There was a period when it started to feel fresh, when they added the CityWalk village, had a full Red and Green Coconut Club, and introduced Earl, but they’ve apparently decided to run in the opposite direction. Which is worrying.
We can't keep beating this same drum while ignoring key points that everyone else keeps telling you...
What posters seem to keep telling me is some variation on, “we assume they had business reasons for their decisions.” I assume they had business reasons that decision makers felt justified curtailing a focus on the holidays as well. That doesn’t change the fact that, as a guest, I feel the resort experience is diminished. I’m also not the one who initiated the conversation about the holidays at Universal feeling tired - which they do.
See, this is where you lose me. Post-pandemic Universal is when we got things like:
That’s a fair criticism. My timeline may be off as it pertains to holiday decor. That said, it’s still fair to note that this year’s holidays features no innovation and lacks some of the enjoyable elements from previous years. I thought I was told quite definitively in the other thread that Universal was essentially stepping away long-term from significant holiday initiatives.
The thing about the Holidays is it's rooted a little more with "tradition" in comparison to HHN & MG. That was a big key point from Universal when they repacked the Holidays in 2017 - "Establishing new traditions". You still have Grinch, you still have Macy's, you still have Santa, and lately - you're getting a lot of Earl.
While I'm happy to critique the cynicism, I wonder if they projected low crowds for the holidays in general and responded to that by dialing back their holiday plans. We've been talking about (relatively) light crowds in Orlando since the summer, and I can't imagine they were taken aback by this.
Good possibility. But they kind of fulfilled the prophecy by not publicizing the beginning dates and content until the last minute. Just seems like bad business. Every other year the info came out in the August period. And this is from someone who has a high opinion of what they do for the holidays. Like the Grinch lines. We've been there at this time of year when the crowds aren't large and we've been able to see the Grinch, which is worth it even for adults since he's so damn funny, with fairly short to medium waits. Makes no sense for lines to be multiple hours long with small crowds in the parks. They must be doing something different. Seems like they still had the bulk of their holiday stuff, which is very good, but something must be lacking in operations. And let me reiterate, why did they wait until the last minute to advertise the holidays. It's not like they don't know when Christmas is. This whole Holiday gig for 2023 is a puzzle.
yep, totally agree with this. I think this is how many businesses are operating as they try to manifest a recession despite every economic indicator suggesting things are okay.
I think the issue is that things are ok for businesses but prices largely have not come down for essentials not captured in the CPI so we’re seeing the downswing in discretionary spending which is making things soft.
Yeah, the recession talk was a sky falling BS. Last quarter grew by 5%. Those are gigantic numbers that are rarely seen. This isn't even a soft landing. And tourism was up just about everywhere except Orlando. I think WDW and Universal self fulfilled by writing 2023 off....and contrary to thoughts, the business survey numbers are showing discretionary spending is still strong.
Yes, but planning out further than that, namely August....not the end of October. Absolutely no reason Universal should have waited so long to announce the holidays, especially when they were much earlier announcements in the past. Myself, I always booked for the holidays as soon as the 'official dates' came out in August. I don't take anything for granted from Universal since they change things up often, but not everyone thinks that way. Many are more trusting or taking things for granted on the past. The Universal Facebook page was filled with irate tourists who found out too late that the holiday vacations they booked didn't start until their vacations were over. Just good business practice, and appreciation to your customers, to give a decent leeway date. Look how early they published a Mardi Gras date. Once again, why the heck did they wait until the last minute for the Holiday official date? Were they afraid they'd lose bookings from all those people that took it for granted that the Holidays would start two weeks before Thanksgiving, like in the past....regardless of when Thanksgiving fell this year. Most tourists that come these slower weeks (except Thanksgiving and Christmas week that are busy) come for the Holiday stuff. The weather is too crummy for anything else.....Bottom line: Simple. Give people long enough notification so they can confidently plan their vacation. No good reason to keep these dates secret until the last minute. Sounds too much like ulterior motives were involved that weren't customer friendly.
SeventyOne can speak for themself, but I read the last sentence as calling the holidays old and tired (although the performers give it their all, which is true.)
But all the parks lean on their traditions. Sea World hasn't really changed over the years. Added a train display one year, now this year they have the Mrs. Clause cooking show, but overall it has leaned on O Wonderous nights, ice skating, Sesame Christmas show, and fireworks for a long time. It did have Miracles and honestly since that has left it hasn't been the same experience, but it is the same decor every year. Trees in the lake for the tree show. Which the tree show was something added too around the time of the train display I think. But it is always small adds every so many years and nothing too crazy.
Exactly. The travel oriented businesses are all reporting strong demand and strong spending. I think WDW and Universal read the tea leaves wrong and paid for their lackluster 2023 effort with low crowds, and a reflection on their inadequate response to major capacity and operational issues, and big price jumps, in 2022 that turned a lot of people off traveling to their parks.
I mean, how much “new” can you really do for Christmas? The park goes all out for Halloween but it’s really more about “horror” (a really huge genre) than the holiday. Mardi Gras has no appeal in and of itself (for lack of a better phrase, it’s a “made-up event” in Orlando) so the new parade each year has to be the draw. But for Christmas, the songs and decorations are kind of the whole appeal. How often do you change up your house decor or listen to different music when the holidays come around?
