Or they announce a new wrap around a bus that shows Epic Universe in concept art. I think that will be enough....
Universal's Epic Universe General News & Discussion
- Thread starter Brian G.
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Weakness of theme park attendance throughout the US, most especially WDW & even Universal Orlando to a degree. Execs. were attributing 2023 attendance weakness to an after effect of the 2021/2022 revenge covid crowds and heat. But now 2024 has probably been worse, and its getting a little late to keep blaming that revenge travel, especially when overall tourism is still strong. Parks may have all hit a wall on their pricing after all these years of ticket/food/merchandise/hotel increases well above the yearly inflation rates. Even large ticket discounts this past year only had minimal effect of stabilizing attendance. The luster may be wearing thin....And that's all happened with a fairly healthy economy. And while I don't see a recession in 2025, my 'guess' is that the economy will be weaker than it's been the last couple of years due to a lot of lagging economic indicators that have been popping up the last couple of months.......But....this is all just my 'personal opinion' and observation
. Many may think otherwise.
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I think its more so just there is nothing really new in Orlando that is attracting people that people think are worth the expenses for a florida vacation....Weakness of theme park attendance throughout the US, most especially WDW & even Universal Orlando to a degree. Execs. were attributing 2023 attendance weakness to an after effect of the 2021/2022 revenge covid crowds and heat. But now 2024 has probably been worse, and its getting a little late to keep blaming that revenge travel, especially when overall tourism is still strong. Parks may have all hit a wall on their pricing after all these years of ticket/food/merchandise/hotel increases well above the yearly inflation rates. Even large ticket discounts this past year only had minimal effect of stabilizing attendance. The luster may be wearing thin....And that's all happened with a fairly healthy economy. And while I don't see a recession in 2025, my 'guess' is that the economy will be weaker than it's been the last couple of years due to a lot of lagging economic indicators that have been popping up the last couple of months.......But....this is all just my 'personal opinion' and observation
- Feb 23, 2023
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Particularly after a couple years when Orlando punched above its weight post-(and during) COVID. I think projecting 2025 is tricky for a lot of reasons, but I haven’t seen anything that makes me think these theme parks are in a dicey situation in the medium to long term.
Well that is about to change.
Keep feeling people are underestimating the potential Epic Universe has. It looks impressive clearly but I think it's going to be a greater than the sum of its parts situation.
Opening a brand new theme park in this era is kind of new territory.
It's pretty amazing just how large the Disney fanbase is compared to the overall theme park fanbase. People have always laughed at me (not on here) when I would say that Disney could announce Food & Wine menus at the same time as a new coaster at Universal and F&W will get the larger reaction lol
To this day, there are still "we only go to Disney" crowds, so it'll be interesting to see how (if) Epic changes that.
- Jul 27, 2015
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For whatever it’s worth, I haven’t been to a Florida theme park since 2011. Too expensive (generally). Too complicated (for us, mostly). And we went so frequently prior to then, there hasn’t been a big enough (singular) addition to warrant a special trip for it.
Now, obviously, I know what Epic entails more than the general public, but I’m planning on us taking a trip expressly for Epic. More importantly, the SO hasn’t immediately squashed it. There is enough, in this, for both of us.
It’s anecdotal, but once marketing kicks off in full (ESPECIALLY the Super Bowl commercial), I think a lot of the conversation will change.
Now, obviously, I know what Epic entails more than the general public, but I’m planning on us taking a trip expressly for Epic. More importantly, the SO hasn’t immediately squashed it. There is enough, in this, for both of us.
It’s anecdotal, but once marketing kicks off in full (ESPECIALLY the Super Bowl commercial), I think a lot of the conversation will change.
I don’t think it will. Epic may change “theme park people”’s visiting patterns, but Disney will always draw a contingent of non-theme park people that are never going anywhere else (or at least, not to another park).
You may not have been in a while but with almost 10,000 posts on a theme park fan site I’d say you’re probably not representative of the general public at large.
