Universal Vs Disney: Universal on the rise?!

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disneyinsider1

disneyinsider1

Member
Original Poster
After Potterland In IOA, Universal stepped on over too The Studios and noticed problems. Yes those problems are coming in new ways. Good ways. A brand new Simpsons land, Potterland V2, and The Transformers ride from Uni Hollywood. What does this mean for Disney? Well.. So far all that's green lit is Fantsyland ExP. and Avatarland. Will Uni finally beat Disney in terms on attendance. Maybe so? But TDO really needs to take this in to consideration as Uni is expanding fast and they are ready.
 
C

celluloid

Well-Known Member
Attendance for The Magic Kingdom? Not anytime soon, the brand is in the park with promos and the halo effect of being "Disney World" still to the general public...

Now as for the other parks on property, specifically DHS and Animal Kingdom(potentially EPCOT) they are going to feel the big bites out of their numbers.
 
SirLink

SirLink

Well-Known Member
Well TDO is panicking about resort room occupancy and they know they are getting hit on merchandise spending and those are the only two numbers of concern!

Universal knows how to get people to open up their wallet:
  1. Create compelling experiences
  2. Guest want a unique souvenir to support said experience, so have unique merchandise to on hand.
  3. ???
  4. Profit!
 
kucarachi

kucarachi

Active Member
SirLink said:
Well TDO is panicking about resort room occupancy and they know they are getting hit on merchandise spending and those are the only two numbers of concern!

Universal knows how to get people to open up their wallet:
  1. Create compelling experiences
  2. Guest want a souvenir and have unique merchandise to support this.
  3. ???
  4. Profit!
Click to expand...

Well Disney resorts have hundreds if not thousands time the amount that Universal has..so if they are having trouble filling those spots i would bet money that Universal is having problems filling theirs. I really don't see how the simpsons in it's 20 + years is going to add any real numbers...and the Transformers, please they are michael bay movies and are already forgotten its like still having the T-2 ride dating back to 91 or 92...20 years of the same exact effects is not striking fear into the heart of disney.

And you really think Disney has trouble figuring out how to make a profit..Just remember whatever Universal does is done to compete with disney not the other way around. I don't see any Universal stores at the mall...do you?
 
sgtmgd

sgtmgd

Well-Known Member
This debate will rage on for decades...Universal V Disney....Universal fills a niche that Disney cant..well they could...but wont....Thrill rides galore...IOA is a teenagers dream park..and Universal has done a wonderful job building it up around city walk..with again caters to more an young adult crowd. I certainly enjoy a day at IOA and Suess Land is very well done...but the park as a whole is difficult for families with young children as they cant ride a good portion of the attractions due to height restrictions..while at Disney..I feel like Im in a different place..almost a different world...at IOA...I feel like Im in ...well IOA..and after 8-9 hours there..Im ready to head back to the "world created dy Disney"
 
GLaDOS

GLaDOS

Well-Known Member
kucarachi said:
I really don't see how the simpsons in it's 20 + years is going to add any real numbers...
Click to expand...

Probably won't add attendance, no. But like the Fantasyland expansion, that's not what it's there for. It's there to increase guest spending numbers through themed and exclusive dining, drinking, and merchandise options.

kucarachi said:
and the Transformers, please they are michael bay movies and are already forgotten
Click to expand...

2.8 billion worldwide gross for the first trilogy and a 4th movie on the way? Not to mention being based on a toy, comics, and cartoon franchise that's been around for three decades at this point? And a clone of a ride that has done gangbusters in merchandising and drink sales?

Yup. Nobody knows what Transformers are.

kucarachi said:
its like still having the T-2 ride dating back to 91 or 92...20 years of the same exact effects is not striking fear into the heart of disney.
Click to expand...

Totally. It'd be like Disney keeping rides around for 40 years and marketing them as classics. What a joke.

:rolleyes:
 
michmousefan

michmousefan

Well-Known Member
kucarachi said:
Well Disney resorts have hundreds if not thousands time the amount that Universal has..so if they are having trouble filling those spots i would bet money that Universal is having problems filling theirs. I really don't see how the simpsons in it's 20 + years is going to add any real numbers...and the Transformers, please they are michael bay movies and are already forgotten its like still having the T-2 ride dating back to 91 or 92...20 years of the same exact effects is not striking fear into the heart of disney.
Click to expand...

But Universal is still making new Transformers movies... the fourth one was recently announced with Mark Wahlberg. So that brand has lots of life left in it.

Personally I feel that while Universal Orlando is on a technical par with Disney (and in a few ways has surpassed it), they are light-years away in terms of customer service. Don't see that changing anytime soon, although the staff at WWOHP is definitely a notch above your standard UNI employee.

What has a lot of us concerned is that Universal seems very aggressive in building new stuff... while TDO seems to be languishing a bit. NFL looks great, but there are lots of other areas in the resort that need major help. I'm looking at you too, Pleasure Island.
 
W

wiigirl

Well-Known Member
Ginzuishou said:
I think there was a Universal Studio Store in the Orlando Airport. Maybe one day they will be in the malls.
Click to expand...

lol :p
75.gif
 
SirLink

SirLink

Well-Known Member
kucarachi said:
Well Disney resorts have hundreds if not thousands time the amount that Universal has..so if they are having trouble filling those spots i would bet money that Universal is having problems filling theirs. I really don't see how the simpsons in it's 20 + years is going to add any real numbers...and the Transformers, please they are michael bay movies and are already forgotten its like still having the T-2 ride dating back to 91 or 92...20 years of the same exact effects is not striking fear into the heart of disney.

And you really think Disney has trouble figuring out how to make a profit..Just remember whatever Universal does is done to compete with disney not the other way around. I don't see any Universal stores at the mall...do you?
Click to expand...

Yup this is why we can't have nice things at WDW. Spirit's chums are right ... crazzzy.
 
disneyflush

disneyflush

Well-Known Member
Your title asks if Universal is on the rise and the answer is yes. They keep building more and give guests more to do. As for Universal vs Disney, I feel that it is becoming more of an age consideration as the years pass on. My 15 year daughter would prefer packing more big experiences into a shorter amount of time, she'd rather ride a roller coaster for 60 seconds and enjoy it and move on to the next ride than sit through COP or Hall of Presidents and invest that time into an unlikely emotional/adrenaline payoff. Kids are big drivers in where families go for vacation and this generation grew up with Harry Potter, Transformers, etc., and the rides and experiences resonate with them at Universal; sometimes moreso than floating in a boat through IASW having dolls sing to them. Each family is obviously different and each young person likes/dislikes their own things though (our 4 yr old daughter can't get enough of IASW and wants to ride it nonstop). The marketing we see now seems to push someone like my daughter to either take herself back in time a bit when she wanted to be a princess and have tea parties and experience WDW or embrace a sense of discovery and experience thrills and adrenaline and 'the now'. This younger generations almost constant attention deficit brings an almost inverse correlation between it and the generation of people 30+ years old that don't mind passive entertainment. I much prefer going to Disney but our next vacation will be up to our kids and after the age of around 6 or 7 the kids have gotten bored with WDW much to my chagrin. The NextGen stuff doesn't help me persuade the older kids to go back to WDW, its more of a neat toy the parents get to play with during the planning phase. Animatronics were a fantastic/cutting edge technology at one point 40/50 years ago but once Chuck E Cheese started numbing my kids to them they stopped producing gasps of awe and astonishment. I wish TDO would think about the next 50 years and what Disney will do to stay on top rather than the next fiscal quarter's financial report when making decisions.
 
AndyS2992

AndyS2992

Well-Known Member
I feel Universal is waaay ahead of Disney at the moment. It seems Disney has stopped caring as of the last few years. The 'We are no. 1 by miles so we don't care' mentality won't be around much longer if they don't improve maintenance and build some new E tickets and major refurbs.
 
F

fosse76

Well-Known Member
Ginzuishou said:
I think there was a Universal Studio Store in the Orlando Airport. Maybe one day they will be in the malls.
Click to expand...
What's your point? Disney also has a store in at Orlando International airport (both Disney and Universal have TWO stores there).
 
George Lucas on a Bench

George Lucas on a Bench

Well-Known Member
Universal has been delivering what Disney hasn't with fresh new major attractions and experiences. Major attractions at Disney like, uhh, Little Mermaid, Nemo, Monsters Inc., Stitch and the car stunt show have done nothing to improve those parks. Everest had a positive impact on AK, but the effects are all broken. Plus, that's ONE attraction out of FOUR parks. The new Fantasyland is geared specifically for little girls. Potter is awesome for all. If Disney opened more stuff like Potter, Transformers or even the Mummy ride, we'd all be a lot happier. Instead, I generally have no idea where all their money is going toward.
 
HenryMystic

HenryMystic

Well-Known Member
GoofGoof

GoofGoof

Premium Member
Universal is on the rise. Not really any arguing with that. Universal is in growth mode. WDW is a mature product. We all complain about issues with show quality and maintenance on aging attractions at WDW. They probably need to spend more on keeping what they have up to the high standard they had in the past and less on new parks or lands in parks or even new attractions. New attractions are great, but they require maintenance and upkeep or they become broken newer attractions in a few years (see Yeti). I would personally prefer to see all of the issues with all 4 parks resolved before they spend a dime on Avatar, Carsland or anything Star Wars. Really, if anything they should be removing older, less popular attractions to make way for new stuff, but we all know that is not popular, Snow White is the latest example of that. Universal is in heavy growth mode now (see 1990s at WDW). They better have a plan to keep things working or they may suffer the same fate as the current WDW.
 
draybook

draybook

Well-Known Member
kucarachi said:
Well Disney resorts have hundreds if not thousands time the amount that Universal has..so if they are having trouble filling those spots i would bet money that Universal is having problems filling theirs. I really don't see how the simpsons in it's 20 + years is going to add any real numbers...and the Transformers, please they are michael bay movies and are already forgotten its like still having the T-2 ride dating back to 91 or 92...20 years of the same exact effects is not striking fear into the heart of disney.

And you really think Disney has trouble figuring out how to make a profit..Just remember whatever Universal does is done to compete with disney not the other way around. I don't see any Universal stores at the mall...do you?
Click to expand...



PoTC, Splash, Space, Thunder Mountain, CBJ, PP, Small World, Speedway, CoP. Yeah, you're right, Universal is the only one that lets attractions sit for years without major changes......herp a derp.



Disney needs to be worried. While I don't see Universal passing the MK in attendance, the other parks might be in danger in the next few years. I love Disney as much as the next person on this forum but Universal is giving Disney "the business" and they(Disney) better keep up.
 
Tom Morrow

Tom Morrow

Well-Known Member
Should there really be any question at this point that UoR is becoming a legitimate threat to WDW's success?
 
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