People aren't overly upset about what being torn down at Universal due to what they are planning to bring in to replace Jaws et al....
Unfortunately, the same can't quite be said for Disney.
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Harry Potter Regrets
- Thread starter The Duck
- Start date
People aren't overly upset about what being torn down at Universal due to what they are planning to bring in to replace Jaws et al....
Unfortunately, the same can't quite be said for Disney.
Pioneer Hall
Well-Known Member
You can only live on nostalgia for so long. People (except some of us) are not going to keep shelling out thousands of dollars to see the same exact thing year over year. Sure, nostalgia plays a part in a Disney vacation. However, that works for maybe the second or third trip...or one where you go back after not having been in years. If you want people to visit consistently and want them to convince their friends without that connection to go, then you better out innovate the competition.
tl77
Well-Known Member
Well it's not as if they don't build anything new there, I'm pretty sure they are building some new stuff as we speak...
but next time you at the park and see a little 4 year old girl dressed up like Snow White be sure to tell her "You can only live on nostalgia for so long..." :lol: sorry I couldn't resist that
Pioneer Hall
Well-Known Member
That is a actually a great example. When that 4 year old is 14, and no longer interested in dressing up Disney's nostalgia message won't matter to her. Maybe when she is 34 with a kid of her own it will click again, but only until her child is old enough to not be interested anymore as well. I never said nostalgia doesn't work, but I don't think that is a viable long term business plan. It will work for a trip or two, but not forever. The only way to keep yourself afloat long term is to continue to innovate ahead of the competition.
Yeah, but when she's 14 she'll be all crazy about Johnny Depp lookalikes, and Alladin, and the musicians in the Morocco pavilion, and shopping, and anything else teenagey that comes along. I do not pretend to understand teenage girls; they are an enigma that frightens me, and they always have. But I would be curious to hear what attracts them to Universal as opposed to what Disney has to offer. As far as I know, 14 year old girls are like Candace Flynn, into shopping, relationships, guys, talking on the phone, and texting. Perhaps I stereotype too much, but Disney does not appear to be at an obvious disadvantage with any of this.
Pioneer Hall
Well-Known Member
The 14 year old girl was just specific to that individual example. It doesn't matter how old the people really are. I think the better part of my example is the second half. When that 4 year old is 34, she is going to want to share her Snow White memories with her kids. That will be a great motivating factor for her to take that trip with her daughter. However, most people are not like us, they are not going to go back time after time based on nostalgia. After she takes that trip, the desire to share Snow White is going to be far less because it will have been done. Now you have a guest who has a good impression in their mind about the resort (hopefully), but needs more than just memories to bring them back. This is where you need to innovate and create new things that will get them to come back again. Nostalgia can lay the ground work, but if you want to make them repeat customers you need to give them a reason to be there over and over again. Remember that we are a very small minority of people who remain loyal to Disney through almost anything they do. Most people are not nearly as kind with their money.
New things are a necessity, but to me the size of WDW brings us back because there's no way to do it all in one visit, even if that visit is a week or more. We've been there about 7 times in 8 years for a total of 35 days, and we still haven't done the Luau, or the waterparks, or the balloon at Downtown Disney, or a bunch of other things that have been around a while. Yes, much of what we do is the same stuff we did before, and upgrades and new attractions keep it alive and fresh. But I don't think that we need 5 wow new attractions every year to keep coming back. Staying somewhere different, eating in different places, seeing a different parade, those things also make it fresh for us, and keep us coming back, without $100 million being spent on the next Expedition Everest.
Also, in the last two years, we expanded our horizons to 2 Disney cruises and a trip to Disneyland. In 2013, perhaps Disneyland Paris and a Disney Mediterranean cruise--assuming airfares to Europe come down. Disney is big, with unique experiences due to size. That'll keep us interested for a lifetime.
And I still don't understand teenage girls.
Also, in the last two years, we expanded our horizons to 2 Disney cruises and a trip to Disneyland. In 2013, perhaps Disneyland Paris and a Disney Mediterranean cruise--assuming airfares to Europe come down. Disney is big, with unique experiences due to size. That'll keep us interested for a lifetime.
And I still don't understand teenage girls.
Lee
Adventurer
Yeah, the replacement attractions definitely make a difference whether or not fans will be upset when an old ride leaves.
And, I also agree that Disney needs to ease off the nostalgia vibe. It makes a good promotion from time to time, but it really needs to be balanced with a consistent stream of new attractions.
As I've said before, selling your product based on "remembering the magic" and "magic, memories and and you" is a dead end in the long run.
disney fan 13
Well-Known Member
Uh... I go to school with 14 year old girls and most of them ( including the rest of the school) would not be caught dead at WDW. (there are 2-4 exemptions but still). Everyone would rather head to Universal... But maybe it is just my school...
P.S your right about the stereotype but your wrong about there resort destination...
Rivers Rowe
Member
I'm still trying to figure out how Potter, an area smaller than Adventureland, is taking away all this business from Disney. The Potter area is so overrated in this thread I honesty think most of the people posting have never been there.
How about actually taking a look at Universal's numbers since WWoHP has opened?
xdan0920
Think for yourselfer
Sadness. My son is 12. Are you saying within a few short years he won't like Disney anymore? If so, then I agree that Disney better do something to keep teens interested. My wife and I seemed to think that behind the scenes tours, segway tours, buffets, and techy stuff, etc . . . would keep him interested. Granted, Magic Kingdom doesn't hold the appeal it once did, but Epcot and Star Tours keep him going.
draybook
Well-Known Member
You got me, I've never been there. I haven't been there three times, it must be a lie. Heaven knows the pictures I posted in my TR -http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=716504- weren't taken by our camera. I'm sorry that I tried to pull the wool over your eyes.
I can't speak for anyone else, but I know that our family has sacrificed 1 day at Disney to spend at Universal on our last two trips. As a matter of fact, after this last botched Disney trip, my wife said she only cares about going to Universal with Disney being a pit stop for her.
lazyboy97o
Well-Known Member
Because it is created a ripple effect. People are spending so much money at Universal Orlando Resort that they have less to spend at Walt Disney World. It is also a catalyst to show people the many other great things at the Universal Orlando Resort. Walt Disney World's model of selling just nostalgia and resting on its laurels has also taken its own toll on the Resort.
tl77
Well-Known Member
uhh, I don't know how to tell you this, but the place is literally built out of nostalgia. You that big castle in the middle of the park? that's from a 70 year old movie called "Cinderalla", and what you're describing about the "4 year old becoming a 34 year old, then bringing her own kid " is Disney's business model exactly. Their goal is to try and be a "family tradition" or as Walt Disney put it "a place where the kids and the parents could have fun together" that equals NOSTALGIA. It's a place where "My grandparents took my parents, my parents took me, I'll take my kids, they'll take their kids, and so". That's why they re-release their films every 7 years, that's why they have a Christmas day parade on TV every year, that's why they keep building Vacation Clubs with 40 year leases... to be constantly introducing themselves to the next generation, and you know what? it been working real well. That's why they're currently building an "innovative" new roller coaster, based on another 70 year old movie called "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs". How may 70 year old movies get turned into roller coasters?
disney fan 13
Well-Known Member
It varies from place to place. Just giving my school as a example
disney fan 13
Well-Known Member
Pioneer Hall
Well-Known Member
Just out of curiosity then, how many non-disney fanatics do you know that go to Disney every year? Every other year? Every three years? How many of those people are also now planning to go to Universal because of Harry Potter? How many of those people might go to Universal when Harry Potter is in both gates? You can say what you like, but Harry affected Disney's bottom line. Disney will always (well most likely) be the #1 player in Central Florida. However, Disney got accustomed to being the sole destination for a long time, with Universal only being a thought to some people that ventured that way. Now, Universal is getting attention because they built something good. Outside of Disney loyal forums, I have heard nothing but glowing reviews of how great WWoHP is (with crowds being the sole thing people have complained about to me). In regards to Harry, I don't really listen to much on these and like-minded forums. We, for the most part, are biased in our thinking. We love Disney, and most of us want to see them succeed and be #1 always. However, whether we want to accept it or not, Harry has taken market share from Disney. It's immersive, it's got a ground breaking attraction, and it is unique. The rumored new area is going to be more of that as well, and will continue to eat into Disney's marketshare. What used to be a week in WDW for someone, might only be 4 or 5 days now. That is a considerable amount of revenue to lose. If Disney wants to compete effectively against that, then they are going to have to look away from promoting the same things over and over again. The bus can only tell you that "Nemo and Friends" is a new experience for so long before people get tired with it. Like I said, nostalgia works at first, it isn't sustainable forever.