The Spirited Seventh Heaven ...

[Next Big Thing]

Universal seems to be doing a Disney move and milking the Walking Dead for all it's got.

HHN helps pay the bills

 

[tamotu99]

Except that if you're a fan of Coke, and they let their quality slip, you'll do what you can to make that opinion known with other like-minded people in the hopes that someone with the company will hear the opinions of so many and take action to get the quality back to where it should be.

If people didn't voice their opinions, we'd still be stuck with "NewCoke".

If we didn't care, we'd simply order a Pepsi and Coke would eventually cease to exist.

Most people in a blind taste test actually preferred "New Coke", but people didn't like the change from what they had always known and grown up with, hmmm now what does that remind me of

 

[truecoat]

Most people in a blind taste test actually preferred "New Coke", but people didn't like the change from what they had always known and grown up with, hmmm now what does that remind me of

Reminds me that there is no correlation linking cola preference to theme park preference.

 

[Gomer]

Most people in a blind taste test actually preferred "New Coke", but people didn't like the change from what they had always known and grown up with, hmmm now what does that remind me of

To expand on that, conspiracy theorists claim that New Coke was actually just a ploy to hide much larger back end infrastructure changes such as the change over to HFCS from sugar and the removal of all coca derivatives at the request of the DEA. In this theory it is believed that coke counted on those loyal to its brand to come back when they inevitably went back to the modified old recipe at much greater profits due to the cheaper ingredients being used.

Now, whether you believe Coca-Cola was doing this intentionally as the conspiracy theory states, or was just making mistakes and bumbling their way into nearly losing their hold on the market is probably dependent on your brand preferences, while the truth probably lies somewhere in the middle. But if we start seeing Max Headroom touting Soarin 2 on national commercials after NGE is completed, we'll know whats up.

 

[StageFrenzy]

Speaking of Max Headroom, sweet Orphan Black action.

 

[NowInc]

I'm really interested in the Crowd dynamics and how the opening of potter land affects Disney crowds for the summer. Our very own polar bear suggested that it was a disaster parking at Universal already… it might be a good time to avoid the entire Conroy and Kirkman area until… Say September.

....or black friday Thats my plan, at least. Uni has the worst bottleneck system (in my opinion, of course) and is incredibly hard to walk around when its even at slightly more than "average" attendance. Forcing people to walk through your outdoor mall in order to get to the parks sure does look good on paper, until you build things that actually bring massive amounts of guests...which is whats happening now.

 

[ScoutN]

Maybe we should just go ahead and rename universal Land of the Dragons?

Already exists in Va

 

[StageFrenzy]

Already exists in Va

Also in Tampa, I'll always remember it best as dwarf village. Maybe keep the name universal, but label it; "There be dragons" on the map.

 

[TarzanRocked99-]

Second week of the month.

That's AICPA, if you come in late that week ( Fri - Sat ) the rate should go down substantially

 

[Cesar R M]

That's the parade... they also have this costumed version, which is without actors legs. Sad how truly apples to apples this comparison is.

I don't really understand Disney's "attempt". Perhaps the "test" was to see how badly they could troll the fan community.

It managed to scare the crap out of me when I was exploring a dead end.

Edit: Sorry, this is USJ! USS only has the raptor in a box that I know of.

that is awesome!

 

[mahnamahna101]

The opening of Potter 2.0 won't effect Disney in any noticeable way in the near future, however it's long term effects could be devastating.

Potter 2 (and the addition of Transformers last year) finally turns Universal Studios into a top tier park - something IMO it has never been - and makes Uni a complete "resort" with two must-do parks for the first time. A visit to Uni sadly now makes WDW look devastatingly out-of-date in comparisson.

The snowball has begun rolling and Disney has proven to be unwilling to put anything in its way. If Uni just makes a 3% reduction in WDW revenue each year for the foreseeable future, the effects will be devestating to the bottom line.

While Potter 2.0 will bring in crowds for Disney initially, you are correct about long-term impact. Comcast also shows no sign of stopping their bold construction. Kong might be completed by July/August of next year, KidZone is supposed to close this fall for a demolition of everything except Animal Actors and E.T. That opens summer 2016. Add the small additions over the next two years, the whole Citywalk remodel, the new waterpark, the 5th hotel, and whatever big 2017 addition is added... Disney's got Pandora and Disney Springs. IMO, that's too little over that amount of time. Star Wars Land, Pixar Place expansion, GMR & Everest refurbs, a Tomorrowland redo, and an overhaul of Epcot should have opened from 2010-2020 along with New Fantasyland and Pandora. A Frozen dark ride should also be fast-tracked in whatever space remains in Fantasyland (perhaps behind B&TB).

The more capacity and guest spending Universal gets, the lower attendance WDW's other 3 gates will receive. Magic Kingdom will always be a top-tier park due to its history and admittedly solid theming. However, by 2021, I see both Universal parks getting as many visitors as Epcot or even more. They could reach 12 million potentially. With 3 theme parks getting 10-13 million in guests and a water park that gets 2-4 million guests a year. You're near Disney's levels... not quite to 47 million but still.

 

[FigmentJedi]

That's the parade... they also have this costumed version, which is without actors legs. Sad how truly apples to apples this comparison is.

I don't really understand Disney's "attempt". Perhaps the "test" was to see how badly they could troll the fan community.

It managed to scare the crap out of me when I was exploring a dead end.

Edit: Sorry, this is USJ! USS only has the raptor in a box that I know of.

And naturally Japan would be the country that does a Raptor suit sans visible legs. After all, Japan is the land of tokusatsu special effects.

 

[Nubs70]

The opening of Potter 2.0 won't effect Disney in any noticeable way in the near future, however it's long term effects could be devastating.

Potter 2 (and the addition of Transformers last year) finally turns Universal Studios into a top tier park - something IMO it has never been - and makes Uni a complete "resort" with two must-do parks for the first time. A visit to Uni sadly now makes WDW look devastatingly out-of-date in comparisson.

The snowball has begun rolling and Disney has proven to be unwilling to put anything in its way. If Uni just makes a 3% reduction in WDW revenue each year for the foreseeable future, the effects will be devestating to the bottom line.

I don't know about the near term impact. I may be only a 5 person single sample, but I am diverting 20% of my upcoming trip to UNI.

 

[wdisney9000]

Most people in a blind taste test actually preferred "New Coke", but people didn't like the change from what they had always known and grown up with, hmmm now what does that remind me of

"Most people" have no idea what they really like. They base their choices off what the masses have decided. I know a girl who swore up and down she could taste the difference between Grey Goose vodka vs ANY other brand. We set up a taste one day. Of the three shots she took, she chose Smirnoff on the first round and Mr Boston on the second. 3rd round was a charm and she finally got it right, but she had taken 9 (small) shots at that point and was quite Spirited. Moral of the story: do blind taste tests of vodka for fun.

 

[danlb_2000]

"Most people" have no idea what they really like. They base their choices off what the masses have decided. I know a girl who swore up and down she could taste the difference between Grey Goose vodka vs ANY other brand. We set up a taste one day. Of the three shots she took, she chose Smirnoff on the first round and Mr Boston on the second. 3rd round was a charm and she finally got it right, but she had taken 9 (small) shots at that point and was quite Spirited. Moral of the story: do blind taste tests of vodka for fun.

So if we were to blindfold a pixie-duster and put them in Universal, they would have a good time?

 

[dadddio]

I don't know about the near term impact. I may be only a 5 person single sample, but I am diverting 20% of my upcoming trip to UNI.

One wonders how many people will divert their entire vacation to Orlando so they can experience the new area and whether this will lead to a bump in WDW attendance.

 

[dadddio]

"Most people" have no idea what they really like. They base their choices off what the masses have decided. I know a girl who swore up and down she could taste the difference between Grey Goose vodka vs ANY other brand. We set up a taste one day. Of the three shots she took, she chose Smirnoff on the first round and Mr Boston on the second. 3rd round was a charm and she finally got it right, but she had taken 9 (small) shots at that point and was quite Spirited. Moral of the story: do blind taste tests of vodka for fun.

I think that your conclusion that because people sometimes cannot choose a preference in a blind taste test that they don't know what they like is not likely. Perhaps a more likely conclusion is that they like more than one option (or that after the first couple shots, their taste buds are wrecked).

 

[wdisney9000]

So if we were to blindfold a pixie-duster and put them in Universal, they would have a good time?

If you gave them nine shots of Mr Boston prior to entering? Sure, they would have a good time just reading a new Kevin Yee article at that point.

 

[PhotoDave219]

"Most people" have no idea what they really like. They base their choices off what the masses have decided. I know a girl who swore up and down she could taste the difference between Grey Goose vodka vs ANY other brand. We set up a taste one day. Of the three shots she took, she chose Smirnoff on the first round and Mr Boston on the second. 3rd round was a charm and she finally got it right, but she had taken 9 (small) shots at that point and was quite Spirited. Moral of the story: do blind taste tests of vodka for fun.

Oh I can tell the difference between Mr Boston and other vodkas. Maybe not walgreens rubbing alcohol but other vodkas yes.

 

[PhotoDave219]

If you gave them nine shots of Mr Boston prior to entering? Sure, they would have a good time just reading a new Kevin Yee article at that point.

Nine shots of Mr Boston and you'll need a new liver.