Universal to get $500 million

WDWDad13

WDWDad13

Well-Known Member
Dollywood is making an announcement soon about what's next. Uh oh Disney...UNI is the new king and now you got more competition. Too little too late might as well shut the doors

lol
 
ShookieJones

ShookieJones

We need time for things to happen.
ParentsOf4 said:
"Pay-to-play" systems like those at Universal are easy to understand and use. It's naked capitalism. A lot of people don't like it but nearly everyone understands the concept immediately. "I pay X dollars and get to use a faster line." No sticking cards in slots, no pieces of paper, no return times, no studying "the rules", no preplanning.

When I watch what happens at Universal, I'm always amazed at how many buy Express Passes after they arrive. There's a family of 4 spending more for Express Passes then they would have spent if they had just booked a night at one of Universal's lovely Deluxe Resorts which also would have included unlimited Express Passes for two days! But they buy 4 limited Express Passes anyway because they haven't done their "homework". Can you blame them? It's a vacation. It's supposed to be relaxing. It's supposed to be fun. When they purchase those limited Express Passes, they are buying "fun".

Going to Orlando already is a complex vacation for the uninitiated and FP/FP+ just makes it more complicated. Worse, FP tends to favor people like you and I; super-users who know every intricate detail. Users who know which FPs to pick up first, know how to tour the parks, and know what to do waiting for the FP return time.

FP+ won't solve anything. The uninitiated are going to say "Gee, I have an 'appointment' for Peter Pan in 50 minutes, Oh, I'm not sure what I can do, I don't want to miss it. I guess I better just stand here waiting for that 'appointment'."

Conversely, at Universal if I stay on site, I can sleep in, take my time, walk up to nearly any attraction, show them my room key, and they let me into the Express line. It's that simple. I don't have to figure where I'm going or what I'm doing next. I can live in the moment knowing that, if I want, I can ride Men in Black next or, if I don't want that, I can ride The Simpsons next.

It's a vacation but FP and the new FP+ treat it like a planning choir. Great for a Disney exec who is use to looking at a Microsoft Project schedule but not for your average vacationer who just wants to have fun.

Universal's Express Pass system means vacation fun.

WDW's FP/FP+ system means vacation work.

Until WDW's execs get it into their heads that most people just want to relax when they're on vacation, they're going to keep trying to implement systems that they think make business sense for them, not that are fun for their paying customers.
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I'm just going to start quoting your posts and add "true dat" to it.
 
JimboJones123

JimboJones123

Well-Known Member
Nmoody1 said:
Standby for Disney to come back with a real big announcement... About a year after Universal bang the final nail in the coffin.... Then we'll have the final, watered down reality of that announcement about 8 years after that! See you for the grand opening circa 2030!

I think the whole 'rite of passage' started to fade when Disney started marketing 'Disney Parks' as opposed to individual resorts. Now, according to marketers, you can have that magic moment on either coast. We all know you can get the same lame merchandise on both coasts. Disney have been cocksure for too long, thinking they are the big player in Central Florida.

I work for an international airline who flys several plane loads of Brits into the Orlando area every day of the year - it used to be people would be disney disney disney - they knew very little about other parks. These days I hear about aquatica, sea world and universal a lot more than I hear about disney. Sure - people visit, of course they do, but the minion cuddley toys, the dolphin plush.... They are on the increase.

I am such an advocate of what disney do - their customer service is amazing - I love their parks.... I was even fortunate enough to work there back in the days of individual park merchandise and quick service locations serving different treats other than the same burgers and chicken fingers Free Dining Plan guests get to enjoy as a ploy to keep them wandering down the road! I just think disney are starting to look like the poor relation.... They've sat back far too long and this big blue future that is Avatar (hands up who remembers the film???) really is not a patch on the boy wizard, oversized robots and the lure of disney-like hotels popping up at Universal!
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This is the best post i have seen in a while.
 
misterID

misterID

Well-Known Member
Sped2424 said:
He might have been referring to universal studios the park, as everything you shown is from Islands of Adventure.
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RyenDeckard said:
Since I'm assuming you're talking about the Studios -

IMG_2361-L.jpg

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800px-Hollywood_at_Universal_Studios_Florida.jpg
IMG_3994.jpg


I could also cherry pick from Disney and say it looks like a Town Fair.
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WDWDad13

WDWDad13

Well-Known Member
lol I'm just gonna start laughing at some of these comments about Disney

Too little too late
UNI putting the final nail in the coffin
Disney will fall to UNI
Etc.
lol

While you guys just keep :&@ing and complaining, I'll be at the parks having a good time and enjoying what they ALL have to offer
 
ParentsOf4

ParentsOf4

Well-Known Member
WDWDad13 said:
lol I'm just gonna start laughing at some of these comments about Disney

Too little too late
UNI putting the final nail in the coffin
Disney will be second
Etc.
lol

While you guys just keep :&@ing and complaining, I'll be at the parks having a good time and enjoying what they ALL have to offer
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WDW is still extremely profitable and will be around for a very long time. Disney's got a death grip on the under 48" crowd that no one's going to touch for the foreseeable future.

By the way, "extremely profitable" is another way of saying you're paying too much.:)
 
matt9112

matt9112

Well-Known Member
ParentsOf4 said:
WDW is still extremely profitable and will be around for a very long time. Disney's got a death grip on the under 48" crowd that no one's going to touch for the foreseeable future.

By the way, "extremely profitable" is another way of saying you're paying too much.:)
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i know disney was largest entertainment company in world? wheres uni ala comcast stand?
 
Turtle

Turtle

Well-Known Member
People who keep saying "Oh, Disney is dead now".

You seem to forget that
- Star Wars Land
- Pixar Place expansion
- Avatar Land
- Soarin' Over The World
- an EO Replacement
- Seven Dwarves Mine Train
- Disney Springs

Is on it's way to the resort.
 
danlb_2000

danlb_2000

Premium Member
ParentsOf4 said:
WDW is still extremely profitable and will be around for a very long time. Disney's got a death grip on the under 48" crowd that no one's going to touch for the foreseeable future.

By the way, "extremely profitable" is another way of saying you're paying too much.:)
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This is what concerns me. If you look back at the quarterly reports for the past couple years you will see quotes like this in every one...

"Higher operating income at our domestic parks and resorts was primarily due to increased guest spending"
"Increased guest spending was due to higher average ticket prices"

If attendance increases are even mentioned they are always mentioned after the increase guest spending part. So yes, Disney Parks are remaining profitable, but only by getting the guests to spend more and more for pretty much the same product. How long can they continue to get more from the same guests and still retain them?
 
TDF

TDF

Well-Known Member
I’ll ignore the silly comments here and just respond to the main question. Of course Disney will respond with something. Knowing the WDWMagic community, I am sure some or if not most will not like it but they will respond. When jetBlue announced their new business class strategy on the JFK-LAX route all of a sudden all these other airlines started to respond with their new business class strategy’s. It’s the way business works.
 
PhotoDave219

PhotoDave219

Well-Known Member
Turtle said:
People who keep saying "Oh, Disney is dead now".

You seem to forget that
- Star Wars Land
- Pixar Place expansion
- Avatar Land
- Soarin' Over The World
- an EO Replacement
- Seven Dwarves Mine Train
- Disney Springs

Is on it's way to the resort.
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Okay, first... No one said "Disney is Dead." Our criticisms involve a lack of foresight and long-term investment by management. They seem to be living quarter-to-quarter rather than building an audience base that returns every three years or so.

Second:

Star Wars land - Rumored, not green lit (2018 at the Earliest).
Pixar Place - Rumored, not green lit (2018 at the Earliest).
Avatar - Green Lit, hasn't started construction (2017 at the Earliest).
Soarin Replacement - Rumored since 2005, Not Green Lit.
Capt'n Eo Replacement - Rumored, Not Green Lit.
7DMTC - Construction progressing nicely but not as fast as we'd like.
Disney Springs - Construction has started, parking lots screwed up.

As for things that will actually be happening at WDW? We're finishing Fantasyland. Disney Springs has started. Everything else is speculation.

Oh, and we started wrapping buses Minion Yellow...

 
ParentsOf4

ParentsOf4

Well-Known Member
danlb_2000 said:
This is what concerns me. If you look back at the quarterly reports for the past couple years you will see quotes like this in every one...

"Higher operating income at our domestic parks and resorts was primarily due to increased guest spending"
"Increased guest spending was due to higher average ticket prices"

If attendance increases are even mentioned they are always mentioned after the increase guest spending part. So yes, Disney Parks are remaining profitable, but only by getting the guests to spend more and more for pretty much the same product. How long can they continue to get more from the same guests and still retain them?
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Bob Iger used to talk a lot about "pricing leverage". That's corporate-speak for higher prices without providing any product improvement. Essentially, Iger was saying "our customers are willing to pay more for the same or lesser product."

The good news is that, within the halls of Burbank, that phrase is not a popular as it used to be.:)
 

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