TEA Attendance Report Now due June 3rd

[JordanNite]

Like I said, take a walk through the kids clothing/bath aisles at retail - walk through the toy sections at Toys R Us. If kids didn't love Nintendo, there products woudln't be there. And even in the video game section - look at how much is devoted to Nintendo 3DS, Wii U, and the still huge Wii sections (those 90M consoles they sold didn't just vanish). Compare that to XBOX/PS sections.

I realize from a "Game Informer" view point Nintendo is considered antiquated, but that's because that portion of the game industry is just focused on an increasingly narrow segment of older teen to mid-30's adult males. Kids are not the audience for those consoles or games. Nintendo has never left the lives of children, it's just that some folks have grown up and don't realize it.

Utter nonsense. I have little kids in my family and regularly go around Toy shops, as well as ToysRus, i've never actually seen anything Mario on a scale that would catch my attention.

Furthermore, if as you say Nintendo characters are no longer relevant, but rather for a past generation - then isn't that short termism?

 

[Donald Razorduck]

They reconcile it with double digit revenue growth.

 

[BJones82]

have you heard about a little thing called a Nintendo DS/3DS/2DS? Handheld dedicated consoles that somehow STILL sell in this smart phone/tablet age. Just the 3DS alone has sold well over 50M units in the past few years.

... Really??!? I didn't?!? omg!!! tell me more!!

you do realize Orlando is an international destination right?

.... Really??!? I didn't?!? omg!!! tell me more!!

 

[SJN1279]

That's the daftest statement I have ever heard.
They the park attendance has doubled in 15 years, and added 42% since Potter first opened. No effect?

.

No effect on Disney attendance is what I meant. Disney is still kicking Universal's butt. All Uni fanboys can say is that in 5 years, Uni may pass DHS and DAK in some way. I believe they said that in 2010 as well.

 

[BaconPancakes]

Utter nonsense. I have little kids in my family and regularly go around Toy shops, as well as ToysRus, i've never actually seen anything Mario on a scale that would catch my attention.

This delusion right now. I have a 4 year old niece who knows Mario and nobody in her family owns any Nintendo products. Try again...

 

[Figment2005]

To summarise - there will be no annoucment of a Star Wars land this year (or any other attraction for that matter).

What's odd, some people are actually happy with this.

Source? Or are you just causing trouble like usual?

 

[BaconPancakes]

All Uni fanboys can say is that in 5 years, things may be different. I believe they said that in 2010 as well.

Meanwhile the pixie dusters were claiming that the Yeti would be fixed in the next 5 years back in 2010...

 

[AEfx]

Even more important is that I bet the vast majority of adults in America know who Mario is, even if they haven't played the games. Even if Nintendo is trailing Sony and Microsoft, their IP's still have a huge amount recognition.

And the only place they are trailing is home consoles, and even there - it's really only Sony. Sony has sold about 22M PS4's. Nintendo has "shipped" about 9.5M Wii U's, and XBOX ONE has shipped about 10M (and FWIW, I own an XBOX One as well as a Wii U). MS is extremely cagey and won't release better numbers, which makes me think that the Wii U and XBOX One are even closer than we think.

When you look at handheld consoles, Nintendo obviously kicks everyone's behind (PS Vita - under 4M sold, 3DS - 52M, plus another 3M for 2DS). So you've got more than twice as many homes with 3DS units than PS4 units even, if you compare handheld to console.

Nintendo is the kids video game brand, hands down. The numbers are really clear. And as you point out, even the adults who may be more FPS fans still have a nostalgic love for Nintendo. That's why it's such a coup that Universal has them, because in many ways the Nintendo audience is the Disney audience - kids, and nostalgic adults. When you add in they are the most merchandised characters that aren't under the Disney umbrella already, this has potential to be huge.

 

[gmajew]

I thought the drops in the museum traffics were surprising as well in this report. Huge drops in people going to these exhibits.

 

[s8film40]

We have gone to both Disneyland and DisneyWorld from Arkansas. Carsland justified the Disneyland trip. Many I know have done similar. Like I said, differentiation is the key.

What about the money left on the table from families that never go to Florida. What if it was cheaper for tens of millions to go Texas that would never venture to Florida. Out of my Son's class of 20(4th grade) 6 have been to DisneyWorld/Disneyland. But I bet with driving more of an option from here to the Houston area more would go. Nearly all those kids have been to Six Flags Arlington, what's three more hours to DISNEY. That 1,000 bucks for airfare to Orlando just paid for gas, room and tickets in Texas.

Another added benefit is the potential of a park between Houston and San Antonio is the close to a port aspect like Canaveral.

I agree there is a desire to build a park in that area, and in fact there is another company working on a park in the Houston area now. The problem I see for Disney is that even when factoring in travel expenses any shift of a vacation from WDW to a new smaller resort represents not just shifting revenue but dropping it significantly. WDW is designed to bring in revenue, it has four parks to keep people engaged for around a week, during this time it brings in extra revenue through water parks, hotels, restaurant, shopping, DTD, and much more. Any revenue from a smaller regional park is great but if there's any possibility of it affecting the revenue generating machine that is WDW like I said I wouldn't expect them to even consider it until they have just given up on WDW.

 

[hokielutz]

Both will surpass DCA by 2017 if that counts for something

Once the water park, a few more hotels and the 3rd gate open, I'm pretty sure Universal will start to take some attendance away from WDW. Universal's problem is that 2 days is all you really need to experience the entire resort now. They need to make it, so that it takes 3-5 days to truly experience all Universal has to offer.

Hold on a sec.... what 3rd gate???

Where on Google Earth do they have the property or the space to shoehorn in a new Theme park beyond the Water park and new resort?

 

[doctornick]

If Disney were to look at Texas, I would think they would be more included to build a resort (hotel) in Galveston -- like a new DVC -- and add DCL itineraries out of the area so they can be packed together.

 

[AEfx]

Utter nonsense. I have little kids in my family and regularly go around Toy shops, as well as ToysRus, i've never actually seen anything Mario on a scale that would catch my attention.

I'm not sure where you are looking, because I see it constantly. I actually write about the toy industry, tie-in merchandising in particular - I'm not making this up. There are several sizes of Mario action figures (again, not amiibo - actual toys), build-a-playsets, Mario Kart race sets, stuffed animals, etc. The only other franchise of note in the "video game toy" aisle is Minecraft (foam bats, "lego" like sets, etc). Nintendo product is 2/3 of the section on TRU plannagrams. And of course all the clothing/home products in other retail stores for kids - Mario is the only video game brand, it's sold right next to Batman/Marvel.

Furthermore, if as you say Nintendo characters are no longer relevant, but rather for a past generation - then isn't that short termism?

I'm sorry you misunderstood, I did not say they were no longer relevant. Please see my last post regarding sales of Nintendo product. The point is, kids today know them and are playing their games, PLUS they have a nostalgic pull to parents. That's the key - kids still know and love them, and the parents with the wallets have fond memories.

 

[ChrisFL]

I think it's funny how people defend IOA with no increase, when universal had a 17% increase. How does that not trickle over even a little? I'm sorry but Uni needs to step up the creativity to keep me coming back. The majority of their rides are simulators or large screen based attractions ( which when disney was doing screens, the folks on here were in an uproar, but now Uni does it and it doesn't matter cause everyone excuses it so they can say look how much faster Uni is growing ). Spider-Man, transformers, gringotts, and now kong. Even fast and furious at Hollywood looks like more of the same and I'm sure they'll clone that here also.

Not to veer too far off topic, but one reason why people didn't like Disney having screen based attractions is because of their long and rich history with realistic animatronics. Universal doesn't have that kind of history. I can see advantages and disadvantages of both.

Also, I think we're starting to see leaps and bounds of improvement in screen technology so people aren't as bothered by it.... possibly.

 

[PhotoDave219]

This is not a report published by the company and signed off on by the CFO, you realize that, right?

No but both Universal and Disney are global partners with TEA.

 

[AEfx]

No effect on Disney attendance is what I meant. Disney is still kicking Universal's butt. All Uni fanboys can say is that in 5 years, Uni may pass DHS and DAK in some way. I believe they said that in 2010 as well.

That's just it...they didn't.

Well, Uni fanboys maybe - but they weren't here.

If even in 2010 someone had said here that the numbers would ever be this close, they would have been told to "go to some Universal board" or we would have called them off to the funny farm for being so crazy.

The astounding thing is how quickly they have caught up. I don't think you'll find many "Uni fanboys" here - just folks that have slowly realized that Universal is doing what Disney-Don't. And it's working.

That they are even this close is absolutely astounding.

 

[SJN1279]

Not to veer too far off topic, but one reason why people didn't like Disney having screen based attractions is because of their long and rich history with realistic animatronics. Universal doesn't have that kind of history. I can see advantages and disadvantages of both.

Also, I think we're starting to see leaps and bounds of improvement in screen technology so people aren't as bothered by it.... possibly.

Universal is way too reliant on screens. All their attactions since The Mummy have been heavily screen based. Also the fact that F

Meanwhile the pixie dusters were claiming that the Yeti would be fixed in the next 5 years back in 2010...

Exactly. I agree that Everest needs some love, and Universal needs a new attraction that isn't primarily screen/3D based. The fact that Forbidden Journey is going 3D is a bit disheartening. 3D is good when used sparingly, and not on virtually every new attraction you debut.

 

[PhotoDave219]

Well it looks as if i was wrong. At least it was in the 2% range instead of the 1%

Yes and no.

Indeed, You were dead on about Frozen having a significant bump at DHS and higher crowds July-Dec 2014. That time period was way higher than the same time in 2013. That just couldn't completely overcome the awful first half of 2014.

 

[marni1971]

No effect on Disney attendance is what I meant. Disney is still kicking Universal's butt. All Uni fanboys can say is that in 5 years, Uni may pass DHS and DAK in some way. I believe they said that in 2010 as well.

Just like you claimed Gringotts wouldn't feature Harry Potter.

Oh dear.

 

[BJones82]

I'm not sure where you are looking, because I see it constantly. I actually write about the toy industry, tie-in merchandising in particular - I'm not making this up. There are several sizes of Mario action figures (again, not amiibo - actual toys), build-a-playsets, Mario Kart race sets, stuffed animals, etc. The only other franchise of note in the "video game toy" aisle is Minecraft (foam bats, "lego" like sets, etc). Nintendo product is 2/3 of the section on TRU plannagrams. And of course all the clothing/home products in other retail stores for kids - Mario is the only video game brand, it's sold right next to Batman/Marvel.



I'm sorry you misunderstood, I did not say they were no longer relevant. Please see my last post regarding sales of Nintendo product. The point is, kids today know them and are playing their games, PLUS they have a nostalgic pull to parents. That's the key - kids still know and love them, and the parents with the wallets have fond memories.

Hey I just wanna do a first for these forums and say you are right lol, Nintendo is still very relevant and I was getting defensive which is what people do lol... My original arguments were meant to more say yes Nintendo is great but if Disney does things right Marvel and Star Wars will be better... As I keep saying I am extremely excited for Nintendo in USF as I grew up with it and love playing their games on my 3DS as does my Fiancée on hers. We own the Wii, Xbox One, and PS3 (hoping for a PS4 soonish lol...)

So again, I am sorry I took it down the road of an argument and I agree Nintendo is relevant though I still think Star Wars and Marvel will be bigger if... and that's a big if Disney does it right....

Yay for Forum firsts lol!!!