Is Universal's Epic Universe a Shot Across the Bow or A Body Blow to Disney

[Mickey of the Villages]

Wow!

But will it make any real difference in the theme park wars?

http://universal.wdwinfo.com/univer...ail&utm_term=0_01606ee371-6188c5988d-12382993

 

[Mickey of the Villages]

This is clearly intended to compete with whatever is about to happen at D23. Now, if there is not an announcement of something monumental at D23 Universal will be seen as winning the theme park "culture wars" of expansion and bringing the next wonderful thing.

 

[RamblingMad]

The Harry Potter stuff still blows me away. Disney fails for the teenager to twenty-somethings. Universal is a far better value with far better attractions for that age group. Folks with teenagers ask me more about Universal than WDW.

What Disney has that Universal doesn't is nostalgia. I see multi generational family groups more often at WDW than Universal. I definitely saw this at Hoop Dee Do.

Now, I think, Disney still rules on the west coast. Universal doesn't compete out there. And Cars Land is really well done. It's not Harry Potter, but RSRs is a great ride. I like it far more than Test Track.

 

[UOAP]

I am VERY excited about how "immersive" they say it is going to be. That's absolutely what I love best.

 

[damo]

It will certainly keep the other parks on their toes.

The addition of Epic Universe is, in itself, a difference in the theme park wars.

 

[RamblingMad]

It will certainly keep the other parks on their toes.

The addition of Epic Universe is, in itself, a difference in the theme park wars.

It now means that folks can go and do strictly Universal with their teenagers and skip Disney. There will be enough to do.

Disney will be the park, where you go for GE, and then spend the rest of your time at Universal.

Disney needs more thrills for teenagers.

 

[smiths02]

I see Universal as becoming more a destination to compete with Disney rather than "we are in Orlando and want to see Harry Potter too so we will buy 1 day ticket."

 

[xultimatefanx]

I definitely see it as more competition for Disney. I still think Disney will remain popular as ever but this will give more of a push on Universal Studios focused holidays which is the goal I'm sure.

 

[Disxuni]

As someone who is a fan of both, I'm becoming more of a Universal fan when it comes to it's theme parks.

Disney has the nostalgia factor as @RamblingMad mentioned. Which is one of the reasons why I do cherish Disney as a whole, not just park wise. I've always been obsessed with learning it's history, as well as collect vintage Disney items.

However, from the moment Disney announced New FL and Universal announced WWoHP, within the last decade, or so alone since that moment, Universal has dominated in all the content it has released and revolutionized, as well as builds significantly faster than Disney does.

Sometimes faster doesn't necessarily means better, but in Universal's case, unlike some people, or companies who sometimes create something quicker, but subpar, Universal has reached the mark into doing something unique and great, even though on the occasion the newer content doesn't thrill me (one example: FaF).

I feel like Universal really does try to push to be unique, do better, do it's best for attractions, especially within the last decade, where as Disney I feel nowadays only strives and pushes when under competition, or only for certain projects.

 

[RamblingMad]

Fast and Furious was my biggest let down for new content. The stunt car show was much better.

 

[DisneyCowgirl]

I agree that Disney has the nostalgia, but that will only last so long. Ex: My husband's favorite ride is Peter Pan and probably 90% of that love is based on nostalgia. When my kids are grown, maybe they will want to ride Peter Pan and laugh about how much their dad loved that stupid ride, but mostly they want something new and more modern. Disney has not kept up with updating things enough.

What I think is exciting is how they are starting with a clean slate in such a huge area. They are not stuck trying to work around what's already there, they can adjust for what has worked and hasn't worked in huge existing parks, etc. I've never even been to Universal, but now I am excited to see what they are going to do.

 

[RamblingMad]

I agree that Disney has the nostalgia, but that will only last so long. Ex: My husband's favorite ride is Peter Pan and probably 90% of that love is based on nostalgia. When my kids are grown, maybe they will want to ride Peter Pan and laugh about how much their dad loved that stupid ride, but mostly they want something new and more modern. Disney has not kept up with updating things enough.

What I think is exciting is how they are starting with a clean slate in such a huge area. They are not stuck trying to work around what's already there, they can adjust for what has worked and hasn't worked in huge existing parks, etc. I've never even been to Universal, but now I am excited to see what they are going to do.

My significant other two favorite Disney rides are RSRs in DCA and Haunted Mansion with Nightmare Before Xmas overlay. Both are in CA.

For FL her favorite is Gringotts, so Universal is our go to in FL. My favorite in FL is forbidden journey. So FL is really about Universal for us, and CA is really about Disney.

When I was a kid, I visited WDW 7x, so the nostalgia should be there. But a lot of the nostalgia is gone. For example, as a kid, I loved River Country. I liked riding in the front of the monorail through the resorts. I liked the character breakfast at the Contemporary. I liked the Great Movie ride.

My problem is that Disney is removing the nostalgia factor in FL.

I don’t have any nostalgia for Disneyland since I didn’t go until my 30s. But it seems like the locals are keeping the changes to a minimum to keep the nostalgia going.

 

[maverik85]

I think it could hurt them some but don't think it will have a massive impact. Disney is a major destination and name that pulls people in from everywhere. Also as others mentioned Disney has a large family and multi-generational pull, wheres Universal draw a lot more for the teen/adult crowds and not as big for families with young children or seniors.
However for the longest time it was viewed as a day or two resort to take a break from Disney. With Volcano Bay, 3 parks and two shopping and dining districts it is really becoming a full fledged destination on its own that most people will be able to spend a full vacation at.

 

[greg9x]

Universal is still riding the coat tails of Disney, but had benefited from Disney's overpopularity I think.
While Universal had been seen as place for the older kids/adults.... They are drawing more people that feel Disney has gotten too expensive and too crowded. Which of course is why they feel they can expand now. But even though the new park may double Universals footprint, they will still be smaller than Disney size wise, but maybe pull closer attraction wise.

Disney isn't sitting idley by though, they have a lot of new rides being built after GE opens... And probably something else big coming.

Until an economic downtown occurs, think Disney will still be king... Universal just trying to get a bigger piece of the money for themselves, but could end up being as costly and crowded as Disney with the new draws.

 

[RamblingMad]

Universal is still riding the coat tails of Disney, but had benefited from Disney's overpopularity I think.
While Universal had been seen as place for the older kids/adults.... They are drawing more people that feel Disney has gotten too expensive and too crowded. Which of course is why they feel they can expand now. But even though the new park may double Universals footprint, they will still be smaller than Disney size wise, but maybe pull closer attraction wise.

Disney isn't sitting idley by though, they have a lot of new rides being built after GE opens... And probably something else big coming.

Until an economic downtown occurs, think Disney will still be king... Universal just trying to get a bigger piece of the money for themselves, but could end up being as costly and crowded as Disney with the new draws.

I’d say that WDW is too big. So much time is wasted on the buses. And Disney hasn’t really released a must ride in a while. I suspect GE might break that trend.

 

[greg9x]

I’d say that WDW is too big. So much time is wasted on the buses. And Disney hasn’t really released a must ride in a while. I suspect GE might break that trend.

But now Universal has edged in to that category since it will be a bus ride between the new and old parks... Maybe not quite as long, but still have to wait for bus and possibly get stuck in traffic, even though they are building new roads. Disney's size is what keeps so many people there for their whole vacations

Disney is only 2 years from Flight of Passage opening which has been one of the best reviewed rides and is still long waits... They'll have the 2nd Star Wars ride soon after GE opening... Tron, Guardians of the Galaxy, Mickey's runaway train, etc in next few years... Plus anything else they decide to do before Epic Universe opens. Universal is kind of just trying to keep up with a new park.

Granted, don't know if I'll be seeing much of that since am putting off Disney for a while at least due to crowds and price... But could be same for Universal when time comes.... Could just be too crazy at both places.

 

[Wreckem]

I’m not sure if we are talking about the same Universal. Outside of WWoHP(thats only really three rides), Hulk, the Mummy, Kong, the rest of the attractions are pretty medicore and Hulk isn’t event the best coaster in Orlando. Both the parks are half day parks right now but really the only full day park in Orlando is MK.

Fallon and Fast and furious, were wastes of money.

MiB is okay and so are the screen rides(Simpson’s/Minions) but none are cutting edge or e tickets.

Shreks long in the tooth and the toon area needs razed just as much as DinoLand in AK. The Marvel area really needs updating as well.

Universal is opening a new coaster(two of you still count hagrids and you probably should since it’s be a cluster of a launch) and new show in the next 18-24 months. Disney is opening SWGE, two coasters, plus two dark rides. Plus they likely have unannounced projects opening for 22-24 around the time Epic will open.

Hopefully Epic motivates Disney to finish building out their parks and utilize the rest of their expansion pads. Disney has the money Bieber hopefully they have have the motivation.

 

[sethschroeder]

When my kids are grown, maybe they will want to ride Peter Pan and laugh about how much their dad loved that stupid ride, but mostly they want something new and more modern. Disney has not kept up with updating things enough.

I mean didn't I hear on DisUnplugged that at Disneyland in the last year the 18-30 year old crowd now made up like 40% of visitors? I could be wrong but I swear I heard that and they went on to say something about Disney shifting their focus to target that age group even more now.

Universal doesn't attract young families which is their biggest gap. If they release a whole new park with a bunch of thrill rides it still won't be on the family vacation map for another 10-15 years when the kids are much older.

 

[RamblingMad]

I’m not sure if we are talking about the same Universal. Outside of WWoHP(thats only really three rides), Hulk, the Mummy, Kong, the rest of the attractions are pretty medicore and Hulk isn’t event the best coaster in Orlando. Both the parks are half day parks right now but really the only full day park in Orlando is MK.

If you're just looking for thrills, these are all half day parks too. Disney is really a tween and younger park.

MK: Splash Mountain, Space Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain, and Mine Train.
AK: Everest and maybe Flight of Passage and maybe Dinosaur
EPCOT: Soaring and Test Track
HS: Rock n Rolling Coaster, Tower of Terror, and maybe Star Tours and maybe Slinky Dog

 

[TommyJK]

IMO this is definitely Universal's plans of becoming big enough to be a full week long vacation destination for more people.

These forums (being more Disney centric) is a perfect example of what they're trying to break from.

Every other day in this board I see a new thread that starts with "We're doing a Disney trip for a 2 weeks and want to take a couple of days to go to Universal...." And while these people are buying park tickets, and spending some money in the parks, they're not spending money on Universal hotels, in city walk etc.

With this new park (looking to be the biggest of all 3 dry parks) they'll have 3 parks + Volcano Bay and it will turn Universal as a whole into a 5-7 day destination as opposed to a 2-5 day destination and keeps people on site where they'll spend more money exclusively at Universal.