Disney's Reaction to Harry Potter Details?

[RSoxNo1]

Also, where is the official press release from Universal?

 

[TURKEY]

Ok a game changing ride vs an Omnimover and Meet & Greets

Weren't you arguing that FLE wasn't competing with Harry Potter earlier? I'm sorry, if you didn't. I'm not rereading everything and I get all your rants confused.



If I recall, Everest was this magnificent game changing attraction with this outstanding AA. It turned out to be for a couple years. Now people won't stop complaining about the B mode and how it's falling apart. Now it's just a roller coaster that travels backward in a section.

I think Rockit Coaster and Test Track were in this grouping as well. They have both had their share of issues.




It's stupid to judge something (even those working on a project) before it unveils to the public and has stood the test of time (even just a couple years). None of what you have said is fact. Once LM opens, some people (already) may call it a E ticket, some others a D. I might call it an A ticket, but it doesn't mean that's it's the consensus of the public or that anyone is right or wrong.

 

[sponono88]

Also, where is the official press release from Universal?

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=564687

 

[Figment632]

Weren't you arguing that FLE wasn't competing with Harry Potter earlier? I'm sorry, if you didn't. I'm not rereading everything and I get all your rants confused.



If I recall, Everest was this magnificent game changing attraction with this outstanding AA. It turned out to be for a couple years. Now people won't stop complaining about the B mode and how it's falling apart. Now it's just a roller coaster that travels backward in a section.

I think Rockit Coaster and Test Track were in this grouping as well. They have both had their share of issues.




It's stupid to judge something (even those working on a project) before it unveils to the public and has stood the test of time (even just a couple years). None of what you have said is fact. Once LM opens, some people (already) may call it a E ticket, some others a D. I might call it an A ticket, but it doesn't mean that's it's the consensus of the public or that anyone is right or wrong.

It isn't imo but if everyone is so insistent that FLE does will join the conversation.

 

[Monty]

I see a couple of things in this discussion that are impossible to untangle.

1) Does FLE have anything to do with Potter. I don't think so. MK needed something new and nice. That's it.

2) Will Disney do anything directly to combat HP? Probably, but when is the key. I live in the midwest and for many, the Uni parks and to a lesser extent SW have already supplanted Disney as far as fun. Not everyone has thinks this, BUT it grows incrementally stronger over time. It's kind of like an iceberg carving out a valley. It moves very, very slowly. As a result, if Disney waits until there is an appreciable drop in attendance it may be too late. No matter how nice any response they have is, it will take quite a while to build the brand/rep back up. Thus, I would hope that some in the company are agitating for a response/announcement this calendar year.

See? Now you've lost all credibility!

Icebergs float. Glaciers carve out valleys. :lookaroun







Sorry, everybody else in this thread seems to be arguing over something ludicrous, Figured I didn't want to be left out! :lol:

 

[xdan0920]

There is a lot of talk on this forum about people thinking WWoHP is its own theme park. Who are the people that think this? I have ever met anyone nor heard anyone say that they think its its own theme park. Universal has not advertised it that way at all. You Disneyphiles are just beating on universal for no reason. Uni has outdone Disney on this one. By a lot. Like I said earlier, nothing TDO has done since AK can compete with WWoHP.

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

To everybody saying that FLE is Disney's way of competing with Potter... I'm almost fairly certain that plans for the FLE were underway as far back as when Disney themselves were still in talks with Ms. Rowling about theme park rights to the Potter series. Based on that, I think it's just coincidental timing.

There is a lot of talk on this forum about people thinking WWoHP is its own theme park. Who are the people that think this? I have ever met anyone nor heard anyone say that they think its its own theme park. Universal has not advertised it that way at all. You Disneyphiles are just beating on universal for no reason. Uni has outdone Disney on this one. By a lot. Like I said earlier, nothing TDO has done since AK can compete with WWoHP.

Universal has very much so tried to subliminally imply that it is an all new park.

Even the HUGE Potter sites posted on this thread that influence a great deal of the Potter fan community continuously refer to it as "the harry Potter theme park" and they even got to visit it early and those articles were officially sanctioned BY Universal!

 

[Testtrack321]

There is a lot of talk on this forum about people thinking WWoHP is its own theme park. Who are the people that think this? I have ever met anyone nor heard anyone say that they think its its own theme park. Universal has not advertised it that way at all. You Disneyphiles are just beating on universal for no reason. Uni has outdone Disney on this one. By a lot. Like I said earlier, nothing TDO has done since AK can compete with WWoHP.

Universal has advertised, you know, DURING THE SUPER BOWL. That little ditty. As for other people, how about 20 somethings I talk to at parties who bring it up and can't wait for the "Harry Potter park in Orlando." And don't forget all the free, and incorrect, advertising that's being put out there by newspapers and fan blogs who claim it's a new park.

As for Disneyphiles, read my prior post on calling someone a fanboi.

As far as what Disney is to do, the original poster's question; I think they're in a holding pattern right now. I imagine, just as when IoA opened, Disney has a few projects that are new or being dusted off that can be quickly implemented once the damage of HP is assessed.

 

[xdan0920]

Universal has very much so tried to subliminally imply that it is an all new park.

Even the HUGE Potter sites posted on this thread that influence a great deal of the Potter fan community continuously refer to it as "the harry Potter theme park" and they even got to visit it early and those articles were officially sanctioned BY Universal!

So because you think you picked up on subliminal messages, you believe the general public believes WWoHP to be its own theme park and will show up at Uni's doorstep and be shocked?

 

[xdan0920]

Universal has advertised, you know, DURING THE SUPER BOWL. That little ditty. As for other people, how about 20 somethings I talk to at parties who bring it up and can't wait for the "Harry Potter park in Orlando." And don't forget all the free, and incorrect, advertising that's being put out there by newspapers and fan blogs who claim it's a new park.

As for Disneyphiles, read my prior post on calling someone a fanboi.

I know the general public can be a little slow at times, but to really believe that people are going to shop up at Uni and be shocked and annoyed that WWoHP is a land and not a park. I mean come on, thats quite a leap.

 

[Testtrack321]

I know the general public can be a little slow at times, but to really believe that people are going to shop up at Uni and be shocked and annoyed that WWoHP is a land and not a park. I mean come on, thats quite a leap.

No it's not.

People thought IoA was a park expansion to UO when it first came out. They planned for that accordingly, and thusly, got mad when they went to UO to look for the Spiderman ride or went to IoA and couldn't find Jaws.

Universal marketing has a two track mind, and both tracks are flawed. One is the comparisons to Disney, which they always lose with because it makes the message look immature and their product less developed, or the "see what we have", which ends up confusing people.

Guests have shown up to Epcot wondering why they tore down the castle. NEVER underestimate the stupidity of the general public.

In the FIRST post, the FIRST link, the FIRST sentence reads...

This report is the first of three chronicling a trip taken by representatives of top Harry Potter web-sites to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park in Universal Studios, Orlando, FL.

And this continues on and on. This isn't some sort of thing we pulled out of the air here, this has been a trend in marketing and message.

 

[KaliSplash]

What do you think Disney is going to do to compete? Summer Nightastic and the Fantasyland expansion, as great as they sound, might not be significant enough to challenge Harry Potter. Do you think they might have something planned that they were waiting to announce for when ride details about HP and the Forbidden Journey were revealed?

I confess I have not waded through the 200 posts on this topic, which is NOT new. This question has been asked since it was announced that Universal won the Harry Potter competition. And as we have known for a while, the short answer to what Disney will do is , 'virtually nothing.'

While i am excited about the return of the Main Street Electrical Parade and suppose the Fantasy Land expansion will be a good thing, particulary, the Little Mermaid dark ride, the bottom line is Disney has announced nothing on the scale of Harry Potter to compete with Harry Potter.

The question is how long will Harry Potter stand up as a headliner attraction. The books already are over. By the end of next summer (2011), the movies will be over.

Hopefully Disney will continue to progress. But they clearly made a considered decision not to try to out-Potter Mr. Potter.

I hope it turns out to be the right decision. (Unfortunately, that would be a fairly new result).

I am much more concerned about the overall cost-cutting focus TDO has had in recent years. Making all the shops offer the same thing. Simplying restaurant menus. The great emphasis on generic merchandise. The reduction in park hours. The reduction in maintenance. The reduction in ... pick your example.

These are my real concerns for the World. Not Mr. Potter, nice guy that he is.

 

[devoy1701]

There is a lot of talk on this forum about people thinking WWoHP is its own theme park. Who are the people that think this? I have ever met anyone nor heard anyone say that they think its its own theme park. Universal has not advertised it that way at all. You Disneyphiles are just beating on universal for no reason. Uni has outdone Disney on this one. By a lot. Like I said earlier, nothing TDO has done since AK can compete with WWoHP.

When it was first announced it was called a Harry Potter Theme Park. Not just a section of Islands of Adventure.

 

[DisneyJoe]

I've known guests who expect the Disney resort buses to take them to Universal....

 

[Castle Cake Apologist]

Articles about the expansion OFFICIALLY sanctioned by Universal refer to it as "the new Harry Potter theme park in Florida".

Yes, I'd be a little tiffed if I thought it was an entire park and found out it was a slightly rethemed land of a preexisting park.

Either way, my boyfriend was under the impression that it is an entire new theme park and that's all that matters to me. He got that just from watching the superbowl commercial. He was kinda mad when I set him straight.

 

[TalkingHead]

When it was first announced it was called a Harry Potter Theme Park. Not just a section of Islands of Adventure.

By whom?

 

[NewfieFan]

See? Now you've lost all credibility!

Icebergs float. Glaciers carve out valleys. :lookaroun







Sorry, everybody else in this thread seems to be arguing over something ludicrous, Figured I didn't want to be left out! :lol:

Ha, I was going to say something about that but I said, "nah, better leave it alone!"

I am the resident expert on icebergs because I'm from Newfoundland, right!?! :animwink:

It's so fun to watch people compare FLE and HP, isn't it? :lookaroun

 

[jt04]

FLE got the greenlight over the MI concept strictly because it serves a demo the Potter mostly doesn't. That has been my assumption since the FLe was announced. After reading of the intensity of the Potter e ticket and with personal knowledge of the intensity of DD, I now know my assumptions were right.

The FLE is brilliant 'counter-programming'. How Disney responds to directly compete with Potter will depend entirely on it's overall impact on WDW's bottomn line.

Nothing left to be said.

:wave:

 

[Testtrack321]

FLE got the greenlight over the MI concept strictly because it serves a demo the Potter mostly doesn't. That has been my assumption since the FLe was announced. After reading of the intensity of the Potter e ticket and with personal knowledge of the intensity of DD, I now know my assumptions were right.

The FLE is brilliant 'counter-programming'. How Disney responds to directly compete with Potter will depend entirely on it's overall impact on WDW's bottomn line.

Nothing left to be said.

:wave:

This is very very true. Though question, what is this MI concept? Mystery Island, as in AK?

 

[redkoala245]

Recently, whenever I talk about WDW with other people, all they talk about is the Harry Potter area in IOA. I don't go to Universal every year, but the next time I visit Universal, I will probably visit IOA, cuz this year I visited Universal Orlando park. And I can visit the Harry Potter Area .I think the Harry Potter area will be popular for like 2-3 years. WDW will probably have the same attendence, even though they have nothing new and exciting, except for TSM which is almost 2 years old and still has 100 minute waits. The Fantasyland expansion might increase attendence. I think if they added something completely different in like AK,Epcot or DHS, that is when the attendence will increase.