Universal Lack of Announcements Thread

[UniversalRBLX]

It's quite amazing how many people confuse both resorts.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I think a big trick is to see how HHN announcements go. When do they announce tickets and packages are available? That's when Universal sees guests first booking vacations just for a specific thing. Extrapolate that and you should have some idea of anything else.

 

[Nick]

On the flip side of this, I know two people who booked vacations to Orlando this year for the sole purpose of going to see Star Wars. One in September and one in May.

Did you tell them to cancel bc they’d be wasting their money?

 

[Scott W.]

Did you tell them to cancel bc they’d be wasting their money?

One of the couples went in 2016, planned to go last year but put it off till September this year. Paid up front, no refund.

I think they’re blaming me because I said I was going to see Star Wars in September but I never said Disney World.

 

[Legacy]

I think a big trick is to see how HHN announcements go. When do they announce tickets and packages are available? That's when Universal sees guests first booking vacations just for a specific thing. Extrapolate that and you should have some idea of anything else.

They start selling passes six-seven months out. From my understanding, advance sales "peak" about six weeks from opening.

 

[GAcoaster]

And that's the guest fault for not doing their homework. You can't just not market something because you're afraid of pushback like that. You cross that bridge when the time comes.

I totally agree, but the problem is the parks never blame the guests for their stupidity and end up bending over backwards to make it up to them.

I still remember hearing about how Adventure Island water park would have to comp people all the time because they thought that was where Harry Potter was when it first opened. People are dumb, and dumb behavior is often overlooked or even rewarded by the parks.

Anecdotally since the Nintendo announcement about once a month I'll see a random friend on FB post an article and talk about how awesome Nintendo looks like it will be, and they post that stupid article with the picture of the Disneyland map with Nintendo stuff photoshopped on it. People read a headline and neglect to get much detail like where or when and just assume.

 

[Nick]

I totally agree, but the problem is the parks never blame the guests for their stupidity and end up bending over backwards to make it up to them.

I still remember hearing about how Adventure Island water park would have to comp people all the time because they thought that was where Harry Potter was when it first opened. People are dumb, and dumb behavior is often overlooked or even rewarded by the parks.

Anecdotally since the Nintendo announcement about once a month I'll see a random friend on FB post an article and talk about how awesome Nintendo looks like it will be, and they post that stupid article with the picture of the Disneyland map with Nintendo stuff photoshopped on it. People read a headline and neglect to get much detail like where or when and just assume.

So I actually used to work at Adventure Island as one of my first jobs and we would ALWAYS get people that came in confused why they were at a Water Park and where Harry Potter was.

And yeah, I’m sure they got comped if they made a big enough scene, but if you can’t even get the park right, then it just proves that some people will never be able to be helped, no matter how something is advertised.

 

[Scott W.]

I’ve seen my dad manage to get us comped tickets for there before years ago. He said that the ticket (Orlando Flex Ticket, remember them?) we had included Adventure Island which it obviously didn’t. They finally caved and let us in for free.

I really have to admire my dad’s ability to just go for it and lie through his teeth to save us a few bucks.

 

[RevFreako]

I’ve seen my dad manage to get us comped tickets for there before years ago. He said that the ticket (Orlando Flex Ticket, remember them?) we had included Adventure Island which it obviously didn’t. They finally caved and let us in for free.

I really have to admire my dad’s ability to just go for it and lie through his teeth to save us a few bucks.

Based on my experience in my line of work, that seems to be something of a national pastime over there.

 

[SkiBum]

I agree with your comments about stuff being delayed (Bourne 2020, JW 2021, new park 2023), but I disagree with the sentiment that there were tons of awesome lands scheduled whereas now the current parks are being abandoned.

We can look at what has been added in the comcast era:
2012: Minions, Spiderman HD
2013: Transformers, Simpsons
2014: Diagon, HE
2015:
2016: Kong, Hulk Re-build
2017: Fallon, VB
2018: F&F

And these are the likely next few years:
2019: Potter Coaster
2020: Bourne
2021: JW land upgrade w/ new coaster
2022: VB Expansion (or something of similarly small scale)
2023: Fantastic Worlds

Its not the blockbuster years that some may have been hoping for, but its also not neglecting the parks. It's only a small drop in the pace of additions. There will still be plenty to drive attendance, and there is no reason to believe that there won't be more new rides shortly after FW opens as well.

Not to sidetrack too much but this is actually a host of improvements and attractions added in one decade's time. A new water park, these rides, plus the addition of new resort hotels. WDW has just now started to add rides after what seemed like forever since they had added to the parks (with the exception of New Fantasyland).

 

[Nick]

So... worth noting that top Comcast brass is touring the parks today and having a private party in Central Park tonight.

 

[Mad Dog]

So... worth noting that top Comcast brass is touring the parks today and having a private party in Central Park tonight.

Bet they skip F&F. ...or, if they do summon the courage to ride it, they'll need to load up on the cocktails at Finnegans.

 

[Nick]

Bet they skip F&F. ...or, if they do summon the courage to ride it, they'll need to load up on the cocktails at Finnegans.

Oh I’m quite sure that they hit F&F. I’m sure they wanted to see what all the fuss was about first hand with why people dislike it so much.

 

[shiekra38]

Oh I’m quite sure that they hit F&F. I’m sure they wanted to see what all the fuss was about first hand with why people dislike it so much.

Good, maybe they'll turn to the Orlando execs and say "WTF"

 

[Mad Dog]

and....Niles (TPI) writes his incredulous 'out of left field' explanation article, that, among other incredulous things, calls F&F in Hollywood one of Universal's best ever....what a coincidence.

 

[brianlo]

I think Universal is afraid of creating any sort of 'hype' or play to social media. From people being chased out of the park by security for pictures, to near silence for virtually any project.

Disney was rolling out Star Wars marketing in 2013 with their Orange Harvest D23 display! How many events, blog posts, PR blasts, creatives, TV specials, daytime talk shows and mentions from Iger/Chapek have occurred since? Groundbreaking ceremonies, site visits, drone footage etc. etc.

Meanwhile we have what boils down to a single poster image/mention for the Potter coaster.

It's not about opening dates, it has more to do with the very strange cultural fear Universal has of mentioning anything forward looking. Disney by all means overdoes it/is constantly pandering low level life-stylers and mommy bloggers. But Universal is so avoidant that it seems particularly striking in comparison.

I think that is the 'marketing' that people refer to.

 

[Nick]

I think Universal is afraid of creating any sort of 'hype' or play to social media. From people being chased out of the park by security for pictures, to near silence for virtually any project.

Disney was rolling out Star Wars marketing in 2013 with their Orange Harvest D23 display! How many events, blog posts, PR blasts, creatives, TV specials, daytime talk shows and mentions from Iger/Chapek have occurred since? Groundbreaking ceremonies, site visits, drone footage etc. etc.

Meanwhile we have what boils down to a single poster image/mention for the Potter coaster.

It's not about opening dates, it has more to do with the very strange cultural fear Universal has of mentioning anything forward looking. Disney by all means overdoes it/is constantly pandering low level life-stylers and mommy bloggers. But Universal is so avoidant that it seems particularly striking in comparison.

I think that is the 'marketing' that people refer to.

Yes, this is what I mean when I talk about this. I don't need them to be like Disney and go overboard with marketing, I think we all just want a little more information a little more often. Like, the coaster is opening potentially within the next 5-5.5 months. If I had to choose one style over the other though, I definitely prefer the way Disney does things.

 

[Ryan]

I'm the "theme park guy" in my circle as I'm sure most of you are as well and I literally had 3 different people ask me about Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge opening yesterday alone. So great job, Disney.

Meanwhile, whenever I brought up that a new Harry Potter experience was opening this year, not one person knew. So there's that.

This is why if Universal doesn’t have a super bowl ad about the Potter coaster I give up.

 

[JoeCamel]

So... worth noting that top Comcast brass is touring the parks today and having a private party in Central Park tonight.

When I was in the parks last week it seemed there are an inordinate number of people in business attire sporting badges and clipboards wandering around. Lots and lots of survey people too.

 

[Nick]

When I was in the parks last week it seemed there are an inordinate number of people in business attire sporting badges and clipboards wandering around. Lots and lots of survey people too.

Well the business attire people could be anyone. Lots of groups have been around the park in the past few weeks and as i've stated previously, the park gets rented out often, and those that show up tend to dress up.