We just got back yesterday from being in Orlando about a week, and a very interesting observation we noticed was an abundance of anti-Disney/pro-Universal statements that we overheard from other guests.
Just a few examples...
We were in Pleasure Island the first night we got there and we overheard someone saying to their group, "This place blows. Let's go back to City Walk". (I have to say, I pretty much agreed with that observation :lol
We were at Islands of Adventure and we overheard a woman with kids tell her husband, "This place is soooooo much better than Disney."
Leaving Magic Kingdom, we overheard a father say to his little girl (My best estimate was that she was probably about 9 or 10), "Do you want to come back here tomorrow or do you want to go back to Islands of Adventure, where we were yesterday?" The little girl responded, "Islands of Adventure! Islands of Adventure!"
We were renting Sea Raycers at Fort Wilderness and there was a couple renting them also. While we were waiting on the dock, we struck up a conversation with them and found out they (like us) had also visited the Universal parks on this trip. I mentioned that I thought it was really cool Disney had these, and that I always rent them every time I go to Orlando. The wife responded and said she wished Universal rented them, and that if they did, there would be no reason for them to come to Disney because Universal's parks blew Disney's away. Her husband then piped in and said Disney just does well because of their reputation, but that Universal was superior and will probably eventually surpass Disney in attendance as more people discover Universal.
When we were in the airport checking in for our flight home, there was a lady in front of us and we struck up a conversation with her. She asked us what all we did during our trip and I said that we had done Disney and also Universal. She replied, "Oh I LOVE Universal! It's the BEST!"
There were several other comments that we heard throughout the trip that were basically the same types of opinions as the above examples. I've heard similar comments on previous trips, but it was way more noticeable this time. I'm just wondering if things are really diminishing at Disney, or if Universal is getting better, or perhaps a combination of both. I'm sure if you did a side-by-side comparison of attendance figures, one might argue that the numbers speak for themselves and that Disney is more popular. But I'm wondering if that just means that one guest was right...that Disney is basically just getting by on their reputation and eventually more people will start choosing Universal over them.
I also have to admit that on this trip I noticed more things about Disney that I found a little disappointing (i.e. cast members not as friendly as usual, things left dirty or broken, etc) where Universal tended to exceed my expectations in a lot of areas.
Anyway, just a personal observation. Thoughts?
Just a few examples...
We were in Pleasure Island the first night we got there and we overheard someone saying to their group, "This place blows. Let's go back to City Walk". (I have to say, I pretty much agreed with that observation :lol
We were at Islands of Adventure and we overheard a woman with kids tell her husband, "This place is soooooo much better than Disney."
Leaving Magic Kingdom, we overheard a father say to his little girl (My best estimate was that she was probably about 9 or 10), "Do you want to come back here tomorrow or do you want to go back to Islands of Adventure, where we were yesterday?" The little girl responded, "Islands of Adventure! Islands of Adventure!"
We were renting Sea Raycers at Fort Wilderness and there was a couple renting them also. While we were waiting on the dock, we struck up a conversation with them and found out they (like us) had also visited the Universal parks on this trip. I mentioned that I thought it was really cool Disney had these, and that I always rent them every time I go to Orlando. The wife responded and said she wished Universal rented them, and that if they did, there would be no reason for them to come to Disney because Universal's parks blew Disney's away. Her husband then piped in and said Disney just does well because of their reputation, but that Universal was superior and will probably eventually surpass Disney in attendance as more people discover Universal.
When we were in the airport checking in for our flight home, there was a lady in front of us and we struck up a conversation with her. She asked us what all we did during our trip and I said that we had done Disney and also Universal. She replied, "Oh I LOVE Universal! It's the BEST!"
There were several other comments that we heard throughout the trip that were basically the same types of opinions as the above examples. I've heard similar comments on previous trips, but it was way more noticeable this time. I'm just wondering if things are really diminishing at Disney, or if Universal is getting better, or perhaps a combination of both. I'm sure if you did a side-by-side comparison of attendance figures, one might argue that the numbers speak for themselves and that Disney is more popular. But I'm wondering if that just means that one guest was right...that Disney is basically just getting by on their reputation and eventually more people will start choosing Universal over them.
I also have to admit that on this trip I noticed more things about Disney that I found a little disappointing (i.e. cast members not as friendly as usual, things left dirty or broken, etc) where Universal tended to exceed my expectations in a lot of areas.
Anyway, just a personal observation. Thoughts?