How Will Disney World “Compete” with Universal’s Epic Universe in 2025?
Epic Universe is the theme park opening in May 2025 at Universal Orlando. It looks amazing and will be hugely popular due to Nintendo, Harry Potter, How to Train Your Dragon, and Monsters lands. Unsurprisingly, many fans are wondering how Walt Disney World will compete with that new third gate. This addresses the titular question, with realistic possibilities as to what WDW will do. (Updated December 10, 2024.)
Let’s start with what Walt Disney World will not do. Many fans want an equivalent “answer” to Epic Universe, and the only thing that can really compete with a new theme park is a new theme park. That absolutely will not happen. Certainly not in 2025 and almost certainly not by 2035. (Here’s Why a 5th Theme Park Will NOT Be Built at Walt Disney World in the Next Decade.)
On a smaller scale, we can also rule out new lands or rides. That ship has sailed–there isn’t enough time. The only thing even officially announced on that front is Tropical Americas at Animal Kingdom, which is a mix of reimaginings and expansion. In all likelihood, Tropical Americas is the next major project on the horizon (outside of ride reimaginings) and it’ll start in late 2024 and be done in 2026 or 2027.
Disney won’t have any official answer to Epic Universe. CEO Bob Iger claims that Epic Universe is really Universal’s answer to Disney, playing catch-up on a decade of nonstop development at Walt Disney World and that the company doesn’t have anxiety about Universal’s third theme park.
During the company’s latest earnings call CFO Hugh Johnston stated that Epic Universe is “Actually Positive” for Walt Disney World Attendance in 2025. He indicated that the company had modeled Epic Universe into its projections for Walt Disney World, by looking at early bookings and the history of other attractions and other theme parks opening in Florida, all of which suggested Epic Universe will be “beneficial” for Walt Disney World.
In mid-December 2024, Johnston doubled down on this during a Q&A at the UBS Global Media and Communications Conference. In a wide-ranging discussion covering everything from investing in Cast Members to cutting costs even further to help fund the $60 billion park expansion plans, Disney’s CFO also talked Epic Universe.
He began with a bit of a swipe at Universal, saying that Disney’s portfolio of theme parks has “no meaningful competition.” He acknowledged other theme parks, including Universal, but essentially suggested that they’re not in the same upper echelon as Walt Disney World, Disneyland, etc.
Obviously, that’s posturing. There’s a bit of an executive rivalry between Comcast and Disney, and it goes deeper than theme parks. Right now, it probably pertains more to the Hulu acquisition than anything else. But that’s another topic for another day. The bottom line is that Disney won’t acknowledge Epic Universe as a threat or Universal as a bona fide competitor.
The more noteworthy (and objective) thing Johnston said during the conference is that even building “cautious and conservative” guidance into its Walt Disney World forecast for 2025, the company is still anticipating year-over-year growth. This is already proving true, as early bookings are up for Summer 2025 as compared to the same point last year. (This doesn’t surprise me in the least–there’s presumably a reason Walt Disney World has pulled back on discounts for 2025 versus this same point last year!)
Johnston conceded that Universal will likely gain market share on Disney, but it won’t matter because both will benefit from category growth. Meaning that Disney will have a proportionately smaller piece of the pie…but that it won’t matter, because it’s a bigger pie. Still a net positive for Disney!
In a nutshell, Disney has concluded that the only way to “win” is to not play the game–to fall back on the “rising tide lifts all boats” mantra that they used back when the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened and Walt Disney World had no immediate answer to that.
Honestly, sitting out this round of the theme park wars and conceding the spotlight for 2025 might be the best hand that Disney can play. Disney fans don’t want to hear this, but nothing Disney can do will top Epic Universe or steal Universal’s thunder, so why even try going tit for tat?
With that said, Walt Disney World will still need to do something as an attempt at counterprogramming to Epic Universe. They won’t benefit from the bigger pie if it’s not a tasty one that gives guests a reason to come try it! Obviously nothing Walt Disney World does will be on the same scale as Epic Universe, but there are nevertheless things that could be done to peel days–or even hotel stays–away from Universal when visitors come to Orlando for Epic Universe.
This is the list of realistic smaller scale ways that Walt Disney World can be competitive in 2025…
Drones – I refuse to believe Disney Dreams That Soar is the end game for drone displays at Walt Disney World. There’s no way that the company spent all of that money developing nighttime entertainment for a show at Disney Springs. It’s just too good to be the final culmination of drone shows at Walt Disney World. It’s gotta be proof of concept–a test of the technology for something bigger and better in 2025. Does anyone really think Disney would purposefully locate its best summer entertainment outside of a park in a place that’s free to see?!
There are several reasons for Walt Disney World finally getting a drone show, but in a nutshell, attendance is significantly lower at Animal Kingdom than any other park at Walt Disney World. The park is in urgent need for additions, and there’s a good chance that the other parks start cannibalizing Animal Kingdom attendance until that happens. If Epic Universe is going to “steal” park days from Walt Disney World, the first place people will cut is Animal Kingdom.
This is precisely why Tropical Americas is coming to Animal Kingdom, and is the first big project of the next development cycle. That’ll give DAK a shot in the arm, and help revitalize the flailing park. But it won’t open until 2027. In the meantime, Animal Kingdom needs something to draw guests to the park–and keep them there in afternoons and evenings.
A drone show at Animal Kingdom would solve a lot of problems. It could be the ace up Disney’s sleeve that gives them majorly marketable entertainment for 2025 that also doesn’t require costly (in Disney’s eyes) performers. Although they’re becoming increasingly common, drone shows still have a certain wow-factor not found in fireworks or fountain shows on a lagoon.
Summer Celebration – My hope is that Walt Disney World pulls out the whole Summer Nightastic playbook to “compete” with Epic Universe. Make it a summer of spectaculars, with a variety of new and returning entertainment. For those unfamiliar with Summer Nightastic, it was a special event held in Summer 2010 and was, essentially, Walt Disney World’s “answer” to the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
During Summer Nightastic, Main Street Electrical Parade came to Magic Kingdom from DCA; Magic, Music & Mayhem fireworks returned to the skies over Cinderella Castle; minor entertainment was added; rides received enhancements. It was a really fun event, and although it didn’t even come close to stealing Universal’s thunder, it gave Walt Disney World a marketable draw that attracted tourists. It was as much a “success” as possibly could’ve been expected given the circumstances.
By the time Summer 2025 rolls around, Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary will be a distant memory–the heart of it over for a few years. Disney100 never really was all that much of a celebration at Walt Disney World. Point being, just the right amount of time will have passed for another large-scale event without fans and casual guests getting “celebration fatigue.”
This approach would make complete sense, as entertainment and celebrations are the tried and true response to attendance woes, stopgaps between new large-scale additions, or counterprogramming to new offerings at Universal. All three of those scenarios will apply in 2025, so a twist on Summer Nightastic just makes sense. Here’s hoping that Walt Disney World aims bigger than just a Summer Nightastic–maybe that mixed with Year of a Million Dreams 2.0?!
Other Entertainment – Speaking of additional entertainment, here’s a list of what’s still missing from Walt Disney World:
- Star Wars: A Galactic Spectacular
- Once Upon a Time
- Rivers of Light
- Citizens of Hollywood
- Jedi Training Academy
- Voyage of the Little Mermaid (returns in Summer 2025)
- Citizens of Main Street
- Main Street Trolley Show
- Pandora Rangers & Drummers
At least half of that stuff is never coming back, probably more. But bringing back some of it could help round out the marketing for 2025. Or Walt Disney World could introduce new projections shows, cavalcades, character appearances, etc.
Even though Festival of Fantasy is now a decade old, it still feels too new (and beloved) for Walt Disney World to replace outright. A couple of new units from recent films could give it renewed life, though. A brand-new daytime parade at DHS could also be a welcome addition that rounds out the entertainment slate there. Bringing back Jedi Training Academy feels like low-hanging fruit and an obvious win with parents.
Since this list was originally put together, Disney delayed “The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure” until Summer 2025 and announced the new “Villains Unfairly Ever After” for Summer 2025. Both of these shows are coming to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, so we essentially know what the plan is for that park next year.
Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Soft Reboot – Imagineering has released a number of little teases that seem to suggest they have a big picture plan to do a soft reboot and relaunch of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge. There are a number of reasons for this, from Galactic Starcruiser closing to the strengths of Avengers Campus being evident to R&D tests in the parks.
It’s not difficult to envision a soft reboot of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge to launch the land to exciting new time periods and places–breaking the sacred timeline (but tastefully!) and using the setting of the land as a jumping off point for new adventures. (We’ve advocated for this for a while–see Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Needs to Break the Rules for my take on all of that.)
A soft reboot of the Star Wars land would be an opportunity to introduce beloved characters, use the catwalks in the land for mini-shows, and make the land more lived-in thanks to droids and additional performers. They could also finally build the dinner show, and bring that over from the failed Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser. All of this would breathe new life into the land, and offer renewed marketing potential. Heck, they could take things a step further and give the Star Wars land a new subtitle, replacing “Galaxy’s Edge.”
Since this list was originally put together, Disney announced a New Mandalorian and Baby Yoda Mission for Millennium Falcon Smugglers Run in 2026. That makes me believe this is happening, but isn’t in the cards next year. Which also makes sense, given that DHS already has its slate set (see the shows above) for Summer 2025.
Return of Disney’s Magical Express – This is a longshot and I don’t want to give a false sense of hope. It’s unlikely that Disney’s Magical Express is ever coming back. However, if ever there was a time to bring back the airport transportation that gave Walt Disney World a quasi-captive audience and helped increase occupancy, it’s when the competitor across town is opening a new theme park and has a glut of hotel inventory awaiting the occasion.
Long ago, Walt Disney World determined that the increase in average per guest spending with Disney’s Magical Express plus the perceived convenience and goodwill obtained from offering the service outweighs the average per guest cost of offering the service. It’s possible that calculus changed during the era of pent-up demand, especially as rideshare services became more common and easier to burst the Disney bubble, so to speak.
But the opening of Epic Universe might be occasion for revisiting the decision. We’ve also been saying for a while that the biggest threat Universal poses to Disney comes via hotel occupancy numbers. If Epic Universe can peel away even ~10% of on-site guests from Walt Disney World, that’s a big problem.
Disney’s Magical Express could help address that, while also keeping some guests entirely on-site. The bubble isn’t as strong as it once was and there’s literally no way to prevent WDW guests from taking day trips to Universal, but there are ways to keep them staying on-site at Walt Disney World. Perks is one of them, and there’s no better perk than DME!
Cinderella Castle Dream Lights – You’ve probably heard this one before, but I’ll never pass up the opportunity to sing the praises of the Cinderella Castle Dream Lights. Those icicle lights were one of our favorite things about Christmas at Walt Disney World for the decade-plus prior to them being cancelled in 2020. We spent many a late night on Main Street, simply gazing down at those resplendent lights, savoring the scene. I lost count of how many times we did this over the years–probably over 100.
No projections can match the more than 200,000 tiny white lights that illuminate Cinderella Castle and transform it into a veritable ice palace. The Dream Lights would stop you in your tracks, with the resplendent physical display being an absolute jaw-dropper. Words, photos, and video absolutely cannot do it justice. Whatever praise you’ve heard about the Dream Lights, it’s true. All of it.
Dream Lights returning wouldn’t help Walt Disney World compete with Universal during the summer, obviously, but fans would–without a doubt–book trips for Christmas to see them again, helping prop up the last two months of the calendar year. I also refuse to believe that the awful Frozen projections are truly the long-term plan for decking Cinderella Castle out for Christmas.
The Taylor Swift Card – Disney spent a reported $75 million to acquire the exclusive streaming rights to Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour. I’m no math whiz, but that sounds like a lot of money to me. And you know what? It was probably worth every penny for the new Disney+ subs it added.
Love or hate her, there’s no denying Taylor Swift’s popularity–she transcends pop stardom at a level probably not seen since Michael Jackson. This is one attraction overlay that would bring an entirely new audience to Walt Disney World. An attraction featuring Taylor Swift could alone be a legitimate answer to Epic Universe in terms of drawing power, which is sorta depressing…but also accurate.
As for what this could be–your guess is as good as mine. The last time the world had this big of a pop star, Disney brought in George Lucas and Francis Ford Coppola and made Captain EO with him and a bunch of space Muppet kinda critters. George Lucas seems to have plenty of free time and Francis Ford Coppola needs some money now that Megalopolis has bombed, so maybe we can get Captain ShE-O out of this.
Joking aside, the most obvious reimagining would have been Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster: Taylor’s Version. But we now know that isn’t happening…
Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster – This one is a sure thing, as Walt Disney World announced the Muppets taking over Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster and replacing Aerosmith. This entry made the list even prior to this news, as we’ve viewed a RnRC reimagining as a “sure thing” in the next 5 years for the last few years.
However, I do not believe the timeline for this is 2025. It’s simply too late for that to happen and based on what we know so far (it’s still early–the announcement is less than one month old), everything points to this being a 2026 or later project. Which is fine, because Walt Disney World has no new attractions on tap until 2027.
Test Track 3.0 – This one is also a sure thing given that Test Track 2.0 already closed to make way for Test Track 3.0, which will open in Late Summer 2025. If I had to guess, this project is more involved than the last ride reimagining and will essentially reboot the attraction with all new show scenes and more. It’ll still use the same ride system and track layout.
The marketability of Test Track 3.0 depends largely on General Motors, the budget and parameters they’ve given Imagineering. Thrill rides can have a lot of drawing power, even reimagined ones. So this needs to rise to that level, and not simply be a light aesthetic refresh along with bringing back “It’s Fun to Be Free” to throw old school EPCOT Center fans a bone. There needs to be more there there. If the budget, timeline, scale and scope are all large/long enough, there could be Test Track 3.0 billboards and ads when it debuts.
Night Parade – Another sure thing, and probably the big one that’s already driving higher Summer 2025 bookings for Walt Disney World. For those who missed it, the company announced the new “Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away” Parade coming to Magic Kingdom.
Walt Disney World hasn’t announced when this will debut, but our expectation is around Memorial Day 2025. Magic Kingdom has been starved of a night parade for the better part of the last decade, and from our perspective, this was the most exciting news from the recent D23 Expo…which included several new rides and entire lands. And we know we were not the only fans most excited for Disney Starlight Night Parade!
As we mentioned before this was officially announced, night parades are the “break glass in case of emergency” entertainment option when attendance urgently needs a boost. For the last decade or so, Walt Disney World has held out on breaking that glass. We now know that 2025 is finally the year when they have no other option. I expect this to be a huge driver of Summer 2025 attendance for Magic Kingdom, and possibly Walt Disney World bookings as a whole.
While I’d certainly love to see more from this list come to fruition, Disney Starlight Night Parade might be the only “answer” Walt Disney World needs to see slight growth and tread water until Tropical Americas debuts in 2027. I’d still expect smaller entertainment additions, and possibly another ride reimagining or two–see our list of Top 10 Ride Reimaginings Needed at Walt Disney World for options there. Regardless, it should be an interesting saga to watch as Walt Disney World kicks its development cycle into high gear.
Planning a Walt Disney World trip? Learn about hotels on our Walt Disney World Hotels Reviews page. For where to eat, read our Walt Disney World Restaurant Reviews. To save money on tickets or determine which type to buy, read our Tips for Saving Money on Walt Disney World Tickets post. Our What to Pack for Disney Trips post takes a unique look at clever items to take. For what to do and when to do it, our Walt Disney World Ride Guides will help. For comprehensive advice, the best place to start is our Walt Disney World Trip Planning Guide for everything you need to know!
YOUR THOUGHTS
How do you think Walt Disney World will (unofficially) respond to Epic Universe? Play the tried and true ‘entertainment celebration’ card? Even more ride reimaginings? Or is “do nothing at all” becoming a more distinct possibility in your mind? Think Disney has cause for concern, or do you generally agree that a rising tide lifts all boats? Think growing the market for Central Florida theme parks is an ‘everyone-wins’ best case scenario? Any other thoughts or commentary to add? Any questions we can help you answer? Hearing your feedback–even when you disagree with us–is both interesting to us and helpful to other readers, so please share your thoughts below in the comments!
Does anyone else think a Swift reboot of RnRC would be very weird? Not a hater, but her music isn’t exactly rock n roll. I mean, there’s a gigantic guitar outside the ride. I feel if they keep it as a rock-themed ride, the music will have to heavily feature guitar…just my two cents (please don’t @ me Swifties)
Tom, like your upgrade suggestions for F&W, these are all spot on and should be under consideration by WD. Personally, I think the Galaxy’s Edge reboot (sans canonical time line constraints) and a Taylor’s Version of RRC would present serious challenges to Epic. Sadly, like a lot of former devoted fans of WDW, I have pretty much lost faith in c-suite decision-making. Except when it comes to guaranteeing dividends and high stock prices for institutional investors. And even those don’t have a great future unless Epic gets proactively addressed.
WDW really needs to step it up. Free bus won’t touch a massive new theme park with innovative ride technology, beloved characters and top tier themeing. What is sad is any big announcement is YEARS away from actually being ready to ride.
Dream Wish list would be
-nighttime parade
-Skyliner expansion
-live entertainment, citizens, Jedi etc. I can meet Dracula at Epic Universe for crying out loud
-a brand new e ticket attraction, not one taken from another park that is already dated technology (sorry Remy’s adventure) We’re not Universal fans but my teens are so hyped for Epic Universe we’ll definitely be making a trip.
If Disney wants to have an answer to Universal’s new park and increase attendance, they need to make going to Disney World more affordable and less complicated. Who wants to spend all day on their phone planning their day. Bring back spontaneity and lower the cost.
Totally agree. And as part of the spontaneity, they need to bring back the surprise entertainment – citizens of Main St./ Hollywood, and the like…”magic” can’t be planned.
“There’s no way that the company spent all of that money developing nighttime entertainment for a show at Disney Springs”. Tom, DCA had Rogers the Musical at the Hyperion and it was 3 months or less? From what I understand it was a very good show. By the time my trip came around it was gone and has been for a year. It seems Disney is good at spending a lot of money for short term gains. I agree with a lot of what you say about enticing visitors back. I know we would start planning trip(s) if just more entertainment would be promised. Night time parade, indoor entertainment, late hours, and night time shows at both WDW and Disneyland.
A few things about that:
1) Unlike Disney Springs, DCA charges admission
2) Rogers the Musical was an excellent show
3) I’m highly skeptical the original plan was for Rogers the Musical to only last a few months. Either it was a test for somewhere else (DCL?) or DLR intended to bring it back, but for whatever reason, did not.
With all of that said, I take your point. It is possible that Dreams That Soar receives similar treatment, and we don’t see drones again at Walt Disney World for another decade. Honestly, that’s one of my fears–that the legal team won’t clear it and WDW won’t do it in the parks as a result. That would be a terrible outcome, and I really hope someone higher up overrides whatever concerns might exist there.
I honestly fear Disney won’t try to compete with Epic Universe at all for the first year or so after it opens. If there’s anything we’ve learned from the past few years (including the 2024 Waffle Debacle) it’s that Disney corporate has very little idea of what guests in the Disney parks like or want. Ever since The Wizarding World of Harry Potter opened Disney has been trying to replicate Universal’s success in an extremely formulaic way: two rides and a restaurant. Pandora? Two rides and a restaurant. Toy Story Land? Two new rides and a restaurant. Galaxy’s Edge? Two new rides and a restaurant. The new lands in Disney have some small details here and there that are fun, but not the depth that each half of WWHP has. Diagon Ally only has one ride and I could still spend much more time exploring and enjoying the atmosphere than Galaxy’s Edge (and I love Star Wars WAY more than Harry Potter).
I honestly fear that Latin Americas in AK is going to be…two rides and a restaurant, and one of those rides will be Indiana Jones (a retheme of an old ride into an EVEN OLDER ride) and the other will basically be Dumbo with alebrijes from Coco, or some other clone of an existing ride.
Would love to see Disney bring back something along the lines of the Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights during the Holiday Season. In Cincinnati, the Cincinnati Zoo has what they call the ‘Festival of Lights’ during the season where they light up the zoo in christmas lights. It’s a huge draw during the holiday season, even on cold winter nights in Cincinnati. They could do something like that at Animal Kingdom and with Disney’s resources I imagine it could be pretty impressive. It would allow them to leave that park open later hours and draw some of the crowds from the other parks…and bring in new crowds to the park.
I agree the Osborne family light show was amazing.
Disney ended the Magical Express service on January 1, 2022. Mears signed a new “ground transportation concession agreement” with the Airports Authority on February 1, 2022, that seems to be good for three years (or periods as it calls it), with 2 1-year mutually-agreed-to extensions possible
I’m sure if Disney paid Mears enough the service could be back at any time, but the occasion of a new Mears/MCO agreement in February 2025 might be the more realistic time to bring the service back. I’d think Disney would at minimum prefer Mears contracts for more space and signage in the new Terminal C (in my opinion Mears’ space there is currently inadequate for DME crowds, plus Mears would have to find another place to service their Universal customers).
If it is to ever return, a February 2025 restart for the service fits nicely with an August D23 announcement, with six months to prepare the bus wraps, uniforms, the on-board videos, resort luggage areas, etc.
Thanks for sharing–this is an interesting point!
FWIW, I wouldn’t expect a DME announcement at D23. They normally don’t deal with resort perks or that sort of thing, and I’m not sure that would resonate with the Anaheim audience. Seems like something that would just come out in another ‘guest experience enhancement updates’ press release. Just a guess, though. (And to be clear, I still think this is unlikely.)
I will book a dedicated trip if they announce that Cinderella Castle Dream Lights are coming back. And not a short one either. Maybe I should let my DVC guide know that I’ll need extra points if they bring back the dream lights… maybe he has some pull…
Anything Taylor Swift related that isn’t utterly dismal would prove a massive draw.
Is this your way of endorsing Captain She-O featuring Swift plus Rizzo the Rat, Hooter and Fuzzball????
DME seems like such an easy decision to me. I know in reality it’s not (and I have no idea the cost of running it) but that would be a fairly huge announcement that would certainly make waves. And good ones at that. There would assuredly be an instant bump to consumer opinions on WDW. Hell, I bet you could even increase room costs $10 a night or something to help offset the cost and next to no one would care.
Also, as others have mentioned, the luggage service should return with it. I was so impressed back in 2011 for my first trip to WDW about that. It was truly something that set WDW apart.
I actually think a lot of people would care about an across the board room rate increase. You maybe wouldn’t hear much from them on blogs and fan sites, but I think the current hotel prices are near the ceiling of what people are willing to pay.
I know many people loved Magical Express, but it was never the most efficient way to get to and from the resorts, and I’m sure there are plenty of people who would rather put that money towards an Uber/Lyft or rental car than have Disney decide for them by increasing hotel rates to offer “free” DME. If Disney can find a way to offer it at the current prices great, or even if it returns as an opt-in surcharge, but raising current hotel prices to cover the cost would just be sneakier version of Disney charging for something that used to be included.
Agree with Jared.
I think WDW is in a “tough” position where they’ve hit a price ceiling and also need to find a way to increase perks to get people to justify staying on-site.
The real “solution” to this is simply accepting that margins are never going to be as high as they were during pent-up demand, and to just accept that a correction is overdue. The sooner that happens, the better.
What I see in the comments is everyone’s wish list.
Amenities that they want returned.
Clearly Disney did this to itself not just by the removal of magical experiences and beloved services but the unsatisfactory implementation of alternatives.
Unless Universal Epic is an Epic fail, in 2025 all WDW can do is take their lumps, put their head down and start building, repairing and rebuilding.
Pretty simple.
By closing rides and charging more money for less. Also opening s new ride that will be impossible to ride on but u have yo pay extra for the chance of a possible ride
Magical express was a huge incentive for us. Also longer extra morning hours for resort guest. Not just 30 minutes. 30 minutes really does not give me an incentive to stay on property. In 2019 we were allowed into Hollywood studios at around 6am or 7. It was amazing to be able to go so early. Plus it was an hour of just resorts guest. Curious as to what kind of promotions Disney will run to get guest to stay there. Hmmm
Cinderella Castle Dream Lights AND Main Street Electrical Parade…I would stay for 2 weeks. I mean I’d probably sneak off to Universal for a day trip but definitely spend most of my time at WDW. That’s my wish if any execs are reading this! And year of a million dreams wouldn’t hurt either.
I would really love to see the luggage service brought back. Now that was truly magic!
That was the best part of Magical Express!
1. Longer hours to make up for the upcharge events.
2. Free fast pass for resort guests.
3. Free parking for resort guests.
4. Free park hopping.
5. Magic express bus
already have free parking for resort guest.
A relatively easy, but huge draw would be late park hours. While Universal is closing at 9:00pm, the Magic Kingdom could close at midnight, Hollywood at 11:00pm, Epcot 10:00pm or 11:00 pm. Guest like late hours and being open 2-3 hours longer than Universal could be seen as a better value.
With “feels like” 105 F days coming earlier and running deep into the fall, more after-dark hours may become more than a perk.
Agreed on later hours being a good idea for a variety of reasons.
With that said, I think it’s a mistake to simply assume Universal is going to continue the status quo once Epic Universe opens. That cuts both ways with good (longer hours) and bad (higher prices), but I see a lot of people doing this. My assumption is that Universal will respond to increased demand with positive and negative changes.
Totally agree that from Disney’s perspective, making RnRC Taylor’s Version would be the absolute right choice, but I doubt it will happen because Taylor won’t say yes. She certainly doesn’t need the money and I would guess she is aware of her over-saturation problem right now; I bet she lays low post-tour. Besides, someone at Disney has undoubtedly tried to make this happen for at least the past year; if they could have, I think they already would have announced something.
You know all I care about is a massive Skyliner expansion announcement, Brightliner coming to Disney Springs before everyone had a temper tantrum, and the return of Magical Express, right?