Time for the war to begin.

bhg469

Well-Known Member
Springfield's food court is disgusting. I haven't eaten at Mythos, but WDW's Tiffins and Disneyland's Cathay Circle are superb.
You're way off... if you're comparing quick service? I would eat my own foot before trying another fast food disney burger.
 

Daveeeeed

Well-Known Member
You're way off... if you're comparing quick service? I would eat my own foot before trying another fast food disney burger.
Cosmic Ray's and the really bad burgers at WDW suck, don't get me wrong, but AK's offerings, Columbia Harbor House, etc. are as a whole way way better than Uni's. If would also be nice if there was more than 1 or 2 sit-down's per park if like WDW, they prefer to make those nicer.

Now, WDW's quick service is not great -- Disneyland Anaheim is where IT IS AT! Now there's some fantastic food over there.
 

bhg469

Well-Known Member
Cosmic Ray's and the really bad burgers at WDW suck, don't get me wrong, but AK's offerings, Columbia Harbor House, etc. are as a whole way way better than Uni's. If would also be nice if there was more than 1 or 2 sit-down's per park if like WDW, they prefer to make those nicer.

Now, WDW's quick service is not great -- Disneyland Anaheim is where IT IS AT! Now there's some fantastic food over there.
Disneyland has fantastic food. I was surprised by how much better it was, even the bengal bbq stand was great.
 

Touchdown

Well-Known Member
Both Potter taverns are counter service, and better then any WDW counter service, but not as good as DL’s best.

City walk and the resorts have some great restaurants, none quite as good as my WDW top 3 but still a great variety.

WDW doesn’t have butter beer, which is by far my favorite theme park treat.
 

ford91exploder

Resident Curmudgeon
So where is the capital going to come from for what you propose is essentially two additional gates in one location??

You mean the 2 SDL's worth of Stock buybacks that disney does EVERY year. Disney has the cash and if they would invest more than the trivial amount they spend now (relative to P&R revenue). Historically (pre-Iger) Disney re-invested about 20% of revenue into parks and resorts, Now they are about 11-12%. From a low of about 8%.
 

Horizons '83

Well-Known Member
In the Parks
No
You mean the 2 SDL's worth of Stock buybacks that disney does EVERY year. Disney has the cash and if they would invest more than the trivial amount they spend now (relative to P&R revenue). Historically (pre-Iger) Disney re-invested about 20% of revenue into parks and resorts, Now they are about 11-12%. From a low of about 8%.
We go through this every year. Stock Buyouts are NECESSARY for corporations. You can't just allocate those funds to CAPEX for new projects. Look at basic ROI modeling and that is the answer you will get.
 

Walt Disney1955

Well-Known Member
Look, I don't think in our lifetime Universal will ever equal Disney in attendance. There is a reason for this and Disney always has a leg (or two or three) up on Universal for this reason. Quick, name a ride from opening day at Universal Florida that is still there. All I can think of is E.T. Hey look, great ride, I love it, but how many opening day rides are still there at WDW, or even better Disneyland in 1955? Lots. There is something telling about going on a ride your grandfather rode in his first trip. This is what bonds families and as long as Disney knows how to keep one foot in the future and one in the past they will always be the winner here.
 

Nubs70

Well-Known Member
Look, I don't think in our lifetime Universal will ever equal Disney in attendance. There is a reason for this and Disney always has a leg (or two or three) up on Universal for this reason. Quick, name a ride from opening day at Universal Florida that is still there. All I can think of is E.T. Hey look, great ride, I love it, but how many opening day rides are still there at WDW, or even better Disneyland in 1955? Lots. There is something telling about going on a ride your grandfather rode in his first trip. This is what bonds families and as long as Disney knows how to keep one foot in the future and one in the past they will always be the winner here.
So there is risk in IP overlays?
 

POLY LOVER

Well-Known Member
Look, I don't think in our lifetime Universal will ever equal Disney in attendance. There is a reason for this and Disney always has a leg (or two or three) up on Universal for this reason. Quick, name a ride from opening day at Universal Florida that is still there. All I can think of is E.T. Hey look, great ride, I love it, but how many opening day rides are still there at WDW, or even better Disneyland in 1955? Lots. There is something telling about going on a ride your grandfather rode in his first trip. This is what bonds families and as long as Disney knows how to keep one foot in the future and one in the past they will always be the winner here.

I have to say I live near Disney and freinds that come to visit now are going to universal more than Disney. This is what their kids want to do. When they return the comments are very very good about their experience. I can see a day where universal bites into disneys market share.
 

Walt Disney1955

Well-Known Member
I have to say I live near Disney and freinds that come to visit now are going to universal more than Disney. This is what their kids want to do. When they return the comments are very very good about their experience. I can see a day where universal bites into disneys market share.

I am not saying you should not have to put the pedal to the metal at all times. You should never relax. Any Atlanta Falcons fan could tell you that. That being said, we all thought Disney was going to be taken over after the Harry Potter additions right? As it stands now the Magic Kingdom literally has double the attendance on a yearly basis as either of the Universal Parks. Disney Hollywood Studios had higher attendance even. Right now I think things are pretty safe, don't you?

It will take a lot of charm for Universal to pull that sort of David vs. Goliath upset off. What they have to stop doing is ripping out their core for things. I like how they take chances but they got rid of Jaws, which is the epitome of classic Universal. The park has only been open since 1990. They have to find ways to keep nostalgia alive. No one does that like Disney and I am afraid no one ever will by the looks of it.
 

bclane

Well-Known Member
I have to say I live near Disney and freinds that come to visit now are going to universal more than Disney. This is what their kids want to do. When they return the comments are very very good about their experience. I can see a day where universal bites into disneys market share.
Same here. When family and friends visit us here in Orlando, they tend to want to go to Uni more than to Disney these days. I personally love both Uni and Disney and have APs to both (but I have a definite preference for Disney) but it is interesting to see people I know shifting more to Universal for short vacations over the last few years. I always ask why and the common answer is that Uni offers more in a single park compared to Disney which spreads things out a bit more. That and Harry Potter. Most agree that Disney is a more complete experience when you factor in the non ride stuff though.
 

MAGICFLOP

Well-Known Member
In this turbid world, it is a gamble to over expand, they could end up losing everything.
Lets say they added 25 thousand rooms to their already close to 25k and they add 2 more gates
If there was an impact from terrorism like happened on 911, where nobody flew, especially from other countries. Maintenance on parks and hotels that would be crippling if occupancy and attendance drop by 50%
 

nitstalker

Member
Just to throw my 2 cents in here:

I would not be surprised that when the Themed Entertainment Association numbers come out later this year - that we will see that one or both Universal parks have surpassed at least 2 of the 4 Disney parks. The last several years - Universal's numbers have been steadily increasing while Disney has been going backwards.

Now, will Toy Story Land and Galaxy's edge help - absolutely. But in my opinion - we will see a shift from other parks to DHS. Especially since there is the same thing being opened in Anaheim - there is no reason for people west of the Mississippi to travel to Florida - They will be able to get the same experience on the west coast for cheaper. Will the numbers increase - sure - but by how much is the question.

Also another thing not to rule out is - love them or hate them, Comcast has Disney beat when it comes to TV marketing. Disney has a few networks - but Comcast has an equal number of networks and well how ever many millions of cable subscribers they can place ads in front of.

While it can be argued - Disney is not the park (or corporation) it once was. Uni has become what Disney once was with guest relations, attention, and the mantra of the guest is always right - as well as maintaining their parks. Disney's new mantra seems to be "Lets see if I can squeeze this penny hard enough to make 20 pennies." And it shows! The last time I was in the park - I actually took notice of how run down things actually were becoming with no apparent care of fixing.

Lastly - and I know right now that someone will take offense - but Disney needs to stay the heck out of politics! Look, I honestly don't care what someone believes, what their political persuasion is, and how they fit into society. But right now we, as a country - and world are more divided than we have been in a long time. By just giving the appearance of 'taking sides' you appease one faction and alienate the rest. You don't see Universal playing in politics. Yes, they have what some bill as being the most left leaning network of any - but they are proud of that fact. They market it - and advertise it as such, just as Fox does with their news division on the other side of the spectrum. Mark my word here - Political Correctness is going to be the end of Disney. When was the last time you saw Universal doing anything to be PC? I honestly can't think of any... Disney it seems every week we are reading about something... We go to Theme parks and movies and what not (generally) to get away from the drama that we call life - not spend our hard earned time and money to experience the same arguments.
 

ford91exploder

Resident Curmudgeon
We go through this every year. Stock Buyouts are NECESSARY for corporations. You can't just allocate those funds to CAPEX for new projects. Look at basic ROI modeling and that is the answer you will get.

Stock buybacks are the reason we have profits without prosperity in the US.

And the reason EU and Asia can produce products and services more efficiently than the US because they have NEW plant and equipment, Not trying to milk the last dregs out of equipment which is decades out of date in order to please Wall St.

Its odd that no other industrialized country does stock buybacks.

https://hbr.org/2014/09/profits-without-prosperity
 

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