Only a year and a half away from Harry Potter Land and still nothing from Disney!

[djkidkaz]

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter will come to Islands of Adventure in late 2009.

The only new attractions to fight off the Wizarding World of Harry Potter Land at Universal are going to be Toy Story Mania and American Idol Experience? :shrug:

Toy Story Mania is great, but not something that is going to stop people from traveling to Harry Potter Land. American Idol is a love/hate relationship for most of America, so that attraction isn't going to be enough either.

Is Disney assuming that there isn't a need to put up a fight against this and that it won't be as popular as we seem to think?

I mean, they haven't even announced anything regarding future plans, nor are they building anything attraction wise to combat it. What gives?!

Even a full rehab to a classic like Space Mountain isn't going to stop people from traveling off of Disney property to go see Harry Potter Land.

 

[SeanC]

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter will come to Islands of Adventure in late 2009.

The only new attractions to fight off the Wizarding World of Harry Potter Land at Universal are going to be Toy Story Mania and American Idol Experience? :shrug:

Toy Story Mania is great, but not something that is going to stop people from traveling to Harry Potter Land. American Idol is a love/hate relationship for most of America, so that attraction isn't going to be enough either.

Is Disney assuming that there isn't a need to put up a fight against this and that it won't be as popular as we seem to think?

I mean, they haven't even announced anything regarding future plans, nor are they building anything attraction wise to combat it. What gives?!

Even a full rehab to a classic like Space Mountain isn't going to stop people from traveling off of Disney property to go see Harry Potter Land.

Nothing Disney does will stop those who want to see The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter. Either people really want to see it or they don't. There really aren't "casual" Harry Potter fans. Most people either love it and won't miss the attraction if they are in Orlando, or don't give a darn and therefore could take it or leave it. Harry Potter fans aren't going to be lured away from going to Universal by the addition of something else at Disney. Just my opinion anyway.

 

[natalia1681]

I have to agree with SeanC. Harry fans aren't going to miss Harry Land no matter is going on at Disney

 

[Fade_to_Blah]

People are going to see Harry Potter no matter what Disney does. Im sure they have noticed......and ill just say just because Disney hasnt announced anything doesnt mean nothing is going on

 

[RiversideBunny]

All muggles know that the real magic is at Walt Disney World.

 

[k.hunter30]

I have to agree with SeanC. Harry fans aren't going to miss Harry Land no matter is going on at Disney

Exactly.

I see this as being a HUGE draw for them. HP is huge among youngsters and adults across the globe. I think IoA will see many more international visitors than in years past.

 

[octoberbarry]

If I were a marketing manager for Disney, my advice to them would be to just lay low until Harry Potter is almost here. Making some big announcement right now would just look like, and obviously be competition. It will be hard to steal the fire from something as major as a Harry Potter exhibit in this day and age, when it is such a phenomenon with kids. But if Disney makes some big announcement just before Potter opens - and I would guess they will, strictly opinion, nothing known here - that would be the right time to shift focus away from Potter-mania. Any sooner and it will just get drowned in the build-up.

All IMHO...

 

[hokielutz]

Why do I get the feeling that the Dark Lord put an Imperius Curse on the op so they would flame this message board? :ROFLOL:

 

[WildLodgeFan]

If I were a marketing manager for Disney, my advice to them would be to just lay low until Harry Potter is almost here. Making some big announcement right now would just look like, and obviously be competition. It will be hard to steal the fire from something as major as a Harry Potter exhibit in this day and age, when it is such a phenomenon with kids. But if Disney makes some big announcement just before Potter opens - and I would guess they will, strictly opinion, nothing known here - that would be the right time to shift focus away from Potter-mania. Any sooner and it will just get drowned in the build-up.

All IMHO...

As a marketing professional, this would indeed be the path that I would take.

 

[RiversideBunny]

No one has yet seen what Universal will do with the Harry Potter idea.

It could come out good; it could be a boring flop worthy of only 30 minutes' attention.

:king:

 

[hokielutz]

If I were a marketing manager for Disney, my advice to them would be to just lay low until Harry Potter is almost here. Making some big announcement right now would just look like, and obviously be competition. It will be hard to steal the fire from something as major as a Harry Potter exhibit in this day and age, when it is such a phenomenon with kids. But if Disney makes some big announcement just before Potter opens - and I would guess they will, strictly opinion, nothing known here - that would be the right time to shift focus away from Potter-mania. Any sooner and it will just get drowned in the build-up.

All IMHO...

Disney's MO in recent history is not to try and out-do the competition. Just keep doing what they are best at because WDW is king in Central Orlando. Other parks have to try and make big marketing splashes so they can pull in additional park visitors. Univ Orlando expanded with IOA and a resort to directly compete with the park design of Disney. But the last several years have seen Univ/IOA attendance decrease each year, while WDW has shown steady to Significant growth at each of its parks.

So, Potter-world is the next "big splash" campaign from the neighboring parks. It will indeed cause an increase in turnstiles spun at Univ. Some will take a day or two out of their Disney vacation to visit Potter. And if I happen to be on vacation at that time in Disney.... then I will relish some slightly shorter queues. But the devil is in the details... from what I have seen... 2 of the existing roller coasters are being rethemed for Potter. Not what I would call an outstanding start...

 

[Brwneyedgirl72]

Another thread about US and IOA?????? Why is it such a big deal if people leave Disney to visit Harry Potter's World at Universal? I don't think that Disney is in too much danger from suffering terribly once it is open. I am a HUGE Disney fan - but also a big Harry Potter fan as well. Will I go to Universal when it opens - heck yeah! Will I stop going to Disney - no way in "heck" :fork:. I am an AP holder and will always go to Disney. Just because I spend a day away from the park when I go to Orlando doesn't mean that Disney isn't my park of choice. Seriously - people need to lighten up about this a little!!

 

[Legacy]

No one has yet seen what Universal will do with the Harry Potter idea.

It could come out good; it could be a boring flop worthy of only 30 minutes' attention.

:king:

I'm fairly certain the new Robocoaster attraction itself will warrant more than 30 minutes.

Rowling gave the rights to Universal and not Disney. She wouldn't have given them away if Universal Creative didn't know what they were doing with it.

 

[jonnyc]

... from what I have seen... 2 of the existing roller coasters are being rethemed for Potter. Not what I would call an outstanding start...

Please elabourate as i am pretty behind on most things to do with Harry Potter land..

 

[Brian Noble]

Harry fans aren't going to miss Harry Land no matter is going on at Disney

Precisely. My wife, ordinarily a total Disney geek, told me in no uncertain terms that our 2/10 florida trip would be to Universal. She didn't ask. She didn't suggest. She said.

Normally, I can't get three words out of her about what she wants to do on our trips.

 

[Legacy]

Please elabourate as i am pretty behind on most things to do with Harry Potter land..

Dueling Dragons is being rethemed to the Triwizard Cup Tournament and the Flying Unicorn is being rethemed to Hagrid's Hyppogryph (sp).

But (it's funny how Disney fans are ignoring this aspect of it) Universal is also building a fully explorable recreation of Hoggwarts Castle and a new "E Ticket" attraction utilizing Kuka Robocoaster technology (the stuff Disney wanted for an Incredibles attraction) rumored to be themed off of the flying car from Chamber of Secrets. Also, a recent article posted on Themeparkinsider had a Universal chef discussing some of the things they were developing for the new resturaunts... to include Butterbeer.

Furthermore, they have the set designers from the movies working with the parks to ensure consistancy between the film and the new attractions.

And one more person calls the Wizarding World of Harry Potter "PotterLand" or "PotterWorld" I'm going to virtually shoot them before calling Frontierland, "Cowboy Town" and the World Showcase "Snooze-ville."

 

[hokielutz]

And one more person calls the Wizarding World of Harry Potter "PotterLand" or "PotterWorld" I'm going to virtually shoot them before calling Frontierland, "Cowboy Town" and the World Showcase "Snooze-ville."

What type of bulls-eye should I wear for this event?? :lol:

 

[Just Plain Mark]

I don't think that Disney will be able to prevent people from visiting IOA and US, but I do think they can influence how many days people will spend at both resorts (US and Disney). I don't really get the philosophy of "they're going there anyway so we aren't losing anything."

Wouldn't it be a better business model to try and: 1) get the people who are currently planning on only visiting IOA and US to change their minds and add a couple of days at Disney and 2) try and limit the days that Disney guests spend checking out the Wizarding World?

What's especially interesting is how much cheaper, at least currently, Uni park tickets are than Disney. With gas prices sky high and the economy, people might decide to make 2009/2010 a one resort vacation.

 

[jtwyatt]

Disney's MO in recent history is not to try and out-do the competition. Just keep doing what they are best at because WDW is king in Central Orlando. Other parks have to try and make big marketing splashes so they can pull in additional park visitors. Univ Orlando expanded with IOA and a resort to directly compete with the park design of Disney. But the last several years have seen Univ/IOA attendance decrease each year, while WDW has shown steady to Significant growth at each of its parks.

So, Potter-world is the next "big splash" campaign from the neighboring parks. It will indeed cause an increase in turnstiles spun at Univ. Some will take a day or two out of their Disney vacation to visit Potter. And if I happen to be on vacation at that time in Disney.... then I will relish some slightly shorter queues. But the devil is in the details... from what I have seen... 2 of the existing roller coasters are being rethemed for Potter. Not what I would call an outstanding start...

I agree, when you are a market leader...your mentality must be that you set the benchmarks...not react to others attempts at reaching your own benchmarks.

 

[k.hunter30]

Also, a recent article posted on Themeparkinsider had a Universal chef discussing some of the things they were developing for the new resturaunts... to include Butterbeer.

Ooo! Cool! :slurp: