Is this it after Guardians: Cosmic Rewind ?

[KaliSplash]

Disney better have something cooking.

A bunch of months back some people were arguing with me on here that Epic Universe wouldn't be worked on again for a very long time. They started up back earlier this year and will be openness early 2025.

If WDW let's them open Epic Universe with nothing major to counter it - monumental mistake. I would expect something huge to get announced by WDW sometime in 2023. 1.5 years before Epic Universe opens is perfect timing to steal some hype away.

Universal is eating Disney's lunch. They better step up or things may be very different in 5-10 years.

Universal is eating Disney's lunch? I don't think so. Mickey seems to be doing just fine and is finding ways to slice its pie thinner and increase the price per slice. (Not that I am happy about the more expensive, thinner slice, but Mickey still seems to be doing just fine.

And Mickey has Never attempted to match anyone coaster for coaster.

 

[marni1971]

And yet Universal still can’t beat any of the WDW parks in attendance.

They’re not trying to. Just to compete and satisfy their wants.

WDW is running on legacy.

 

[Dan Deesnee]

Universal is eating Disney's lunch? I don't think so. Mickey seems to be doing just fine and is finding ways to slice its pie thinner and increase the price per slice. (Not that I am happy about the more expensive, thinner slice, but Mickey still seems to be doing just fine.

And Mickey has Never attempted to match anyone coaster for coaster.

Check by last reply in this thread.

Your biggest local competitor going up a combined 8% while you stay nearly flat is not doing just fine to any publicly traded company.

That's a recipe for revenue miss disaster.

 

[aliceismad]

Check by last reply in this thread.

Your biggest local competitor going up a combined 8% while you stay nearly flat is not doing just fine to any publicly traded company.

That's a recipe for revenue miss disaster.

Attendance does not equal revenue though. I would say most stockholders are probably more interesting in profit vs. people.

I agree that Universal is growing its interest. Personally I know a lot of people who will travel across the country for Harry Potter, but very few who would travel for Velocicoaster. Nintendo might be a huge pull for them as well.

 

[Dan Deesnee]

Attendance does not equal revenue though. I would say most stockholders are probably more interesting in profit vs. people.

I've worked in the stock market industry for longer than I care to admit. Disney execs will be, and are, very concerned about the attendance growth at Universal.

But, believe whatever you want.

 

[JusticeDisney]

They’re not trying to. Just to compete and satisfy their wants.

WDW is running on legacy.

I never said they were. I was simply responding to another poster who claimed that Universal is “eating Disney’s lunch.”

 

[JusticeDisney]

That is irrelevant. It's growth, that is all that matters. Right now and for a while Universal has been closing the gap and Disney is extremely concerned (as a publicly traded company they have to be).

You can read the AECOM report in 2019 in this here https://aecom.com/theme-index/

I took a few screenshots. Look at that gap closing in a massive way:

View attachment 585603

View attachment 585604

It is 100% relevant to what I was discussing. You see, you have now entered the discussion and changed the topic away from what I was saying. So, what I was saying is indeed relevant to MY point, notwithstanding the fact that it may not be relevant to YOUR different point.

 

[Dan Deesnee]

It is 100% relevant to what I was discussing. You see, you have now entered the discussion and changed the topic away from what I was saying. So, what I was saying is indeed relevant to MY point, notwithstanding the fact that it may not be relevant to YOUR different point.

I'm not sure how anyone can argue that a competitor gaining a combined 8% attendance year over year is not "eating there lunch". This doesn't even take into account Universals gains from 2015-2017.

Per guest revenue, etc. that's a whole different discussion.

Have a nice day.

 

[JusticeDisney]

I'm not sure how anyone can argue that a competitor gaining a combined 8% attendance year over year is not "eating there lunch". This doesn't even take into account Universals gains from 2015-2017.

Per guest revenue, etc. that's a whole different discussion.

Have a nice day.

It’s easier to make percentage gains when you are already lagging so far behind. That’s why you can’t go simply on percentages. If one park goes from 20,000 visitors one day to 15,000 the next, that doesn’t mean that another park that went from 200 visitors one day to 300 the next is eating their lunch. I’m not saying that Universal isn’t doing great things, but when it comes to attendance figures, WDW obliterates them, and always has.

 

[J4546]

Yeah I dont think Universal is a threat to dsney at all. At least they have 2 parks in FL and are building a 3rd though, cause the 1 park they have in CA is pretty meh at best imo.

 

[SteveAZee]

I would argue that attendance and revenue are the more easily measured numbers, but what each company cares about is some combination of net earnings and ROI and their respective growth rates. Certainly harder to measure from the outside, but more likely of interest to those on the inside. Not saying this is true, but if Universal is drawing huge crowds and making tons of revenue but not a lot of profit (an approach some companies take to try to 'own' a finite market), but Disney has smaller crowds but is earning more and growing those earnings at at a respectable rate, I know what company I'd rather be invested in. The only caution is if somehow (in this hypothetical case) Universal manages to take a lion's share of the theme park market in Orlando to the point where Disney can no longer make decent earnings and growth, then it's a problem for Disney. That might happen at some point, but it's not going to happen for a long while... decades perhaps.

 

[marni1971]

I never said they were.

You kind of did. Word for word.

Such is the fun of the internet.

Regardless it could be a fun decade ahead.

 

[JusticeDisney]

You kind of did. Word for word.

Such is the fun of the internet.

Regardless it could be a fun decade ahead.

Nope, in actuality I never said that, word for word or otherwise. Such is the fun of the internet, it’s all right there in black and white.

But yeas, I agree, the next decade or so should be quite fun!

 

[marni1971]

Nope, in actuality I never said that, word for word or otherwise.

?

And yet Universal still can’t beat any of the WDW parks in attendance.

Confusion reigns.

 

[Hawg G]

It’s easier to make percentage gains when you are already lagging so far behind. That’s why you can’t go simply on percentages. If one park goes from 20,000 visitors one day to 15,000 the next, that doesn’t mean that another park that went from 200 visitors one day to 300 the next is eating their lunch. I’m not saying that Universal isn’t doing great things, but when it comes to attendance figures, WDW obliterates them, and always has.

Removing the MK from the equation, you realize the other 5 major parks in Orlando are now all within a little more than 10% of each other, right? It was not long ago Universal's parks were almost HALF of the Disney ones.

That's not eating lunch, that's a full course meal.

Yes, Disney still has droves of people willing to pay about double what they should for hotel/motel rooms. But that is what should make Disney worry even more about EU. When Disney loses attendance, they also lose a lot more per cap spending. But I'll hand it to them, they have millions brainwashed. Personally, there is no way I'd stay onsite again. The value is horrifically poor. And if they price out lower income folks, who the hell is going to pay for the meager All-Star rooms in the future?

 

[JusticeDisney]

?

Confusion reigns.

You just proved my point. I thank you for that.
I said that Universal does not beat WDW in attendance. And they don’t.

You then entered the discussion and said that Universal is not trying to beat WDW in attendance. That may be true but, like I said in my response to that, I never claimed that they were.

You then came back and said that I did say that, word for word.

So yes, I agree that you do seem to be quite confused here.

 

[JusticeDisney]

Removing the MK from the equation, you realize the other 5 major parks in Orlando are now all within a little more than 10% of each other, right? It was not long ago Universal's parks were almost HALF of the Disney ones.

That's not eating lunch, that's a full course meal.

Yes, Disney still has droves of people willing to pay about double what they should for hotel/motel rooms. But that is what should make Disney worry even more about EU. When Disney loses attendance, they also lose a lot more per cap spending. But I'll hand it to them, they have millions brainwashed. Personally, there is no way I'd stay onsite again. The value is horrifically poor. And if they price out lower income folks, who the hell is going to pay for the meager All-Star rooms in the future?

Oh, so now we are just going to remove the largest-drawing park in the world from the equation? Gotcha! Hahahahaha!

BTW, gotta love it when someone thinks that anyone who views something differently than them must be brainwashed.

 

[Dan Deesnee]

Removing the MK from the equation, you realize the other 5 major parks in Orlando are now all within a little more than 10% of each other, right? It was not long ago Universal's parks were almost HALF of the Disney ones.

That's not eating lunch, that's a full course meal.

Yes, Disney still has droves of people willing to pay about double what they should for hotel/motel rooms. But that is what should make Disney worry even more about EU. When Disney loses attendance, they also lose a lot more per cap spending. But I'll hand it to them, they have millions brainwashed. Personally, there is no way I'd stay onsite again. The value is horrifically poor. And if they price out lower income folks, who the hell is going to pay for the meager All-Star rooms in the future?

Exactly. Companies don't look at years in a vacuum, they look at trends. WDW also has more competitors than just Universal.

And the trend is that WDW has been and still is losing ground in a major way (even with MK included). I wonder how far the brainwashing and die-hards can take them though. The Florida theme park landscape will look very different in 5-10 years and the numbers seem to point that Disney will be knocked down a few pegs.

They need a course correction in a big way, in my opinion.

 

[marni1971]

So yes, I agree that you do seem to be quite confused here.

Clear as mud.

 

[HauntedPirate]

Most of the updates in the last 10-15 years to WDW came with Chapek at the helm of PR&E. Just remember who’s at Chairman right now if you want to place blame.

Chapek was installed as head of P&R in 2015. The only thing he’s been known for is large price increases and cutbacks. And merchandising.