Any rumors?

[wjdoc]

Am I missing something? All I hear about is Avatarland and the Downtown Disney reconstruction. They must have some other things in the works, right?

At the pace they are moving, Universal will probably have a Pokémon and Mario ride before Avatarland has another rendering... Feels like Universal saw the fantasyland expansion and thought, "Is that all they got?". They really seem to have taken advantage of this window of opportunity. Where is my star wars land, my cars ride, my monsters inc coaster? When we go back next year, I'm going to be forced to go over to universal and I'm afraid my kids won't want to come back!

venting...

[Park Hopper]

Agreed - I am really hoping that Universal is ultra successful and that it starts dramatically impacting Disney's numbers. I did not use to feel this way, as I have always been a huge fan of Disney World and have viewed Universal as a want-to-be. But, I can no longer deny how innovative and fantastic Universal is getting. The roles are starting to change. I am afraid the only way Disney World will move forward will be to see a big hit in their bottom line. Again, I love Disney World but they need to stop spending all their resources on figuring new ways to bleed every last penny from their visitors. Sooner or later this will catch-up with them. I hate to say this, but they now need to be a follower as they need to be more like Universal and rapidly develop new and innovative experiences. I think that is a much healthier strategy to increase profits.

[buzznwoodysmom]

Vent away! My kids still love Disney. Like me, it's the nostalgia that gets them, as they have been going since they were babies.

However, after starting to add Universal to our Disney trips back in 2010 my kids would actually pick Universal over Disney any day. They love both, and continue to want to go to both. But if they had to choose one or the other they would choose Universal, without a doubt. There just hasn't been enough additions at Disney that have interested us in a while. Actually it's been our favorite resorts, and doing new stuff (not new to Disney, just new for us) outside the parks that has kept us going the last few times. As it stands now we have taken our longest hiatus yet! It's been a year and a half since our last trip and we have no concrete future plans at this time.

I will always love Disney, and I do miss it, but in a way I don't feel like we are missing out on anything by taking such a long break. On the other hand my kids have been asking if we can plan a Universal only trip, with dinner at Ohanas one night.

[PirateLover]

DH and I were just discussing this. At our next trip it will have been close to 2 full years since we last visited (which is the longest stretch in 10 years for us) and the only new ride for us will be the Mine Train, which we only missed by a few months last time around. Many things have closed, little has opened.

[DonaldDuck1117]

Except Disney's numbers are up across the board. They aren't hurting. At all. Now Universal's numbers are way up as well, and good for them, but by no means is Disney being hurt by Universal's awesome expansions.

Orlando as a whole is experiencing attendance numbers never before seen and both resorts are hitting record numbers in attendance and revenue. And with Kong coming to Universal and Avatar coming to Disney (along with a Studios redo) those numbers aren't likely to drop.

It's and exciting time in central Florida.

[azcavalier]

Am I missing something? All I hear about is Avatarland and the Downtown Disney reconstruction. They must have some other things in the works, right?

Don't forget the basic "redo" of Hollywood Studios. Yeah, there haven't been any concrete plans announced, but rumors abound....the rumored closure of the Beauty & The Beast show, another construction permit filed for a new theater between RnRC and ToT, the closure of the Backlot Tour and the rumored closure of Lights, Motors, Action! show along with the rumors of either a Pixar-themed expansion or a Star Wars expansion...

I'm very interested to see what they come up with. I'm pulling for Star Wars. With that intellectual property, they have GOT to do something significant in the parks with it. I dare say that if they do a significant Star Wars themed land (or 5th gate), that park will pass the MK in popularity worldwide. Star Wars is that big. It's been almost 40 years since the first movie came out, and it's just a relevant and popular as ever.

[WiltonJohn]

I'm pulling for Star Wars. With that intellectual property, they have GOT to do something significant in the parks with it. I dare say that if they do a significant Star Wars themed land (or 5th gate), that park will pass the MK in popularity worldwide. Star Wars is that big. It's been almost 40 years since the first movie came out, and it's just a relevant and popular as ever.

Amen to that.

best,

..............john

[WiltonJohn]

Except Disney's numbers are up across the board. They aren't hurting. At all. Now Universal's numbers are way up as well, and good for them, but by no means is Disney being hurt by Universal's awesome expansions.

The info they give to stockholders is looking pretty nice right now as is the stock momentum.

best,

..............john

[Butters]

Nothing new? We have a ton more gift shops, restaurants, and meet and greets!!! Let's see universal keep up with that

[John]

The info they give to stockholders is looking pretty nice right now as is the stock momentum.



best,



..............john

Hopefully it's not short term gains forsaking long term growth....

[Park Hopper]

Hopefully it's not short term gains forsaking long term growth....

I agree and this is what I was getting at. I think Disney knows how to maximize profits with what they have and tourism seems to be on a rise. I just think that their market share in the Orlando area will start to suffer - especially when it comes to repeat customers. I am not a business guy but it seems to make sense that the excitement and additions at Universal will draw a considerable percentage away from Disney. Disney World seems to have the same/less to offer than it did years ago, while Universal is rapidly adding quality. The Fantasyland expansion was nice, but somewhat average and over the same time period much has been shut down. The Animal Kingdom expansion will be welcomed, but seems to be taking a long time. We hear rumors about what will happen at HS, but they still have not announced anything. And, based upon how long the Animal Kingdom process is taking, it may 5-10 years before we see anything significant. All we have heard is that they are expanding popular rides so more people can ride - which to me, is really kind of upsetting. I think a better approach would be to add more E-tickets to take pressure off the few they have. This shows a complete lack of imagination - maximizing on what they have rather than continuing their tradition of bringing new and exciting attractions to their customers.

I went to a train museum in Altoona, PA, which talked about what a booming railroad town Altoona was with the steam locomotives. In fact, the big builder (the name escapes me) put their resources into building the best and most state of the art steam engines in the world. Unfortunately for them, Diesel powered train engines took over and the company (and town for that matter) never fully recovered.

Like concentrating on the steam engine, I am a little worried that Disney is investing too much in maximizing what they have, rather than looking at new and exciting experiences that will keep them relevant in the future. Nostalgia will only go so far in this age of instant gratification and increased competition. I hope I am wrong, but from personal experience, Disney World is getting a smaller percentage of my vacation budget each year (and I am really nostalgic). This is not out of protest or anything, it is just based upon what we do when we are in the Orlando area (every year).

[PopPhan]

I said this years ago, when the economy crashed and yet Disney Parks were still having year-on-year increases in visitation...They should have been building, rehabbing and innovating to be ready when things turned around. Yes, there were a few big projects, but even those were nearer to the end of the downswing.

Maybe they have a lot of things on the drawing board that they are preparing to begin construction on, but right now, with the cutbacks in some of the entertainment in the parks, it seems more like they were just interested in keeping Wall Street happy to the detriment of their park visitors.

[j2k]

Avatarland is scheduled to open in 2017. Any idea if it will be before the big summer crowds? Universal will probably have new attractions summer 2016 and 2017.

[Roger's #1 Fan]

Right now Universal has Kong slated for 2016 and their new water/3rd park Volcano Bay slated for 2017 along with another resort, Sapphire Springs. Along with this, they are working on a Fast and Furious attraction and a Nintendo based land but those have not been announced yet.

Disney has Frozen/Norway and 3rd Soarin theater in Epcot but don't know those completion dates. Only the 2nd track for Midway Mania and the plussing of GMR have been announced at DHS thus far, again with no completion dates.

[thejens]

The thing is, WDW wants to maximize profits, not create better or more innovative experiences. It is not really about us having a magical day, it is about shareholders having concrete profits. Apparently forcing consumers through gift shops, gathering electronic data on them, and adding meet and greets is a better way to make money than building expensive attractions. Bringing people to Orlando to check out Universal probably brings those same folks to WDW for a day or two. Sounds like it is all win-win for Disney executives.

[DisneyGiant]

It is about people having a magical day. If we didn't - we wouldn't keep going back to spend our money. They are upgrading - they are just doing it too slowly for us seasoned vets.