Disney “Responds” to Universal’s Epic Universe
Since Universal Orlando announced its third theme park, fans have been fans have been anxiously awaiting an answer to this question: how will Walt Disney World answer Epic Universe? Well, CEO Bob Iger provided that response. Fair warning: I don’t think this is going to be even remotely satisfying to those of you who have been asking. (Updated May 15, 2024.)
The latest development comes via a question-and-answer session that Bob Iger participated in at the MoffettNathanson Media & Communications Summit on May 15, 2024. During that, Disney’s CEO once again addressed the competition from Universal’s Epic Universe, expressing confidence in the strategic investments that Walt Disney World has made over the last 5 years and the company’s portfolio of intellectual property.
More to the point, Iger said this: “As we’ve seen in the past, when Universal has expanded, it brings more visitors to Orlando. That’s fine. We’ve had competition from them for a long time. I’m mindful of what they’re doing, but I’m confident. I like our hand. I’m confident in what we’ve built and I’m confident in what we’ll continue to build. It’s not something that should be distracting to us or anxiety-provoking.”
In discussing what Walt Disney World has already built, Iger pointed to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, TRON Lightcycle Run, and other additions. He also talked up the record-setting attendance and growth Disney’s Parks & Resorts have achieved post-pandemic, as well as their multi-generational appeal.
“The experience that we deliver, whether it’s at a park or on a cruise ship, is an extraordinary experience that I think where the value is not going away. It’s showing no signs of ebbing at all,” Iger said. He also commented on the parks’ resiliency, indicating that investments in Walt Disney World and other parks are smart as a result–echoing comments he’s made previously.
During the same conference, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts discussed Universal’s Epic Universe and called it the “absolute, state-of-the-art, best-in-the-world theme park.” High praise. Roberts continued to hype up Epic Universe and the state of the art technology it’ll use both on attractions and throughout the park as a whole. Epic Universe is “going to redefine the park experience,” he added.
Roberts noted that Universal has taken several years to build Epic Universe, and that it’s one of the most ambitious construction projects in the United States. “There’s more dirt that’s been moved, steel brought in [to build] hotels, restaurants, retail. I don’t think there’s been anything quite like Epic Universe in the country.”
Prior to this, an article in the Wall Street Journal addressed the threat Epic Universe poses to Disney. It was mostly grievances from fans, but there was one tidbit from Disney in the article: “Epic [Universe] is Universal playing catch-up on a decade of nonstop development at Walt Disney World,” said a Walt Disney World spokesperson.
The company indicates that it has been offering a steady stream of new and reimagined attractions, pointing to popular rides that have been added or updated in the last decade. This is also nothing new, and echos what CEO Bob Iger said recently about Epic Universe during the annual shareholder meeting.
During that, Iger was asked why Disney hasn’t prepared anything or placed more than just a handful of attractions in the pipeline to be ready in 2025 at Walt Disney World in response to Epic Universe?
In response, Disney CEO Bob Iger said “that couldn’t be further from the truth. We’ve been aware of Universal’s plans for a new park for more than a decade. We have a sophisticated approach to analyzing the needs of all our businesses, and strategically deploying capital.”
Iger pointed to a laundry list of additions at Walt Disney World during this same period: Pandora – World of Avatar at Animal Kingdom; Toy Story Land and Mickey & Minnie’s Runaway Railway at Hollywood Studios; TRON Lightcycle Run at Magic Kingdom. Finally, the multi-year, multi-billion dollar transformation of EPCOT, which included Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure, Journey of Water Inspired by Moana, and the great Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind.
“By staggering these major new launches, we’ve been able to commercially and operationally optimize our new offerings over time rather than all at once. Based on the guest feedback we’ve heard about through all of these additions I’ve mentioned, we know they’re extremely popular and serving our guests very well,” added Iger.
“The agreement we reached with the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District last week will further enable us to pursue the kinds of investment in our Florida parks that you’re talking about. We achieved a win-win result with that deal in terms of our ability to pursue future development opportunities, but also in terms of the thousands of direct and indirect jobs and economic opportunities in Florida that will result from our investment in new projects. As we’ve discussed regarding our $60 billion capital expenditure plans, there’s so much more coming to our parks around the world–including Walt Disney World in Florida,” he concluded.
At least in part, we know what Iger is saying is true about Disney’s preference for staggering openings because we lived through this happening–in a bad way.
Remember everything that was supposed to debut “in time for Walt Disney World’s 50th Anniversary?” Now remember when all of that actually opened? Walt Disney World took projects that were supposed to all debut by 2021 and spread them out into 2022 and 2023.
They didn’t do that primarily due to pandemic-induced construction delays, labor shortages, and so forth (although that undoubtedly played a contributing factor). They did it because slow-rolling the opening of attractions was strategically advantageous, especially because they shelved several other projects that were supposed to open in the years after 2021.
That approach has been a sore subject with this blog, but at least from a financial perspective, Disney played its cards well. Well, mostly. I still maintain that it was short-sighted to reduce the scale of the original EPCOT Festival Center and to delay that project for years instead of fast-tracking it. I think this viewpoint has been vindicated by EPCOT attendance and crowds since the World Celebration construction walls have (mostly) come down, but that’s another topic for another day.
Another thing we know is true is that the resolution of litigation will facilitate further Florida investments. I don’t want to fixate on it too much because I’m very happy to close this chapter and not report on CFTOD vs. Walt Disney World or Iger vs. DeSantis, but it’s worth touching upon those comments briefly since there have been additional developments since our early reporting on the settlement agreement between Disney and CFTOD.
That same afternoon, Governor DeSantis held a press conference during which he struck a more conciliatory tone towards Disney, while also bringing up Epic Universe. DeSantis called the new Universal park a “game-changer” for Central Florida, while adding that he’d welcome Disney building a 5th gate. When that happens, he said that the district will be ready to work on something that’s “good for the state” and for jobs, among other things.
That was a complete 180° change from this same time last year when DeSantis was joking about building a prison at Walt Disney World. It was positive instead of adversarial, and it was about working towards growth in the region instead of hamstringing Disney. DeSantis also differentiated between Walt Disney World and corporate Disney in Burbank, which I view as a purposeful distinction–even if it’s all the same company, he can cast the Californians as the bad guys and the Florida team as the good guys.
In addition to this, we’ve learned more about leadership changes at the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District that are more experienced and friendlier to Disney. These competent individuals will actually ensure that the CFTOD works as it should, and accomplish its purpose.
There’s been a lot of political reporting that has characterized this as a win-win as a result. Some of that is probably face-saving due to prior breathless commentary about how Disney would win in court, but there’s also validity to it. Our commentary has long focused on the political theater angle of this (last year), and why it’s advantageous for everyone to move on and work together towards mutually-beneficial ends (this year). It appears that’s what’s going to happen, which paves the way for the $17 billion investment in Walt Disney World over the next decade. But we shall see.
One thing not to expect is a fifth gate, despite DeSantis welcoming one and many fans wanting a new theme park. Our view on that remains unchanged–it absolutely won’t happen. (Here’s Why a 5th Theme Park Will NOT Be Built at Walt Disney World in the Next Decade.)
Honestly, I don’t want a fifth gate to happen anytime soon. This isn’t because I think Walt Disney World is perfect as-is or that another park wouldn’t be cool. Quite the contrary! It’s mostly because 3 of the 4 existing parks need a lot of help (Magic Kingdom doesn’t, but is getting it anyway). That $17 billion would be far better spent improving what’s already there rather than sinking billions into new infrastructure and other things that aren’t new or reimagined rides.
In reality, Disney won’t have any official answer to Epic Universe beyond the above comments about Universal playing catch-up. They won’t acknowledge the project as a threat. These are all words we’ve written before in previous posts, most notably Is Universal “Beating” Walt Disney World? (Likewise, what follows is commentary reiterating what we wrote there.)
This lack of an “answer” to Universal’s Epic Universe is probably a big part of why disillusioned Walt Disney World diehards are now claiming that Universal is “winning,” “going to destroy,” or “beat” Disney. Fans are frustrated at Walt Disney World’s seeming complacency or arrogance, and want to see them “punished” for it as a result.
I can understand where many disenchanted Walt Disney World fans are coming from and agree with plenty of that sentiment. As a longtime fan, one of my fears for a while has been that Disney is inflicting long-term brand damage for short-term gain. There’s a laundry list of complaints about Walt Disney World. Not to mention Disney’s falling reputation, which is based on all of the above plus other issues.
I don’t agree with all of the complaints. Citing high crowds as a reason for Disney’s downfall is basically a Yogi Berra quote expressed unironically. I also don’t agree with the volume or intensity of the frustration. But there’s a reason guest satisfaction scores have been down, and also why Bob Iger is working to undo damage and lure back former fans.
With that said, a lot of the above is wishful thinking on the part of disillusioned Disney fans. We’ve been down this road before, and these types of predictions or sentiment have been wrong time and time again. This time is different. Except, it never is. Reports of Disney’s demise are, and always have been, greatly exaggerated.
Looking back to the last time Universal Orlando debuted a game-changing addition is instructive to this point. When the Wizarding World of Harry Potter (WWoHP) opened at Islands of Adventure in 2010, the fan dynamic was similar to what it is now, just dialed back since it was before social media.
Starting in 2007 when WWoHP was first announced, there was a constant drumbeat from fans about an “answer.” The key distinct then was that Walt Disney World hadn’t really done anything in the decade prior. Fans at the time were starved for new attractions, as the period between the 9/11 tourism slowdown and the Great Recession had been pretty dark.
There was a much more rational basis in those expectations, as Walt Disney World was struggling and could use new additions. Consequently, there were high hopes for a “Potter Swatter,” and radio silence from Disney for almost two years.
Then Disney finally announced New Fantasyland. For many fans, that wasn’t enough. It didn’t originally include Seven Dwarfs Mine Train–and instead had a bunch of next generation meet & greets (like Enchanted Tales with Belle, but more of them). It was also slated to open after the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
In the lead-up to WWoHP, Walt Disney World’s public position was that “a rising tide lifts all boats” — that a stronger Universal was beneficial to Disney because it attracted more people to Central Florida. In actuality, Universal Orlando’s attendance soared by 1.7 million guests the opening year of WWoHP, with Islands of Adventure seeing 30% growth. Three of Walt Disney World’s parks dropped by 1-1.5%, while Animal Kingdom increased by 1%.
The following year (2011), 3 of the 4 parks at Walt Disney World were up by 1% each, while EPCOT was flat. Islands of Adventure once again surged–another 29% increase–but both Universal Orlando parks had lower overall attendance than any Walt Disney World park. In 2012, Walt Disney World’s parks each increased by ~2.2%. (New Fantasyland began opening on December 6, 2012–too late to have a meaningful impact on that year’s numbers, especially since all 4 parks were up fairly evenly.)
Walt Disney World’s rising tide thesis was correct: Universal had significantly increased its attendance by attracting an entirely new audience to Central Florida, which in turn benefited both. Fast-forward over a decade, and both Universal and Disney have experienced tremendous growth, to the tune of millions of guests per year each. The market for theme parks in Central Florida has gotten larger.
A new analysis from Wall Street analyst MoffettNathanson concludes that Epic Universe could cause Walt Disney World attendance to decline by about 1 million visitors in the two years spanning 2025 and 2026. Conversely, it could boost overall attendance at Universal’s three parks by more than 8 million. Note that this last number includes Epic Universe, meaning that–at least in theory–the new park could cannibalize attendance from both Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando’s existing two gates.
Also note that these are some of the same big brains that suggested both Disney and Comcast should go all-in on streaming back in 2020 because it would take travel at least 5 years to recover. Prevailing wisdom on Wall Street at the time was that travel may never reach the same post-pandemic heights as it had in 2019, and that streaming was the future. Leisure travel recovered in 2 years, and investors soured on streaming in that same span of time. So not like these dudes have crystal balls (working ones, at least).
The Wizarding World of Harry Potter was “only” one land back then, but it was a revolutionary one with a massive built-in audience. Epic Universe is an entirely new park, so the scale and scope is different–bigger. Disney has probably concluded that the only way to “win” is to not play the game–to fall back on the “rising tide lifts all boats” mantra. Iger’s comments take this a step further, suggesting that Disney already played the game, but did it over the last decade and as they strategically saw fit.
Regardless of whether that’s spin, the simple fact remains that no new ride or land is going to meaningfully compete with a brand-new theme park. Sitting out this round of the theme park wars and conceding the spotlight for a year might be the best hand that Disney can play. No Disney fan wants to hear this, but might be the smarter move than trying to steal Epic Universe’s thunder. Nothing Disney can do will top Epic Universe.
As fans, it’s also important to have self awareness. We are not the only type of guests who visit Central Florida’s theme parks. If anything, we are outliers. For theme park fans or frequent visitors (like readers of this blog), there’s a better chance that blockbuster new additions are the most compelling draws–a brand-new theme park is going to be of more interest to you than ones that are unchanged and you’ve experienced several times before.
That brand-new park would trump just about anything for you, and that includes a new land at Walt Disney World. If your time is limited, you’re still allocating it towards the new park over whatever Walt Disney World would add.
But for most average guests, the new additions from a single year or two do not exist in a vacuum. They aren’t the only selling points of the theme parks. Most people visiting in 2025 aren’t going solely on the basis of what’s brand-new.
Even for fans who visit semi-frequently, there are a lot of other recent, new-to-them additions. Everything from Hagrid’s and Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge to Tiana’s Bayou Adventure will still be “new” to some fans in 2025. That’s a wide range of offerings spanning several years, but not everyone visits annually. Most people–even those who would self-describe as enthusiasts or fans–do not.
Then there’s the biggest demo of all: first-timers. For this group, everything at every theme park in Central Florida is necessarily new. When choosing which parks to visit, they aren’t simply picking the brand-new additions, although those probably are granted more weight thanks to marketing. They’re looking at the full menu, and what looks most appealing.
It shouldn’t be contentious to say that Walt Disney World is the more established and time-tested theme park complex. Even after Epic Universe, Walt Disney World still has one more park, a dozen-plus additional resorts, and more recreation.
Regardless of how you feel about recent movies, it also shouldn’t be controversial to contend that the Disney’s stable of characters created and acquired in the last ~100 years is more popular and enduring. Universal has made tremendous strides with popular character intellectual property in the last couple of decades, but they’re still not on level playing fields.
This is where things get more interesting in terms of competition for 2025 and 2026. Both Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando have been aggressively adding in the last decade. Many of Universal’s newest attractions are fantastic–Hagrid’s and VelociCoaster are two of the best roller coasters anywhere. Despite this, Walt Disney World has inarguably spent more money on new attractions and lands in the last decade.
It’s undeniable that the bump will disproportionately benefit Universal Orlando. It may be true that a rising tide lifts all boats, but it does not do so equally. Percentage growth for Universal Orlando as a whole will outpace Walt Disney World as a whole in 2025-2026.
If history repeats itself, Disney’s parks could see slight decreases–but the losses will not be commensurate with the growth at Universal. Stated differently, Super Nintendo World and Epic Universe as a whole will grow the audience for Central Florida theme parks, even if theme park diehards (like you!) visiting Universal and skipping Disney leads to a slight drawdown in attendance.
However, I wouldn’t necessarily bet on Walt Disney World seeing a drop in 2025. Epic Universe has all-ages appeal, but I’d hazard a guess that the park’s main draws (Super Nintendo World, How to Train Your Dragon, and Harry Potter) skew towards families. Not only that, but they do so to a far greater degree than Universal’s two existing gates.
The argument could be made that, as a whole, Walt Disney World does a better job of catering to this crowd than does Universal Orlando. On the basis of new additions, I think you could reasonably argue that Universal has been chasing Disney’s demographics over the last decade and Disney has been chasing Universal’s.
Nevertheless, the reputation still exists that Universal is the place for teenagers and thrill seekers, and Walt Disney World is more family-friendly. Accordingly, I would hazard a guess that many of the families planning 2025 trips to see Universal’s “new Nintendo and dragon park” will also include visits to “Disney World” (Magic Kingdom) and “Star Wars and toy park” (Disney’s Hollywood Studios).
Definitely not more than they visit Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios Florida–convenience is huge, as are vacation packages–but possibly enough that at least those two parks and maybe even EPCOT don’t lose attendance at all in 2025. On the other hand, the situation is only going to get worse before it gets better for Animal Kingdom. No denying that one. Tropical Americas should be fast-tracked in the same way Tiana’s Bayou Adventure has been.
Ultimately, my view is that Disney and Bob Iger are doing a bit of posturing and a bit of truth-telling. In reality, Walt Disney World won’t have a direct response to Epic Universe because they already did over the last decade, but also because they can’t have a meaningful one. The streaming boondoggle, among other things, sort of took most options off the table.
Even so, Walt Disney World won’t have no response to Epic Universe whatsoever. While our above commentary is somewhat dismissive of diehards and theme park regulars, they (we!) do exist in meaningful numbers, and not just at the margins. It’s impossible for Walt Disney World to “beat” Epic Universe next year (both as a matter of timing and significance), but it is still possible to debut marketable additions to lure locals, theme park fans, and other fence-sitters to Walt Disney World. That will be an important indirect response even if it (fair warning) amounts to a lot of stuff that gets scorned or ridiculed. (E.g. “Universal is opening a whole new park and Disney is only doing [insert small scale thing] in response?! SAD.”)
As we’ve said before, Universal is not “beating” Walt Disney World or vice-versa. That won’t change in 2025 even as the former further comes into its own as a bona fide theme park destination resort. There’s space in the Central Florida market for both to continue growing and thriving. That’s (somewhat sadly) especially true when expansion is centered around intellectual properties–like Mario, Harry Potter, Star Wars or Marvel–that expand the audience for theme parks, rather than reallocate the existing pool of guests.
My expectation is that Epic Universe is fantastic and envelope-pushing. I hope it grows the audience for Orlando theme parks even further and erodes a little bit of Walt Disney World’s market share. (Not too much to give them cold feet about that $17 billion!) In my view as a long-term Disney and theme parks fan, that’s the best of both worlds. It puts Disney back on their heels and feeling the need to be more competitive, while also justified to invest because it demonstrates that there are ways to grow the pie–not just fight over the same sized one. Competition like that is good for everyone, especially us fans.
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
What do you think about Disney CEO Bob Iger’s “answer” to Epic Universe? Think what Disney has opened in the last decade counts for the average guest, even if it doesn’t for you personally? Will the opening of Epic Universe in 2025 will lead to the “demise” of Disney? Or do you generally agree with the perspective that a rising tide lifts all boats? Think growing the market for Central Florida theme parks is an ‘everyone-wins’ best case scenario? Do you agree or disagree with our assessment? 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!
The IP is important to get the masses but I loved the Harry Potter stuff at universal and didn’t read any of the books. It’s like fantasy land for a more mature participant. Counter to that is that Mario is huge and will pull in tons just based on that IP. I think universal wins for the moment because it’s easier and less stressful. That may change when Epic opens. It could become just like WDW in its current state-not easy and stressful.
Hi! We just returned from Disney World and had a blast. Haven’t been to universal Florida but have been to universal Hollywood California and I will say without hesitation that Disney runs a superior park in every way ! It is magical ! They know how to move crowds, their rides have details and magic that universal just can’t catch up with. We rode the hyped Mario kart ride last year in California. Quite a disappointment in what could have been an epic ride. Mostly just screens with 3D glasses ..
I was thinking it would be like the amazing Radiator Springs racers ride in California adventure but it is very much not!!
Disney is clean, it is staffed by friendly and excellent employees and they know how to manage lots of people ! Even the lines at Disney parks are cute.
Universal just packs people in and they don’t know what to do with them .
Our trip this past weekend was awesome. That happily ever after show is absolutely spectacular!!!
If we are complaining that Disney isn’t keeping up with universal I think we don’t understand that Disney has outshined them in every way and it’s Universal that has to keep trying to add stuff to keep up with Disney!!
Well in my ever so humble estimation Universal is just trying to catch up. But the Harry Potter stuff in Orlando is quite amazing and I highly recommend you see that whether you are a fan or not. But everything else is as you mentioned not up to snuff.
The clever thing Disney should have done — a 2025 attraction aimed at its most hardcore fans/most devoted demographic. Rather than competing directly, draw a lot of secondary buzz, goodwill, blog coverage and repeat visits (or additional visits, if said fans were also eager to see Epic Universe).
That 2025 launch should have been a reworked Figment: Journey. Too late…
That’s all true but they build another park, the prices will go sky-high. They’re already way over inflation.
WDW needs four two-day parks way more than it needs one 1.5-day park (MK), two one-day parks (DS & EPCOT), and another less than a day park to join AK.
More on topic, my problem is less that Disney spread the WDW 50th Anniversary projects and spread their opening out into 2022 and 2023, it’s that there was no future announcements being done in 2022. WDW doesn’t have anything new for next year because Disney didn’t start planning for something new two years ago. I’m less concerned with not competing with Universal and more concerned about stopping new construction. A single new ride could have been announced at D23 2022 and filled in the increasing elongated gap between attraction openings, but instead we only got the blue sky sessions.
(If Universal fixes E.T. so everyone gets to hear their name again, and keeps it fixed, that would be a game changer for me. Anaheim level maintenance in Orlando!)
Splash cost $36M to build in 1992. No idea how much they spent to ruin it. Can’t imagine what Tron and Guardians cost to build! Construction costs are astronomical these days. New hospital construction is around $1k/SF, and I’d bet theme park attractions are more.
“Tropical Americas should be fast-tracked in the same way Tiana’s Bayou Adventure has been.” I couldn’t agree more. One of my biggest frustrations with Disney in recent years has been what feels like glacial paces for pending projects (the Epcot Giant Dirt Pit [TM] being the poster child). If Disney could foster a reputation for efficient deployment of new attractions/entertainment, they would satisfy its core fans and attract new guests. But as of now, when Disney announces an improvement, none of us hold our breath and we half-expect it to be diluted or never materialize.
It was apparent when WDW celebrated its 50th Birthday . Little attention was given to the park and guest enjoyment. The gold statues didn’t cut it and their other focus was on food and Merch. They did a little painting and sprucing up and that was it. the best thing to come from it are the lights on Spaceship Earth. Yet Disney continues to invest millions in overseas parks. Adding new rides and lands and neglecting WDW. Why should they? Millions of people are still visiting. I included
You have used the expression “tentpole addition” several times. What does that mean?
Generaly it means something on an ‘E ticket’ or big ride scale. So on most recent additions Tron, Guardians of the Galaxy, Ratatooie (ish), Rise of the Reisitance although I doubt theyll go that big again. Although personally I think the parks could really use some C and D ticket level below the big crowd eaters to incerease capacity and reduce waits a bit througout the day whilst also giving people more stuff to do.
Always love your commentary and insights into the Orlando competition, business and investments, and the overwhelming Disney theme park fans who call Walt Disney World their home resort with high expectations for quality and quantity. Having returned recently from my first visit in March 2024 to Hong Kong Disneyland with the breathtaking Arendelle and Shanghai Disneyland with the more intimate Zootopia (akin to Disneyland’s Toon Town), I also see it from the Disney Company’s view their need to also invest 49% (or whatever they own) into Hong Kong, Shanghai, and 100% into Paris.
Now that the worst of all Disney parks is getting a huge investment and official renaming, I often argue/posit that Bob Iger will have fixed the last of Eisner’s cheap parks post-Euro-Disney: DCA 1.0, HKD, and WDS. If that is his legacy with his second return as CEO, among many others, I’m proud to be a Bob Iger fan, and I recognize the company is always much larger and more international than Orlando and beholden to shareholders – much to the dismay and disbelief of many Walt Disney World Fans.
To the constant WDW vs. Disneyland debate, let’s just agree Tokyo Disney is the best resort on the planet with the best parks, rides, and Walt’s spirit. Orlando doesn’t need a 5th theme park, it needs more rides and attractions to soak up all the crowds and lines.
We shall see tomorrow if the City of Anaheim approves an expansion to my home park and Walt Disney’s original: DisneylandForward. To the next decade of Imagineering: To Infinity and Beyond! – even if the bean counters will cut those investments and value-engineer them down. Hopefully, WDI and Company leaders have learned from recent investments overseas that great theme park expansions can be done with creativity, heart, soul, be crowdpleasing and revenue-generating for decades to come.
I don’t see any way Anaheim would not approve it. They really cannot afford to do so. Plus, it’s Disney’s land already and they have the right to develop it as they see fit. It should be a great thing for the DLR! I will be excited to go visit the smaller park again, to be sure. TBH I want to go again just to compare the GE areas. Okay, and ride the Matterhorn a few times too!
Couple of quick words on what Universal is actually doing. Yes – a new “Epic” park. Yes – Universal has the desire to, and this will make it easier, to rip out and revamp much of the current Universal Studios Orlando park because it has lost its luster IN THE OLDER ORIGINAL PARTS and is recognized to be stuck in the past. The Studio park needs to be grander, beefier, and more exciting in the vein of the new Harry Potter-themed lands. Nobody is excited by the San Francisco waterfront. Or Krustyland. Do you see where I’m headed with this comment? Open a new park, then heavily revamp the old park. It would be a one-two punch to counter anything that Disney does.
I get Bob Iger’s public comments. I hate that they all entail lots of IP. Soon Disney fans will realize the loss of Walt Disneyesque touches in favor of “Universalization” of the Disney park, with the latter definitely a very negative assertion.
Bob Iger’s legacy? “King of Cheese.” IP cheese. He is the most remote exec from Walt Disney himself ever.
“especially true when expansion is centered around intellectual properties that expand the audience for theme parks, rather than reallocate the existing pool of guests.”
Urgh, Iger you did it again, face palm! Reimagining rides does nothing to sopp up the crowds. Adding new rides, unless their capacity is 2,000 ppl per hour, isn’t going to help with capacity. That is like FDOT constantly resurfacing i4 and only widening the shoulder for broken down cars rationalizing that over adding 4 more lanes to help reduce congestion. I’m a frequent visitor who is local and it’s frustrating to see Disney’s inability to crowd control after all of these decades. I get why MK would get the vast majority of the 17b, not needed, but if central Florida visitors are going to visit only 1 WDW park for their entire stay then hands down it will always be MK. Even though 80% of MK is gift shops and 15% is walk up fast food joints, people still want to see the castle and parade. But that is all MK has going for it when compared to rides and amenities at other parks. Hollywood Studios is in the most need for general repairs and maintenance, it is dilapidated. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve gone and every ride we were interested in was broken down. And why is Star Wars meet and greet in a run down 1990s building with glass block windows? AK needs a monorail extension, which 1 year of Iger’s salary could easily cover. That would help redistribute current crowds through funneling them to park hopping.
5th gate – 1970s, 80s and 90s classics…Duck Tales, Gummi Bears, Tale Spin, Jungle Book. Homeward Bound, Benji, Winnie The Pooh etc.
There will not be a monorail extension, ever. It is simply too expensive for current tastes, while the Skyliner can carry more guests per hour. Yeah, the monorail is way way cooler, but don’t expect to ever see an expansion on that.
Oh, and Iger’s annual salary has no relevance to any expansions or construction costs…
5th gate is not going to happen. And I don’t think it needs to! Expanding capacity and offerings at the parks they have is the way to go. They also aren’t going to extend the monorail to AK. I forget why but I read an article on why the monorail has never been extended and there a number of logistical and structural reasons why they don’t do it (it’s not just about cost).
Okay guys, you missed the point. Iger’s salary is a waste of resources. The monorail isn’t, and it’s recent maintenance issues and downtime that has been hidden is something to be concerned about. 5th gate comment was a joke, get over yourself.
No need to be rude!
While I agree Iger is overpaid, I’m not sure it’s that surprising given he is the head of a massive company. A lot of companies pay their CEOs absurd salaries.
I would actually rather see some of his salary go to increasing the salaries of cast members!
The whole question of whether Disney or Orlando is “winning” misses the point that Disney made peace a while ago with people visiting non-Disney parks. The Hollywood Studios, Animal Kingdom, and Magical Express (to name a few) were moves designed to keeping people in place for their entire vacation. But with choices like dismantling magical express and giving less of a discount for longer stays, they are just focused on maximizing per day spend and let customers go on their way to other places. Disney trying to complete with a whole new theme park is a pipe dream. s long as Disney keeps their per person per day revenue high, they are not going to change. Just slow modest upgrades to keep hotels full and sell DVC. Milk the cash cow and move on.
That said, Universal is going to increase attendance as noted, AND increase multiday ticket price increases at the same time. They are both winning, but Universal increase revenue and margins is going to be a grand slam.
I agree. Disney’s dismantling of the ‘Disney Bubble’ (Magical Express, Fast Pass, wrist bands, luggage handling, etc) has, in my opinion, had the most negative effect on long term repeat guests who stay on site. This is where I believe Disney is going to take a hit in 2025 and 2026, and it will be a substantial hit. Us old timers are very aware of all that’s been taken away and replaced with expensive and inferior products, as well as nickle and diming for everything. I believe there will be a gradual movement of these loyal guests away from Disney and towards Universal Studios, especially considering that their children will tend to be older and thus more attracted to Universal. Just my two cents…
We are DVC members that are also interested in Universal. We especially go for the Harry Potter updates. Because our grandkids have been smaller we have not gone to Universal often because they were too small for all of the rollercoasters.
Now that the grandkids are getting a little older, we will be attending Universal more often as they are now more excited about the rides other than Harry Potter.
I think that Universal AND WDW are missing a bet by not providing regular (free-with an accommodations reservation) bus transportation between the two.
Haha, Disney doesn’t NEED to ‘answer’ Universal’s new park. Yes, Universal is still the one playing catchup. Their new stuff, including the Harry Potter things, are amazing, but the older stuff is still far below Disney quality levels.
One of Disney’s worst mistakes was to unnecessarily halt construction during the virus shutdowns. As we all know now, those ridiculous over-responses to this flu variant were massive mistakes worldwide. But as for Disney, they should’ve sped things up and performed a lot of more-invasive long-term maintenance on ride systems and such during that time without guests in the parks as well as working on the new stuff. Work could’ve been going on 24/7, full throttle the whole time. They had the cash reserves to do it, and the results would’ve been well worth spending that capital then. Guest satisfaction would be much higher, with far fewer breakdowns of popular attractions..
No matter what, having the WDWRR down for two years was a colossal screwup and management failure. No, the Tron construction did not necessitate the absurdly-long closure. In my 25 years of construction experience I’ve never seen such a massive mistake (well, logistically anyway) as that flub. Sure, they saved a few thousand bucks in operating costs, but the hit to guest experience was far worse.
As someone who has been visiting theme parks in Orlando since 1979, the Harry Potter worlds have been a game changer in enticing my family to visit Universal more. Where before, we would visit Universal as much as Seaworld, maybe once in a decade, Universal did such an excellent job that we now visit twice a decade :-). EPIC Universe certainly looks to be a game changer in the same vein as Harry Potter, elevating the park above most of the rides which seem to be lightly-themed garden variety roller coasters.
We typically spend 95% of our time at Universal in the Harry Potter-themed areas, but unfortunately, the young people in the family have “canceled” Rowling so Universal visits now have to be adults-only :-(.
Hollywood Studios needs like6 more new rides to split up the crowds a bit more. They should also add a whole Disney Junior area with family friendly rides and have more Disney Junior representation for the kiddos. As of right now, been to HS twice in the past few years, and there’s nothing really calling me to go back to HS. When Epcot becomes more entertaining than HS, you know it needs help.
I agree, HS has been neglected for far too long and a Disney Junior theme area would be perfect to draw crowds away from the other parks. When you have little ones there isn’t a whole lot they can do.
Since Studios seems to be bringing in more Pixar, I would love to see a ride similar to the Monster’s Inc. ride from DCA. It could be carbon copy, and it moves guests through quickly.
As much as I hate the mere suggestion of re-theming RRC, a Monsters, Inc theme based on the doors warehouse would be cool and is the best idea I’ve heard yet.
I’m a Disney fan, but I think Universal has the hot potential because of their alliance with Nintendo. The Mario movie made a boatload of money, that world will be insanely popular in Florida, and video games/esports are insanely popular and poised for even more growth.
Nintendo is full of creative geniuses like the golden era of Disney.
This is all great stuff. I think if Disney adds an additional colored milk in Galaxy’s Edge they’ll be well ahead of Universal for at least another decade.
Great article. There are many little pieces I’d like to comment on, but I’m not an interesting writer and want to keep it succinct. I wholeheartedly agree with you that the demise of Disney stuff is always exaggerated. You can make a pretty strong argument that Disney tops most other destinations for a multi generational family trip (i.e. grandparents, parents, and younger children). I will say this…I’ve been shocked by how good the Epic Universe stuff looks. Maybe it will fall short, but it really looks like they went all in and the results should show. My prediction would be that Disneyworld’s park flirt with an average attendance decrease of 3-5% in the 2-ish years following Epic Universe.
One of the biggest things I’d be worrying about in the short term if I was Disney is how aggressive Universal is with packages. I think there will be a shift to Universal’s onsite hotels with the debut of Epic Universe (not exactly a bold prediction). I’d guess you’ll have many families staying at Universal that want to do a day (maybe two) at Disney for MK and HS (just like you said). I’d hazard a guess that when many families of four get to the checkout and see the price for a day at Disneyworld they will reconsider. I say this as having been on the other side. That is, having a package at Disneyworld, pricing out a day at Universal, getting sticker shock, and then deciding we would make that our pool day instead.
Due to price and other circumstances, I think Disney World risks being the place that regular people visit maybe twice in their lifetime. Once when they are a kid with parents and once when they have kids in the “right” age range. Is that enough?
Whereas Universal seems like it can become a place that is visited more frequently by kids, teens, and adults in various stages of life. Maybe 5-10 times over the course of a lifetime for regular people.
Look, I’m a huge Disney fan, and I’m also a huge How to Train Your Dragon fan. Will I be visiting Epic Universe? Absolutely. Will I also be visiting all four WDW parks in the same visit? Absolutely. I’m just excited for both resorts to be expanding at such incredible rates. The late 2020s are going to be amazing for theme park fans.
Disney fans are Disney fans. Universal fans are universal fans. And never the twain shall meet. I am a Disney fan through and through.
I completely disagree with this. I am a massive Disney fan, but also a huge fan of Universal. now before they brought Harry Potter into the mix I could have agreed with you as my stomach can’t handle a lot of universal rides. But the harry potter lands are amazing and I am a huge Nintendo fan so I can’t wait for epic universe. I think there are a lot of people that are fans of both.
I’m interested to go back to Universal after a multi decade hiatus, and will go after Epic opens. However, I do agree to your point in that it’s all about the IPs you love. Harry Potter fans will always go to Universal, but there’s so much more IP to love from the Disney side.