What is it the Universal does BETTER than Disney?

khelinski

khelinski

New Member
In Universal's case, however, they don't have the nostalgia and history going for them (yet), so it's ALL about the quality of the experience.
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Been enlightened by this thread, and the consistent argument I see is Disney has more nostalgia and history, which I find odd. Universal, the company, has been around A LOT longer than Disney. And with some 'nostalgic' nudges through out the Universal parks, such as Lucy/Universal Monsters/and Hitchcock - it's strange I still see this argument.
 
Skip

Skip

Well-Known Member
khelinski said:
Been enlightened by this thread, and the consistent argument I see is Disney has more nostalgia and history, which I find odd. Universal, the company, has been around A LOT longer than Disney. And with some 'nostalgic' nudges through out the Universal parks, such as Lucy/Universal Monsters/and Hitchcock - it's strange I still see this argument.
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The problem is that Universal has arguably only had a little under 20 years to establish themselves as a theme park destination... Disney's had well over 50 now, which gives them the upper hand in terms of a rich theme park history. As a movie studio, Universal can be incredibly nostalgic when it chooses to be. As a theme park? Not so much.
 
J

JT3000

Well-Known Member
The problem is, even as a studio, Universal has poor branding. Universal is the 2nd oldest studio in Hollywood, but like it was said previously, people don't usually look at a film and think "that's a Universal film" the same way they do with Disney. So they have the history, but they aren't a brand that most people connect to and become nostalgic about. The only real exception is Universal Horror, which has its followers, but it's mostly a niche.

Unfortunately, they also have a knack for failing to pay proper tribute to their library of classic films in the park. This is probably my biggest complaint with USF. Instead of using their own material, they often take "hip" properties from other studios and use them. Of course, Disney is guilty of doing the same thing with DHS, probably even moreso.
 
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ann0d

Active Member
We have a ten year old and for him, he like Universal better only because it is more appealing to a 10 year old boy, Superheroes, Simpsons, Jaws ( the shark scared the daylights out of him last time we went, he was right there where the shark comes out! ) more thrill rides! (Not that Disney doesn't have thrill rides.)
To me Disney is more for the 8 and under, 20 and over crowd. We do definetely enjoy Disney as a family, but for my son he would take Universal. Although he does say TOT is his favorite all time ride.
To each his own!
 
Skip

Skip

Well-Known Member
JT3000 said:
The problem is, even as a studio, Universal has poor branding. Universal is the 2nd oldest studio in Hollywood, but like it was said previously, people don't usually look at a film and think "that's a Universal film" the same way they do with Disney. So they have the history, but they aren't a brand that most people connect to and become nostalgic about. The only real exception is Universal Horror, which has its followers, but it's mostly a niche.

Unfortunately, they also have a knack for failing to pay proper tribute to their library of classic films in the park. This is probably my biggest complaint with USF. Instead of using their own material, they often take "hip" properties from other studios and use them. Of course, Disney is guilty of doing the same thing with DHS, probably even moreso.
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This I agree with, particularly the last paragraph. I miss the nostalgic attractions about Hitchcock and King Kong... as dated as they were they really did bring back a whole lot and represented some of the best movies ever, not some more modern flavor of the month property... we do still have Lucy, the Horror Monsters, Beatlejuice, Jaws, Fievel, Curious George, and E.T., but I wish that list was a bit longer...
 
captainkidd

captainkidd

Well-Known Member
Been away for 2 weeks at Universal and Disney. Just wanted to say a few things:

Universal treats their resort guests MUCH better than Disney.
Disney's resorts are still themed better than Universal's.
The Disney parks have better ambience.
Universal's parks are actually kept in better shape.

For the record, attractions down for maintenance at Disney:
Space Mountain, Living with the Land, Sounds Dangerous

Attractions I saw break down while I was at Disney:
Spaceship Earth, Test Track, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, Pirates of the Caribbean

Attractions down for maintenance or broken down at Universal:
None

Disney needs to get their act together.
 
Skip

Skip

Well-Known Member
WDW Vacationer said:
Keep the parks crowdless.:lookaroun


Oh wait,people just don't go because it STINKS!
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Awesome, insightful post. :rolleyes:


Thanks for the report Captain. I find the resort theming on par with most of Disney's (especially Portofino Bay) with the exception of maybe Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodge - both of which are excellent. I find the ambiance about equal as well in both parks, though Disney can have the edge with the Tree of Life and Castle reveal in AK and MK, respectively. I'd say both Universal parks edge out Epcot and Hollywood Studios (I never found Epcot to have too much of an atmosphere anyway).

Also glad to hear the rides are in shape, with the exception of Rockit. I'm fully willing to admit that the Rockit ordeal is a mess - clearly the Universal execs are desperate to salvage what's left of their mostly lukewarm summer (in terms of attendance), at the expense of guest and even employee experience. Bad show, the ride isn't ready. And where the hell is that banner?
 
JROK

JROK

Member
The whole HRRR opening early thing reminds me of how the entire Universal Studios park opened really rushed, even though attractions weren't ready for it. Remember how Earthquake only had the preshows and how JAWS was running off and on for that whole first year? At least with JAWS Universal was able to redesign the whole attraction, only after having to sue the designers. I wonder if they're going to file anything against Mauer-Sohn for HRRR? I think it's the designers fault the attraction was behind schedule and not Universals. Let's just hope that Potter goes off without a hitch...
 
Skip

Skip

Well-Known Member
JROK said:
The whole HRRR opening early thing reminds me of how the entire Universal Studios park opened really rushed, even though attractions weren't ready for it. Remember how Earthquake only had the preshows and how JAWS was running off and on for that whole first year? At least with JAWS Universal was able to redesign the whole attraction, only after having to sue the designers. I wonder if they're going to file anything against Mauer-Sohn for HRRR? I think it's the designers fault the attraction was behind schedule and not Universals. Let's just hope that Potter goes off without a hitch...
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You know, that's very true. Great point. I guess Universal has a bad habit with that - though, notably, Islands of Adventure (which had such technical marvels as Spider-Man) was up and running on schedule, though. That gives me optimistic vibes that Harry Potter will go reasonably well.
 
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agent86

New Member
JROK said:
The whole HRRR opening early thing reminds me of how the entire Universal Studios park opened really rushed, even though attractions weren't ready for it. Remember how Earthquake only had the preshows and how JAWS was running off and on for that whole first year? At least with JAWS Universal was able to redesign the whole attraction, only after having to sue the designers. I wonder if they're going to file anything against Mauer-Sohn for HRRR? I think it's the designers fault the attraction was behind schedule and not Universals. Let's just hope that Potter goes off without a hitch...
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Skip said:
You know, that's very true. Great point. I guess Universal has a bad habit with that - though, notably, Islands of Adventure (which had such technical marvels as Spider-Man) was up and running on schedule, though. That gives me optimistic vibes that Harry Potter will go reasonably well.
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I remember that too, but there was actually a reason for it. Universal had actually hoped to get their park open before Disney could open MGM, because there had been reports that Disney had stolen a lot of the ideas that Universal had planned to include in their park.
 
J

JT3000

Well-Known Member
agent86 said:
I remember that too, but there was actually a reason for it. Universal had actually hoped to get their park open before Disney could open MGM, because there had been reports that Disney had stolen a lot of the ideas that Universal had planned to include in their park.
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Good ol' Eisner. :hammer:
 
WDW Vacationer

WDW Vacationer

Active Member
Uhhhhhh......there was one ride and the backlot tour at MGM when it opened. Disney did not steal the one ride.(Great Movie Ride.)



Someone said parking garage....I disagree. ALOT! You have to walk far.
Disney has trams. Universal should look into some.


They could have got some cheap with old ride vehicles through Cash for Clunkers.:lookaroun
 
WDW Vacationer

WDW Vacationer

Active Member
JT3000 said:
They stole the concept of the park as a whole.
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THey were going to make it a pavillion in EPCOT,it grew beyond that. There is the old rumor that Eisner new through Paramount,I do not think it is true though.


Wanna talk about stealing? Jurrasic Park area-opened in 2001=to Beastly Kingdom,planed in mid/late 90s.
 

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