Michael72688
New Member
I know IOA had a big role to play starting in the summer when attendance was very good, Grinchmas kept the momentum going through the end of the year as well.
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Why IOA is loosign attendance
- Thread starter ILLmaticS0ldier
- Start date
There was an article in the local paper that said tourism in the state was up across the board and at all the parks in 2007 by about the 3 % that was mentioned in this post. That said, tourism was just starting to creep back up to pre-hurricane year(2004) that sort of scared some people away from August-Sept. for a few years and now the price of gas is starting to effect them. Here in some areas of Florida it is about 10 cents higher than the national average price right now. Even at the national average price of $3.11, it is keeping people who usually drive closer to home. Anyway it has us. We cut back on going to Sea World's Bud and BBQ concerts all 4 days to just 2 this year even though the concerts are basically free with our passes. Usually we spend the evening after the concerts at the MK.
As for comparing Universal to Disney parks, I think if I was working for Universal I would be aiming for what Disney does not offer. If you can already do it at Disney, why build in the same city? I Think IOA was built with that edge in mind and aimed at the older family with just a little for younger members to do like the Suess area. It will be interesting to see what they do with Harry Potter.
unkadug
Follower of "Saget"The Cult
Still, 5.3 million visitors is nothing to be ashamed of.
http://www.themeit.com/attendance_report2006.pdf
http://www.themeit.com/attendance_report2006.pdf
JROK
Member
When you consider that the FL and Hollywood ROTM attractions only cost $40M each, it's huge. They could easily build some nice attractions or refurbs with that money.
flynnibus
Premium Member
But an attraction like that isn't paid for at once.. capital costs are typically borrowed money and spread out over long term debt.
What's important is the company cash flow to continue paying for such debt.. 93 million sounds like a pretty good profit number for a service industry with high capital costs. But question is how much debt do they still have
I haven't looked at their #sUniversal?
you say the crowds are low at IOA in the morning?
What about Universal studios?
If you get up and get over there are the crowds low at Universal?
We have younger kids. 5 & 6.
We keep debating both parks or only Univesal.
And do we need that pass for skipping the lines.
We know the kids can't do the trill rides.
What about things like Terminator 3-D movie?
Hubby and I want to see if but it might be too much for kids.
you say the crowds are low at IOA in the morning?
What about Universal studios?
If you get up and get over there are the crowds low at Universal?
We have younger kids. 5 & 6.
We keep debating both parks or only Univesal.
And do we need that pass for skipping the lines.
We know the kids can't do the trill rides.
What about things like Terminator 3-D movie?
Hubby and I want to see if but it might be too much for kids.
ChrisFL
Premium Member
IOA has 3 problems.....
Marketing, Marketing and Marketing...
I see it all the time on different message boards I visit, people are totally clueless even today that Universal even HAS another park in Orlando, or they think, by driving by on I-4 that it's an amusement park. Once they visit, 90% of the time they love it and are amazed at how nice the park is.
Universal has struggled since it opened to fully promote IOA to the right audiences. Remember the old Universal Escape commericals, they confused ME and I knew exactly what the parks were about.
I have yet to see a commerical or ad to really show what IOA is all about properly.
Marketing, Marketing and Marketing...
I see it all the time on different message boards I visit, people are totally clueless even today that Universal even HAS another park in Orlando, or they think, by driving by on I-4 that it's an amusement park. Once they visit, 90% of the time they love it and are amazed at how nice the park is.
Universal has struggled since it opened to fully promote IOA to the right audiences. Remember the old Universal Escape commericals, they confused ME and I knew exactly what the parks were about.
I have yet to see a commerical or ad to really show what IOA is all about properly.
sanctumsolitude
Active Member
No no no no no.
That is not the "Disney" method. That is the "Eisner's cost cutting let's see if we can get away with it" method. Starting out small didn't come along until after the Disneyland Paris fiasco (when they overbuilt on hotels not attractions). Theme parks need to be constantly evolving and changing. That part is correct. Building small and working up is not the only way of doing this. In fact, it is the wrong way of doing it. Instead, building large and then continuing to add and modify from there has proven historically to be the better method.
Magic Kingdom was a complete park when it opened in 1971. You could go there for a whole day (or more) from the beginning. Just because it has been changing for 30 years does not indicate that it was built small to begin with.
Same with Epcot. And Disneyland Paris. And Tokyo Disneyland. These were all complete parks since their inception and have had high attendance throughout their existence by constantly adding bits and pieces. IOA made the right decision in making a complete park to begin with. They expected to attract a large number of visitors in their first years and comparatively, they did. Attendance in 2000 (first complete year of operation) was 6 million (compared to USF's 8.1 million) which is actually right where you would expect a companion park to go. Contrast this with the "built it small" parks like Disney's California Adventure which had only 5 million guests in its first year (compared to over 12 million right next door).
IOA then made the mistake of thinking that is all they had to do. Adding one ride in 3 years is a sign of stagnation. IOA's mistake was not in starting out big, it was in thinking that was all there was to it.
Look at the parks that started out small: Disney's California Adventure, Walt Disney Studios Paris, Hong Kong Disneyland... none of them are considered successful right now. Contrast with Tokyo Disneysea which was built around the same time, but in a complete form. It is one of the top visited theme parks in the world. Tokyo Disneysea continues to add attractions each year. Yes, they built the expensive Tower of Terror. But they have also added smaller stuff liking Raging Spirits and nighttime shows.
So no, IOA did not make a mistake in starting out too big. They may have wanted to wait about a year before opening one of their big attractions, but no one can fault them for having everything ready from day one. What they can be faulted for is then doing almost nothing after that.
Pumbas Nakasak
Heading for the great escape.
MGM !!!!!! If ever there was an example of a park lacking in attractions theres a blue print. It has slowly gotten worse and the newer attractions big on hype low on quality.
It's those kind of aditudes that lower my wait times. Thanks.
Uhhm... He was making fun of Disneyites.
Pumbas Nakasak
Heading for the great escape.
jorgetheviking
New Member
IOA is a great park. The mistake came way after it's opening. Universal neglected it to the point it is at now. Potter will soon change that and hopefully Universal will not make the same mistakes again after its opening.