Uni's New Plan For Potter Could Make Significant Dent To WDW

[Bolna]

Here is the thing though, you can't argue with the facts. Assuming those numbers are right, World of Disney is pulling in considerably more guests than either of the Universal parks are. That alone is mind blowing. It shows that Universal have made a complete hash of things, to the point where a shop can attract more guests than either of their parks. It also makes it incredibly hard for Disney to not want to maximize the retail offerings. How can any business ignore those kind of numbers? Of course, as park fans, we want to see attractions going up every year. But as a business, they are obviously looking for what they consider the balance.

I think if you were in their position, you would be pretty pleased that one of your shops is out-powering an entire theme park that belongs to the competition.

While the number of 8 million is impressive, aren't we comparing pears and apples here?

On the one hand a theme park which charges $80 admission for entering it and which most people would consider to be a full day worth of entertainment.

On the other hand a shop which charges no entry fee and many people might just look inside and then leave without buying anything. And especially if they just are counting people coming through the doors, the average visitor to DTD might actually enter WoD a few times during one visit.

An interesting comparison would be another shop at a mall or maybe the New York WoD shop. Unless we know which numbers other shops get, this 8 million number does not tell us very much.

 

[whylightbulb]

Name them please? Oh i forgot a Despicable Me 3d show is epic lol

Rip Ride Rockit was supposed to rival anything Disney did according to people like you but once again you were wrong

LOL when did I ever say RRR would rival anything, much less anything at Disney? I've kept silent on that ride because I was never a proponent of it in the first place.

As far as naming the new attractions I can only give you a few since these have already been leaked. The Diagon Alley expansion will include a new E-ticket ride that will be better than FJ in my opinion. It will not focus as much on the ride technology (although the ride system will be an amazing piece of machinery) as it will on the show elements. The "Shoppertainment" aspects will be enhanced on the Alley and the Hogwarts Express train will be quite an experience. The nighttime lagoon show will be more impressive than Illuminations. That's all I'm comfortable talking about. There is more planned but you'll just have to wait and see.

 

[Hakunamatata]

?.....where the characters know your brat's name etc ... it's just ... just mindboggling in its arrogance and stupidity.

Actually, what is mindboggling is the fact that you dont stop at just offending a good number of people here, you proceed to go on to attack our kids by calling them brats.

I realize you are just an attention ________ who doesnt really know how to express an opinion, but dang. Do you really have to insult people by attacking their kids?

 

[GLaDOS]

While the number of 8 million is impressive, aren't we comparing pears and apples here?

On the one hand a theme park which charges $80 admission for entering it and which most people would consider to be a full day worth of entertainment.

On the other hand a shop which charges no entry fee and many people might just look inside and then leave without buying anything. And especially if they just are counting people coming through the doors, the average visitor to DTD might actually enter WoD a few times during one visit.

Yea. I have to agree.

 

[wdwmagic]

While the number of 8 million is impressive, aren't we comparing pears and apples here?

On the one hand a theme park which charges $80 admission for entering it and which most people would consider to be a full day worth of entertainment.

On the other hand a shop which charges no entry fee and many people might just look inside and then leave without buying anything. And especially if they just are counting people coming through the doors, the average visitor to DTD might actually enter WoD a few times during one visit.

An interesting comparison would be another shop at a mall or maybe the New York WoD shop. Unless we know which numbers other shops get, this 8 million number does not tell us very much.

I agree it isn't really a fair comparison, but it still surprised the heck out of me that a shop at Downtown Disney brings in more guests than a park that is promoted throughout the world and aspires to be as big as Disney.

 

[kcnole]

Lol...sorry but if you think that limiting the number of dining options means you are making them worse then you are in for a shock...MOST HIGH END AND/OR GREAT RESTAURANTS HAVE LIMITED MENUS....there is an old saying, "It is better to be great a few things then to be mediocre at a lot of things."

You're not listening dude. You're just hearing someone criticize Disney and shutting your ears yelling la.la.la.la.la.la I can't hear you.

Its one thing to have a limited menu if each restaurant has a unique menu with fantastic food. That's not happening at Disney. Instead you're seeing each restaurant have one or two unique items while having all of the other items shared across all the other restaurants and those items are seeing their quality diminished (Such as serving chips out of a bag in many of these expensive restaurants).

The problem is that neither the food, options, nor prices are anywhere near the quality that they were 10 years ago. Its been a slow decline and its all primarily driven from the Dining Package, because who cares if the food I'm eating isn't the same quality of food that it used to be or that I don't have many unique choices because it's "free".

I would have absolutely zero problem with a small menu in the restaurants if each of the meals was of the highest quality, but they're not. Certainly there are a few places in Disney that still do, but its becoming fewer and farther between. I love Victoria and Alberts (although I can't normally afford to eat there), I love the food court in Living with the land (The food is exceptional), but too many other places have seen the quality of their food dimmed down over the years. WDW1974 is throwing around a bit of hyperbole when trying to compare Coral Reef to a Red Lobster, that's a bit of a ridiculous comparison which I think is intended to incite a reaction. However to compare the food to some place like Bonefish isn't ridiculous. The problem is that it should be much, much better than Bonefish. Its got a prettier dining room, but the food certainly isn't better.

I don't hate WDW, I still love visiting and there's a ton they do right. The problem is that many of us who have been visiting the parks for over 20 years are seeing major declines from what the parks used to offer.

 

[disney fan 13]

Thanks Mr. Bulb, but I am convinced (obviously more than the mods) that our new forum member is a troll. He/she/it just joined and immediately began going after me in as many threads as possible and acting like they've been reading me for a lot longer.

So, my guess is either bored fanboi of out school, blogger, or Disney social media plant. They tend to go away when ignored.
:xmas:

May people stop saying this. It is somewhat offensive to younger posters ( such as myself) who do not act like they are on a ''Pixie dust addiction.''

 

[wdwmagic]

The nighttime lagoon show will be more impressive than Illuminations. That's all I'm comfortable talking about. There is more planned but you'll just have to wait and see.

I'm really interested in seeing what they have for this. Universal have never been able to pull of a half-decent night show, so I'm really intrigued. I don't think their lagoon setup is ideal for a show, the shape of it, and limited viewing areas will always be a problem compared to the setup Epcot has. To create something truly spectacular, they are going to need some serious work and some serious money - is that going to happen? What was World of Color, $100 million?

I have my fingers crossed it works out - anything to crank up the competition in the Orlando areas night shows is a good thing.

 

[Lee]

May people stop saying this. It is somewhat offensive to younger posters ( such as myself) who do not act like they are on a ''Pixie dust addiction.''

A fine point.
Not all trolls are school kids...but sadly many are. (Obviously not you.)

 

[kcnole]

That has always been my biggest disappointment with Universal. I loved the original stunt show they had back when they first opened but even that pales in comparison to Wishes or Illuminations (although I'm convinced it was much better than Fantasia at DHS). However I've never had much of a desire to see their current show, and when they close the parks so often before its even late enough to a do a show it makes it difficult to end your days on a high note.

I've long felt that it was Universal's big failures. They need to have the parks stay open until nighttime and then do some type of big nighttime show in both parks (Or if they'd rather, do the nighttime show in Citywalk which forces people out of the parks at close but causes them to stick around to eat and shop in Citywalk). I'm just not convinced they have the infrastructure to pull that off.

 

[Bolna]

I agree it isn't really a fair comparison, but it still surprised the heck out of me that a shop at Downtown Disney brings in more guests than a park that is promoted throughout the world and aspires to be as big as Disney.

Yes, it is a huge number - but what be really interesting would be to see what other themed shops in prominent locations (like the shops on Times Square or the Apple Store on 5th Avenue) are getting in visitor numbers. Maybe some of those top the MK?

 

[jed012788]

May people stop saying this. It is somewhat offensive to younger posters ( such as myself) who do not act like they are on a ''Pixie dust addiction.''

As someone who a decade ago was a young poster on Disney message boards, I wholeheartedly support this post. Thanks, Lee, for seconding it.

 

[wdwmagic]

That has always been my biggest disappointment with Universal. I loved the original stunt show they had back when they first opened but even that pales in comparison to Wishes or Illuminations (although I'm convinced it was much better than Fantasia at DHS). However I've never had much of a desire to see their current show, and when they close the parks so often before its even late enough to a do a show it makes it difficult to end your days on a high note.

I've long felt that it was Universal's big failures. They need to have the parks stay open until nighttime and then do some type of big nighttime show in both parks (Or if they'd rather, do the nighttime show in Citywalk which forces people out of the parks at close but causes them to stick around to eat and shop in Citywalk). I'm just not convinced they have the infrastructure to pull that off.

Compared to Disney, and one of the points that makes them unattractive to a lot of potential guests, is the complete lack of entertainment. No day parade, no night parade, few meet and greets, few shows, and no nightly firework shows. It is often overlooked here by people in comparisons, but the expense and effort that WDW Entertainment put into the daily offerings is massive.

 

[GLaDOS]

I'm just not convinced they have the infrastructure to pull that off.

I think IoA has the better opportunity to pull off a night show. I'm interested to see how they pull this one off.

 

[WDW1974]

There is a whole list of things I don't understand with respect to the theme parks.

That really would make for a great thread ... although the potential for online mayhem would be high!

1. Why is Rip Ride Rockit the second most poplular ride at Universal Florida but instead somewhere near the bottom of the list?

I've been many times since it opened ... and I love coasters. And guess what? I haven't ridden. Between some of the horror stories I heard when it was under construction and then in testing to people telling me how rough it is, it just has no pull for me. If I want my own soundtrack on a coaster, I'll pop in my pocket and bring it with me!

2. How could anyone ride Haunted Mansion or Pirates and then Test Track and Mission Space and think the latter two deserve to be called Disney attractions in terms of overall quality, design and experience?

Guests who can't tell the difference? People who don't get art and staging and show? It's a question I ponder ... Mansion and PoC still put to shame Disney's current efforts ... and not by a small margein either.

3. How could someone have visted WDW back in 1996 or before and say the place hasn't gone down hill significantly in terms of maintenance, attraction offerings, food quality and merchandise?

Ignorance (sometimes out of choice), arrogance (in their vacation decisions) or truly having some unhealthy attachment to the Disney BRAND. Those are the types who if you put out a giant cow turd shaped like three circles, people would snap it up.

4. Why would anyone need to visit the four WDW parks any more than three days in one trip?

OCD? The notion that Splash Mountain gets better the 14th time you've ridden in a week? I dunno ... I've spent two weeks in O-Town and been to parks on probably 11-12 days ... but often that park time was arriving at EPCOT at 6:15 for a 7 p.m. dinner, Illuminations and out.

I've read enough online to know people really do go and get wake-up calls from Mickey at 5:45 a.m. and start running around parks until close ... and then do it over and over again ...

That is nowhere near an exhaustive list but that last one is why I am responding to your comment. I could easily take in everything the parks have to offer in three days. I wouldn't have to rush or stress out even on a busy day. Four days maybe but anymore than that and you are wasting your vacation time in my opinion. Especially when Universal is about to unveil several new additions to the parks that will easily rival anything Disney has to offer at WDW.

C'mon, UNI couldn't possibly do anything that comes close to the grandeur of what Disney offers ... things like Aladdin's Walkway Clogging Spinner or Stitch's Great Gas Attack or Journey Into WDI's Lack of Imagination or Expedition Everest: Legend of the Disco Yeti or Mickey's PhilharMagic With Giant Line Down The Middle of the Screen or Dinosaur: The Big Black Box etc.

Bottom line is some people are addicted to Disney. Plain and simple. Too much Pixie Dust can be fatal!:xmas:

 

[bullsforthewin]

A fine point.
Not all trolls are school kids...but sadly many are. (Obviously not you.)

Not everyone who likes WDW or disagrees with you are trolls...I wish the hate contingent would learn that

 

[wdwmagic]

Yes, it is a huge number - but what be really interesting would be to see what other themed shops in prominent locations (like the shops on Times Square or the Apple Store on 5th Avenue) are getting in visitor numbers. Maybe some of those top the MK?

12 million visited the combined Apple stores in NYC according to http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203413304577088201456063374.html

 

[wdwmagic]

I think IoA has the better opportunity to pull off a night show. I'm interested to see how they pull this one off.

They are really tight on viewing space around that lagoon, and the lagoon itself is very small.

 

[GLaDOS]

They are really tight on viewing space around that lagoon, and the lagoon itself is very small.

Oh I know. I do think things can be done to open up more viewing areas. I'm just interested to see if they do it, or if the show is something that will be shown 2-3 times a night to compensate for a low "capacity".

EDIT: Just realized you may have been talking about IoA. D'oh.

 

[WDW1974]

Here is the thing though, you can't argue with the facts. Assuming those numbers are right, World of Disney is pulling in considerably more guests than either of the Universal parks are. That alone is mind blowing. It shows that Universal have made a complete hash of things, to the point where a shop can attract more guests than either of their parks. It also makes it incredibly hard for Disney to not want to maximize the retail offerings. How can any business ignore those kind of numbers? Of course, as park fans, we want to see attractions going up every year. But as a business, they are obviously looking for what they consider the balance.

I think if you were in their position, you would be pretty pleased that one of your shops is out-powering an entire theme park that belongs to the competition.

Again, I have no idea what those numbers mean. Facts? Who knows? My local mall, the Sawgrass Mills Outlet Mall in Sunrise, FL has since the 1990s claimed they are the No. 2 tourist destination in the state behind WDW. How do you verify things like that? What about locations like South Beach? There are no tickets taken, no entry turnstiles. Who knows how many people enter and what's to stop anyone (be it a company, PR person, politician) from claiming a huge number?

Beyond that, what's the point? I think comparing retail to parks is not a reasonable comparison. I don't doubt that's why Disney was able to get that story into the O-Sentinel. Like many of Jason Garcia's recent efforts, it felt more like PR spin than a story that begged to be told in an era of dying newspapers and limited newsprint.

What would WoD draw if it were located in Tulsa, Oklahoma ... or Manchester, UK ... or Seattle, Washington ... or Berlin, Germany ... or Sydney, Australia or an O-Town devoid of theme parks and resorts?

I don't think people plan $10K WDW vacations to visit a giant Disney store. And I certainly don't think more people would rather visit a Disney retail outlet than a UNI theme park if that was the underlying point you were trying to make.
:xmas: