Will Harry Potter Parklett make an Impact on Disney?

[SurferStitch]

Actually talking to a few people who have stayed at the Universal Hotels and also stayed at Disney Deluxe Resorts this is not entirely true. They all said the Universal Resorts make a Disney Deluxe look like a Value in comparison. They also offer their guest Front of Line access to all the attractions in the parks.

I've stayed in all levels of resorts at WDW. Our favorites are the Grand Flo and the Poly.

We've also stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel at Universal.

The Hard Rock was very nice. The rooms were a decent size, very simple and plain, but very modern. The bathroom was large, but very, very spartan (had a cold look to it). No balcony, which I hated. Now, I love modern hotel rooms, and stay in rooms like that in NYC and all, but not for a week or more. After a couple days, I get tired of it. Luckily we only stayed 3 days at Universal back in 2001.

The best part about the Hard Rock was the lobby, but you can't spend the vacation in the lobby. The displays were really cool.

The staff at the HRH was find...not rude, but not exactly friendly. We've always found the staff (with an exception at POR) to be extremely friendly and outgoing.

Disney deluxe resort rooms are very nicely appointed, super comfy, and totally luxurious. We love coming back to our room in the middle of the afternoon or evening and just totally relaxing.

Even the value resort rooms at Disney had more of a welcoming feel than the HRH did.

Front of line access at Universal was nice, when they would let you use it. Several times we were told they weren't allowing it, and we had to wait in lines that were 30-60 minutes long! Kind of stupid.

We did discover the Palm restaurant at the HRH, so I give a big thumbs up for that. We now visit the Palm in NYC when we're there.

[iheartdisney]

The best attraction in all of Orlando resides at IOA in Spiderman.

What is IOA?

[SurferStitch]

What is IOA?

Islands of Adventure at Universal

[NJGIRL]

Actually talking to a few people who have stayed at the Universal Hotels and also stayed at Disney Deluxe Resorts this is not entirely true. They all said the Universal Resorts make a Disney Deluxe look like a Value in comparison. They also offer their guest Front of Line access to all the attractions in the parks.

Two different travel agencies have told me that Universal Hotels are "true" 4 star hotels and Disney's while nice are Not.

There are pelnty of things for younger children and families to do in both Universal Parks. They just market the parks to an older audience.

Very True. We have been taking my son since he was 18 months old.

There is a large selction of Restaurants including Emerils for your World class chef. And as for dining option they is a much larger selection and generally cheaper prices off Disney property.

Again I have to agree. They have some great restaurants. Plus you don't have to plan 3 months inadvance to eat at a sit down there.

As for thrills you can't get elsewhere the same can be said for Sea World and Discovery Cove as well as Universal. The best attraction in all of Orlando resides at IOA in Spiderman.

This all coming from a Disney Purist at heart but I also look at the bigger picture. I spent a week at a convention on I-Drive between Sea World and Universal 2 years ago and I ate like a king for a fraction of the cost of WDW. I enjoyed 2 Days at Sea World for less than a 1 Day ticket to WDW. If the economy doesn't turn around these are factors that will also come into play. I really think many people haven't explored as much of the area surrounding WDW to really understand that these other parks and restaurants exist and are also great places to visit.

I think that many of the people who dislike Universal have never even been there. So much of the things that are said have been incorrect.


Also Universal has many many characters that come out and interact and that have a much larger RANGE of appeal for different aged kids. The difference is that Universal doesn't use space that can be used for an attraction to make a character meet and greet. Universal's characters are more random than set up.

Everyone is entitled to an opinion but I find it strange that people can have such a strong dislike of a place that they have never been to.

[TheVBs]

I've never been, and I most definitely don't have a dislike for it. I would never judge a place without visiting. That said, I'm not likely to visit a place if it doesn't look like a good destination for our family. Or, if in the Orlando area, a better destination than Disney. I had no idea that there were a lot of things for small kids to do at US. Every ad I've seen was definitely geared towards adults and older kids. So, that didn't catch my interest and get me to investigate it as a destination. Based upon the great things I've read here, I would definitely give it a try if it were convenient for us. But, nothing I've read here would get me to ditch a day at Disney to check it out.

[SurferStitch]

Yep, and that's why we haven't been back since we went in 2001.

It wasn't bad at all...we had fun...but not enough to skip even one day at WDW.

[NJGIRL]

I've never been, and I most definitely don't have a dislike for it. I would never judge a place without visiting. That said, I'm not likely to visit a place if it doesn't look like a good destination for our family.

Not being interested in taking a particular vacation is reasonable. Not everyone is interested in the same thing but some people saying that one place is much better than another without having visited both places, that is what I find strange.

I find Disney and Universal very similar in many ways. In many areas Universal does better than Disney and in others Disney does better than Universal. The only reason we spend a little more time in Disney is because they have 4 parks and Universal only has 2.

[lockedoutlogic]

Even though this is said, the Characters are what sells the parks and we all know that. The feeling of being a little kids sells Disney without promotion. I think the Dis will always reign supreme

in a nutshell....you hit it right on the head

MM is 81 years old and doesn't seem to be lost on any new generation sans maybe those of the 70's and early 80's

TWDC does many things wrong....but the "brand" strengthening hasn't been one of them. some of it by design, some of it luck

it's about as close to an insurmountable lead as you can get in entertainment

[rachel_future_candy_maker]

i think that more people will now make time out of their trip to disneyworld to visit universal for at least a day. I'm sure there's a good size of disney fans that also like HP-but, in the long run, i think WDW won't be affected that much by it

[Aurora]

I think that many of the people who dislike Universal have never even been there. So much of the things that are said have been incorrect.

I think that's partly Universal's fault and their marketing. It's true that except for the Dr. Seuss land, they haven't marketed the theme parks as good destinations for all ages.

We had been visiting Disney for MANY years before finally visiting Universal last year. Being a gigantic Disney fan I had fairly neutral expectations. We have three kids who last year were 12, 9 and 3, and everyone had a great time. I was very pleasantly surprised by the attractions, employees and overall atmosphere.

That last visit put Universal on my "do again" list even without Harry Potter. With HP the parks are on my "must do again" list for our next visit.

[NJGIRL]

I think that's partly Universal's fault and their marketing. It's true that except for the Dr. Seuss land, they haven't marketed the theme parks as good destinations for all ages.

Agreed.

I'm glad your family enjoyed it and hopefully other people will try it before they decided that Universal is not worth going to.

[Goofster]

I've never been to Universal only because I don't have any desire to. I'm sure its a fun place, but it just doesn't interest me. My wife has been there before and enjoyed it, but hasn't really had any desire to return. We might give it a try in the future, but its hard to give up a day at Disney for Universal.

[wire0monkey]

I just got back from 10 days in Orlando. We took two days of this trip to visit IOA and USO. I'm now a convert. Our days at IOA and USO were the best two days of the trip.

These parks are small, but WOW! Their rides were so much better than anything we saw in WDW that I'm shocked. The Spider-Man ride and the Simpsons ride in particular were jaw-dropping. I was completely amazed. My kids were completely enthralled by Seuss Landing. They were delighted by Shrek and the Jimmy Neutron ride. My youngest was blown away by the Jurassic Park area and the baby animatronic puppet. Universal has ride tech that is ten years ahead of anything that Disney is doing. Their motion simulators in particular are astonishing. The roller coasters and water rides were also great.

If the Harry Potter parklet is done as well as what is already there, it's going to be a mind-blowing. I can see why JK Rowling chose Universal over Disney to develop a Harry Potter park.

Especially with older kids, I think it would really easy to make a vacation out of the two USO parks (and Harry Potter!), Aquatica and Discovery Cove. I think older kids would have a better time.

People might visit just to see the Harry Potter stuff, but I think they're going to stay because IOA and USO are really great parks.

Don't get me wrong. I love Disney. We had fun at WDW. Their parks are charming. Disney needs to step up their game, though, if they're going to compete in the ride department.

[brownie]

Yes! We're not going back to Walt Disney World until the Wizarding World of Harry Potter opens.

[Rhetoric2000]

starryeyes hit upon the key phrase I think which a few have picked up on since:

"Striving for excellence"

This current trip I feel that Universal is doing exactly that at every turn - they may occassionally get understaffed and the rides may break down sometimes(nowhere near as often as some would have you think) - but they do so in pushing out every boat to impress, service and pamper you at every turn for your $$$.

I'll go further into details at a later date, but this has been a landmark trip for me in terms of Orlando vacation time - as someone who has property here and brings/sends lots of family and friends - the US/IOA/SW/Busch ticket beats the Disney ticket right now and from now on will be the one I promote to the groups that I bring over. And I have been a hardline WDWer for years.

And that is BEFORE Harry Potter

[Rhetoric2000]

, there is no "overall" theme to U.S. that brings the park together.

It is the making of movies in general - sometimes educational, sometimes silly - and immersion into some well-known individual movies

In all very similar to the theme the Disney studios used to have before they decided to treat the attractions that should be the centrepieces of the park - the backlot tour, the animation tour and the great movie ride - like a complete sack of garbage in favour of creating a totally haphazard mess.

[SpecJoe Magic]

I think Disney will lose at least a small percentage of attendance due to Harry Potter, but I'm not sure if the loss will be significant. That said, I'm glad that Universal is building the HP land because it puts at least a little pressure on Disney to counter, and strong competition is usually good for consumers.

[TheVBs]

I'm trying to talk DH into visiting US when we visit family later this year. So far, he's not interested, but I think it's more the thought of driving into Orlando than lack of interest in US.

If we're coming from the Tampa area, is it difficult to get to US?

[joonyer]

I'm trying to talk DH into visiting US when we visit family later this year. So far, he's not interested, but I think it's more the thought of driving into Orlando than lack of interest in US.

If we're coming from the Tampa area, is it difficult to get to US?

You don't have to drive "into" Orlando (if you mean downtown) to get to Universal. And it's easy to get to from Tampa. It's almost exactly 13 miles further up I-4 from the WDW World Drive exit on I-4 to the Universal Blvd. exit on I-4.

[TheVBs]

You don't have to drive "into" Orlando (if you mean downtown) to get to Universal. And it's easy to get to from Tampa. It's almost exactly 13 miles further up I-4 from the WDW World Drive exit on I-4 to the Universal Blvd. exit on I-4.

Thank you! I think that's exactly what he thought, that we'd have to drive through a busy downtown area to get there. This is good to know.