Walt Disney World had projects ready and chose not to act on them and continues to chose not to act on them. It is not even an issue of right or wrong, but Walt Disney World has most definitely chosen not to become engaged in a 'theme park war' with Universal Orlando Resort. That decision in of itself is not a problem. Neither is the decision to pursue the so-called 'blue ocean strategy' by doing something completely different that makes you more unique compared to the competition (the goal of MyMagic+).
The imagined "Potter-Swatter War", is, I think, what we over on the movie boards call the Tiger Beat Factor.
So named in honor of the fan magazine that monthly told fangirls what "feud" Justin Bieber was having this week with 1D or vice versa, but referring to the whole concept that diehard fans have to imagine their favorite things battling each other out for dominance, like plastic dinosaurs.
Could Iron Man beat the Dark Knight? Did Frozen beat Tangled? Walking Dead vs. Game of Thrones, Halo vs. Titan fall, who rulez?
Harry Potter is quite impressive, yes. So was Spiderman. As I recall, when Spiderman came out at IOA and was the greatest theme-park attraction in central Florida for its day, I don't recall Disney doing Danged Thing One to compete with it. Not because they were "neglectful" or "lazy" or "cheap" or "gave up" the chance to fight their Mortal Enemy tooth and nail, but I would guess that they let it be Universal's own business. Disney didn't have Marvel back then, or King Kong or Jurassic Park or Men in Black, and Universal didn't have the princesses or Mickey Mouse...So there. That's why they're different brands.
More to the point, Universal didn't really keep itself up to the standards that Disney prided itself on, and once an attraction spent out its honeymoon over there, it tended to gather dust. Universal, at the moment, doesn't really seem to
have any long term strategies besides seeing how much more Transformers, Harry, Minions and the Simpsons they can stuff into the park to beef up the attractions that are already getting lines while the getting is good, and when those expire, they'll either let them rot or go out and get some more.
Disney doesn't do that. They DO, however, compete with Universal where they're aware they're good at--They provide a more professional resort/customer experience because they know they can, and it would be immature to do anything else...As you can see, it's already pretty darn immature to even
think about it.
Which a lot of fans spend an unhealthy amount of time doing, for reasons that could only appeal to their own age, and I'd guess a LOT more than the average Imagineer--who is older and employed in the field--does.
