What's the deal with some Disney Fans? by Robert Niles

[SeaBase86]

Interesting article here talking about how Disney fans feel about the new Wizarding World at Universal's Islands of Adventure.

http://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/201008/2074/

What do you all think about this article?

 

[Mukta]

I think it is a great article that sums things up really well.
Yes, there are a lot of Disney fans who appreciate what Universal has created with the WWOHP.
The naysayers are insecure. There is no current Disney ride that can surpass the technology and theming of The Forbidden Journey.
I also think the naysayers should ride it once before saying "Disney could have done better".
If it wasn't for WWoHP, I wouldn't have visited WDW this year. It is bringing tourists to Orlando and Disney.

 

[David S.]

I think it is a great article that sums things up really well.
Yes, there are a lot of Disney fans who appreciate what Universal has created with the WWOHP.
The naysayers are insecure. There is no current Disney ride that can surpass the technology and theming of The Forbidden Journey.

Maybe not in technology but I doubt if the Potter ride is as cute, happy, or would make me feel as "Warm and Fuzzy" inside as my Disney favorites like Splash Mountain and It's A Small World! And those happy qualities, (that some more "jaded" fans enjoy making fun of), found in truckloads in my fave Disney attractions, are why I've always preferred Disney over Uni. For me, it has absolutely NOTHING to do with which park has the most, "latest and greatest" high-tech toys in their attractions!

Also, I'm not a big Potter fan. I enjoyed the first 3 movies OK, but the last three were WAY too dark for my tastes and all had sad endings. Whereas the Disney characters, stories, and songs found in the parks from the Disney Animated Classics (as well as new ones created for the parks like Country Bears and Figment) are my favorite characters, stories, and songs of all time!

Yet, I'm not a "naysayer" about Potter. I'm just not in a big hurry to go experience it, but I will get around to it eventually. I've never been a big Uni fan (although I do really like the ET ride!), so it'll be interesting to see what effect (if any) the Potter ride has on my decision to forgo a Uni AP and just stick with my WDW and Busch Gardens/Sea World APs for the portion of the year I live in metro Orlando.

I'm not posting this is an argumentative way. I'm just presenting a point of view that explains why at least some Disney fans like myself are not all that excited about Potter.

 

[jakeman]

Good article in general.

I think the fan base that dismisses Potter simply because it is not at Disney is very very small though.

Much larger, in my opinion, though is the current sentiment that immediately brands every announcement as a "Potter-killer" and then laments the reason why is it not. That stupid bear announcement from a few weeks ago is the prime example of that.

I think everyone wants Disney to do something, but in reality it doesn't appear that Disney needs to do anything.

Just to also point out, the recent drop in attendance in 3Q10 was due to Easter not falling in that quarter this year (per the press release). I think we will have to wait for 4Q10 attendance to draw any conclusions.

I should quantify before I am labeled an apologist, my family will be at Potter with bells on in October and we are really looking forward to it.

 

[bgraham34]

Thanks for the article and it was a good read. I am not a fan of HP at all but I would like to see what they have done over there. Whether I do or not is another story. I really enjoy Disney and feel that resort works for me. But UNI did a very good job from what i can see.

 

[janoimagine]

I read this one as well, and as far as those Disney fans of us who dismiss Universals offerings, it will be there loss. I know for one my girlfriend and I have 9 days in the World coming up in October, and for sure 1 of those will be spent at Universal and it is only because of Harry Potter.

 

[Master Yoda]

For the most part the article seems to simply describe the soon to be medical term fanboyism. You can apply the same basic argument to AMD vs. Intel, Mac vs. PC, Star Wars vs Star Trek, etc.

 

[_Scar]

Maybe not in technology but I doubt if the Potter ride is as cute, happy, or would make me feel as "Warm and Fuzzy" inside as my Disney favorites like Splash Mountain and It's A Small World! And those happy qualities, (that some more "jaded" fans enjoy making fun of), found in truckloads in my fave Disney attractions, are why I've always preferred Disney over Uni. For me, it has absolutely NOTHING to do with which park has the most, "latest and greatest" high-tech toys in their attractions!

Also, I'm not a big Potter fan. I enjoyed the first 3 movies OK, but the last three were WAY too dark for my tastes and all had sad endings. Whereas the Disney characters, stories, and songs found in the parks from the Disney Animated Classics (as well as new ones created for the parks like Country Bears and Figment) are my favorite characters, stories, and songs of all time!

Yet, I'm not a "naysayer" about Potter. I'm just not in a big hurry to go experience it, but I will get around to it eventually. I've never been a big Uni fan (although I do really like the ET ride!), so it'll be interesting to see what effect (if any) the Potter ride has on my decision to forgo a Uni AP and just stick with my WDW and Busch Gardens/Sea World APs for the portion of the year I live in metro Orlando.

I'm not posting this is an argumentative way. I'm just presenting a point of view that explains why at least some Disney fans like myself are not all that excited about Potter.

Oh, you'll LOVE Harry Potter. Fan or not, it doesn't matter! That's the beautiful thing about it: anyone can appreciate what great of a ride it truly is!

And not everything in life is princess and princes, the Half Blood Prince is still great even though it isn't lollipops and pixie dust. :lol: :animwink:

 

[Lucky]

WDW fans should welcome Potter or anything else that helps keep Disney on its toes. I've spent over 50 days in WDW parks and had never been to Uni until last week, when my daughter wanted to see Potterville.

Potter is not just a high-tech ride. It's a "land" that works as well as any in the Uni or WDW parks. The castle and village are beautifully done. The ride queue is great. And the coasters Potter colonized from the Lost Continent land are integrated pretty well.

 

[David S.]

And not everything in life is princess and princes

You're right. There's singing animals, too!

 

[Thrill]

I mostly agree. While I haven't seen Potter, I am looking forward to it and it looks very nice, on par with something Disney would do.

WDW fans should welcome Potter or anything else that helps keep Disney on its toes. I've spent over 50 days in WDW parks and had never been to Uni until last week, when my daughter wanted to see Potterville.

I'm hoping that it has some influence and TDO doesn't pass it off as "just a fad." This is one of those times where I miss Mr. Eisner and his competitiveness.

 

[SleepingMonk]

Great article!

:sohappy:

 

[SeaBase86]

Maybe not in technology but I doubt if the Potter ride is as cute, happy, or would make me feel as "Warm and Fuzzy" inside as my Disney favorites like Splash Mountain and It's A Small World! And those happy qualities, (that some more "jaded" fans enjoy making fun of), found in truckloads in my fave Disney attractions, are why I've always preferred Disney over Uni. For me, it has absolutely NOTHING to do with which park has the most, "latest and greatest" high-tech toys in their attractions!

Also, I'm not a big Potter fan. I enjoyed the first 3 movies OK, but the last three were WAY too dark for my tastes and all had sad endings. Whereas the Disney characters, stories, and songs found in the parks from the Disney Animated Classics (as well as new ones created for the parks like Country Bears and Figment) are my favorite characters, stories, and songs of all time!

Yet, I'm not a "naysayer" about Potter. I'm just not in a big hurry to go experience it, but I will get around to it eventually. I've never been a big Uni fan (although I do really like the ET ride!), so it'll be interesting to see what effect (if any) the Potter ride has on my decision to forgo a Uni AP and just stick with my WDW and Busch Gardens/Sea World APs for the portion of the year I live in metro Orlando.

I'm not posting this is an argumentative way. I'm just presenting a point of view that explains why at least some Disney fans like myself are not all that excited about Potter.

I understand but not to start a thread drift I think Hollywood has been missing these dark movies lately. It's been to much of this happy ending stuff.I wish there were more movies like Blade Runner (director's cut) and Aliens and City Of God.

I hate everything about Potter but when I went to that island I fell in love. Forbidden Journey is an excellent ride. And the theming is just so great.

I agree with everyone here, any great addition to Uni is welcome to me because:
1. Keeps me wanting to renew my annual pass over there.
2. It'll put some fire under Disney to do something great.

 

[Monty]

I extended my usual 8-day vacation to a 15-day trip because of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We went to Universal for the first time ever this trip.

Universal did an excellent job on the land and the queue. The ride has some excellent aspects and some not so great ones. The individual scenes are well done but the transitions between them are generally quite poor. There are easily visible modern building structural elements that could/should have been concealed better. The ride seems to break down a lot (purely anecdotal, we have been three times and two of the three the ride was down for hours, the other it was down briefly).

Overall I think it's great, but it's far from the be all and end all it's portrayed as by some.

Sadly, it isn't enough to convince me to renew the premium APs I bought for Universal by itself and the rest of the two parks don't interest me enough to go back. I really like TWWOHP, but it just isn't enough.

 

[SeaBase86]

I extended my usual 8-day vacation to a 15-day trip because of The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. We went to Universal for the first time ever this trip.

Universal did an excellent job on the land and the queue. The ride has some excellent aspects and some not so great ones. The individual scenes are well done but the transitions between them are generally quite poor. There are easily visible modern building structural elements that could/should have been concealed better. The ride seems to break down a lot (purely anecdotal, we have been three times and two of the three the ride was down for hours, the other it was down briefly).

Overall I think it's great, but it's far from the be all and end all it's portrayed as by some.

Sadly, it isn't enough to convince me to renew the premium APs I bought for Universal by itself and the rest of the two parks don't interest me enough to go back. I really like TWWOHP, but it just isn't enough.

I thought it was pretty flawless myself. The one thing that upset me was you can see the showbuilding from everywhere in the park. It's really annoying to me lol. I hate seeing showbuildings it takes away the effect. But that's about it.


What transitions are you referring to?

 

[David Roberts]

Great article and very accurate. And like he said, I can't wait to see what WDI has nup their sleeves in an answer to HP.

 

[Monty]

I thought it was pretty flawless myself. The one thing that upset me was you can see the showbuilding from everywhere in the park. It's really annoying to me lol. I hate seeing showbuildings it takes away the effect. But that's about it.


What transitions are you referring to?

Transitions from the omniscreens to physical scenes are awkward in my view, a bit of darkness in the transition would probably fix it. Similarly, there's too much ambient light in the ride, allowing building structural elements to be seen easily.

Neither is a horrendous or egregious error, but could vastly improve the experience.

As I said, I ultimately enjoy the ride and it's "land", but it's not enough to make Universal appealing to me. :shrug:

 

[spock]

I thought it was a great article and so very true!! I only disagreed with a couple parts of it:

1. He made it sound as though the Disney fans who dismiss Potter are essentially a microscopic number. Granted, I have no basis for being able to prove otherwise, but my instincts and observations tell me that while it's still a minority, it's a large minority (if that makes sense).

2. He gave "insecurity" as a potential reason for Disney fans' dismissal of Potter (and Universal in general). I agree wholeheartedly that insecurity has a LOT to do with it. But the author of the article described that insecurity as stemming more from fans' financial investment in Disney (such as buying DVC, annual passes, etc). I would tend to think that it's more like the investment that a person makes in a relationship. For example, someone who has been married for a long time and who is thoroughly devoted to his wife may feel guilty for finding another woman physically attractive. Likewise, I think some Disney fans would feel guilty for enjoying Universal, as though they had "cheated" on Disney or had been disloyal to Disney.

Regardless, I think any Disney fan who deprives themselves of enjoying Universal out of some loyalty to Disney is only hurting themselves. Not only is Potter the single best theme park attraction ever, but there is so much more at both Universal parks that are outstanding. In many ways, the Universal parks are on a par with (and in some cases surpass) Disney parks.

 

[spock]

Similarly, there's too much ambient light in the ride, allowing building structural elements to be seen easily.

I've actually noticed this on Everest moreso than I noticed it on this ride. In fact, I've found that to be a major distraction from the illusion every time I've ridden Everest. It's like "Hey we're inside a mountain! Oh wait, what's with all the steel beams?"

 

[jonnyc]

I thought it was pretty flawless myself. The one thing that upset me was you can see the showbuilding from everywhere in the park. It's really annoying to me lol. I hate seeing showbuildings it takes away the effect. But that's about it.

You can see it in the greenhouse section of the queue as well. there are some trees being grown so I don't know if that will fix the problem, if not they could have brought the greehouse out further or something. It's real shame as everything is themed so well, then boom showbuilding.