Vivendi Universal

[Lofatrules]

Has anyone else heard or seen anything about Disney and Universal. I was on a Hotel Business website the other day and it was stated on there that Vivendi is looking to spin off Universal because of the huge amount of debt it carries. ONe of the major interested groups in purchasing Universal was the Walt Disney Company. How valid is this rumor?
Also even if it isn't valid I would like to know what people think would happen if Disney gained control of Universal Studios Fla.
What would it mean for the Orlando Theme Park Industry

 

[The_CEO]

What would the world be like without Universal? Gone..... Only Disney.. Wheres the competition?

 

[Lord Alfred]

Originally posted by the_ceo_at_wdw
What would the world be like without Universal? Gone..... Only Disney.. Wheres the competition?

Let's face facts here. The "Golden Age" of WDW and Disney theme parks in general occured before UO and IOA were a twinkle in some rich man's eye. The "competition" has done absolutely nothing for Disney, as the new attractions and parks have either been disappointing or too few and far between since then. Can anyone honestly say that things have been better at WDW since UO and IOA opened? Or were they at their best at a time before?

Don't get me wrong. I'm all for Universal's parks' right-to-exist as a separate entity, and competition USUALLY brings out the best (and worst) in people and companies. But the argument of "Look what the competition has done for us!" does not hold water in this case.

 

[Lofatrules]

exactly

as much as i like the Universal parks I do have to say that instead of the competition improving the Disney product it has gone the other direction. Disney deals with the loss of attendance by cutting back on costs to compensate instead of doing something special to get the people back. Maybe lack of competition would be good for Disney. Although I hope it's not at the expense of the Universal parks completely as i have enjoyed time spent there

 

[Michael72688]

I agree, Universal, and IOA do have better rides than most of Disneys, and many people would prefer to go to Universal Orlando, rater than Disney, especially if they like thrill rides! If Disney buys Universal I persoanlly think it would do nothing but help our local ecomnomy especially sice it is still down!

 

[Gracy_hm]

Michael

Michael I would stongly disagree and say for me at least I would rather go to Disney over IOA/US. This is just my opinion and I can not speak for the population as a whole.

Take care,
Kyle B.

 

[Michael72688]

I love Disney, infact I'm an anual pass holder! But for me, I love great rides like rollercoaster, flumes, and other great rides! Disney does have some of those kinds of rides but to get all of them you have to go to four different parks, and IOA you get all of them in one park, but on the other hand I hate Universal Studios the park, it is just like MGM and that is really not my kind of place.

 

[bdhowell]

I think things are great at Disney!! I have never worked for a company that is so compassionate about its employees and guests! Universal FL is the worst park I have ever been to! I am so glad that I got in for free the only time I have visited the park! I think we will see better attention to the parks!! At least Disney cares about its parks and is not putting them up for sale like Universal's owner wants too! :animwink:

 

[Sherm00]

UO and IOA can't hold a candle to disney. when we were there (just a few weeks ago) we were not that impressed with universal. let me explain. in the studios part of UO some of the rides were pretty cool but really short. for twister we waited 10 minutes in a preshow for a 3 minute ride. earthquake (though cool) had 3 preshows, we felt like a herd of cattle. herd you into one room, herd you into another room, etc. and express pass stinks, it's nothing like disneys fastpass, fast pass is fabulous. express pass first isn't in front of the ride so you have to search for it because it isn't listed on the maps, second they have sometimes 2 or more rides per group of machines, so in some cases you have to wait 10 minutes in a line just to get an express pass. now since people staying on universal property can use the express pass lines without getting an express pass ticket you have to wait another 10 to 20 minutes in the express line to get on the ride. I could have haved time by just waiting in the regular line. this happened to us in Men in black. the ride was short and not really memorible. Buzz lightyear is 1000 times better. in universal the bathrooms were always dirty, not so at disney. now in IOA we rode jurassic park. now from all the hype I thought there was a real theme around it a longer boat ride with dinosaurs etc. nooooo. the put you in a boat bring you around the ben where the boat waits in a que line to go into a building and up a ramp to drop you. ok... so the only dinosaur I saw was the one before the drop. the ride was terrible. our favorite part of IOA was dr. suess landing. the cat and the hat was cool. but the one thing that always bothered us was that through out the whole park the music wasn't very theming. we walked through it twice and said they should have dr. suess rymes playing or a whimsicle music, instead of the pop rock stuff they play through the park. another cool part was pisodens fury, the I have to say was cool. me and my wife don't do rollercoasters so there goes half the rides in the park. popeys river thing was cool, we waited the 45 minutes in line, thats where we noticed that universal tryis to cash in by selling ice cream and candy in the line. okay not a big deal except when you have rude people trying to but the line to get candy and holding it up because they needed a drink. and on top of that they only put 1 garbage can in line. and from the looks of it they only clean it once a day. we said to ourselves that would never happen at disney. city walk was cool but being out front of both parks made it seem a little congested, everything was on top of you, an people are rude. and the employees are not as nice in universal as they are in disney. in universal they are just average. if disney gets a hold of universal I doubt they will change it much, except in the service areas, clean everything up, friendlier staff more signage, and a few rides that everyone can ride not just the thrill seekers. thats why I like disney they have rides that everyone can ride not just the thrill seekers. and put both parks to the test. on the back of our charge card we have please ask for ID instead of signing it. that way if we loose our charge card no one can use it. EVERYONE in disney asked for my ID, EVERYONE. in universal NOBODY asked for ID. on our next trip if we do decide to go to universal we would only get a one day park hopper pass. universal isn't worth a 2 day trip. disney is so more spread out, it's more relaxing and the parks are clean and the service is 100 times better. universal has a long way to go.

 

[Gracy_hm]

Michael

I understand where you are coming from and I can understand why you would hae those thoughts

Take care,
Kyle B.

 

[pheneix]

>>>UO and IOA can't hold a candle to disney. when we were there (just a few weeks ago) we were not that impressed with universal.<<<

I'm going to go on a limb here and say that you went to Universal wanting to hate the place to begin with. Why am I posting this? Because most of your complaints (with the exception of your complaints about the Studios. Most of those opinions are of the majority and Universal is taking steps to correct those problems.) are really not based on any stretch of reality whatsoever. For example:

>>>so the only dinosaur I saw was the one before the drop<<<

So you didn't see the barontosaurus (or however you spell it) right after the gates open at the start of the ride? You didn't see the raptors that take turns jumping at your boat on the way up the ramp? You didn't see the dino that knocks your boat off-course and into the backstage facilities? There's an overwhelming majority of facts that just makes that you said way off-base. The same goes for the background music in Seuss Landing (I have the music playing through my speakers as I type this post).

I'm not really trying to initiate a personal attack here (although this will probably be interpreted as such), but your trip report just reeks of someone that did not even want to give the place a chance anyway. Either that or you just went to the resort on a VERY bad day.

>>>At least Disney cares about its parks and is not putting them up for sale like Universal's owner wants too!<<<

It's not an issue of Vivendi not caring (or maybe with the French mentallity it probably is), it is an issue of Vivendi being so starved for cash that they are being forced to sell Universal (or in the more likely outcome publicly spinning off the company).

 

[WDWKing]

Not for anything sherm, but you went to the park in the summer, of course it is going to be PACKED,hot and a little dirty due to all the people that can't get off during the school year, which happens to be when my family prefers to go to the parks where it is a little bit cooler, less crowded and everyone is in a better mood. IOA is an amazing park which I have to admit, some of its rides surpass some of Disney's. Jurassic Park River Adventure has amazing theming, as well as the other islands in IOA. Also, you gotta hand it to Universal, they are planning 3 new rides which are supposed to be pretty big. What is Disney planning? Mission Space? Ok. Mickey's Philharmagic? Ok I guess those 2 are great additions to the world, but those are probably the last E-Tickets we will see for a while in WDW, IMHO.

 

[Lord Alfred]

Let me first state that I have no qualms with Universal's theme parks just because they aren't Disney. That is not a factor in my opinion. But...

I went to UO and felt that it was an extremely weak park. The only attraction I felt was truly good was T2:3D, and that's a 3D movie. Ride-wise it was very disappointing, and I felt the park as a whole was not up to Disney standards.

I have not been to IoA yet, but it looks to be much better than UO in terms of rides and value. It seems to be a cross between a Disney Park and a SixFlags while taking some of the best parts of each. I would like to see attendence figures for IoA vs. UO just to see if the locals prefer one over the other, since distance travelers will probably see both regardless.

Personally, I doubt there is much "stealing" of visitors between Universal and WDW, as most travelers will attempt to do both or just WDW after trekking to Orlando. The locals would be the only thing that might be affected, and I'm not even sure about that.

 

[mkt]

i'll be blunt...

if Disney buys Universal, I'm screwed. I work for both, Universal for the money (they pay me more than double what I make at WDW) and Disney for the maingate pass.

If Disney buys out Universal, 12,000 people will take a rather large paycut, and be forced into a Union contract.

I'll quit both jobs if this happens.

 

[kevinwyld]

I've actually got annual passes to all three parks in Orlando (hey - someone's got to think of better things to buy as presents for 44 year old single men for birthdays and Christmas ), and I like all three, although I'm a recent convert to Universal.
I recently spent some time with friends staying at the Royal Pacific Hotel, which had the great advantage of giving unlimited Express Passes for the length of stay (will Disney do that?). I definitely noticed changes in UO, which were for the better - Twister, T2-3D and Men in Black are great. Even Kongfrontation seemed to have improved since my last visit 18 months ago, but it's closing for good in a few weeks' time. IOA has great rides, but I must admit that Jurassic Park is much better in Hollywood. In fact Universal Hollywood is sooo much better than UO - there's simply no comparison.
Still, for the atmosphere, and the whole 'experience' WDW still is much better - it just seems right, while Universal isn't - I can't put it into words.
Finally, Universal can't do the entertainment right - the fireworks are pretty poor in comparison with Disney's, and the other shows at WDW are so much better (although I haven't seen Poseidon's Fury yet).
Areas for improvement:
UO - look what they do at Universal Hollywood (shame they can't import the landscape, however)
IOA - not a lot really, although the fireworks could stand an upgrade
MK - get rid of Space Mountain, and build a copy of Disneyland Paris' ride; do something with 20,000 Leagues lagoon
Epcot - The Living Seas - what is it all about any more? Change Tapestry of Dreams PLEASE
MGM - Star Tours 2, please
AK - actually, I think it's underrated, but BK would be a welcome addition.
Sorry about the rant, but in closing, what to thrill-seekers think of Kraken and Atlantis - I honestly think they are better than most other rides in Orlando.

 

[JLW11Hi]

Originally posted by kevinwyld
I've actually got annual passes to all three parks in Orlando (hey - someone's got to think of better things to buy as presents for 44 year old single men for birthdays and Christmas ), and I like all three, although I'm a recent convert to Universal.
I recently spent some time with friends staying at the Royal Pacific Hotel, which had the great advantage of giving unlimited Express Passes for the length of stay (will Disney do that?).

Areas for improvement:
UO - look what they do at Universal Hollywood (shame they can't import the landscape, however)
IOA - not a lot really, although the fireworks could stand an upgrade
MK - get rid of Space Mountain, and build a copy of Disneyland Paris' ride; do something with 20,000 Leagues lagoon
Epcot - The Living Seas - what is it all about any more? Change Tapestry of Dreams PLEASE
MGM - Star Tours 2, please
AK - actually, I think it's underrated, but BK would be a welcome addition.
Sorry about the rant, but in closing, what to thrill-seekers think of Kraken and Atlantis - I honestly think they are better than most other rides in Orlando.

Disney does give Ultimate Park Hopper passes for the length of stay when you get a package (we always do this).

As for thrill seekers, well, in my honest opinion, they might as well go to a Six Flags, or Bush Gardens, because they all have much more rides and they are all much more thrilling. I do like this occasionally, but they are not my favorite tyes of rides. (I'd choose Pooh or Cat in the Hat over a roller coaster any day.)

 

[jmarc63]

Originally posted by Michael72688
I agree, Universal, and IOA do have better rides than most of Disneys, and many people would prefer to go to Universal Orlando, rater than Disney, especially if they like thrill rides! If Disney buys Universal I persoanlly think it would do nothing but help our local ecomnomy especially sice it is still down!

You bring up a valid point. USO has rides and WDW has Attractions. Ther is a big difference in that. Thrill rides are just that THRILL RIDES . Disney was built and creating adventure and thrills with out having to make you Nausaus to the point of making you throw-up to acheave a "cheap" thrill. in the last ten years both have been metting in the middle. Disney has been going for the cheap thrill with the rollercoaster at AK, while USO has been adding more Attractions with lots of theaming on a Disney level.

I would like to stop the erosion of going for the cheap for the sake of saving money to get something new in to a park.

 

[jmarc63]

At least Disney cares about its parks and is not putting them up for sale like Universal's owner wants too!<<<

[/B]

You have to consider something here.

First WDW is still owned by it's creators even though it has diffrent management.

Second Vendi bought the entire Universal company and the theme parks were part of the package. Vendi is not in the business of operating theme parks like Disney is and they don't know what to do to get them to improve so they are selling them to shed an unprofitable segment they dont know much about. so there is no reason for Vendi to have any loyalty to the parks other than the profit they can generate.


If this was to be seriously considered by Disney could this be considered as a Monolopy by some??

 

[BAM]

If this was to be seriously considered by Disney could this be considered as a Monolopy by some??

You know this is exactly what I was thinking. Any of you ever fear that the Walt Disney Company might become to big to form a monopoly.

How definate is it that Vendi is planning on selling its florida parks and if Disney will even put a bid in for it? I mean isn't Disney a little short on money? This would be a couple billion dollar expense. I think that they're trying to buy too much. They should first buy out Pixar and the Henson's.

 

[mkt]

Originally posted by jmarc63
If this was to be seriously considered by Disney could this be considered as a Monolopy by some??

I don't think it would, since for the longest time, WDW was the only major game in Orlando. No Sea World, no Universal.

Not to mention, that a legitimate monopoly would be industrywide, and not just regional, since Cedar Fair, 6 Flags, Busch, and others still exist.

If Disney were to buy out Universal, it would be viewed more along the lines of DaimlerChrysler than Microsoft.