Spirited News, Observations & Thoughts Tres

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englanddg

One Little Spark...
No doubt Disney would overcharge for air at the moon park, though at least in-park merch sales would go up.
Brilliant, Mr. Iger, just brilliant!


perriair.jpg
 

Pixiedustmaker

Well-Known Member
Will the upcoming work at Uni be enough to steal more "Disney days"? Alternatively, has WWOHP run its course and the Uni additions are needed simply to maintain gains? Will the upcoming rumored WDW changes be enough to bring more guests back?

Remember, there is no right or wrong answer, just speculation.

Great question.

These are the facts:

1. Uni has millions more guests due to Potterland. (Forget the exact number).
2. WDW's growth is about 1% a year, maybe this year 2% due to improving economy and *some* interest in NFL.
3. In absolute numbers, millions more are coming to Orlando (if we assume the uptick in Uni's business isn't folks who would visit just downtown Orlando/Gatorland).

Uni's Potterland drove tourists to Orlando . . . without Potterland, there is no reason to assume that these guests would fly to Orlando, drive up from Miami, however, and go to Disney instead. I am guessing that without Potterland, WDW's attendance would chug along at 1% a year, just due to the recovering economy.

Length of Stay. I would figure these are the facts:

1. Quite possibly Disney makes more off of two families of four stay for *2* days, versus one family of four staying for *4* days, if only because as you add more days to the park hopper, the cheaper it gets. And possibly one family with a budget for merchandise might spread out their spending over four days, while a family stay just two days might spend all of their "disney dollars" in those two days. Of course, the two day family might save up their money for something at Potterland over Disney, so it probably comes down to tickets.

2-Day Park Hopper = $92 per day, for two families of four for 2 days (16 guest days) = $1,472
4-Day Park Hopper = $69.75 per day, for one family of four for 4 days (16 guest days) = $1,116

That means an extra $356 for Disney, even though the same number of park admissions occurred. Will a family of four staying for 4 days spend $356 more in merch than two families of four staying for 2 days? I kinda doubt it. Remember, it is the same number of meals needed in both cases.

Sure, if a family uses the park hopper to stay extra day, if they were planning on going home that day, then Disney gets more money via the tickets, and food. But Disney *may* make more money if the they have the same number of guests who don't stay as long as they used to, but come at a higher frequency.

So, to compensate for guests not staying as long on property, Disney needs more families coming to make up, and can actually do quite well with a quick turn around model.

I personally think that Potterland 2.0 will mean less guest days at WDW, though I wouldn't be surprised if WDW is flush with families who want to spend a couple days to "do Disney" after seeing Potterland 2.0. Though if it comes down to just one day to "do Disney", then I think you'll see attendance dip a little bit, though with the recovering economy that trend might be masked.
 

Pixiedustmaker

Well-Known Member
That sad thing is they'll still be selling the same merch from Earth!

I heard its going to be exclusive lunar merch, like special StarWars stuff and lunar mugs you can only get up there. Nobody's going to pay $15 million to go to a lunar park to get merch you can get on earth. The rumor is that they're going to have a special 2020 "Dark Side of the Moon" party where the park stays open for a full lunar day, to celebrate Monsters 5: the Preschool years.

I got confirmation from a bus driver and a CM.
 

GoofGoof

Premium Member
Uni's Potterland drove tourists to Orlando . . . without Potterland, there is no reason to assume that these guests would fly to Orlando, drive up from Miami, however, and go to Disney instead. I am guessing that without Potterland, WDW's attendance would chug along at 1% a year, just due to the recovering economy.

This I agree with. Orlando tourism in general over the last few years has been driven by 2 forces. People coming to see Potter and increased international visitors. Without them WDW would have probably been flat or down. The economy picking up is probably another factor. The real interesting statistic to know would be how many extra days did Disney gain due to visitors coming to Orlando for Potter vs how many they have lost from WDW vacationers spending a day or 2 at Universal. My guess is the number would be a net loss, but the Potter gains do mitigate some of the losses.
 

Rodan75

Well-Known Member
True, and of course we have a lot of dark rides that use the same basic Omnimover system.

I still have difficultly fully believing however that they would clone it exactly and re-use such a troublesome ride system when it is notorious for going off-line in rainy weather.

For a flagship new attraction at the Ex-DHS, i have a hard time seeing how a exact clone would work with the Florida weather patterns.

Plus it isn't as if TT is an efficient ride to start with. Horrible ride capacity and lightning shut downs, I'm surprised they reused the system for RSR.
 

lazyboy97o

Well-Known Member
Plus it isn't as if TT is an efficient ride to start with. Horrible ride capacity and lightning shut downs, I'm surprised they reused the system for RSR.
California has better weather and I'd bet the Japanese paid to have the system's kinks ironed out.
 

Pixiedustmaker

Well-Known Member
This I agree with. Orlando tourism in general over the last few years has been driven by 2 forces. People coming to see Potter and increased international visitors. Without them WDW would have probably been flat or down. The economy picking up is probably another factor. The real interesting statistic to know would be how many extra days did Disney gain due to visitors coming to Orlando for Potter vs how many they have lost from WDW vacationers spending a day or 2 at Universal. My guess is the number would be a net loss, but the Potter gains do mitigate some of the losses.

Island of Adventure 5.30 million (2008), now 7.98 million (+50%)
DHS, AK, Epcot, MK 47.16 million (2008), now 48.51 million (+2.8%)
Universal Studios Floria 6.231 million (2008), now 6.195 million (-0.5%)

You can see why Uni is putting Potter is USF . . . they've had cannibalization. Fascinating, quite possibly Potterland guests, who might have gone to USF on day #2, went with Disney, or a smattering of the other parks. Interestingly, it well mean that Uni will only really take away from Disney when USF gets its Potterland (which looks amazing!). Then USF will be seen as a viable option over Disney parks, above and beyond its baseline patronage.

The recession really whacked WDW in terms of growth. In 2012, the top 20 parks grew by about 5%, amusement parks in America were up about 3.6%.

http://www.aecom.com/What We Do/Economics/_news/TEA and AECOM publish global theme park and museum attendance numbers for 2012

WDW's 2.2% doesn't look great next to 3.6% on average for North American parks, but DCA's massive increase, helped inflate that number a bit.

A lot of theme park attendance is familiarity and patterns. Look at how USF was cannibalized by IOA . . . really interesting, suggests that the visitors to Potterland since it opened are more likely to be people who would have considered going to USF in the past. I think Potterland 2.0 will get rave review, USF attendance up perhaps 1.5 million on top of IOA . . . WDW could well be hurt, but I'm prepared to be wrong.
 

flynnibus

Premium Member
The question I'm most interested in hearing opinions on is: Can Uni steal more days from WDW?

IMO - I think it's even bigger than that. Once you break the 'we ONLY do Disney' mentality.. the door is open for the other parks too. So maybe you only do 2 days at UNI.. but now that you are on the 'outside' of the Mouse's trap.. you might consider Discovery Cove, etc.

Disney built up their walls with the bus service... UNI's continued success could be the leak.. that leads to a full on break in the levee.
 

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
The question I'm most interested in hearing opinions on is: Can Uni steal more days from WDW?

Prior to 2010, WDW could count on guests spending most of their time (and money) within the World. Since then, a growing number have started making the drive up I-4. It seems Uni has peeled off a day or two from what used to be "WDW only" vacations. (Other opinions? Has Uni taken more? Less?)

What's going to happen? Will the upcoming work at Uni be enough to steal more "Disney days"? Alternatively, has WWOHP run its course and the Uni additions are needed simply to maintain gains? Will the upcoming rumored WDW changes be enough to bring more guests back?

Remember, there is no right or wrong answer, just speculation.
Just from personal experience, based on my family, yes it will continue to peel off a day or two from WDW only vacations. Myself and my two daughters and families are presently talking about a short, but busy trip to Universal ONLY. That has never happened in our family before. All are lovers of Disney, but, can sense the excitement that Uni has brought to the area. I went there myself last January and I could feel the excitement in both Uni Studios and IOA. It was palpable. Compared to Uni, Disney felt non stimulating and terribly unsatisfying (Boring). The attitude is changing a lot faster then anyone thinks. One of my daughters, always a fan of Disney said, just today. "I'm tired of seeing the same thing over and over. They don't have to completely replace attractions but they need to freshen them with new shows, new films and new story lines. I used to get all excited about visiting WDW, now, meh!"

So for the first time ever we are planning a trip to Central Florida without any visit to WDW. I wouldn't have believed it possible just two years ago.
 

danlb_2000

Premium Member
IMO - I think it's even bigger than that. Once you break the 'we ONLY do Disney' mentality.. the door is open for the other parks too. So maybe you only do 2 days at UNI.. but now that you are on the 'outside' of the Mouse's trap.. you might consider Discovery Cove, etc.

Disney built up their walls with the bus service... UNI's continued success could be the leak.. that leads to a full on break in the levee.

I think this is one of the major successes of WWoHP. It got people into Uni who had never been there before and showed them that these parks are actually worth visiting even beyond Harry Potter.
 

Tim_4

Well-Known Member
IMO - I think it's even bigger than that. Once you break the 'we ONLY do Disney' mentality.. the door is open for the other parks too. So maybe you only do 2 days at UNI.. but now that you are on the 'outside' of the Mouse's trap.. you might consider Discovery Cove, etc.

Disney built up their walls with the bus service... UNI's continued success could be the leak.. that leads to a full on break in the levee.
I know we disagree quite often but you understand the Orlando Game of Thrones better than most here. Disney's #1 goal is to prevent you from renting a car. That's the name of the game. Potter's function was to crack that armor. Once people understand that, the business sense of NextGen starts to make sense. You still might hate it, but the logic is there.
 
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