Thanks, I have been wondering what the deal is for years. Your post offers that Loews was committed to bringing the site up to snuff and training newbies really fast. Sounds custodian to me...
3rd Quarter Earnings
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Thanks, I have been wondering what the deal is for years. Your post offers that Loews was committed to bringing the site up to snuff and training newbies really fast. Sounds custodian to me...
- Mar 16, 2010
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The site manager I spoke with transferred here from Philadelphia. Our conversation consisted of Floridas bug situation and humidity. He asked me about questions regarding the seasons and winter here so not sure if he was staying long term or just training. He told me that several managers from up and down the eastern seaboard were currently at Cabanna as well as the other on site hotels.
- Jan 28, 2013
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So, you asking this question led me down a rabbit hole and I found a treasure trove of licensing information on the SEC site. These SEC 10-K Annual Reports have to be available, legally, to investors so there's no confusion about the risks of investing in the company. There's a lot of stuff here that a lot of us have been wondering about for a while.
The Hotels:
"We own and operate two theme parks, Universal Studios Florida and Universal’s Islands of Adventure, and CityWalk, a dining, retail and entertainment complex, at Universal Orlando Resort, a multi-day vacation destination. Universal Orlando Resort also includes three themed hotels, Loews Portofino Bay Hotel at Universal Orlando, Hard Rock Hotel® and Loews Royal Pacific Resort at Universal Orlando, each of which are located within walking distance of our theme parks and CityWalk. These hotels are owned by UCF Hotel Venture, in which Universal City Studios Productions has an indirect noncontrolling interest. The results of the UCF Hotel Venture are not contained in our consolidated financial statements. We derive our revenue related to the three themed hotels owned by UCF Hotel Venture from lease payments reflected in the "other" revenue line item of our consolidated statements of income."
So, Universal created a shill company to own the hotels, and then charges its own company lease payments for operating the hotel. Amazing.
Marvel:
"USC has a license agreement with Marvel Characters, Inc. (“Marvel”) pursuant to which UCDP holds a sublicense to use properties and elements owned by Marvel. Marvel receives an annual license fee and a guaranteed annual royalty fee for all merchandise themed with Marvel characters. Pursuant to the license agreement, the Marvel properties are entitled to certain levels of advertising and publicity in connection with the marketing of our theme parks. Our use of the Marvel elements for theming, promotions and other purposes are subject to Marvel’s reasonable approval. We have geographical exclusivity east of the Mississippi River with regard to the specific Marvel characters we utilize. The license for the Marvel properties does not prohibit its assignment and is for the duration of our use of attractions themed around Marvel characters.
On December 31, 2009, the Walt Disney Company acquired Marvel Entertainment. We believe our agreement with Marvel stands and that the transaction will not impact our ability to use characters and attractions currently in use. In addition, we do not expect the transaction to have any impact on our guest experience.
In addition, the applicable NBCU subsidiary executed an agreement with Disney Enterprises, Inc. that maintains the confidentiality of our confidential business information provided pursuant to our and our affiliates’ agreements with Marvel and prevents inappropriate disclosure of our confidential information that could be used by the Parks and Resorts business of The Walt Disney Company, or for any of the theme parks or resorts of The Walt Disney Company (or any of its subsidiaries’ or licensees’), for anticompetitive purposes. After two years, such agreement is terminable by either party on six months notice."
Interesting. So Marvel can't let Disney Parks know what Universal is up to if they know any insider information.
Toon Lagoon:
"Universal City Studios LLC, a subsidiary of USC, has a license agreement with King Features Syndicate, a division of The Hearst Corporation, pursuant to which we obtain the right to use certain characters, such as Popeye®, Bluto™ and Olive Oyl™. We have a license to use the King Features elements for our theme park attractions, advertising, publicity and marketing, subject to reasonable approval rights of King Features, until 2019, with options to renew in ten-year successive increments so long as we continue to operate a Popeye® themed attraction. The license is assignable and Universal City Studios LLC has theme park exclusivity within the United States and Canada with respect to the use of the characters and a non-exclusive right to manufacture and sell related merchandise. King Features receives an annual fee and a guaranteed annual royalty fee for all merchandise themed with King Features characters."
Bilge-Rat Barges must be open in order for Toon Lagoon to exist!
Harry Potter:
"Pursuant to the WB Agreement, UCDP has directly licensed certain rights to the characters and other intellectual property contained in the Harry Potter™ books and motion pictures. This license is used, among other purposes, for appropriately themed attractions, merchandise stores and food venues which have been incorporated in a new themed area at Universal’s Islands of Adventure that includes a re-themed portion of one of its existing “islands” and additional undeveloped real estate. This themed-island opened in June 2010. Under the terms of the agreement, we have the right to use the licensed property until approximately nine years after the scheduled grand opening date of the attractions. We also have the ability to extend the term for two successive five-year renewal periods. Our use of the licensed property for the attractions, theming, promotions, merchandise and other purposes is subject to the sole approval of WB. The agreement provides us with the exclusive right to use the licensed property in theme parks, amusement parks, water parks and stand-alone themed venues similar to those found in a theme park within a 250-mile radius around Universal’s Islands of Adventure. UCDP will pay WB various license fees, merchandise royalty payments, and other payments throughout the term of the agreement"
So the Harry Potter agreement is good for 20 years max, and then they would have to strike another agreement (or not).
Check out the Security and Exchange Commissions Report online for Universal City Development Partners. You're looking for form 10-K. There's lots of juicy stuff, although the most recent report is from Fiscal 2010. https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/d...65644/d10k.htm
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http://articles.orlandosentinel.com...ew-hotel-conventional-rooms-universal-orlando
I think this article had mentioned Universal owning 25%...was surprised that the Seminoals get a % of all the hotels.
Kuribo: Thanks for the great info...Looks like 2019 is the key year for Toon Lagoon. It either stays till at least 2029, or it goes away. I love Toon Lagoon, but my bet is that area will change when the rights expire.
Geeez, I just caught this post four days later. Thanks Kuribo, and thanks for the highlights. Fascinating, all of it.
Thank you for your post as well FD!
Has not Chad already been proven wrong in his dire conclusions below? Seth has led me to believe so...
Has not Chad already been proven wrong in his dire conclusions below? Seth has led me to believe so...
- Apr 1, 2013
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What does Disney offer to all of their hotel guests that is comparable to the value of Express? The price of the Express would often be much higher than the room rate at CBBR, plus if it were diluted that much it would greatly reduce the benefit of having it in the first place.
Being the captain of the obvious that I am I needed to also point out you can not take a monorail from Pop Century to MK, and there is no boat from the All Star resorts to Epcot. Nope, they still got to rely on buses.
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I think so too. We loved Cabana Bay. Great value price wise and it was equal to if not better than the Disney moderate resorts we've stayed at. Also, fantastic beautiful pool areas and a Lazy River that doesn't get clogged with unruly kids. Charging for lazy river rafts was a stroke of genius to keep the crowds manageable. The suites are really nice. They utilize the fairly small space quite well. I will definitely stay there again. It's a nice combination for a vacation to use some days at Cabana and then finish at one of the deluxe hotels. And the bus transportation was great. We never waited for a bus during our five nights stay. They were either waiting or pulling up at both the hotel & the parking garage. All in all it was a pleasant surprise. Way better than we expected. And housekeeping was good too. Nice food court also.
Magical Express. Extra Magic Hours, which you can't buy into like you can with express. And I believe onsite guests get to schedule FP+ the earliest, don't they? I get what you are trying to say, but people love "the bubble" for a reason.
Magical Express is really not a perk, rather a necessity dressed as a perk
EMH is a pretty cool thing, but Universal's early entry more than makes up for it
Not sure about FP+
I wasn't trying to say any of those were better than Express. Simply, that almost all of the benefits are available to all resort members.
Sooooouuuuuuooooo... Universal tiering amenities does not seem to have hurt Cabana Bay's popularity... it seems to be loading the rooms quite well during the popular seasons. A better view, giant gingerbread house in the lobby, monorail transport and Incan temple at the pool, is after all, an amenity.
I can see where a family would say, "we don't need express" and love Cabana.
I could argue that a 200' Volcano is an amenity. Right?
I can see where a family would say, "we don't need express" and love Cabana.
I could argue that a 200' Volcano is an amenity. Right?
Not sure if this was posted yet, but I read an article on Buzz Feed that goes well with this topic of discussion. Naturally the very first comment on the article is from some rediculous Disney fan boy...lol
http://www.buzzfeed.com/peterlauria/just-a-reminder-that-comcast-also-owns-a-huge-theme-park-bus
http://www.buzzfeed.com/peterlauria/just-a-reminder-that-comcast-also-owns-a-huge-theme-park-bus
- Apr 1, 2013
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Yes, I was not trying to say Disney does not offer perks for staying onsite. Rather none of those perks could justifiably be tiered. Their perks just do not compare to the value of free unlimited Express. Universal would be better off giving a free stay at CBBR with the purchase of Express. So if you buy 2 people 2 days of the Express passes at $240 you get a free $100 stay, or for 3 days at $360 would wave the $200 for a 2 night stay and so on. Remember with hotel stays there is one more day than how ever many nights booked. That would kind of be a neat promotion but stepping back into reality the Deluxe hotels are in most cases cheaper than staying at the Value hotel and getting Express. And it does not need to be just 2 people; 3, 4 or 5 people can stay in the same room and all get the free Express every day.
Disney's hotels are generally more expensive, while Universal's hotels IMO are higher quality (the ones that are comparable). What Disney can justifiably tier already is, and that's the transportation. But even the higher end hotels rely on buses to get to other areas of the resort.
Disney's hotels are generally more expensive, while Universal's hotels IMO are higher quality (the ones that are comparable). What Disney can justifiably tier already is, and that's the transportation. But even the higher end hotels rely on buses to get to other areas of the resort.
- Feb 26, 2008
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You all have to remember that Disney's FP+ is free, while Universal's Express has to be purchased, and on some really busy days, it is as much as, and sometimes more, than the cost of a one day base ticket, so you can't quite compare the hotel amenities since the front-of-the-line access systems aren't the same.
I am a Comcast shareholder, and this makes me very happy.
I am a Comcast shareholder, and this makes me very happy.
I do not know anything about Chad, I only know he wrote a book about Orlando theme parks because the article mentioned that. I assume he does not know a lot about business.
I am fortunate (as a theme park fan) to live in FL, but we are still far enough away from Orlando that we need a room anytime we go up there. We have stayed at all four of Universal's hotels at least once. Before Cabanna, we would stay off-site for a good number of our trips as the deluxe properties were out of reach for what we wanted to spend on a quick getaway.
The times of year we try to go, express does not seem worth it or when a trip is mainly for HHN, it did not make sense for us to pay for a deluxe room. Now that CBBR has opened, we are much more likely to stay on-site. I am sure there are many others out there like us.
Early entry and (frequent) transportation to the park/city walk are great perks. For the studios, I think the only ride that gets an unmanageable wait for us is Despicable Me, but when we are on site, it is so easy to get on at regular opening time. HRRR tends to be a walk on as well in the first hour.
IOA, Spider-Man is no problem in the first hour as well.
Anyway, we figured CBBR would do well and we knew we would be more likely to stay on property for as long as the price point is about the same as the off site rooms in the immediate area.
I am fortunate (as a theme park fan) to live in FL, but we are still far enough away from Orlando that we need a room anytime we go up there. We have stayed at all four of Universal's hotels at least once. Before Cabanna, we would stay off-site for a good number of our trips as the deluxe properties were out of reach for what we wanted to spend on a quick getaway.
The times of year we try to go, express does not seem worth it or when a trip is mainly for HHN, it did not make sense for us to pay for a deluxe room. Now that CBBR has opened, we are much more likely to stay on-site. I am sure there are many others out there like us.
Early entry and (frequent) transportation to the park/city walk are great perks. For the studios, I think the only ride that gets an unmanageable wait for us is Despicable Me, but when we are on site, it is so easy to get on at regular opening time. HRRR tends to be a walk on as well in the first hour.
IOA, Spider-Man is no problem in the first hour as well.
Anyway, we figured CBBR would do well and we knew we would be more likely to stay on property for as long as the price point is about the same as the off site rooms in the immediate area.
