away was not a good thing for Disney. Harry Potter single handily put Uni back on the tourist map and gave them the financial flexibility to move forward. Competition is always good, the merits of whether Disney would have done better or worse with the IP doesn't matter, Universal needed it A Lot more than Disney.

Currently TWDC seems to be adding park worthy IP to their coffers faster than they are bothering to improve their parks, I'm not worried about how much IP they have. They have plenty to work with (if they actually bothered to).

 

[kap91]

No its not the same thing as MM+ - but we only got that last year... and how many years did we go with junk to NOTHING... while the rest of the world was so far ahead of that? Disney didn't need MM+ to be a leader or even on pace in the space of mobile.. but they had crap. It wasn't until NextGen and the push to what would be MM+ that they put out an app for everyone (and not the verizon POS). Meanwhile, a dude in his basement built a company around doing what Disney couldn't.. or wouldn't do with wait times and mobile. That's reality.. and has been for 5+ years.

Disney was developing the infrastructure during most of that period. And no one, anywhere was or is doing anything close to what they're doing with it. And it's a just slightly more complicated than crowdsourcing highly inaccurate waitimes.

Congrats to Disney for making it a priority to have reliable wifi in the parks. Unfortunately, I'm part of the rare breed that prefers not to have my face buried in my phone after spending a hundred bucks on a theme park ticket.

My response was to that Disney was somehow lagging behind in the tech/mobile space - not what their priorities should have been. And it's a lot bigger than just wifi - the tech benefits everyone. Though I would argue that infrastructure spending was something that needed to be done - perhaps not at the expense of other things though.

 

[Stevek]

I really don't have a problem with Disney "missing the boat" on Potter (and I absolutely love the books, like the movies). They've now got arguably the most well known movie franchise in history and "if" they had to choose one, Star Wars was the right one.. My problem, like many of you probably, is that they've really done very little with it so far though it does poise them for perhaps one of the most immersive theme park experiences ever that might make alot of people forget about the boy who lived...if they do it right. And that's a big if unless they put the effort and money into it like they did with Cars Land. As for Avatar, I really didn't have a reaction one way or the other initially but I'm becoming more pessimistic about it as time goes on. It may end up looking beautiful but it's clearly not the answer to Potter that it was likely intended to be. I hope they prove me wrong and the fit in DAK ends up being a great one.