Is this it after Guardians: Cosmic Rewind ?

[DHSfanatic]

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.

Difficult to second guess a company that has had the success Disney has had until recently, but you do wonder about what appears to be their complacency in the face of Universal opening Epic Universe in 2025. @lentesta made the point in another thread that it doesn't appear that Disney will be opening any E-Tickets between 2022 and (at least) 2025.

They also seem to have been eroding the benefits of staying on site. At least from the outside, that appears to be a change in strategy from a few years ago. It's a change that I have difficulty understanding. Of course, that's something that could be reversed fairly easily should they conclude that it's hurting results.

Having no significant new rides when your main rival is opening a third gate has the potential to be a major blunder and would take time and a major allocation of resources to overcome. (Unless, of course, they are planning new attractions that haven't yet been announced or, apparently, rumored.)

My guess is that Disney's board will become dissatisfied long before Universal has taken the lion's share of the theme park market. Disney's stock price is up about 3% this year, while the S&P is up about 22%. That performance is not one to make any CEO complacent. You would think that stronger performance from the theme parks would be necessary to boost the stock price. Of course, the steps that would result in a stronger performance from the theme parks may not be the ones that hard-core fans are looking for. Chapek presumably expects the current strategy to pay off post-Covid or he wouldn't be following it. And he may well be right that new E-Tickets aren't what's needed.

We'll see how it plays out.

 

[SteveAZee]

Difficult to second guess a company that has had the success Disney has had until recently, but you do wonder about what appears to be their complacency in the face of Universal opening Epic Universe in 2025. @lentesta made the point in another thread that it doesn't appear that Disney will be opening any E-Tickets between 2022 and (at least) 2025.

They also seem to have been eroding the benefits of staying on site. At least from the outside, that appears to be a change in strategy from a few years ago. It's a change that I have difficulty understanding. Of course, that's something that could be reversed fairly easily should they conclude that it's hurting results.

Having no significant new rides when your main rival is opening a third gate has the potential to be a major blunder and would take time and a major allocation of resources to overcome. (Unless, of course, they are planning new attractions that haven't yet been announced or, apparently, rumored.)

My guess is that Disney's board will become dissatisfied long before Universal has taken the lion's share of the theme park market. Disney's stock price is up about 3% this year, while the S&P is up about 22%. That performance is not one to make any CEO complacent. You would think that stronger performance from the theme parks would be necessary to boost the stock price. Of course, the steps that would result in a stronger performance from the theme parks may not be the ones that hard-core fans are looking for. Chapek presumably expects the current strategy to pay off post-Covid or he wouldn't be following it. And he may well be right that new E-Tickets aren't what's needed.

We'll see how it plays out.

I agree with most of what you're saying here, though I think a more apt comparison is DIS vs Dow and they're not not too far off from each other.

I think they're doing a balancing act of trying to find the sweet spot of maximizing profit while minimizing investment, so cutting back on perks and extras while maximizing profit per guest. They may think that if they step over the line (cut back to much or squeeze the orange too hard) they can back off and people will be glad and forget the pain of being squeezed. Nostalgia and sentiment are strong forces.

Uni is in second place so they're motivated to try harder and invest more... the odds are in their favor of being able to chip away at Disney's customer base. I think they won't even consider something new in the parks until COVID is completely in the rear-view, which could be a while.

Yes, it'll be interesting to see how this plays out.

 

[Family_Man]

for the 2010s, Universal gained market share, but Disney's profits keep going up. They used to have the strategy of trying to entice people to spend their entire Orlando vacation at WDW, but the death of Magical Express suggests that is at an end. They may just see the pool of visitors to Orlando theme parks getting too large to try and maintain their market share. So they will instead use their IP catalog to entice the high value customers and write off their regulars and value customers. (A parallel may be cruise ships; there are too many vacationers for just one dominant player, and they segment the customer base). And I think in turn, value customers are seeing the benefit to Universal, where your dollar goes much farther.

 

[Hawg G]

Difficult to second guess a company that has had the success Disney has had until recently, but you do wonder about what appears to be their complacency in the face of Universal opening Epic Universe in 2025. @lentesta made the point in another thread that it doesn't appear that Disney will be opening any E-Tickets between 2022 and (at least) 2025.

They also seem to have been eroding the benefits of staying on site. At least from the outside, that appears to be a change in strategy from a few years ago. It's a change that I have difficulty understanding. Of course, that's something that could be reversed fairly easily should they conclude that it's hurting results.

Having no significant new rides when your main rival is opening a third gate has the potential to be a major blunder and would take time and a major allocation of resources to overcome. (Unless, of course, they are planning new attractions that haven't yet been announced or, apparently, rumored.)

My guess is that Disney's board will become dissatisfied long before Universal has taken the lion's share of the theme park market. Disney's stock price is up about 3% this year, while the S&P is up about 22%. That performance is not one to make any CEO complacent. You would think that stronger performance from the theme parks would be necessary to boost the stock price. Of course, the steps that would result in a stronger performance from the theme parks may not be the ones that hard-core fans are looking for. Chapek presumably expects the current strategy to pay off post-Covid or he wouldn't be following it. And he may well be right that new E-Tickets aren't what's needed.

We'll see how it plays out.

And lets be honest here, even with Disney's UNPRECEDENTED spending the last 5 years, they have not opened many E tickets at all. Many of the rides failed to meet the hype.

MK: Tron - sorry, it's a D ticket. Low end coaster design with black lights is not an E.
Nothing else. Which really is pathetic. Even Dwarf Hill is a solid D.

Epcot: Guardians - Probably E, although I think them hiding details is not a good sign. Disney NEVER hides details, they overinflate every tiny "groundbreaking" thing. 2 1/2 D anyone? I still think it's 50/50 just a coaster in a black box with some projection mapping in a couple areas, and spinning seats used once or twice. I hope I'm wrong.
Rat - D, bordering on C IMHO. Cute kids ride. Wasn't impressive 7 years ago in Paris.
Frozen - D - and I love riding it with my daughter

MGM: Easily the best US Disney E-ticket ride in decades (no competition though), RotR
Smugglers Run - D. I mean, It's a gentler, boring Star Tours in a smaller cabin with a smaller screen for 2/3 of the riders.
MMRR - D - it's a trackless darkride with projections on some walls. Only the factory room truly takes advantage of the technology
Slinky - C/D

AK: Pandora - Soarin' 3, I just don't get it. It's a D in my book. It's a movie with your seats moving around a bit. My local regal has D-Box.
Navi - ummmm, yeah

So, We'll end up with another 10 year period with, IMHO, 3 E-tickets in the 4 parks? And it's not like Disney was just pouring in the money before 5 years ago. And continuing the complete drought of E ticket rides in the World's most popular theme park since 1992!!!! It will be over THIRTY YEARS without a new centerpiece attraction. But, hey, those Rapunzel toilets are nice, huh?

 

[DHSfanatic]

And lets be honest here, even with Disney's UNPRECEDENTED spending the last 5 years, they have not opened many E tickets at all. Many of the rides failed to meet the hype.

MK: Tron - sorry, it's a D ticket. Low end coaster design with black lights is not an E.
Nothing else. Which really is pathetic. Even Dwarf Hill is a solid D.

Epcot: Guardians - Probably E, although I think them hiding details is not a good sign. Disney NEVER hides details, they overinflate every tiny "groundbreaking" thing. 2 1/2 D anyone? I still think it's 50/50 just a coaster in a black box with some projection mapping in a couple areas, and spinning seats used once or twice. I hope I'm wrong.
Rat - D, bordering on C IMHO. Cute kids ride. Wasn't impressive 7 years ago in Paris.
Frozen - D - and I love riding it with my daughter

MGM: Easily the best US Disney E-ticket ride in decades (no competition though), RotR
Smugglers Run - D. I mean, It's a gentler, boring Star Tours in a smaller cabin with a smaller screen for 2/3 of the riders.
MMRR - D - it's a trackless darkride with projections on some walls. Only the factory room truly takes advantage of the technology
Slinky - C/D

AK: Pandora - Soarin' 3, I just don't get it. It's a D in my book. It's a movie with your seats moving around a bit. My local regal has D-Box.
Navi - ummmm, yeah

So, We'll end up with another 10 year period with, IMHO, 3 E-tickets in the 4 parks? And it's not like Disney was just pouring in the money before 5 years ago. And continuing the complete drought of E ticket rides in the World's most popular theme park since 1992!!!! It will be over THIRTY YEARS without a new centerpiece attraction. But, hey, those Rapunzel toilets are nice, huh?

I'd say your grading is a little tough on some of these, notably FOP. And they get some credit for Pandora and Galaxy's Edge being pretty impressive areas even apart from the rides. But I agree that their projects have been taking far too long to complete and they have been spending far too much on them for the results they have been getting.

 

[allknowingeye]

Yup. Which is all the more reason it’s insane that the entire project is going to cost almost as much, if not more, than all of Pandora cost, just for this phase 1 of the central spine

The entire Epcot spline project was stupid. If ain't broke don't fix it. Don't destroy the old, build on with new. The removal of the World Fountain is among the stupidest moves ever.

 

[Dan Deesnee]

And lets be honest here, even with Disney's UNPRECEDENTED spending the last 5 years, they have not opened many E tickets at all. Many of the rides failed to meet the hype.

MK: Tron - sorry, it's a D ticket. Low end coaster design with black lights is not an E.
Nothing else. Which really is pathetic. Even Dwarf Hill is a solid D.

Epcot: Guardians - Probably E, although I think them hiding details is not a good sign. Disney NEVER hides details, they overinflate every tiny "groundbreaking" thing. 2 1/2 D anyone? I still think it's 50/50 just a coaster in a black box with some projection mapping in a couple areas, and spinning seats used once or twice. I hope I'm wrong.
Rat - D, bordering on C IMHO. Cute kids ride. Wasn't impressive 7 years ago in Paris.
Frozen - D - and I love riding it with my daughter

MGM: Easily the best US Disney E-ticket ride in decades (no competition though), RotR
Smugglers Run - D. I mean, It's a gentler, boring Star Tours in a smaller cabin with a smaller screen for 2/3 of the riders.
MMRR - D - it's a trackless darkride with projections on some walls. Only the factory room truly takes advantage of the technology
Slinky - C/D

AK: Pandora - Soarin' 3, I just don't get it. It's a D in my book. It's a movie with your seats moving around a bit. My local regal has D-Box.
Navi - ummmm, yeah

So, We'll end up with another 10 year period with, IMHO, 3 E-tickets in the 4 parks? And it's not like Disney was just pouring in the money before 5 years ago. And continuing the complete drought of E ticket rides in the World's most popular theme park since 1992!!!! It will be over THIRTY YEARS without a new centerpiece attraction. But, hey, those Rapunzel toilets are nice, huh?

Wow that's pretty harsh. I do agree with some of what you're saying though. Corner cutting seems to be the main problem.

I wonder just how good Cosmic Rewind will be. It is very possible that it ends up being a major disappointment even though someone on here once said it cost 500 million dollars. Space Mountain 2.0 with a bunch of screens? Hate to say it but it's very possible.

Rat is fine looking. Looks fun. Same with Tron.

What is coming attraction wise after that? I know we can't expect a non-stop stream of new attractions to open. It just doesn't really feel like what they're doing is enough to compete with everything Universal is building. I expect Universal to announce a HUGE Wizarding World expansion sometime between now and the opening of Epic Universe. HP is such a massive draw for them. Announcing a Galactic Cruiser style thing but in Hogwarts castle would be interesting (assuming the cruiser is really popular).

 

[TYOTimer]

The entire Epcot spline project was stupid. If ain't broke don't fix it. Don't destroy the old, build on with new. The removal of the World Fountain is among the stupidest moves ever.

I concur. The whole plaza was outdated, and should’ve been leveled and rebuilt from scratch. The amount of issues, especially with electrical, has proven that it should’ve been that way. Especially because they could’ve saved Bob’s favorite thing, money!

 

[J4546]

theres a ton of stuff happening in parks around the globe.

DSP is getting a radical new redesign with Avengers Land opening next year, the lake a year or two after that, froze around 2024/25, then star wars (maybe) around 2027.

Hong Kong is getting Frozen land in 2023, and are currently starting demo for the new avengers land e-ticket that will prob take 3 years to build so maybe 2024/25

Shanghai has Zootopia Land opening in 2023, and we have seen the rumors for a couple of different coasters theyre getting bids on under the codename @ which probably means a crazy Avengers Campus coming in 2025ish?

Tokyo has Fantasy Spring oening in the next couple years, that will be epic

SO back in the US what do we have? In CA MMRR is on its way along with a PatF retheme of Splash Mountain. CA just opening AC but will be getting phase 2 announcement sooner than later (probably) and the Eastern Gateway parking structure/foot bridge is still very possibly coming soon as well. That will create a few acres expansion for CA as well. Then theres the whole DisneyForward Propasal but that was just a concept, but still shows potential.

In FL Epcot is coming along nicely. SSE redo is still planned but just pushed back i read somewhere so I bet we hear about that in the next D23. MK has Tron coming, as well as Splash retheme. Theres plenty of room to do stuff at MK so we will be getting new stuff in time. DHS just got GE and TSL but that park needs work. I bet theres a major announcement about IJ or the northwest studios area getting redone in the next 5-6 years if not sooner. AK is my fave FL park, Dinoland has been slowly shutting down the parking lot carnival area, maybe something cool is coming? Havent really heard much but Id love to hear something major coming to AK sooner than later but imo its the park that needs the least amount of help even though it has the least amount of rides.

thats a lot of stuff happening in the next couple years. And Im sure we will hear about more at the next D23!

 

[Dan Deesnee]

theres a ton of stuff happening in parks around the globe.

DSP is getting a radical new redesign with Avengers Land opening next year, the lake a year or two after that, froze around 2024/25, then star wars (maybe) around 2027.

Hong Kong is getting Frozen land in 2023, and are currently starting demo for the new avengers land e-ticket that will prob take 3 years to build so maybe 2024/25

Shanghai has Zootopia Land opening in 2023, and we have seen the rumors for a couple of different coasters theyre getting bids on under the codename @ which probably means a crazy Avengers Campus coming in 2025ish?

Tokyo has Fantasy Spring oening in the next couple years, that will be epic

SO back in the US what do we have? In CA MMRR is on its way along with a PatF retheme of Splash Mountain. CA just opening AC but will be getting phase 2 announcement sooner than later (probably) and the Eastern Gateway parking structure/foot bridge is still very possibly coming soon as well. That will create a few acres expansion for CA as well. Then theres the whole DisneyForward Propasal but that was just a concept, but still shows potential.

In FL Epcot is coming along nicely. SSE redo is still planned but just pushed back i read somewhere so I bet we hear about that in the next D23. MK has Tron coming, as well as Splash retheme. Theres plenty of room to do stuff at MK so we will be getting new stuff in time. DHS just got GE and TSL but that park needs work. I bet theres a major announcement about IJ or the northwest studios area getting redone in the next 5-6 years if not sooner. AK is my fave FL park, Dinoland has been slowly shutting down the parking lot carnival area, maybe something cool is coming? Havent really heard much but Id love to hear something major coming to AK sooner than later but imo its the park that needs the least amount of help even though it has the least amount of rides.

thats a lot of stuff happening in the next couple years. And Im sure we will hear about more at the next D23!

I read a while back that the Dino land area could become an Indiana Jones land or Zootopia. Indiana Jones would probably be cheaper, but Zootopia would be a bigger crowd draw possibly (like it or not). Probably open around 2026-7. I can see a small Pandora expansion too.

Moderately Informed Speculation Warning below:

I don't think MK will get anything new till late 2020's. Announced probably around Epic Universe opening. Maybe opening 2027-8. What could it be??? Something princess is my guess, a princess themed area. Big money maker.

HS. This one's...tough to call. It just got the most new stuff but it was also in terrible shape. I would say it's much better but my guess is they announce one more big expansion probably around 2024-5. I've heard a lot of people talk about them trying to make the park more "round" to help with guest flow.

Epcot... It's a construction zone of stuff most people won't find that impressive. Walkways, planters, a fountain change, new store, weird metal tree, Moana splash pad, Play Pavilion thing, Space 220(months to open it). People will only really care about Guardians and I could easily see that being a let down. Epcot is getting tons of money and time thrown at it with very little return, in my opinion Nothing exciting here till 2027-8 I imagine when they announce or open a new country pavilion maybe?

 

[S.I.R. the Robot]

EPCOT has become a waste of space anyway. Bring it back to 1995.

 

[Animaniac93-98]

With WDW's 50th fast approaching, which will also kick off the first fiscal quarter of 2022 for the WDC, I can't help but to look into the future... and can't say it looks promising for new additions. After Guardians opens, presumably some time next year in 2022, could we be looking at another major gap before WDW gets another new addition. With Disney's abysmal track record with how long it takes to build things, and with no new construction popping up anywhere else on property... even if Disney announces something at next year's D23, what's the earliest we can see a new ride open, 2026, 2027?

Princess and the Frog Mountain will be sold as a BRAND NEW RIDE when it opens in 2024 or whenever.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

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.

Only if that 8% increase is coming at the expense of Disney.

If Universal was up a million guests and Disney was down a million guests it would be a disaster, the fact Disney didn't lose guests despite Universals gains actually shows Universal is pulling additional guests (or guests are taking longer vacations) to Orlando, which doesn‘t hurt Disney at all, may even help them in the long run because some of those new visitors are bound to hit Disney too.

The Disney parks are operating near capacity, you can’t fault them for not increasing beyond that capacity, as long as Disney continues operating at capacity (especially while constantly raising prices) what happens at Universal is 100% irrelevant.

For example, say I own a hotel with four 250 room towers and we’re consistently at 95% capacity, if a new hotel opens next door with 250 rooms and they increase from 0 to 240 rooms a night (massive increase) and I stay at 950 rooms a night (flat) while increasing prices 5% they didn’t affect me at all. If they expand and add another 250 room tower and go to 480 rooms a night (massive increase) and I’m still selling 950 rooms a night (flat) while increasing prices another 5% they didn’t affect me at all.

Now say that hotel adds another 250 room tower and also a convention center, they go to 750 rooms a night (massive increase) and I go to 975 rooms a night (tiny increase due to the added benefit of having a convention center next door) while increasing my prices 10%… not only are they not hurting my business but I can benefit from having them next door.

Universal investing billions into Orlando is an added draw to the area, until Disney loses guests they are benefiting from Universal, all without spending a dollar

 

[Tha Realest]

On their latest show @lentesta speculated (bet?) that neither Guardians nor Tron will be open by September 2022. Slow-walking their current projects may make some sense, but also is a bit of waiving the white flag on this fiscal year. It also underscores there's nothing on the immediate horizon, so pushing out something to fall 2022 / spring 2023 makes a bit of sense if nothing else new will come about until 2025 at the earliest.

 

[Cmdr_Crimson]

Unless we get a birthday gift of a surprise during Epcot's 40th anniversary in 2022...That would be nice..

 

[Dan Deesnee]

Only if that 8% increase is coming at the expense of Disney.

If Universal was up a million guests and Disney was down a million guests it would be a disaster, the fact Disney didn't lose guests despite Universals gains actually shows Universal is pulling additional guests (or guests are taking longer vacations) to Orlando, which doesn‘t hurt Disney at all, may even help them in the long run because some of those new visitors are bound to hit Disney too.

The Disney parks are operating near capacity, you can’t fault them for not increasing beyond that capacity, as long as Disney continues operating at capacity (especially while constantly raising prices) what happens at Universal is 100% irrelevant.

For example, say I own a hotel with four 250 room towers and we’re consistently at 95% capacity, if a new hotel opens next door with 250 rooms and they increase from 0 to 240 rooms a night (massive increase) and I stay at 950 rooms a night (flat) while increasing prices 5% they didn’t affect me at all. If they expand and add another 250 room tower and go to 480 rooms a night (massive increase) and I’m still selling 950 rooms a night (flat) while increasing prices another 5% they didn’t affect me at all.

Now say that hotel adds another 250 room tower and also a convention center, they go to 750 rooms a night (massive increase) and I go to 975 rooms a night (tiny increase due to the added benefit of having a convention center next door) while increasing my prices 10%… not only are they not hurting my business but I can benefit from having them next door.

Universal investing billions into Orlando is an added draw to the area, until Disney loses guests they are benefiting from Universal, all without spending a dollar

You make some valid points but also some pure speculation. We don't know what Disney capacities are, therefore we don't know if they were meeting them. You also assume Disney is not losing guests to Universal. Lastly you assume Universals gains were just more people coming to Orlando.

Bottom line, their biggest competitor grew attendance 8% while WDW stayed nearly flat. Even if your assumptions around increased Orlando tourism are true those guests are still then choosing Universal over Disney.

No way to spin those factual attendance numbers in a positive light. WDW is in trouble and I see nothing that would reverse the trend from 2015-2019. Quite the opposite.

 

[denyuntilcaught]

On their latest show @lentesta speculated (bet?) that neither Guardians nor Tron will be open by September 2022. Slow-walking their current projects may make some sense, but also is a bit of waiving the white flag on this fiscal year. It also underscores there's nothing on the immediate horizon, so pushing out something to fall 2022 / spring 2023 makes a bit of sense if nothing else new will come about until 2025 at the earliest.

5-6 years from announcement to opening for two attractions is ludicrous.

 

[Tha Realest]

You make some valid points but also some pure speculation. We don't know what Disney capacities are, therefore we don't know if they were meeting them. You also assume Disney is not losing guests to Universal. Lastly you assume Universals gains were just more people coming to Orlando.

Bottom line, their biggest competitor grew attendance 8% while WDW stayed nearly flat. Even if your assumptions around increased Orlando tourism are true those guests are still then choosing Universal over Disney.

No way to spin those factual attendance numbers in a positive light. WDW is in trouble and I see nothing that would reverse the trend from 2015-2019. Quite the opposite.

Harry Potter yielded a huge boost in attendance. Star Wars land, WDW’s response to Harry Potter, did nothing in terms of attendance (at a time Universal’s rose). What else do they have in the chamber to compete?

 

[Dan Deesnee]

Harry Potter yielded a huge boost in attendance. Star Wars land, WDW’s response to Harry Potter, did nothing in terms of attendance (at a time Universal’s rose). What else do they have in the chamber to compete?

Not much. If their latest attractions are anything to go by Guardians will be a mild disappointment considering the hype around it.

Rise is good but sterile and lacks the immersive effects found in ancient rides like Pirates and screen rides like Ratatouille (smells, heat effects, etc)

Runaway Railway is fun but could have also been so much more, the trackless ride tech is completely wasted.

My brother rode the new Spiderman ride and said it was visually cool, but a complete mess and disaster of an attraction. Also says the avengers stunt show is hard to watch, bad sight lines.

Guess we'll see, but with the creative bankruptcy at the leadership levels I wouldn't hold your breath.

 

[Vegas Disney Fan]

You make some valid points but also some pure speculation. We don't know what Disney capacities are, therefore we don't know if they were meeting them. You also assume Disney is not losing guests to Universal. Lastly you assume Universals gains were just more people coming to Orlando.

Bottom line, their biggest competitor grew attendance 8% while WDW stayed nearly flat. Even if your assumptions around increased Orlando tourism are true those guests are still then choosing Universal over Disney.

No way to spin those factual attendance numbers in a positive light. WDW is in trouble and I see nothing that would reverse the trend from 2015-2019. Quite the opposite.

Theme park attendance for the last several (non Covid) years according to TEA/Aecom…

2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019

MK: 19.3 million, 20.4 million, 20.4 million, 20.45 million, 20.85 million, 20.95 million (up 1.65 million guests)
Epcot: 11.4 million, 11.8 million, 11.7 million, 12.2 million, 12.45 million, 12.45 million (up 1 million guests)
AK: 10.4 million, 10.9 million, 10.8 million, 12.5 million, 13.5 million, 13.9 million (up 3.5 million guests)
HS: 10.3 million. 10.8 million. 10.7 million, 10.7 million, 11.2 million, 11.5 million (up 1.2 million guests)

USF: 8.3 million, 9.5 million, 9.9 million, 10.2 million, 10.7 million, 10.9 million (up 2.6 million guests)
IOA: 8.1 million, 8.8 million, 9.3 million, 9.5 million, 9.8 million,10.4 million (up 2.3 million guests)

By pure attendance numbers Animal Kingdom has experienced more growth than anyone, and while Universals attendance is impressive I doubt anyone at Disney is worried that their "flat" parks are only up 1 million to 1.65 million guests over the last several years, all while prices have been skyrocketing.

Worldwide Disney attendance has gone from 133 million guests in 2015 to 156 million in 2019 (up 23 million guests)
Worldwide Universal attendance has gone from 45 million guests in 2015 to 51 million in 2019 (up 6 million guests)

Disneys stock price has gone from $92 a share in 2016 to $178 today.
Universals stock price has gone from $58 a share in 2016 to $48 today.

I still fail to see how any of this points to a revenue disaster.