Why IOA is loosign attendance

[ILLmaticS0ldier]

Simple they didn't follow the Disney pattern and open a small park at first and keep expanding it overtime.Universal just built a park that was ready for the public at the opening i think out of desperation just to beat Disney but the affect was that they didn't have anything new until those trolleys in 2006 and now harry potter in 09.

Look at mgm when it first opened nothing to the park it is today and epcot is really different too and not to mention Magic Kingdom which has been changing for over 30 years .

 

[retroeric]

and now harry potter in 09.

This is why their attendance will be back on track.

 

[nerdboyrockstar]

I actually much prefer how Universal opens their parks as full-day parks as opposed to Disney. It's not like every Disney park they've opened with minimal attractions hasn't suffered low attendance at the start (Disney's California Adventure, Hong Kong Disneyland, Walt Disney Studios Paris, and to a lesser extent, Disney's Animal Kingdom).

Maybe it would have been smart to have opened at least a D-Ticket within the past few years. But it wouldn't be the only park in Florida who hasn't added a major attraction since 1999 (Disney's Hollywood Studios). However, for a park with highly-themed thrills and adventure, nothing else in Orlando beats it. And Harry Potter will make an impact on Universal's attendance like no attraction ever added in any theme park in Orlando has.

 

[Michael72688]

First off IOA's attendance, while not great wasnt doing too bad untill 2005 but they had a great summer which continued through Christmas and probably will continue through the next year so they hit a bump, all parks do

 

[teebin]

*rolls eyes at both the spelling and the statement*

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

If its attendance is stagnating it is probably down to the lack of new attractions and the ________ poor maintenance of the existing ones.

 

[disney111]

I think I'd rather have a new park open with plenty of rides then just a couple attractions. I guess I see your point - there is less to look forward to - but now they have Harry Potter coming.

 

[jsdratm]

When I went to IOA in october it was like a ghost town in the morning. I went on every ride within a two hour time span in the morning and it was eerie seeing all the booths closed with hardly any people around. It started to fill up a little more towards noon, but still not many people compared to Universal Studios and especially Disney. Walking through the empty queues often took longer than riding the rides. After a few hours, I went over to Universal Studios, which had a lot more people.

 

[kcnole]

There are two main problems with IOA.

1. (This is the biggest). It just doesn't really offer anything that appeals to families. Walt's old adage that his park should be a place where parents and children can both have fun together isn't followed at IOA. Its a beautiful park, but far too many of the attractions are of the thrill variety.

2. (This kind of ties into #1). There just isn't enough to do in the park, especially if you don't like coasters. I can get through it in just a few hours because we skip most of the thrilling things. It focuses way too much on one demographic without really giving a decent amount of things to everyone. If you don't want a coaster or something with a drop or spin in it (Say you get motion sickness) then you've cut out The Hulk, Spiderman, Both Toon Lagoon rides, Jurassic Park River Adventure, Dueling Dragons, and possibly the Cat in the Hat. What else is there to do?

IOA has a decent amount of wonderful rides with thrills, what they need to do next is focus their next several rides on being E-Ticket caliber rides, but that are of the variety that everybody can ride together. I'm hoping that HP will be able to do that. That is also the reason that USF carries more people. While not being a beautifully themed park, there's just more to do for the whole family. The only rides that really keep a significant amount of people out of them are The Mummy, and possibly Jimmy Neutron. (We'll have to wait and see how bad The Simpsons Ride is because I used to put BTTF in this list as well.) However you're still left with Shrek, Twister, ET, Disaster, Terminator, Jaws, Men In Black, etc...

 

[Sil]

ioa is a great theme park.

 

[kcnole]

It is a great theme park, but it does have its flaws, and family friendly rides is one of them.

 

[jorgetheviking]

While IOA may have its problems it is still a great park! Personally I like USF better but IOA is still fun.

 

[sknydave]

I remember my first trip to IOA in 2000. I was in awe.

 

[Tom Morrow]

I was unaware that IOA was suffering from low attendance. Every time I've gone, its been pretty packed. Honestly, I'm actually suprised it still gets as big of crowds as I've seen, because of the lack of new attractions.

ioa is a great theme park.

I disagree.

It's a decent theme park with expensive theming, in my opinion.

 

[jsdratm]

I enjoyed IOA, they just need more stuff to do. I loved the themes, and it is a quality park, but it would be a whole lot better if you weren't thinking "That's it?" after a few hours. The first day I went, the Incredible Hulk was down, which made it even worse. Some of its rides are pretty underwhelming too, like Dr. Doom's Fearfall, the bumper cars, and the Pteradon Flyers. A few more quality rides and other distractions would make it much more fun.

 

[OmegaKnight]

While the Harry Potter expansion will definitely help the park, it will be the first major attraction the park has added since it opened in 1999. I think that it what kills that park the most: the lack of quality attractions. While it does have the best attraction in the central florida area (Spider-Man,) it simply doesn't have enough to do there to justify a full day. I think the HP expansion will be great for the park, but it seems like it should have been added about 5 years earlier.

 

[Michael72688]

I enjoyed IOA, they just need more stuff to do. I loved the themes, and it is a quality park, but it would be a whole lot better if you weren't thinking "That's it?" after a few hours. The first day I went, the Incredible Hulk was down, which made it even worse. Some of its rides are pretty underwhelming too, like Dr. Doom's Fearfall, the bumper cars, and the Pteradon Flyers. A few more quality rides and other distractions would make it much more fun.

where are the bumper cars?

 

[kcnole]

The only thing I can think he's referring to as bumper cars is the Storm Force Acceletron spinner ride.

 

[BillyBuff]

Low attendance? Then that's good for people like me. I hate crowds! :sohappy:

 

[JROK]

Universal is claiming that attendence was up 3% across both parks in 2007. Now who knows if that's just USF (HHN, Macy's and Mardi Gras) or also includes IOA, but it's great for Universal!