Will IOA ever surpass a Disney park attendance wise?

[ParentsOf4]

I frequent Universal (and Disney) and I have never seen MIB's line longer than 20 minutes. It is not a ride that is even prone to breaking down (although disney has plenty of those!). Oh, and it's a poor man's Buzz Lightyear? Buzz is atrocious (especially compared to TSMM and Disneyland's AstroBlasters), the mounted guns barely work, the targets barely respond, the vehicles don't stay aimed where you want them to. To say MIB is a "poor man's Buzz" is such a pixie-dust snorting delusion that I can't believe I'm typing this. And I'm sure plenty of people on here will defend on me on this.

I'll defend you on this.

When I read the original "poor man's Buzz Lightyear" statement, my reaction was exactly the same as yours; perhaps the most pixie dust snorting statement I've ever read on these threads.

Last time I rode Buzz, they actually had a cone blocking a non-functional vehicle and another one taped up like a crime scene. And Buzz's queue is a mess. With the exception of the animated Buzz, the queue screams "Six Flags". And I'm tired of half the vehicles I ride not working correctly, along with several show elements. Does anyone ever do maintenance on this "attraction"?

Really sad because my children used to like Buzz ...

Until they rode Men In Black.

 

[cheezbat]

No reason arguing Tom....Kitchandro obviously hates what Universal currently is and there's no changing the posters mind.

We know that MIB's queue is detailed after the movie set...and that the ride is the best shooter anywhere. Buzz has nothing on it. In all my visits I can't remember it being broken down once.

Potter is a game changer no matter what anybody says. Look at how things changed for Universal. The new expansion is like icing on the cake.

At least with Universal it sure sounds like they're building for the future big time, while Disney may or may not be giving us some new stuff to look forward to.

 

[Skip]

Hey guys, just remember - if you personally don't like an attraction or property, it sucks and/or is a fad!


But actually - claiming MIB is a poor man's Buzz? Claiming MIB wasn't a well-liked movie? Claiming you don't know what a Lorax is when a 250 mil film just came out!? I'll have what you're having! Men in Black is one of the most cohesive, well-executed attractions in the Orlando theme parks. I'm actually surprised it isn't more consistently talked about, it's a marvel.

 

[lazyboy97o]

But actually - claiming MIB is a poor man's Buzz? Claiming MIB wasn't a well-liked movie? Claiming you don't know what a Lorax is when a 250 mil film just came out!? I'll have what you're having! Men in Black is one of the most cohesive, well-executed attractions in the Orlando theme parks. I'm actually surprised it isn't more consistently talked about, it's a marvel.

The attraction is even more of a marvel when you hear the constraints of the project's development.

Also, I'd love to start a 30 year fad.

 

[BryceM]

Wow @Kitchandro, Men In Black: Alien Attack is a poor man's Buzz Lightyear? You just said the ride which has a heavily detailed queue, a legitimate pre-show, a heavily detailed New York City and Audio-Animatronics is better than a ride with broken guns and cardboard cut-outs?

I get that you don't like Universal, that's fine. Just your outrageous assumptions are a little bit too annoying. (Nobody knows what Dr. Seuss is? What kind of statement is that?)

 

[BryceM]

What is? Because the day I spent there was utterly awful and I don't feel like wasting $80-90 again?

No thank you, Disney gets crowded and it rains...but on those days there are other options...I couldn't believe it when the worker told us they only had 3-4 attractions open...Disney spoils me, if it's raining I go watch one of the movies...or Haunted Mansion, or Pirates, or Space Mountain, or etc....

IOA does have a lot of outdoor attractions. The attractions you can do in the rain include Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey, The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, Poseidon's Fury, The Cat in the Hat, CaroSeussEl, Storm Force Accelatron, The 8th Voyage of Sinbad and the water rides. Honestly, you should just head to Universal Studios in the case of bad weather. Almost every attraction there is indoors.

 

[The Empress Lilly]

Genuinely no clue what Doctor Seuss is. What the hell is a Lorax? What lingo are you speaking son? I don't even think I need to debate about that. That will NEVER last. Kids over here arent even interested in it now.

It's an American thing I believe. Lorax is an author of children's books, his most famous one is about Seuss Landing, a cat.


Or sommat.

 

[englanddg]

I'm gonna hone in on Seuss...

1) The Lorax, film aside, isn't even a ride at Seuss Landing. It's just a well done homage. Just like the Zax.

2) Seuss wrote nearly 60 children's books over a career spanning ~50 years.

3) He still remains among the highest selling children's authors of all time.

And, with respect to "do kids know him"? What kid doesn't know the Grinch, or Cat and the Hat? My kid is even aware of the more esoteric Sneeches and Zax (the Zax being one of her personal favorite stories).

I'd hardly call him a "fad". His books are as timeless as any Disney movie.

 

[lazyboy97o]

I'm gonna hone in on Seuss...

1) The Lorax, film aside, isn't even a ride at Seuss Landing. It's just a well done homage. Just like the Zax.

2) Seuss wrote nearly 60 children's books over a career spanning ~50 years.

3) He still remains among the highest selling children's authors of all time.

And, with respect to "do kids know him"? What kid doesn't know the Grinch, or Cat and the Hat? My kid is even aware of the more esoteric Sneeches and Zax (the Zax being one of her personal favorite stories).

I'd hardly call him a "fad". His books are as timeless as any Disney movie.

From what I have gathered (across a few threads) is that Dr. Seuss is not all that well known over in the United Kingdom.

 

[englanddg]

From what I have gathered (across a few threads) is that Dr. Seuss is not all that well known over in the United Kingdom.

Sure, and Dr. Who isn't as well known over here as it is over there. Still doesn't mean that Seuss isn't timeless or a viable IP, or that Dr. Who wouldn't make an awesome addition to Uni or Disney.

 

[maxairmike]

Potter isn't a timeless property like say Star Wars. I feel the IP will run its course within 10, maybe 15 years and Universal will be forced to start over again, if they are still a player. Disney will keep chugging along, Star Wars alone will be a huge revenue stream until the earth explodes.

But back to topic...

If there is any truth to the new Potter area being built within the Universal Studio's park, you can rest assured Uni will never beat a Disney park in attendance. You can't rob Peter to pay Paul in the theme park world, there will be a forced drop off from IOA if this is the case. If Uni was smart they would have put all the Potter stuff together, but if they are truly splitting things up, that's a head scratcher.

I can only see another huge attendance increase at Uni if and when a Star Wars land is completed at DHS, that will be a huge boost to Uni's numbers.


Jimmy Thick- But never the other way around.

You really are thick, aren't you? The truth has been obvious for well over a year to anyone paying any kind of attention to what goes on in this industry, and longer than that for those who know a little more than the casual fan (one person in particular called it way back in 08 or 09). And no, it isn't a head scratcher to split them up, its rather smart and pretty much insures that the new "base" ticket is a more expensive 1-day 2 park ticket, while Disney's base ticket is the less expensive 1-day 1 park ticket (1 day 1 park will still be available, but it won't be listed/advertised). This will in turn push those wanting to visit Universal to multi-day tickets, which leads to...well, I'd say you can figure out the rest, but I'll say most people who aren't thick should be able to figure out the rest. And no, this won't backfire.

Not liking Universal is one thing, but to try and continue painting it as the poor man's competition to Disney is delusion of the highest pixie dust snorting levels. It boggles the mind (well, my mind at least).

To answer the original question posed by the OP...unlikely, and I've touched on this many, many, many times before and I won't rehash the argument as to why the answer is no/unlikely. I will say, though, that it has nothing to do with the quality of the park, and everything to do with raw numbers and capacity (keep in mind DHS used to host attendance levels rivaling the MK).

 

[rufio]

Just like Tom Morrow said, Universal never promoted it as it's own theme park. It was other media sources.

And I doubt anyone was disappointed. When they're done exploring the Wizarding World, they can walk through the lush jungles of Jurassic Park, step into the pages of Dr. Seuss books, explore an Ancient Greek city, etc.

IOA is so much more than WWoHP.

While true, you would be surprised at the number of people that don't care. I had a number of clients, especially those with small kids, that had no interest in IOA outside of the Potter expansion. When they found out that Forbidden Journey had a 48" height restriction, even that interest dropped.

ME!!! PICK ME!!! I went into the Potter area and was underwhelmed. The main attraction is much too violent to be the main attraction, in my opinion. I can't handle most simulators and I think I almost died on that one. I'd never do it again in a million years, even though I love HP. And then what do you have? One coaster and a kid coaster and a couple shops that you can barely squeeze into? I'm excited for the expansion, just because it's an expansion and that means there will be more than what's there now. But I am dreading that you'll probably have to have a hopper ticket to get into both parts.

Past HP, I couldn't care less about IOA. Jurassic Park was a let down. The theming looked cool (I wouldn't say it reminded me of "lush jungles"), but that was about all it had going for it in the middle of December. Dr. Seuss was a joke. There's absolutely nothing there for adults, which made me sad because while kids love Dr. Seuss, I grew up with those books and there's nothing there for me. The Ancient Greek city was pretty cool, but the one show took an hour to get into and was over too quick. Honestly, I doubt I'd ever go back if it wasn't for the HP expansion.

 

[rael ramone]

With the nature of Disney's attendance recording combined with park hopping /extended tickets, Disney parks have an advantage of getting more 'first clicks' (if you do 2 parks in a day your attendance is recorded at the 'first' park you get to, even if you spend a lot more time at the 2nd than the 1st). But if the question is how many 'guest hours' are being spent in the parks (guests in the park x how many hours spent there) I would be hugely surprised if IOA doesn't beat out both DHS and DAK both by a wide margin. And never mind the metric that matters most to the parks management: how much do guests spend while there. That's a reason why there's talk about redoing so much of DHS - get people to stay in the park longer and spend.

 

[BryceM]

ME!!! PICK ME!!! I went into the Potter area and was underwhelmed. The main attraction is much too violent to be the main attraction, in my opinion. I can't handle most simulators and I think I almost died on that one. I'd never do it again in a million years, even though I love HP. And then what do you have? One coaster and a kid coaster and a couple shops that you can barely squeeze into? I'm excited for the expansion, just because it's an expansion and that means there will be more than what's there now. But I am dreading that you'll probably have to have a hopper ticket to get into both parts.

Past HP, I couldn't care less about IOA. Jurassic Park was a let down. The theming looked cool (I wouldn't say it reminded me of "lush jungles"), but that was about all it had going for it in the middle of December. Dr. Seuss was a joke. There's absolutely nothing there for adults, which made me sad because while kids love Dr. Seuss, I grew up with those books and there's nothing there for me. The Ancient Greek city was pretty cool, but the one show took an hour to get into and was over too quick. Honestly, I doubt I'd ever go back if it wasn't for the HP expansion.

You don't have to be a kid to enjoy the attractions in Seuss Landing. Did you not ride The Cat in the Hat? It's better than half of the Fantasyland dark-rides in the Magic Kingdom. I'm not a little kid but I always find myself making a point to ride The Cat in the Hat. It's very enjoyable. One Fish, Two Fish is probably the best spinner ever because of the interactive elements tied into it (follow the song, or you'll get wet!). The scenery alone in Seuss Landing should be enough to satisfy the most rabid Dr. Seuss fan. It's complete and utter immersion into the world of Dr. Seuss. I don't see how you can't appreciate the details that went into the creation of this land (maybe you did appreciate them... Hopefully).

I do agree about The Lost Continent. The theming is immersive and impressive, but the two shows there are not the best. Poseidon's Fury possibly has one of the most beautiful facades ever created, but it is a bit of a let down. The 8th Voyage of Sindbad is just simply a bad show.

If you know for a fact that you can't handle simulators, skipping out on Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey would have been the best thing for you. You could have at least walked through the castle, and then skipped the ride. I know many people who get very sick after a ride on HPatFJ. And do you think the New Fantasyland at MK is "underwhelming" as well? Just curious.

 

[danlb_2000]

ME!!! PICK ME!!! I went into the Potter area and was underwhelmed. The main attraction is much too violent to be the main attraction, in my opinion. I can't handle most simulators and I think I almost died on that one. I'd never do it again in a million years, even though I love HP. And then what do you have? One coaster and a kid coaster and a couple shops that you can barely squeeze into? I'm excited for the expansion, just because it's an expansion and that means there will be more than what's there now. But I am dreading that you'll probably have to have a hopper ticket to get into both parts.

Past HP, I couldn't care less about IOA. Jurassic Park was a let down. The theming looked cool (I wouldn't say it reminded me of "lush jungles"), but that was about all it had going for it in the middle of December. Dr. Seuss was a joke. There's absolutely nothing there for adults, which made me sad because while kids love Dr. Seuss, I grew up with those books and there's nothing there for me. The Ancient Greek city was pretty cool, but the one show took an hour to get into and was over too quick. Honestly, I doubt I'd ever go back if it wasn't for the HP expansion.

Did you do the Cat in the Hat ride? I am an adult and really enjoyed it.

 

[maxairmike]

Also, as a heads up to those who have had a previously bad experience with Forbidden Journey because of the "violent" simulator motion, the ride profile has been changed a great deal, especially in the dome screens and is much more tame and smooth. If the issue wasn't so much the screens as it was the motion, you may want to give it another go. The change was due to testing for the Japan version of the ride.

 

[rufio]

You don't have to be a kid to enjoy the attractions in Seuss Landing. Did you not ride The Cat in the Hat? It's better than half of the Fantasyland dark-rides in the Magic Kingdom. I'm not a little kid but I always find myself making a point to ride The Cat in the Hat. It's very enjoyable. One Fish, Two Fish is probably the best spinner ever because of the interactive elements tied into it (follow the song, or you'll get wet!). The scenery alone in Seuss Landing should be enough to satisfy the most rabid Dr. Seuss fan. It's complete and utter immersion into the world of Dr. Seuss. I don't see how you can't appreciate the details that went into the creation of this land (maybe you did appreciate them... Hopefully).

I do agree about The Lost Continent. The theming is immersive and impressive, but the two shows there are not the best. Poseidon's Fury possibly has one of the most beautiful facades ever created, but it is a bit of a let down. The 8th Voyage of Sindbad is just simply a bad show.

If you know for a fact that you can't handle simulators, skipping out on Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey would have been the best thing for you. You could have at least walked through the castle, and then skipped the ride. I know many people who get very sick after a ride on HPatFJ. And do you think the New Fantasyland at MK is "underwhelming" as well? Just curious.

I did appreciate the theming of Seuss Landing, but didn't feel that there was much to enjoy as an adult. I did go on the rides since I had a 5 year old with me, but felt they should have done more to appeal to the older generation that grew up with Dr. Seuss.

The Lost Continent was beautiful and I took a bazillion pictures of it! But like you said, it's a bit of a let down.

I hadn't planned to go to HPatFJ. In fact, I walked through the castle and skipped out the first time. But when DH (then DF) and his brother and his girlfriend came off it, they told me how awesome it was, how it wasn't really much of a simulation, and how I'd be fine (I get sick on Star Tours, Mission: Space, etc). My then-fiance assured me I'd be fine, so I tried it. Needless to say, I didn't speak to him for awhile after that.

I did hope for more from New Fantasyland, but I love the theming and I love BoG as BatB is my favorite Disney movie of all time. I'm hoping the mine coaster brings more to it.

Did you do the Cat in the Hat ride? I am an adult and really enjoyed it.

Again, I just feel that they could have done more to appeal to adults. Like someone else pointed out, Dr. Seuss books have been around for decades, so there are obviously a lot of adults that appreciate them.

 

[rufio]

Also, as a heads up to those who have had a previously bad experience with Forbidden Journey because of the "violent" simulator motion, the ride profile has been changed a great deal, especially in the dome screens and is much more tame and smooth. If the issue wasn't so much the screens as it was the motion, you may want to give it another go. The change was due to testing for the Japan version of the ride.

When did the change happen? I went on in December 2012. Has it been since then?

 

[BryceM]

The Lost Continent was beautiful and I took a bazillion pictures of it! But like you said, it's a bit of a let down.

It's sad that you never got to experience The Lost Continent when it was more than what it is now (or maybe you did?). There was a whole section called "Merlinwood" which focused on an enchanting/medieval grotto. It had rides such as Dueling Dragons and The Flying Unicorn, and the delicious Enchanted Oak Tavern.

The old awe-inspiring Dueling Dragons entrance.

The Enchanted Oak Tavern exterior.

The Enchanted Oak Tavern interior.

And of course, there was The Flying Unicorn. However, Flight of the Hippogriff doesn't look too different than The Flying Unicorn, as it was just a simple re-theme. That made The Lost Continent have 4 attractions (Dueling Dragons, Poseidon's Fury, The Flying Unicorn and The 8th Voyage of Sindbad) and 2 awesome restaurants (Mythos and The Enchanted Oak Tavern). Sadly (but also not sadly), Merlinwood was replaced with The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

 

[FigmentJedi]

I know that if the Legendary/Universal distribution deal includes theme park rights, they may have been handed another big gun that Disney supposedly came close to using. And if Universal fires this gun, I can easily see any future Disney trip not during Star Wars Weekends being a "Three Days Disney, Two Days Universal" deal.



Bonus points if you have him fight the other giant monster Universal owns.