What will Disney’s response be to Universals 4th gate?

bstiles

bstiles

Active Member
Original Poster
With universal opening their 4th gate in 2023, what will Disney’s approach be? Will they sit back and wait to see how this park performs or will they be proactive in fast tracking projects to directly compete with Universal?
 
bstiles

bstiles

Active Member
Original Poster
Disney will never build a 5th park as it will cannibalize from the other 4. I was thinking they could probably do a new land at each park to try and entice people to come to their parks. I think they have finally reached the price point that people are disgusted to pay as they feel it’s not worth the elite status as Disney claims
 
Sirwalterraleigh

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
bstiles said:
Disney will never build a 5th park as it will cannibalize from the other 4. I was thinking they could probably do a new land at each park to try and entice people to come to their parks. I think they have finally reached the price point that people are disgusted to pay as they feel it’s not worth the elite status as Disney claims
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As accurate as many of the other posts are...

This is “IT”.

We can hold a class on this in the forums...actually we have held classes on the reasons and realities for about 20 years now. Nothing new is to be considered.

The only thing that’s “changed” is universal has become a more respectable/larger competitor. But that has only minimal effect on Disney
 
bUU

bUU

Well-Known Member
Universal's 4th gate (really, 3rd theme park) is Universal's response to Disney's 3rd and 4th theme parks.

(In other words, Universal is so far behind that they'll have to do a lot more, like open a fourth theme park and a second water park, before there is any relevance to talking about Disney doing anything "in response".)
 
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M

Mickey5150

Well-Known Member
They can redo Dinoland, add a new country to Epcot, add another land in HS. They have plenty of large scale options outside of a new park. Besides they have 5 new rides opening over the next couple of years, a complete revamp of Epcot so it's not like there is nothing going on in WDW.
 
mergatroid

mergatroid

Well-Known Member
The question really is will Universals new park affect Disney's attendances negatively, if not why should Disney open another gate? When Universal announced their first park in Orlando, Disney fought back by building Disney/MGM Studios before Universal opened. I believe back then Disney wanted to make a statement and felt Universal was moving in on their 'territory'. With Universal resort now firmly established, Disney now accepts them being there and there's room for both.

If Universal's new park starts stealing guests from Disney then they'll be concerned, however the idea that another gate at Disney is the only way to fight back seems way off to me. There must be a saturation point at Disney where rather than adding more guests with a new park, it would instead redistribute guests to them which financially wouldn't be good. It would possibly make more sense to add more to the existing parks than build a new one. I know as fans a new gate would seem a wonderful idea, from a business point of view though it would be a huge gamble and they don't exist to just blindly do what the people on here like.

I can't wait for the new Universal park to open and think it will be a fantastic addition to the Orlando area. It will be interesting to see whether it attracts lots of new customers to Universal long term, or redistributes those who normally go to US and IOA there instead. It's certainly an exciting time in the area right now.
 
Sirwalterraleigh

Sirwalterraleigh

Premium Member
mergatroid said:
The question really is will Universals new park affect Disney's attendances negatively, if not why should Disney open another gate? When Universal announced their first park in Orlando, Disney fought back by building Disney/MGM Studios before Universal opened. I believe back then Disney wanted to make a statement and felt Universal was moving in on their 'territory'. With Universal resort now firmly established, Disney now accepts them being there and there's room for both.

If Universal's new park starts stealing guests from Disney then they'll be concerned, however the idea that another gate at Disney is the only way to fight back seems way off to me. There must be a saturation point at Disney where rather than adding more guests with a new park, it would instead redistribute guests to them which financially wouldn't be good. It would possibly make more sense to add more to the existing parks than build a new one. I know as fans a new gate would seem a wonderful idea, from a business point of view though it would be a huge gamble and they don't exist to just blindly do what the people on here like.

I can't wait for the new Universal park to open and think it will be a fantastic addition to the Orlando area. It will be interesting to see whether it attracts lots of new customers to Universal long term, or redistributes those who normally go to US and IOA there instead. It's certainly an exciting time in the area right now.
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That “saturation” point was actually in 1998...where they found they were redistributing travelers/not increasing duration of stays or adding measurable spikes in attendance. Those same realities have continued for 20 years...just with normal travel inflation slapped on top.

A 5th park is not a good idea on a number of levels.
 
Trekkie101

Trekkie101

Well-Known Member
I personally think a fifth gate is coming to Disney.

Universal may be behind, but Disney would be stupid to let them catch up, they'd be stupid to allow them to build near their turf. When you dominate a market, you need to continue to do so, or you risk falling behind.

We're only one deal away from Comcast/Universal doing a deal with SeaWorld and being equal on gates for both parks and waterparks. Resort count is flying up now too. Aggressive resort pricing.

Disney has four gates that struggle on capacity. They're all very busy places, another gate can make more money faster than extra attractions around the resort can.

I imagine the plan exists, I think it'll be an early call for Iger's replacement, Disney have the know how, they have the cash, they never rest on competition.

I expect 2027.
 
tirian

tirian

Well-Known Member
Considering how Disney wields FP+ and the MagicBands to cut staffing and operate attractions at reduced capacity, and how they’ve been cutting entertainment, parades, and CM work hours despite raising admission to all-time highs...

...I’d say they don’t have the vision to operate a fifth park. They don’t know what to do with the four they already have.

Maybe Iger will give another classy interview for WDW’s 50th Anniversary. ;)
 
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Goofyernmost

Goofyernmost

Well-Known Member
Nothing! Why should they Disney already as 6 parks, including the two water parks. Universal is at 4 including a water park. They have no reason to overextend themselves just because Universal is spending more. They aren't able to fill the 6 that they have already, MK excluded from that statement and I think the water parks are doing well too. Universal is competition, but, Disney is already 1 theme park and 1 water park ahead. It's Universal that has to catch up.
 

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