Originally posted by AndyMagic
It's really hard to say. Disney has more parks to keep track of has to "spread the wealth" throughout them. Also, it is difficult to say because many rides don't have official numbers released. Some people say Disney inflates their numbers to make it seem very important while some say they underestimate. I DO know that Universal spent a ridiculous amount of money on Islands of Adventure compared to Animal Kingdom. However, many rides at Universal usually fall under 100 million. Spider-Man was apparently 85 million dollars, Men in Black was 70 million, and ROTM, it depends who you ask. Some say each ride was about 80-90 million while others say that BOTH Mummy rides at Hollywood and Orlando collectively cost 90 million. So like I said, it is hard to say. One thing that IS clear is that Disney likes to spend money on shows, fireworks, random events as well while Universal typically saves up to build a huge E-Ticket ride every few years. They spend their money differently and it makes sense if you think about. Universal needs those high-tech groundbreaking rides to bring people back. Disney, on the other hand, specializes in "family entertainment" which means MANY other things besides rides. However in my opinion, Disney spends far too much money on certain things and I often ask the question, "Where did it go." Such is the case with M:S and Test Track. Also, I'm pretty sure that Disney often includes R and D (Research and Development) in their announced budget totals while Universal just announces total cost of fabrication. This makes sense because M:S and Test Track both took massive amounts of research to perfect but in terms of the rides themsevles, they certainly don't seem like 200 million dollar rides when Spider-Man was built for around 90 million.
