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.

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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!