The Universal Rumors thread

case88

case88

Active Member
HTF said:
No exact dates at the moment but here what I expect to close down from mid January through late May in preparation for the mass crowds descending in for Diagon in June 2014. Again these are not confirmed and no park will close two rides simultaneously. These closures will be spread out.

Disaster-This may be the biggest and longest refurb as a new RV, station, control system, ADA Access have been rumored by me for over a year now.

Dudley-Annual Refurb

Popeye and Bluto-Annual Refurb

JPRA-Annual Refurb

Beetlejuice Show-Closing for new show to premiere in 2014

Poseidon's Fury-Annual Refurb

Ice Dragon-Annual Refurb

Simpsons Ride-Closing to install new ride projectors

I suspect there will be several others doing refurbs to get these parks cleaned up and in top show condition as the worlds eye turns towards them.
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Thanks HTF!!!!
 
SJN1279

SJN1279

Well-Known Member
Taking my infant son to Orlando next year, and sad to see that he can only ride Cat in the Hat, One Fish, and the new Simpsons spinner in the entire resort. Until Universal creative realizes that all their rides don't need to spin or get you wet, Disney has nothing to worry about.
 
GLaDOS

GLaDOS

Well-Known Member
SJN1279 said:
Taking my infant son to Orlando next year, and sad to see that he can only ride Cat in the Hat, One Fish, and the new Simpsons spinner in the entire resort. Until Universal creative realizes that all their rides don't need to spin or get you wet, Disney has nothing to worry about.
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Yup, because every family going to Orlando has infants.

Oh wait.

The two resorts go for different audiences. One goes for families with kids under 8, the other for kids over that age. Nothing wrong with that at all.
 
SJN1279

SJN1279

Well-Known Member
GLaDOS said:
Yup, because every family going to Orlando has infants.

Oh wait.

The two resorts go for different audiences. One goes for families with kids under 8, the other for kids over that age. Nothing wrong with that at all.
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And the Magic Kingdom drew over 17 million guests last year, while Islands of Adventure drew over 9 million. If Universal wants to close the gap they need to take a page out of the Magic Kingdom's book and add some rides that the entire family can enjoy together. I would bet that if the Lorax ride does get built, spinning will be a big part of the attraction(and therefore the entire family will not be able to ride together).
 
GLaDOS

GLaDOS

Well-Known Member
SJN1279 said:
And the Magic Kingdom drew over 17 million guests last year, while Islands of Adventure drew over 9 million. If Universal wants to close the gap they need to take a page out of the Magic Kingdom's book and add some rides that the entire family can enjoy together. I would bet that if the Lorax ride does get built, spinning will be a big part of the attraction(and therefore the entire family will not be able to ride together).
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They don't want, and physically cannot, close that gap much more. The park just physically can't hold as many people as the MK. Universal is going after guest spending much more than increased attendance.
 
HTF

HTF

Well-Known Member
Neither Universal park will really affect MK in anyway. As mentioned both Universal parks are going after a different age group/market. What intrigues me is the damage these parks "could" do to MGM, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom over the next 3-5 years. It was just 5 years ago each Uni park was pulling less than 5 million visitors per year and not even in Disney's rear view mirror. Now that Potter has proved the critics on this and several other Disney focused sites wrong about being a one trick pony or being a fad. It's nearly time to pull back the curtain on their biggest expansion ever featuring the very character whose already changed the game once. And that's when it's going to get interesting. There is going to numerous new money making elements in this expansion. Stuff I've seen personally that I truly believe will easily set not only attendance records but guest spending records as well. With that being said I think we see a small dip in attendance at IOA but also a dip at one or two of the Disney parks. Once the site goes live in January your really going to see your "average" tourists begin to wonder where which resort can stretch their dollar further and offer them more. And with CBR opening soon at a great price point young families just getting started may just visit the MK while staying on site at Universal. Regardless of where you stand as a fan one things for sure the next 12-18 months are going to be very interesting.
 
S

Skunk

Member
HTF said:
Neither Universal park will really affect MK in anyway. As mentioned both Universal parks are going after a different age group/market. What intrigues me is the damage these parks "could" do to MGM, Epcot, and Animal Kingdom over the next 3-5 years. It was just 5 years ago each Uni park was pulling less than 5 million visitors per year and not even in Disney's rear view mirror. Now that Potter has proved the critics on this and several other Disney focused sites wrong about being a one trick pony or being a fad. It's nearly time to pull back the curtain on their biggest expansion ever featuring the very character whose already changed the game once. And that's when it's going to get interesting. There is going to numerous new money making elements in this expansion. Stuff I've seen personally that I truly believe will easily set not only attendance records but guest spending records as well. With that being said I think we see a small dip in attendance at IOA but also a dip at one or two of the Disney parks. Once the site goes live in January your really going to see your "average" tourists begin to wonder where which resort can stretch their dollar further and offer them more. And with CBR opening soon at a great price point young families just getting started may just visit the MK while staying on site at Universal. Regardless of where you stand as a fan one things for sure the next 12-18 months are going to be very interesting.
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I don't exactly disagree per se, but I think there could be some water in questioning if HP 2.0 will be as explosive as the original land was. I'm not saying it won't be, and by all rights, it deserves to be based on what we know. There's also the fact that even smaller expansions like Springfield and Transformers have still been driving attendance. Nonetheless, I think there's a small chance it won't have the same kind of impact because the general public may be a little more indifferent to "more of the same". There may be some bleedover where not everyone will realize it's new(er than the original land) in markets far outside of Florida where it isn't heavily advertised. In the grand scheme of Universal's current expansion plans, it will matter little if it underperforms, as they are poised to keep on eating more and more of Disney's lunch for the next half decade at least; based on what we know of plans for both resorts. Again, I'm not saying it will fair any worse, but I think there's a possibility. Can't wait to eat delicious crow, however.
 
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TalkingHead

TalkingHead

Well-Known Member
Skunk said:
Nonetheless, I think there's a small chance it won't have the same kind of impact because the general public may be a little more indifferent to "more of the same". There may be some bleedover where not everyone will realize it's new(er than the original land) in markets far outside of Florida where it isn't heavily advertised.
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A well-designed Super Bowl ad might help remedy that.
 
HTF

HTF

Well-Known Member
A few notes

Budget cuts have hit Gringotts and one scene has been hit pretty hard. Good thing is its a small scene with no real impact. Think very dim lighting...

All shops in Diagon will feature outdoor "extended" queues but also have indoor air conditioned switchbacks.

There is one shop coming I don't think I've seen one person talk about anywhere.

The Gringotts queue will have 9 themed zones or rooms
 
flynnibus

flynnibus

Premium Member
SJN1279 said:
And the Magic Kingdom drew over 17 million guests last year, while Islands of Adventure drew over 9 million. If Universal wants to close the gap they need to take a page out of the Magic Kingdom's book and add some rides that the entire family can enjoy together
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The end game is not how many people you get in the gate (attendance) - it's how much revenue and profit you generate. No one cares how many clicks TEA estimates for MK when they are rolling around in their own pile of millions in profits. You talk about a chase... that no one is in.
 
cheezbat

cheezbat

Well-Known Member
More great stuff on the horizon from Universal. I bet we could see both Uni gates bringing in around 10 million people at some time in the near future...all while Disney seems to be sitting on their butts, in which case may see a dip in attendance at the secondary parks. I believe only the Magic Kingdom will remain unaffected, while the other three will slip.

Keep it up Universal! You still get my money!
 
Voxel

Voxel

President of Progress City
Disneyhead'71 said:
Without a doubt DHS is the most vulnerable to what Uni is doing. But that has a lot to do with what TDO is doing, or more specifically, NOT doing.
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DHS needs some tender love and care indeed. It is a sad shadow of what it use to be (and to think that Mulan and Lilo and Stitch were made there).

I never grew up with Uni and Have only been twice, but it is back on my calender to visit next year.
 

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