Universal Orlando August 1 Press Conference

[Magic-Man]

Couldn't have said it any better myself.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

Couldn't have said it any better myself.

Im too hyped for this!!!!

 

[Scott W.]

Couldn't have said it any better myself.

Competition is good for the consumer. We’re living in a new golden age of theme parks.

 

[Joel]

I'm pretty sure Andy was joking when he said he didn't know anything.

I know, I was poking the bear to see if we'd get a response

 

[RFRees]

I've been saying this for a bit now... I think this is only the start. The next decade+ could match the growth we saw from the late 80s to late 90s (MGM, USF, AK, IOA).

 

[rastuso]

I've been saying this for a bit now... I think this is only the start. The next decade+ could match the growth we saw from the late 80s to late 90s (MGM, USF, AK, IOA).

The thing is, Disney doesn't have to fight the war. And their current rides show that. SWGE is not well received. The TRON coaster is very basic, and destroys its own theme, and Ratatouille is a nice kids dark ride.

GotG and RotR are the two wild cards still that may be awesome, maybe not.

But for 19 years, Disney didn't build crap, and their attendance kept skyrocketing.

Another phenomenal Universal park will likely hurt Seaworld and LEGOland more than Disney. Evan Hogsmeade didn't really hurt Disney.

Universal HAS to announce a Magical Express equivalent, IMHO. Hell, it needs to start like tomorrow. Maybe even set up a deal with Seaworld for busses between resorts. Uni and SEAS together could maybe chip away on Disney. There are too many people who think not having a car is a huge positive. They can't math enough to realize the food costs, and now especially with Disney charging you parking anyway, a rental car costs you $200 for a week stay just in parking at a Disney resort. That, along with all the DizNoids saying how awful Universal is keeps many from ever going. Disney knows once they go once, they are likely going to change their Orlando vacations forever.

 

[RFRees]

But for 19 years, Disney didn't build crap, and their attendance kept skyrocketing.

1) Universal's attendance has grown faster (as a percentage) compared to Disney's attendance.
2) I'm not looking to Disney to have deceased attendance. I'm guessing all the parks (including SeaWorld and Lego) will keep going up. There's global trends which indicate it'll keep growing. But what share of the market is what they'll be fighting over. (There's some who say that Disney adding a new ride helps Universal, and vice versa, because it generally brings people to Orlando.)
3) Disney's numbers growing are exactly why they'd want to expand. Disney just has to see what Comcast sees: a return on investment.
4) It's not entirely about attendance, it's also about being seen as #1. If Universal matches the "size" of Disney, that might motivate them to expand.

 

[AstroOwl52]

The thing is, Disney doesn't have to fight the war. And their current rides show that. SWGE is not well received. The TRON coaster is very basic, and destroys its own theme, and Ratatouille is a nice kids dark ride.

GotG and RotR are the two wild cards still that may be awesome, maybe not.

But for 19 years, Disney didn't build crap, and their attendance kept skyrocketing.

Another phenomenal Universal park will likely hurt Seaworld and LEGOland more than Disney. Evan Hogsmeade didn't really hurt Disney.

Universal HAS to announce a Magical Express equivalent, IMHO. Hell, it needs to start like tomorrow. Maybe even set up a deal with Seaworld for busses between resorts. Uni and SEAS together could maybe chip away on Disney. There are too many people who think not having a car is a huge positive. They can't math enough to realize the food costs, and now especially with Disney charging you parking anyway, a rental car costs you $200 for a week stay just in parking at a Disney resort. That, along with all the DizNoids saying how awful Universal is keeps many from ever going. Disney knows once they go once, they are likely going to change their Orlando vacations forever.

Yeah... I'd have to disagree here. I think Disney's recent park additions have been a direct reaction to Universal. Why do you think they built Pandora and Galaxy's Edge? Why do you think they added interactive elements and specialized shops to the latter?

It's because they wanted a Wizarding World of their own. It's because they realized that Universal had found a surprise success which could actually hurt the house of mouse if left without counter-action. That's why they picked up the rights to Avatar. It was a quick-draw decision in the hopes of having some property which can pull people away from Hogsmeade.

And if what is rumored actually comes true tomorrow and Universal is planning a whole collection of immerse lands of the level of Wizarding World in a single park? That's gonna signify to Disney that it's no time to slow down and stagnate on their existing parks. They have actual competition now which has the financial and creative willpower to match their imagineers and Fantastic Worlds could be the tipping point that will prove this in the eyes of consumers and tourists.

 

[TheCodeMan95]

The thing is, Disney doesn't have to fight the war. And their current rides show that. SWGE is not well received. The TRON coaster is very basic, and destroys its own theme, and Ratatouille is a nice kids dark ride.

GotG and RotR are the two wild cards still that may be awesome, maybe not.

But for 19 years, Disney didn't build crap, and their attendance kept skyrocketing.

Another phenomenal Universal park will likely hurt Seaworld and LEGOland more than Disney. Evan Hogsmeade didn't really hurt Disney.

Universal HAS to announce a Magical Express equivalent, IMHO. Hell, it needs to start like tomorrow. Maybe even set up a deal with Seaworld for busses between resorts. Uni and SEAS together could maybe chip away on Disney. There are too many people who think not having a car is a huge positive. They can't math enough to realize the food costs, and now especially with Disney charging you parking anyway, a rental car costs you $200 for a week stay just in parking at a Disney resort. That, along with all the DizNoids saying how awful Universal is keeps many from ever going. Disney knows once they go once, they are likely going to change their Orlando vacations forever.

Nintendo itself is going to be like the second coming of Potter - and in my opinion, it will be even bigger. That alone should get Disney's attention, let alone the rest of the park. To think that within 15 years Universal could have an equal amount of parks to Disney is insane, and should really draw the DizNoids to finally give Uni a chance. And as has been discussed before, the current demographic of Uni is young adults. Those young adults will soon have kids whom they will take to Universal. We could have a new generation of "Universal Kids" incoming.

 

[JawsVictim]

The thing is, Disney doesn't have to fight the war. And their current rides show that. SWGE is not well received. The TRON coaster is very basic, and destroys its own theme, and Ratatouille is a nice kids dark ride.

GotG and RotR are the two wild cards still that may be awesome, maybe not.

But for 19 years, Disney didn't build crap, and their attendance kept skyrocketing.

Another phenomenal Universal park will likely hurt Seaworld and LEGOland more than Disney. Evan Hogsmeade didn't really hurt Disney.

Universal HAS to announce a Magical Express equivalent, IMHO. Hell, it needs to start like tomorrow. Maybe even set up a deal with Seaworld for busses between resorts. Uni and SEAS together could maybe chip away on Disney. There are too many people who think not having a car is a huge positive. They can't math enough to realize the food costs, and now especially with Disney charging you parking anyway, a rental car costs you $200 for a week stay just in parking at a Disney resort. That, along with all the DizNoids saying how awful Universal is keeps many from ever going. Disney knows once they go once, they are likely going to change their Orlando vacations forever.

You’re right. Disney doesn’t have to fight. I’ll go to Disney anytime just for the nostalgia factor. But I’ll only go to Universal during HHN. Why? Because there are only a handful of attractions I grew up with still there and the newer attractions aren’t very good (excluding Hagrid because I haven’t ridden it yet).

To me, it doesn’t matter what this fourth gate is...Disney will always be Disney while Universal’s changing its identify yet again. I’ll check it out one year while I’m attending HHN, but won’t plan a trip just for it like I would with any Disney property.

 

[JungleSkip]

Can we not make this thread into a Disney vs Universal thread please?

 

[Magic-Man]

Guys, we're 19 hours away from the announcement. Can't this stuff wait until after it's done?

 

[RFRees]

Can we not make this thread into a Disney vs Universal thread please?

This is directly on topic... Aug 1 vs D23, Uni expansion vs Disney expansion. UOR did this intentionally.

 

[AstroOwl52]

Nintendo itself is going to be like the second coming of Potter - and in my opinion, it will be even bigger. That alone should get Disney's attention, let alone the rest of the park. To think that within 15 years Universal could have an equal amount of parks to Disney is insane, and should really draw the DizNoids to finally give Uni a chance. And as has been discussed before, the current demographic of Uni is young adults. Those young adults will soon have kids whom they will take to Universal. We could have a new generation of "Universal Kids" incoming.

When it comes to Nintendo, that's a great description to give it. When I first learned about Super Nintendo World when it revealed as a singular expansion, my first thought was, "Oh, this is Universal's spiritual successor to WW."

Even the name suggests this. Couldn't you imagine, if Universal ever gives other Nintendo properties their own land, that they could change the original to "Super Nintendo World: Mushroom Kingdom"? Just like they did with Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley.

 

[JungleSkip]

This is directly on topic... Aug 1 vs D23, Uni expansion vs Disney expansion. UOR did this intentionally.

Nah. It’s really not on topic

 

[RFRees]

Nah. It’s really not on topic

K.

 

[Livetaswim06]

I haven't been to Universal Orlando/Disneyworld since the late 90s as a kid. Looking back Disney was the winner with families and Universal attracts more adults without kids. This is still true today in CA as I am a season pass holder at Universal and have been to DL maybe 4-5 times in the past 2 years. This to say that I don't think Disney will ever stop being a major destination resort for families and Universal is probably not even going after that market. They seem to be pursuing young adults thru middle age and will develop attractions/lands that cater to that group.

Not sure about UO, but USH is 80% between the ages of 10-40, based on 25 visits or so in the past year.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

The thing is, Disney doesn't have to fight the war. And their current rides show that. SWGE is not well received. The TRON coaster is very basic, and destroys its own theme, and Ratatouille is a nice kids dark ride.

GotG and RotR are the two wild cards still that may be awesome, maybe not.

But for 19 years, Disney didn't build crap, and their attendance kept skyrocketing.

Another phenomenal Universal park will likely hurt Seaworld and LEGOland more than Disney. Evan Hogsmeade didn't really hurt Disney.

Universal HAS to announce a Magical Express equivalent, IMHO. Hell, it needs to start like tomorrow. Maybe even set up a deal with Seaworld for busses between resorts. Uni and SEAS together could maybe chip away on Disney. There are too many people who think not having a car is a huge positive. They can't math enough to realize the food costs, and now especially with Disney charging you parking anyway, a rental car costs you $200 for a week stay just in parking at a Disney resort. That, along with all the DizNoids saying how awful Universal is keeps many from ever going. Disney knows once they go once, they are likely going to change their Orlando vacations forever.

While an interesting discussion it’s not on topic for this thread. Someone can spin this off into a new topic if there is more to say.

 

[JungleSkip]

K.

The thread is about Universal’s announcement tomorrow. It’s not about Disney’s recent output or how much better/worse Universal’s output is compared to it

 

[CyborgDinosaur]

That, along with all the DizNoids saying how awful Universal is keeps many from ever going. Disney knows once they go once, they are likely going to change their Orlando vacations forever.

To think that within 15 years Universal could have an equal amount of parks to Disney is insane, and should really draw the DizNoids to finally give Uni a chance.

Can we stop using the term "DizNoids"? I get what sort of people you're talking about, but it just feels dogmatic, needlessly antagonizing, and strangely dehumanizing.