Casper Gutman
Well-Known Member
Now my rant!I agree. I'm using your post as a jumping off point for my rant most won't care about, LOL.
Neither are perfect by any means. I love Universal. But let's be honest, they aren't perfect and honestly the level some have raised them to is a bit funny (and since we seem to keep going down the Uni vs. Disney debate, how long has it taken them to open Fast and Furious? What's the timeline for the family Potter coaster? Look at how badly they rolled out opening Volcano Bay, a lovely looking water park that's being promoted as something it's not). They weren't expanding or changing for a long time because there was no money to. Comcast bought them and has smartly expanded. Much like little ole' Disney has expanded. Disney doesn't need to do the type of expanding Universal is doing. They each have their own focuses. I wish this theme park war fantasy many have would go away.
And that's not to say Disney doesn't need to play catch up. They stagnated the WDW parks for a LONG time and now have to play catch up. Universal is catching up AND expanding but I wouldn't expect Disney to be doing the things Universal are doing. Universal Orlando is adding resort after resort. Like someone up the road didAnd like Disney opened up parks around the globe (one just opened a couple of years ago), Universal follows suit and does the same thing. They've always followed each other, this is nothing new.
For the most part, I totally agree with the gist of your post.
I actually disagree with some of your choice of criticisms, though - the family Potter coaster is moving forward at Uni's usual swift rate and the accusations on how Volcano Bay was promoted are unfair. I'd add my own, bigger criticisms - Uni's entertainment is not good (though I love the pet show for personal reasons) and not improving rapidly enough, F&F is going to be really bad and Fallon was lackluster (somewhat forgivable due to the speed which with they are building), they really need to get some more dark rides and utilize AAs more, and, while I like the few in-park sit-down restaurants available, they need a greater number and variety. Oh, and WDW still has a better overall line-up of rides.
So why do I usually praise Uni and criticize WDW?
The areas where WDW beats Uni, and there are more than a few, are remnants of the remarkable peak Disney reached in the early 90s. (Specifically fall 1994, when ToT was open and EPCOT hadn't begun its collapse, a very narrow window). That peak was so high, its unlikely Uni - or any other theme park - will ever match it. The more than two decades since then, however, have seen a steady decline in which not only were new strengths not added but elements that had made WDW great were allowed to deteriorate or were removed altogether. And even after all the new additions we know about at the moment, MGM will still not be a full park, EPCOT will be even more of a pathetic shambles then ever, MK will desperately need capacity, and resort-wide maintenance will continue to be so bad that someone is going to be very seriously injured or killed because of it. And management will continue to chip away at the greatest theme resort the country ever had.
The bottom line is that WDW has been steadily declining since the mid-90s and Uni has been steadily improving since Comcast took over.
And to bring this back to the thread subject, this is why I loathe TSL so much; it is a perfect embodiment of a variety of the interlocking, deeply-embedded business and design philosophies that have caused WDW's collapse in quality. It's a bright neon sign declaring that the decline continues.
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