Disney's Reaction to Harry Potter Details?

[tnemgif]

I feel that, although this ride may have an impact on Disney's attendance in the short-run, this type of competition is exactly what the theme parks need. Disney's complacency in building new, innovative attractions in recent years may be brought to light by the HP attraction. Disney has always had the upper hand in innovation in theme parks, but this ride seems to surpass anything Disney has done for many years and should cause Disney to rethink broken Yetis and tedious journeys into imaginations. Either way, I see this as a win for Disney fans.

 

[Dinardo]

I know my family will be going to Universal Studios to see the HP land. I am not a fan, but my wife is. I am just tagging along. I would rather be at Disney World all day and all night.

BUT, we are not cutting our Disney vacation short. We are staying 9/5 (Sunday) - 9/11 (Saturday) - and driving down there on Friday - so we are doing one day (9/4 - Saturday) at Universal and staying wayyyyyy offsite to boot.

No matter what, the main draw to Orlando is and always will be Walt Disney World.

It is like going to the beach - the main draw is the ocean and the sand - but you might do an arcade or go shopping one day.

 

[NewtoDisney2009]

Don't worry you can mee every Princess under the sun in WDW!

touche! :animwink:

 

[Thrill Seeker]

I feel that, although this ride may have an impact on Disney's attendance in the short-run, this type of competition is exactly what the theme parks need. Disney's complacency in building new, innovative attractions in recent years may be brought to light by the HP attraction. Disney has always had the upper hand in innovation in theme parks, but this ride seems to surpass anything Disney has done for many years and should cause Disney to rethink broken Yetis and tedious journeys into imaginations. Either way, I see this as a win for Disney fans.

Fully agree. Hopefully Disney will at least use this as a reason to improve what's already here and maybe work on some new attractions.

 

[Figment632]

The bottom line is HP will bring people to Universal and just to Universal. It will attract people that would not normally go.

FLE will not bring anyone new to WDW. Also FLE imo is starting to look like a big fail to me now the TLM looks like it will only be a D ticket. The one and only great thing FLE will bring is more capacity to MK!!!!

 

[NewfieFan]

Don't worry you can mee every Princess under the sun in WDW!

Ok, that joke is getting old now. Yes, there are princess M&Gs coming but we are getting a pretty cool ride ourselves... Little Mermaid!

Anyways back to the OT... I agree with another poster who said you have two types to factor in here. Those who will make the trip just for HP and then go up the road to see the Mouse (Disney's up one). And then those who already go to Disney but may take a day or two (or more?) from their vacation to visit HP (Disney's down).

Just speaking from what I hear around my parts. The only people talking about HP are people who already travel to Florida (they are already customers of the Mouse). And these people are not increasing the number of days on their vacation... so it is possible that Disney will lose some from these travelers!

It will be interesting to see what happens. I personally think Disney will lose a little on this one. I think the number of days lost from the "usual" vacationers will exceed any new tourists that HP will bring in. Just a guess on my part... who knows!?!

 

[Darth Angelo]

Remember the Spiderman ride.

It was supposed to be the "latest, best use of theme park technology ever." And it was for the first two years, until Universal stopped giving it TLC. Like cleaning the projections or fixing little things that break or go bad.

Now if you go to the Spiderman Ride it looks tired and worn down. I noticed the last time I rode it that they didn't finish the experience behind you. So if you were to look away from the action on the drop you would notice it was all a bunch of fans and a 3d movie.

This is Universal's MO. They can and will build amazing rides, but can they keep the magic alive? HP will draw huge crowds this summer, but what about the value season when crowds are light? What about maintenance?

Plus, think about a typical family of two parents a 12 year old and a 6 year old. There are like three things the 6 year old can do at both Universal and IoA. Because the rides and shows are way to much for little kids. And Harry Potter seems like it is going to be one of the rides that little kids will not be able to go on. Remember the news reports when the books would go on sale of that cute little 8 year old dressed like Harry Potter in line to pick up his copy of one of the books. That same cute little 8 year old might get really scared at a ride that "twists you, pulls, you and throws you." I know my 9 year old will not go on it.

How is Disney combating HP? Very little, first because they do not react, they Lead. Universal is not a threat. Next, because they know that a family flying down from Minnesota for a week vacation can only spend two days max at the Universal Resort. So all Disney has to do is make their vacation deals sweet, with free days, Magical Express, etc.

Think about Magical Express, you do not have to rent a car. So when Universal is 20 minutes away, an you do not have a car, and a $40 cab ride one way away from Pop Century, are you going to pay all of that money just to see Harry Potter?

Oh and an interactive cue, seen it done it. Kuka robotic arms, seen it done it, 3d projections you ride through, seen it done it.

And think about this, you know that Marvel is probably getting part of the ticket prices as payment for Universal using their characters. Great, that money is now Disney Money. Keep it up.

 

[misterID]

The bottom line is HP will bring people to Universal and just to Universal. It will attract people that would not normally go.

FLE will not bring anyone new to WDW. Also FLE imo is starting to look like a big fail to me now the TLM looks like it will only be a D ticket. The one and only great thing FLE will bring is more capacity to MK!!!!

Exactly. I was going to post that myself. You're living in a dream world if you think this is somehow going to bring more people to disney. That's laughable. If anything, people are going to be cutting their disney trips short to see this attraction. If its successful, disney will not be winning. Not to mention the locals who TDO doesn't seem to care about anymore. That will be huge, imo.

TDO will do nothing to answer this. They weren't planning to form the the start. They didn't even wnat to add TLM until if was forced on them. I'm sure some big wigs are watching this. And I'm hoping HP is massively successful.

EDIT: Disney will not be making money off the marvel stuff, just a piece of merchandise. And this is an entirely different ballgame than the IOA fiasco.

 

[devoy1701]

Here's my take.... I pay $700 a year to 2 APs to WDW....so when I go out to the Orlando area, we go to WDW. I won't feel i'm getting my money's worth out of them if I also go to Universal. I'm not going to pay $70 for one day admission and I definitely don't think it makes sense for me to get APs to Uni either because I can't go to both sets of theme parks all the time. Same reason why I don't have BG APs anymore either. :shrug:

Of course I'm alot more fiscally conservative than alot of people, so maybe not everyone will be looking at it from getting the most value out of their passes like I do (i actually have a spreadsheet that gives me cost per day and cost per park for my passes ). But as long as I have WDW passes I won't be visiting Uni.

 

[NewfieFan]

Exactly. I was going to post that myself. You're living in a dream world if you think this is somehow going to bring more people to disney. That's laughable. If anything, people are going to be cutting their disney trips short to see this attraction. If its successful, disney will not be winning. Not to mention the locals who TDO doesn't seem to care about anymore. That will be huge, imo.

TDO will do nothing to answer this. They weren't planning to form the the start. They didn't even wnat to add TLM until if was forced on them. I'm sure some big wigs are watching this. And I'm hoping HP is massively successful.

EDIT: Disney will not be making money off the marvel stuff, just a piece of merchandise. And this is an entirely different ballgame than the IOA fiasco.

Well, consider me living in a dream world! You do not know the power of a princess. Do you have a little girl... if you don't get back to me when you do. Princesses are hugely popular and I personally know people who heard about this expansion and are planning their first trip for when it opens. It will bring people in... how many... I don't know!?! But families with little girls will come for this and only this!!!

Now concerning HP... I hope it's popular too. There's nothing wrong with some healthy competition!

 

[devoy1701]

The bottom line is HP will bring people to Universal and just to Universal. It will attract people that would not normally go.

FLE will not bring anyone new to WDW. Also FLE imo is starting to look like a big fail to me now the TLM looks like it will only be a D ticket. The one and only great thing FLE will bring is more capacity to MK!!!!

I don't think you have an accurate feel for the demographic that FLE will attract. the princesses and Pixie Hollow will definitely bring new people to WDW because there are many people who have little princesses that will scream I WANNA GO NOW because they'll see the advertisements for the new area on TV. It won't be the same group of people that are looking to go to Uni, but it will definitely bring more people.

And don't jump on the bandwagon of judging TLM before its built. You really can't tell by pictures, concept art, and descriptions of how a ride is going to turn out. Wait to you experience it. Saying things like that is going to turn into "TLM is a solid D" in a week around here...just like how "budget for FLE was cut"

i'm just sayin...

 

[Figment632]

Well, consider me living in a dream world! You do not know the power of a princess. Do you have a little girl... if you don't get back to me when you do. Princesses are hugely popular and I personally know people who heard about this expansion and are planning their first trip for when it opens. It will bring people in... how many... I don't know!?! But families with little girls will come for this and only this!!!

Now concerning HP... I hope it's popular too. There's nothing wrong with some healthy competition!

There is no competition with these expansions, all this will do for WDW is add to MK capacity. I garentee that WDW will barley see any rise in attendence from FLE if any at all.

 

[Tinkwings]

I work with people who are huge HP fans and plan on going to IOA just for Potter. They have no intentions on going to disney, they are under the impression that disney is for family and little kids.

That is exactly what I thought many years back...BEFORE I WENT!!! Now? While I enjoy it to the extreme with my children....I could easily enjoy the parks by self at any age, or have fun thinking on going with just my husband....group of disneygeek gf's.....I will never be toooo old....that is what my Mother who has never been thinks..."aren't your children too old for WDW?" :lookaroun I tell her nicely HER child is not too old so that is an invalid question....:lol:. I only went to Universal because others wanted to go in the past before I was a parent....but kept wishing I was at WDW and comparing it to that instead...and memories of a very sore neck from the BTTF ride still linger....:zipit:

 

[xdan0920]

Well, consider me living in a dream world! You do not know the power of a princess. Do you have a little girl... if you don't get back to me when you do. Princesses are hugely popular and I personally know people who heard about this expansion and are planning their first trip for when it opens. It will bring people in... how many... I don't know!?! But families with little girls will come for this and only this!!!

Now concerning HP... I hope it's popular too. There's nothing wrong with some healthy competition!

I can not disagree with what you are saying because you have actually talked to people who are planning their first trip based on FLE.

What I will say though is FLE will not bring in big numbers at all. It is just going to fold into the Magic Kingdom. It is not standing out the way that WWoHP is. The excitement that has built over the years for WWoHP is immense. FLE is not generating anywhere near that level. Nor should it in my opinion. From what we know there is nothing ground breaking, nor overly exciting coming with the expansion. Unless of course you are a 5 year old girl, or have a 5 year old girl. Which most people are not/do not. And even those families with little girls, this will only be a piece of their vacations. I am sure they would be coming to WDW anyway.

 

[misterID]

Well, consider me living in a dream world! You do not know the power of a princess. Do you have a little girl... if you don't get back to me when you do. Princesses are hugely popular and I personally know people who heard about this expansion and are planning their first trip for when it opens. It will bring people in... how many... I don't know!?! But families with little girls will come for this and only this!!!

Now concerning HP... I hope it's popular too. There's nothing wrong with some healthy competition!

I'm raising my 9-year-old niece who thinks she is a Disney princess! I also worked in the tourism business most of my life, especially in marketing, which gave me connections into both Disney and UNI.

I can tell you this, anything big, hugely popular, marketed well and lives up to the hype will succeed. And mostly, word of mouth. You have to remember this: There are huge dynamics to the typical vacationing family that stretches further than appealing to the little girls who love princesses. Disney NEVER had success targeting little girls who loved princesses for their themeparks, they were successful targeting families. This was the knock against UNI, which my father told them back in the early 90's and they didn't listen. But HP will have an impact. Demographics and tastes are changing. Word of mouth is going to help UNI once they get people in the parks. And don't underestimate what this could do for locals going to UNI now. This will be as much about getting people into the park and experiencing the other attractions as it does about getthing them to see HP.

I think a lot of what's going on here, in this thread, is more of disney fans not wanting UNI to succeed on any level, or disney being upstaged on any level. And the truth is, the more UNI succeeds the better it is for WDW in the long run.

 

[Figment632]

I don't think you have an accurate feel for the demographic that FLE will attract. the princesses and Pixie Hollow will definitely bring new people to WDW because there are many people who have little princesses that will scream I WANNA GO NOW because they'll see the advertisements for the new area on TV. It won't be the same group of people that are looking to go to Uni, but it will definitely bring more people.

And don't jump on the bandwagon of judging TLM before its built. You really can't tell by pictures, concept art, and descriptions of how a ride is going to turn out. Wait to you experience it. Saying things like that is going to turn into "TLM is a solid D" in a week around here...just like how "budget for FLE was cut"

i'm just sayin...

I trust the sources I have that say it is a D, and FLE is a needed expansion but I am sorry I don't but that people will see a comercial for a M&G and deceide to book a trip for it. It is not like these are rides they are meet and greets.

 

[xdan0920]

Disney NEVER had success targeting little girls who loved princesses for their themeparks, they were successful targeting families.

Exactly. It seems Disney is exerting way too much effort trying to appeal to the little girl set. Disney should be for the entire family to enjoy.

I think a lot of what's going on here, in this thread, is more of disney fans not wanting UNI to succeed on any level, or disney being upstaged on any level. And the truth is, the more UNI succeeds the better it is for WDW in the long run.

I agree with this sentiment as well. Many people on this board, understandably considering this is a Disney fan site, are dead set against Universal and refuse to acknowledge anytime they manage to upstage TDO. And the simple fact is, WWoHP upstages anything Disney has done since the opening of Animal Kingdom.

 

[devoy1701]

I trust the sources I have that say it is a D, and FLE is a needed expansion but I am sorry I don't but that people will see a comercial for a M&G and deceide to book a trip for it. It is not like these are rides they are meet and greets.

yes, because all they're going to show in the commercial is a M&G.

They're going to market the experience, the enchantment, and the intimacy and immersion of the forest.

No one is saying this is going to be bringing in drones of people like the Potter fanatics, but your position that FLE will bring in no new first time guests is completely absurd.

 

[devoy1701]

Exactly. It seems Disney is exerting way too much effort trying to appeal to the little girl set. Disney should be for the entire family to enjoy.



I agree with this sentiment as well. Many people on this board, understandably considering this is a Disney fan site, are dead set against Universal and refuse to acknowledge anytime they manage to upstage TDO. And the simple fact is, WWoHP upstages anything Disney has done since the opening of Animal Kingdom.

and despite your feelings i'm sure you and your entire family will still enjoy FLE, regardless of if anyone feels its marketed towards little girls.

And yes we are Disney fans, and I don't try to discredit everything Uni does...Uni was my favorite set of theme parks when i was younger. I have been there more than enough and have had more than enough personal experiences to know personally that the grounds are not as nicely kept, the employees aren't as friendly, the parks aren't nearly as immersive, and I just overall have a better time and experience at Disney.

Some of you are spending way too much time trying to discredit our sentiment that we find Disney to be a much better experience.

 

[Figment632]

yes, because all they're going to show in the commercial is a M&G.

They're going to market the experience, the enchantment, and the intimacy and immersion of the forest.

No one is saying this is going to be bringing in drones of people like the Potter fanatics, but your position that FLE will bring in no new first time guests is completely absurd.

It may bring in locals but i can't see anyone book a trip just for FLE, im sorry I just don't see it.

People will book a trip just for HP but I just don'e see people booking just for FLE.