I think Uni has a bit of a nostalgic connection to those in my age group (and those after me). I was about 3 when Uni opened, and thanks to my dad's job at the time, we always spent a day there on our Disney vacations thanks to some comp tickets. His new job which came right around when IoA opened unfortunately stopped this. It would be a long 10 years until time we would get to IoA, and just two months ago I went back with my dad to Uni for the first time in nearly 12. We had a great time riding Jaws one last time and ET. I would imagine that younger generations have some of these nostalgic attachments as well (especially since most of them are Disney fans) and will continue to go back. WWoHP only personifies this by bringing more and more people into the park. Should HP have the lasting power of Star Wars, then these generations will want to share this with their kids years down the road (and contrary to some belief here, the franchise is yet to show slowing down).
True ...or at least they used to. Yes, USF - overall - provides a bit of a nostalgic feeling for me, someone who has also visited avidly since its opening. But as you pointed out, there is less and less presence of the "original park" and we're basically down to just E.T. (Disaster and Horror Makeup help a little).
Not only have most of the attractions at USF completely changed (rather than receive updates), but the spirit of the park as a whole has changed. Remember the backstage tour that included a tram ride because the original purpose of the park was at least semi-realized when it first opened? All that's left are some cheaply made "plaques" on soundstage walls that some people might pass by while in queue for a HHN house and not even notice.
The turnover rate for USF attractions is nothing like Disney. Can any of us really imagine Disney scrapping badly antiquated attractions like Jungle Cruise? Or how about Small World; that attraction's footprint could house something like Forbidden Journey. Of course not. Disney will keep them, and we will keep riding them. Disney understands that there is an inherent value in nostalgia, regardless of how poorly unrealistic those snakes and butterflies are.
There just seems to be a different mindset, for lack of a better term, between the parks. Given Disney's deep roots in Florida, Universal came along as the new kid on the block (despite their long history in California) and, as a result, Universal has been offering an alternative vibe of updated, thrilling experiences, and I think they let that notion run off on them. An example of this was the tongue in cheek line "This isn't Disney, we don't have to be nice to you," that was sometimes used. Universal continues to add extremely popular, alternative entertainment like HHN and Mardi Gras.
The argument to maintain nostalgia at USF is further weakened by the numbers; by the bottom line. If you look at what HP did for Universal, the numbers are staggering (I won't rehash them here). It's hard to imagine that a *single* intellectual property and one completely new attraction could do so much for Universal. If you looked at the numbers, you'd think that they opened a third park, because that's the impact HP is having. And returning to the original topic, *that* is why (as someone posted above) the only regrets are on Disney's side of the fence for not courting Rowling onto their team.
