Will WDW Learn From WWoHP?

[Evil Genius]

Anything can be nit-picked to death.

This statement could be the moto for WDWMagic.com!

:ROFLOL:

 

[fosse76]

People only like WWoHP because it's new. Of course everybody's gonna want to buy butterbeer because they've never had it before and want to know what it's like.

So what? That's what gets people in the gates of any park. Should Disney decide to actually build something new, they can experience a surge in attendance as well.

While I've never been to Universal-Orlando, I checked out some YouTube videos of their rides last night, and I've got to say...while the rides may be fun, they don't have any of the magical-ness (not actually a word) that the WDW rides have. You can see ALL of the service entrances, all the infrastructure, and from the top of most of the rides, you can even see a lot of the warehouse styled buildingings that house other rides.

You can see them at Disney, too. When you are next to the graveyard in the queue for the Haunted Mansion, you can see the show building through the trees easily. On the drop for Splash Mountain you can see the show buildings for FL attractions, CBJ and The Enchanted Tiki Room. You can see the transfer track which leads to the storage track of BTMRR while on the WDW railroad, and also from the line for the attraction. You can see the boat storage entrances (or perhaps maintenance areas) for Splash Mountain and IASW during the ride. You can see gates in all the parks that lead to back stage areas. You can see most of FW's backstage at Epcot from the monorail and part of it from Test Track. You can see Soarin's show building from the World Showcase. You can see every show building at DHS...all they did was slap a stage number on the building! They didn't even bother finishing the mountain for Expedition Everest, which is glaringly obvious when driving by the park.

And do you know who notices these? People who are looking for them. The average guest isn't going to notice OR even care.

I'm still gonna go to Universal when I get a chance just to see what it's like, but nobody does it like Disney (even if it's not up to the standards it once was), so people should just stop complaining and enjoy both parks.

Maybe you should take your own advice here.

 

[Hrudey3032]

The fact that you called your brother retarded is offensive...IMO:shrug:

I was thinking the exact same thing. :shrug:

 

[Horizons1]

My brother is retarded. I take offense to your comment.

Is it hard to tell you apart from your brother, bill?

Universal is a great resort, but a lot of people here will not acknowledge that, or even give it a chance, because they are very insecure about their loyalty. They think "Oh-no, if I go there I'll be taking money AWAY from Disney! What if I like it more than Disney?! Will Mickey still love me?!" If Universal didn't have something to show, do you think we'd be talking about it here on the boards? No, no one would care. But the fact that Universal is constantly brought up here prooves that Universal is a powerful force that constantly gets noticed.

Making decisions based off solely watching Youtube videos is an idiotic way to do make choices. Call me rude for being blunt, but it's true.

As it's already been said, you can see the roofs of attractions at BOTH Disney and Universal. So what? Honestly, how can a ROOF of all things be so damning to an enjoyable experience? Explain that one to me.

 

[Hrudey3032]

I was not a huge fan of Universal back when I went in 1999. We were in and out of the park in like 4-5 hours as it was not crowded at all and I didn't think the overall experience was worth it. However with that being said it has been 11 years and many things have changed at UO and I willing to go again in order to see if they have made vast improvements(as many here have said they have) and to see if my views on it will change. I think the idea though that UO doesn't hide show buildings and things like that are bogus.The one thing that did strike me about UO was that it was very much like Disney and that the theming aspects were very well done.Could you see certain things?? Yes but I can see the back of HM or when there was the SKyway you could see every little thing on the roof's of FL. My issue at UO was the rides themself didn't do much for me but that was then and maybe now I would love how it has changed.

 

[cmatt]

I was thinking the exact same thing. :shrug:

tbf. when used in context it is not that offensive...

there seems to be a lot less people blinkered on these forums of late. I R impressed

 

[SMRT-1]

btw - my OP was not intended to include Universal as a whole..but strictly WWoHP as comparison.

 

[jonnyc]

What will WDW learn?

If you build it, they will come.

Although from what I have observed these past two weeks on my trip, I think that a lot of the crowd IOA is taking is coming from US.

 

[unkadug]

My brother is retarded. I take offense to your comment.

Is it hard to tell you apart from your brother, bill?

:lol:

 

[Space Mountain]

People only like WWoHP because it's new. Of course everybody's gonna want to buy butterbeer because they've never had it before and want to know what it's like.

While I've never been to Universal-Orlando, I checked out some YouTube videos of their rides last night, and I've got to say...while the rides may be fun, they don't have any of the magical-ness (not actually a word) that the WDW rides have. You can see ALL of the service entrances, all the infrastructure, and from the top of most of the rides, you can even see a lot of the warehouse styled buildingings that house other rides.

It's a production studio.......DHS is the same way..examples?
Coaster- You can see the entire warehouse
Tower-In certain locations, you can see the unthemed sides of the building
Mania- while the queue is so so (mostly slapped with a ton of paint), its a bunch of tv's thrown into another giant warehouse with a front facade.
Fantasmic- on peak nights, expect to use the service road to get back to the entrance. absolutely NO theming here..
Plus there is that ugly hat in front of GMR. That's like putting a giant billboard for butterbeer in front of the FJ castle.


Regardless, I'm not trying to choose a side, but to bring back the realization that Universal actually still has working live sets used daily.

 

[Xethis]

Our trip to Orlando is in 49 days & we're spending a week there. Of these 7 days, we've left one open to visit WWoHP. My wife & I are fans of the books and the films and think it'd be neat to see . . . once or twice. You can spend a day or so at WWoHP and find all kinds of hidden easter eggs & tidbits from the movies, etc. There are all kinds of little hidden things for fans to seek out & examine. And yes, there's the couple of rides too.

When I first heard about WWoHP I was really excited that someone (anyone) decided to make this happen. I had such high hopes. Arrive through a train station, explore Diagon Alley, Knockturn Alley, Hogsmeade, The Dark Forest, Azkaban Prison, eat at the Leaky Cauldron & 3 Broomsticks and tour the entire Hogwarts Castle with various attractions located inside. Then (being a research geek) I started to see my hopes dwindle. They had the capacity to make a stand alone park, but didn't. They had the material to make different areas and lands with locale specific merch, but didn't. They had the concepts to make multiple new rides, not just re-theme old ones. (Yes I know HP&tFJ is new.) I was really disappointed when I learned it was just going to be a corner of an existing theme park, re-done to the Harry Potter theme, and even more bummed out when I saw that it was a train, row of shops & a castle. Does this mean I won't go, or enjoy what is there? No, not at all.

Disneyworld, for me, is something I will never see all of. I can spend an entire week there, do different things than my last trip, and still never see & do everything. Disney has made it a point through it's history to bring new parks & rides into existence. Disney's Magic Kingdom having separate lands 'could' have been a great model for WWoHP to follow. Disney has decades of history to draw on & develop, and new films & events are always in the works. The first Potter book only came out in the early 90's so their history is still in it's infancy. But, sadly, the story is done, the books are finished, and the last 2 films are almost complete. Having said that, how will this park evolve, grow or develop beyond what it is now?

I'm not bashing WWoHP & am actually looking forward to it. But I think comparing WWoHP to Disney is like dancing about architecture. It's not even as close as comparing apples to oranges. I think they both serve entirely different purposes. But I can't see planning a week long trip from 1/2 way across the country to stay at WWoHP. If I spent a week at WWoHP I'd end up bored by the 1/2 way point.

And lastly, from a merchandising standpoint, I think Disney has done very well with their theming & locale of where you can buy what items. You find a plethora of Pirates merch outside of Pirates, there is always Haunted Mansion merch outside the ride itself. You're sure to find more fairy merch in the new Fantasyland than any other area in the parks. Stitch themed merch in the shop following his Great Escape experience. But at the same time, they more common "junk" is everywhere. How annoying would it be to have to go all the way to Downtown Disney to buy your child a balloon, because Characters in Flight is the only place to get one? Or to have to go to Animal Kingdom because thats the only place 'stuffed animals' are sold. And character interactions are also a bit lackluster. I know there are video screens of characters in places, and there are Durmstrang staff shows & Beauxbatons ribbon twirlers, but where are the character interactions. Why aren't there Dumbledor's & Hagrid's roaming the parks for kids to get autographs from & pictures with? When i go to Disney (being villain inclined) I know I can get my picture with Malificent or the Wicked Queen or Jafar. Why can't I take pictures with masked Death Eaters, Lucius Malfoy or old moldy Voldy himself?

I think WWoHP is a great idea that could have been taken SO much further than it did. If they had ex-Imagineers working on it I don't see how it didn't evolve more. Other than the size & layout issue, so far my only other gripe is the merch. Yes I'm interested to have a cream soda with butterscotch foam & say I drank Butterbeer. Yes I'm looking forward to going to Olivanders & buy a wand. Oh wait, you can't do that there. You have to go to the shop next door to buy a plastic/resin wand because Olivander's is an attraction, not a store. That is of course IF they have any left. I surfed the Universal merch online & was floored when I saw the brooms were 300$ (and out of stock). The Hogwarts House robes were $100 (and out of stock), and that most of the merch was overpriced junk. Yes, the same could be said of Disney merch, but there is also a wide range of value to Disney merch. My wife & I buy an animation cell every trip, and a ceramic lightbox each trip. These items are not cheap by any means, but they are also an entire standard above a cheap Polyester robe with a 5$ patch ironed on the front. I think WWoHP missed the mark on merch. What parent is going to buy a $300 broom for their kid to take outside & destroy? I think there should have been low, medium & high end merch, following the Disney plan.

Anyhow, sorry to be so long winded, and I think there are good points to both places, but WWoHP is just not remotely close to a Disney experience. WWoHP could have been brought full circle, but they stopped short and dropped the merch ball. Do I think things are flawless at Disney, no. But in my humble opinion, Disney continues to be the standard of what a theme park should be.

 

[thelookingglass]

I'm not bashing WWoHP & am actually looking forward to it. But I think comparing WWoHP to Disney is like dancing about architecture. It's not even as close as comparing apples to oranges. I think they both serve entirely different purposes. But I can't see planning a week long trip from 1/2 way across the country to stay at WWoHP. If I spent a week at WWoHP I'd end up bored by the 1/2 way point.

Ok, is anyone actually assuming that one new land at Islands of Adventure should be compared to ALL of WDW? Its one new land and one new ride and we are treating it as such. The reason people are comparing it to WDW is because they did a great job on it, much better and more immersive than any new offering WDW has given us in quite some time.

Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor? American Idol? Toy Story Mania? Nowhere even in the same league as Forbidden Journey.

I surfed the Universal merch online & was floored when I saw the brooms were 300$ (and out of stock). The Hogwarts House robes were $100 (and out of stock), and that most of the merch was overpriced junk. Yes, the same could be said of Disney merch, but there is also a wide range of value to Disney merch. My wife & I buy an animation cell every trip, and a ceramic lightbox each trip. These items are not cheap by any means, but they are also an entire standard above a cheap Polyester robe with a 5$ patch ironed on the front. I think WWoHP missed the mark on merch. What parent is going to buy a $300 broom for their kid to take outside & destroy? I think there should have been low, medium & high end merch, following the Disney plan.

Can you blame Universal for cashing in on Harry Potter nuts? People are obviously willing to pay $100 for a robe, so more power to them.

You know, kind of like how people are willing to spend hundreds to put their kids in a Cinderella dress.

BUT WHEN DISNEY DOES IT ITS BETTER!!

Anyhow, sorry to be so long winded, and I think there are good points to both places, but WWoHP is just not remotely close to a Disney experience. WWoHP could have been brought full circle, but they stopped short and dropped the merch ball. Do I think things are flawless at Disney, no. But in my humble opinion, Disney continues to be the standard of what a theme park should be.

I'd like to point out that you haven't been there, and thus your entire post is basically pointless ranting.

 

[Xethis]

I'd like to point out that you haven't been there, and thus your entire post is basically pointless ranting.

I've also never been to North Korea, so am I not allowed to have an opinion about events there? I haven't been to the oil spill in the Gulf so I guess my thoughts on that are invalid also?

I said both good & bad in my post, and they are simply my opinions. Nothing more. You're entitled to yours, as I am mine.

 

[thelookingglass]

I've also never been to North Korea, so am I not allowed to have an opinion about events there? I haven't been to the oil spill in the Gulf so I guess my thoughts on that are invalid also?

I said both good & bad in my post, and they are simply my opinions. Nothing more. You're entitled to yours, as I am mine.

What you're doing here is more like comparing the gulf oil leak to another gulf oil leak, except you had only been to one of the gulf oil leaks.

Except it isn't even like that, because you're unfairly comparing all of WDW to ONE land in ONE park at Universal.

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

I've also never been to North Korea, so am I not allowed to have an opinion about events there? I haven't been to the oil spill in the Gulf so I guess my thoughts on that are invalid also?

I said both good & bad in my post, and they are simply my opinions. Nothing more. You're entitled to yours, as I am mine.

Having an opinion is good, but how you formed that opinion is equally important.

Disneyland is full of crack whores and run by pimps. Ive never been but its my opinion.

 

[Pseybert]

Why can't I take pictures with masked Death Eaters, Lucius Malfoy or old moldy Voldy himself?

This is one thing (of many) that I think Wizarding World does better. Perhaps you are not a fan of the Harry Potter series. As we speak, Lord Voldemort is most likely sorting out the details of how he will go about torturing, then killing every single wizard inside of Hogsmeade and Hogwarts in the slowest and most painful way possible, as punishment for letting dirty muggles like yourself inside of the gates. And you, you want to take a picture with him, so you can throw a peace sign at the camera and post it to Facebook, probably with an awesome caption, like "Me and the dark lord chillin' like villains!"

And you are wondering why Universal is not letting you do it?

 

[Random Vids Inc]

Ok Potter People. What I've came to see in the endless amounts of threads concerning this is that Harry Potter fans find that little land amazing. I havn't been yet and I'm sure it's just as good as you say it is but here is the deal. If you're a fan of Harry Potter then you're going to give way too much credit to that place. And since Harry Potter is right up there with Twilight where the fans just about throw so much Potter in your face you want to puke...

Basically what I'm going for is this. Potter fans on here are bringing this land up as a threat to Disney and I just don't see it. I mean it's a sign to Disney that other parks are stepping up there game but it's not going to empty the parks at Disney and it's not going to make Disney officials sit on the edge of there seats wondering what's going to happen.

Now the non-Potter Disney fans on here argue that point back and it starts this big arguement about which park is better and what is what. My opinion hands down is that Disney beats Universal Chris Brown style. Universal is just like going to Six Flags for me, nothing special. Disney is an event when I go something I can't wait to spend a week or more doing!

Now I don't care where Universal put Harry Potter's school at or how much it costs to buy those horrible tasting Jelly Belly Beans that taste like frog warts and grass. Disney is Disney, wherever they put their stuff on property, people will buy it. And they do. And I don't think I've ever sat there and wondered why something was in a gift shop, maybe because they're gifts and they're in the shop!

Ok that's my rant. Cause I'm pretty sick of the fighting and debating. This is a Disney Fan Site, if you want to talk about how great Potter is and how much you love it and want Disney to copy it, go create wwohpmagic.com or something and have a blast.

:lookaroun

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

You obviously do care or why would you be acting like a mentalist on a site that discuses the merits of how corporations operate an amusement attraction.

We could talk about what a great job Disney has done with the themeing on their new attractions, except for that one minor issue......

And its obvious that Universal isnt Six Flags standard or you wouldnt be getting your knickers in a twist about comments on how good a job they are doing.

 

[MickeyMind]

The only reason why there is such a debate on this is because we WANT disney to take notice!, we want them to pull out all the stops!, we want them to make something amazing! we want uni to take ppl away from wdw, tdo has become to complacent and THIS is the only way tdo will start making amazing things again, by some good heavy competition.

I am a disney fan at heart, but I am very proud of uni for doing what they're doing, they are definitly moving in the right direction, while imho disney isn't.. disney doesnt make amazing attractions anymore, but the fact that uni is stepping their game up might change that or atleast I hope it does.

 

[Enchantâmes]

having an opinion is good, but how you formed that opinion is equally important.

Disneyland is full of crack whores and run by pimps. Ive never been but its my opinion.

lolololololololololololololololol