NYT: "Universal....Takes Aim at Disney"

[Chartley83]

I think it's great there will be more competition down in Orlando. As a child, we used to go to Disney/UNI/SW at least once a year (early 90s-2000) and Disney was always light years ahead of the Universal.

Fast forward 2010 - I took my own children down to Disney for Christmas. I was a little disappointed there were no real significant changes in a decade other than pricing and a few attractions. Although the kids enjoyed it, and we had a blast (enough to go back for Star Wars weekend in 2011, and Christmas 2011). I think we will be spending significantly more time @ other parks. I just don't think there's enough investment going towards new attractions to justify dropping thousands for repeat visits.

Hopefully Disney will step their game up soon and make the parks more exciting again!

 

[WDW1974]

This article is just wishful thinking, Universal will never be considered a close competitior to Disney other than on the internet, this article is amusing, but not factual.


You can knock out both Universal parks in Florida in one day, and thats even during the busiest time of year. You cannot do that at Disney World. Universal is only a minor player with dreams of the big leagues, dreams which will be unrealized, as long as they have that small patch of land their parks sit on.


Jimmy Thick-Disney will always be king.

You are funny.

I will defer to your genius here ... because not only are you so right in your observations/opinions, but I have been told you are a cop who breaks people's noses at WDW. I like my nose just the way it is. So Disney rulz and UNI droolz and all that crap.

I just hope you didn't break a friend's tooth when he was at WDW.

 

[Duckberg]

Competition is a wonderful thing - especially for consumers.

Get BUSY Disney

 

[Jimmy Thick]

While I can appreciate Universal fanboi's and the doom and gloomers constant bashing of the state of Disney World, the fact remains.

Magic Kingdom will out draw both of Universal Orlando's parks combined. Epcot and Disney Studios might as well.

Now if I was in charge of Disney World, and I knew my flagship park was out drawing the so called competition's combined parks, even thought they are within walking distance of each other, no how could I take them seriously as true competition?

Here is the fact, Disney don't, nor should they. Universal Orlando is a niche park, it tends to appeal to teenage boys, which is not a bad thing at all, but Disney World appeals to families, which, of course, is where the money is, and why Disney World will always be the king.

Also, after my visit to both resorts last week, Disney World and Universal, its very, very hard to see what Universal apparently does better than Disney, other than be this radiant experience talked about on the internet. The reality is, both parks are fun, both parks have their strengths and weaknesses, and both parks are clean.

Disney is just a better experience.


Jimmy Thick-Had a hard time seeing this declining by degrees bullwanka...

 

[maxairmike]

Attendance by itself is a horribly pointless metric when comparing Disney and Universal parks, and it really shouldn't be that hard to understand why so I won't bother explaining (again). If all you're doing is comparing the gate numbers, you're doing it wrong and will miss the important metrics every single time. The more meaningful numbers are guest capture rates, attendance% increase/decreases, per capita spending, total vacation costs, and other individual guest/profit numbers. In many of those comparisons, Universal stacks up rather well, if not rising better than Disney has been.

Universal doesn't need to draw 17 million to one of their parks to be an adequate competitor, or even "dethrone" Disney, they just have to outperform in the relative financials.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

.
Disney is just a better experience.


Jimmy Thick-Had a hard time seeing this declining by degrees bullwanka...

If your an 8 year old girl with confidence issues.

 

[maxairmike]

If your an 8 year old girl with confidence issues.

We need a popcorn smile! :lol:

*grabs popcorn to watch the PN/JT throw down*

 

[Buried20KLeague]

If your an 8 year old girl with confidence issues.

Ah, how I have missed you, Sak. :wave:

 

[lazyboy97o]

Now if I was in charge of Disney World, and I knew my flagship park was out drawing the so called competition's combined parks, even thought they are within walking distance of each other, no how could I take them seriously as true competition?

And if I were your boss I would fire you as soon as you said that. This type of arrogance is only dangerous. It is how big companies fall from their place of primacy.

 

[ChrisFL]

Ah, how I have missed you, Sak. :wave:

Agreed!

 

[wdisney9000]

Competition is a wonderful thing - especially for consumers.

You are a wise man, sir. Agreed.

 

[Funmeister]

Di$ney 101

This article is just wishful thinking, Universal will never be considered a close competitior to Disney other than on the internet, this article is amusing, but not factual.


You can knock out both Universal parks in Florida in one day, and thats even during the busiest time of year. You cannot do that at Disney World. Universal is only a minor player with dreams of the big leagues, dreams which will be unrealized, as long as they have that small patch of land their parks sit on.


Jimmy Thick-Disney will always be king.

Wow...I am new to this forum but been in the industry for years. It is interesting that you built Disney up so much that it really shows the impact Universal will have when it opens the second phase of Potter. That single addition will have guests adding an additional night stay to thier Universal vacation. For a two-park resort to take that from a four-park resort in my opinion is pretty impressive.

It is not about land amount or size...it is about the quality of the experience. I'm not going to get into a ing match on matching apples to apples of waht each resort has to offer.

You wrote: "This article is just wishful thinking, Universal will never be considered a close competitior to Disney other than on the internet, this article is amusing, but not factual."

I have sat through countless "mega" meetings (every Tuesday at Maingate for those who know)where not only was Universal a concern as being a valid competitor but so was Splendid China (RIP), television, the internet, Gatorland, etc. etc.... The point is Disney does not look at as whoever has the most parks wins...it looks at EVERYTHING from the view of losing dollars. If you are at home watching tv you are not buying a Dole Whip. If you are visiting Holyland you are not buying a candy apple at the Candy Cauldron at Downtown Disney. Disney is looking to acquirie time which leads to money...not who has the most acerage. Sorry to burst that bubble for you.

I respect your opinion, however the theme park war will not be won or lost based on theme park size or how much land one has. In fact there will never be a true winner unless one goes out of business in which we will all be losers.

Universal is and will continue to make a huge impact on Disney's business...when will it be enough to awake the sleeping giant? Only time will tell...

 

[GLaDOS]

Magic Kingdom will out draw both of Universal Orlando's parks combined. Epcot and Disney Studios might as well.

Magic Kingdom, yes. DHS and EPCOT not even close. DHS wasn't even third at WDW in 2010 or 2011.

2011: Attendance figures:

Magic Kingdom = 17,142,000 (+1%)
EPCOT = 10,825,000 (+/- 0%)
DAK = 9,873,000 (+1%)
DHS = 9,699,000 (+1%)

Islands of Adventure = 7,674,000 (+29%)
Universal Studios Florida = 6,044,000 (+2%)

So Studios+IoA = 13,718,000. So more than DHS and EPCOT. And IoA is growing at an almost fantasy-like rate. 30% in the past 2 years. And once the Studios opens their Potter section, the same will happen.

You can act like Universal is a blip on the radar, but clearly, that isn't the case.

Source: http://www.aecom.com/deployedfiles/...ocuments/120529 Theme Index_low res_FINAL.pdf

 

[Lee]

Wow...I am new to this forum but been in the industry for years. It is interesting that you built Disney up so much that it really shows the impact Universal will have when it opens the second phase of Potter. That single addition will have guests adding an additional night stay to thier Universal vacation. For a two-park resort to take that from a four-park resort in my opinion is pretty impressive.

It is not about land amount or size...it is about the quality of the experience. I'm not going to get into a ing match on matching apples to apples of waht each resort has to offer.

You wrote: "This article is just wishful thinking, Universal will never be considered a close competitior to Disney other than on the internet, this article is amusing, but not factual."

I have sat through countless "mega" meetings (every Tuesday at Maingate for those who know)where not only was Universal a concern as being a valid competitor but so was Splendid China (RIP), television, the internet, Gatorland, etc. etc.... The point is Disney does not look at as whoever has the most parks wins...it looks at EVERYTHING from the view of losing dollars. If you are at home watching tv you are not buying a Dole Whip. If you are visiting Holyland you are not buying a candy apple at the Candy Cauldron at Downtown Disney. Disney is looking to acquirie time which leads to money...not who has the most acerage. Sorry to burst that bubble for you.

I respect your opinion, however the theme park war will not be won or lost based on theme park size or how much land one has. In fact there will never be a true winner unless one goes out of business in which we will all be losers.

Universal is and will continue to make a huge impact on Disney's business...when will it be enough to awake the sleeping giant? Only time will tell...

Quoted for truth.
It isn't about being "Number 1" in size or in turnstile clicks. It's about taking market share and money. Disney sees every dollar and night spent at Uni as a loss.
And it's only going to get worse. Disney is sitting behind its gates, resting on its history and marketing magic, seeing mostly flat attendance (even while giving away free food...).
Uni is seeing large gains while aggressively attacking on all fronts, and plotting even bigger and bolder moves.

Interesting times ahead...

 

[cbconglom]

Quoted for truth.
It isn't about being "Number 1" in size or in turnstile clicks. It's about taking market share and money. Disney sees every dollar and night spent at Uni as a loss.
And it's only going to get worse. Disney is sitting behind its gates, resting on its history and marketing magic, seeing mostly flat attendance (even while giving away free food...).
Uni is seeing large gains while aggressively attacking on all fronts, and plotting even bigger and bolder moves.

Interesting times ahead...

All so true. And it's interesting I have talked to two people recently who never went to Disney or universal before and they couldnt believe someone would like Disney better. I cried blasphemy, but when you don't have the nostalgia of Disney from when you were young I can definitely see younger folk enjoying universal more.

Have you heard anything on when universal might officially give more info on the potter expansion?

 

[Lee]

Have you heard anything on when universal might officially give more info on the potter expansion?

Not a thing. It'll be a big deal, though.

 

[baymenxpac]

Quoted for truth.
It isn't about being "Number 1" in size or in turnstile clicks. It's about taking market share and money. Disney sees every dollar and night spent at Uni as a loss.
And it's only going to get worse. Disney is sitting behind its gates, resting on its history and marketing magic, seeing mostly flat attendance (even while giving away free food...).
Uni is seeing large gains while aggressively attacking on all fronts, and plotting even bigger and bolder moves.

Interesting times ahead...

couldn't agree more. though, disney's thinking is so counter-intuitive. if they do in fact see every dollar spent at uni as a loss, then figure out what those consumers are getting at uni and give it to them on disney property.

it doesn't seem like rocket science. sure you can't do potter, but then find something that appeals to those demos and give them something completely mind-blowing. i just don't get this "oh we're wonderful, uni's attendance boost will help us, too" mindset, when the numbers say the complete opposite. and for whatever reason, it's annoying me more this morning than usual.

 

[Magenta Panther]

Not a thing. It'll be a big deal, though.

I imagine it will be.

I still don't understand why Iger thought Avatar would be any kind of counter to Potter. Potter attracts people of all ages. Avatar primarily appeals to adults. I bet most kids would rather visit Hogwarts than Pandora. And most adults, for that matter. I just don't get it...

 

[flavious27]

Magic Kingdom, yes. DHS and EPCOT not even close. DHS wasn't even third at WDW in 2010 or 2011.

2011: Attendance figures:

Magic Kingdom = 17,142,000 (+1%)
EPCOT = 10,825,000 (+/- 0%)
DAK = 9,873,000 (+1%)
DHS = 9,699,000 (+1%)

Islands of Adventure = 7,674,000 (+29%)
Universal Studios Florida = 6,044,000 (+2%)

So Studios+IoA = 13,718,000. So more than DHS and EPCOT. And IoA is growing at an almost fantasy-like rate. 30% in the past 2 years. And once the Studios opens their Potter section, the same will happen.

You can act like Universal is a blip on the radar, but clearly, that isn't the case.

Source: http://www.aecom.com/deployedfiles/...ocuments/120529 Theme Index_low res_FINAL.pdf

If you read the article, all of universal's us gates pulled in 18 million last year, MK pulled in almost that many.

As for IOA gaining 30% over the previous year, they did but studios had no growth over the previous year. Along with that, IOA's attendance has always bounced in and around 6 million guests. Until we see this year's full figures, we can see if last year was just a backlog of guests or a real trend.

 

[HenryMystic]

I imagine it will be.

I still don't understand why Iger thought Avatar would be any kind of counter to Potter. Potter attracts people of all ages. Avatar primarily appeals to adults. I bet most kids would rather visit Hogwarts than Pandora. And most adults, for that matter. I just don't get it...

Kneejerk reaction. Star Wars was staring him right in the face.