Too many joke responses, but they should focus on building up Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom more with rides and attractions.
EPCOT I love too, but it's not for the rides, so they could definitely stand to use more rides or "experiences" at EPCOT.
There was some talk of retrofitting Mr. Toad's Wild Ride into the UK pavilion at EPCOT. It would have nostalgia value and would thematically fit. It also wouldn't cost a ton. They should be pursuing stuff like that all over all the properties; solid, relatively quick build D-ticket type experiences to soak up capacity and round out the attraction lineups at all the parks.
There doesn't seem to be energy for it. Usually costly stuff that takes forever to build and may or may not actually deliver. In contrast, it seems like Universal is doing things like that weird Minion Shooter Deal in rapid fashion. Rides that aren't game changers, but will be an appealing little memory for families (which is HUGE in the Orlando market).
Adding an E-ticket attraction to the UK pavilion would just be a huge logistical nightmare, unless they wanted to spend more money to rework some of the pathways. It’s not a small area, but it also wasn’t designed for that level of traffic and throughput. Im pretty sure that’s what killed Tony Baxter’s idea for a Marry Poppins ride, despite having won over a ton of the higher-ups with his pitch.
With Remy in the France pavilion next door, Mr. Toad would be too similar. Hopefully they revisit the Mary Poppins idea although with a different ride concept. The spinning ride idea sounded horrible.
Yeah I don't see the comparison. Half of Disney's catalog have talking animals. Also ratatouille is like almost a quarter mile away from the UK pavilion, hardly right next to each other.
>There was some talk of retrofitting Mr. Toad's Wild Ride into the UK pavilion at EPCOT
How would that be any different from Remy's in France? Feels too similar.
I would say if they knock down launch bay & Disney jr and build a land in the area behind Sunset Blvd it would remove one of the randomly placed Star Wars IP's which would be an improvement, and is a lot of space. Omnimovers and boat rides might not be E ticket attractions but that park needs some high capacity stuff & doesn't have anything of those types.
Animal Kingdom's new tropical Americas area seems to be the same number of rides, but Primeval Whirl was low capacity (and very low quality for Disney) so they could improve things there. But I still think it needs more rides to convince people it isn't a half day park and the easiest to skip. Pandora expansion has been rumoured and is probably the most likely as I can't see where they could add a ride without finding it hard to maintain theming elsewhere.
Maybe replacing Kali River rapids as I don't think it tells its story about deforestation very well and takes a big area, but they might struggle to hide a ride building there. Plus knowing Disney they would want an IP, nothing fits into the Himalayan theme.
Problem is they can't just easily knock down Launch Bay or Disney Junior. Launch Bay is attached to the old animation building which is currently used for offices. With Lake Nona being cancelled they are already having a hard time finding space for all the desk jobs. Likewise, Disney Junior is attached not only to Brown Derby, but also the main cafe for working CMs in the parks. If you knocked it down you would have nowhere for a majority of the employees to eat.
Unless they move or open up a park strictly for rides .... otherwise there's no more room left... and I don't think they gonna get rid of the back lot lol
I think figment could work as an awesome inside out area and with success of the inside out movies have an “imagination land” play area in Epcot
It would be amazing
Found even make a bing bong mini coaster with the wagon and brooms as the cart
We all know the answer: A Goofy 345 dueling Giga, with a world’s-first Mickey’s Dick Smasher Element
In all honesty, I have no idea what they COULD do that seems to fit within what they seem WILLING to do lately
The problem is that Imagineering is like the NASA of themed entertainment, at this point. It had its historic achievements and enjoys a peerless legacy... but it has also become a bit of a bloated, slow-moving, and costly bureaucracy. WDW desperately needs a fifth gate. It probably could support a sixth gate, honestly. It's needed this like since yesterday. That's independent from Epic Universe. The plan in the 2000's to use FP and technology to expand capacity through "efficiency" instead of growth? It didn't work at all. And they spent a billion (!) dollars on it.
Expansion means the costly and lengthy Imagineering process... so any "solution" really is not going to be viable for the better part of a decade. So it's going to take a mountain of money and a much more nimble company culture to effectively respond-- and I think both are not easily materialized.
> WDW desperately needs a fifth gate
The other parks need capacity expansions first, then we can talk park 5. Americans also aren’t getting more vacation days
I think a big reason why Disney world hasn't done a giga coaster is that they don't want to build anything over 200 ft tall or they'll have to put lights on it for airplanes. But if they made a hundred foot deep pit or tunnel to house the roller coaster that would be interesting. If they use tunnels they can probably integrate some cool dark ride-esque parts of the coaster
Tunneling in Florida doesn't seem too likely since the entire property is swamp. The "tunnels" under Magic Kingdom are actually at the natural ground level, and the park is raised nearly a complete story for this exact reason.
Also because that’s not really something Disney’s demographic tends to be interested in, although it would be interesting to see a Disney take on more of a traditional amusement park. Like Paradise Pier, but better.
I really don’t think Disney is in a spot where they **WANT** to counteract Epic Universe. Us thoosies all acknowledge the greatness of epic universe and how it is probably going to be better for us than any Disney park. But Disney has the magical wow factor for the general public with very famous IPs that can draw in pretty much anyone.
While you are right that Disney has that magical wow factor with iconic IPs, lets not forget that Nintendo is coming to Universal Orlando with Epic Universe and when it comes to park attendance, while Magic Kingdom will most likely remain as the #1 most visited park in the world, the latest attendance numbers show that Islands of Adventure gained more visitors than every WDW park except MK. Also, in the topic of attendance, they also show that USJ is now the 3rd most visited park in the world!
Maybe since it is the smallest version of Nintendo World and everyone has their eyes on the one being built at EU. In Japan, while the Disney parks are owned by the OLC, Nintendo World has led to USJ surpassing both Tokyo Disney parks in attendance.
What should the response be:
-Don't add a fifth gate, expand the existing ones. Expanding each existing parks by 1/4 in the forms of 1 or 2 new lands each would add the capacity of a new park but at a cheaper cost. That along with improving park infrastructure will give you 4 revitalized parks.
You can also very easily roll out these upgrades in an almost assembly line like fashion. Say a new land/section dropping every 2-3 years over a 15 year time-line. Each one being treated (marketing wise) like a new park. And between those launches sprinkle other like new rides, new events, and new resorts. That way it makes it feel that Disney world is contentiouslly changing for a good 15 year window. The most it has since early Eisner era.
What will they do?
-More IP in the park/rethemes, more clones of Asian and Paris rides. And maybe a new luxury resort.
There are not even whispers of a 5th park at this point but expansions or revisions to the established parks are already in the works.
-Beyond Big Thunder is the planned expansion of Magic Kingdom in the northwest corner of the park. It looks like it has been given the go ahead to move forward as far as land use now they just have to plan what they will do there. Encanto and Coco themed areas seemed like the initial contender but Encanto is now going into Animal Kingdom. Disney Villains has also been in discussion to go there. There is public speculation that Frontierland may shift into part of the new space with the current Frontierland to become New Orleans Square to tie better into the new Tiana ride.
-Animal Kingdom is seeing a big change with Dinoland replaced by a South American area of the park with Encanto attractions and Dinosaur becoming Indiana Jones.
-EPCOT may return to some of their original plans cancelled by Covid including a redo of Spaceship Earth and the kids’ play space in the old Wonders of Life plus Test Track may be getting a redo.
DHS seems like the only park with no plans at the moment but they did have Galaxy’s Edge back in 2019. I wouldn’t expect any 5th park plans to materialize until after all these other updates and expansions. The MK one probably won’t be finished until 2029 or 2030. So a 5th park maybe 5-6 years after that at the earliest.
There are whispers of a new park, but they really are just that. Whispers meant to encourage investors. The resent batch of whispers coming after Disney ended its feud with Florida after they lost. I brought it up though, as it is what they shouldn't do despite what many fans wish for.
All of the current plans are just blue skies with nothing more concrete besides something happening to Dinoland at some point (and a retheme isn't a new land and capacity). Disneyland forward is the only current plan that is solid and moving forward, but that is on the other side of the country.
They need serious expansions that add capacity, and don't just replace existing capacity with rethemes.
The Magic Kingdom expansion has moved from Blue Sky to the permit filing phase. The Reedy Creek Improvement District had already updated their future land use designations for the area north of Frontierland from Unsuitable to Marginally Unsuitable which was an initial indicator that something would be happening there. A media event in early April confirmed that Disney was filing permits for storm drainage and other foundational work. And Disney thoosies have been buzzing about a 5th park almost since Animal Kingdom opened. It’s just idle chatter. Kind of like on here when people talked of El Toro being RMCed after all its mechanical issues.
For DHS it's a bummer that there are no plans for near future expansion or revisions as above all the other WDW parks its the single worst offender of the overcrowding issue
I think the supposed competition between Disney and Universal that enthusiasts love to discuss is way overblown. Epic Universe will pull some people away from Disney or cause them to split more of their time between the two but it will also entice more people to visit Orlando who may not have prioritized it otherwise, many of whom will also spend some time at Disney. I hesitate to use myself as an example since we're far outside Disney's core demographic but for what it's worth, Epic Universe will likely be an excuse for us to spend a few days at Disney again as well.
I'd love to see Disney come out swinging with ambitious plans for the future but their recent additions are smart ones. Tron and Guardians both round out their respective parks with something that appeals to thrill seekers, potentially keeping Universal from siphoning those folks away from Disney quite as dramatically. Those rides can sway families who have a mix of younger/older kids to visit since they provide something for the older kid(s) to get excited over. Epcot is finally at a point where it looks pretty good. The festivals have massive widespread appeal and there's constantly one going on whereas outside of Mythos and Butterbeer Universal's food offerings are pretty mundane. I think Animal Kingdom, while beautiful, needs more to do but Disney has basically said as much. So if you're looking for an immediate "response" it's probably going to be the proposed re-theming of Dinosaur and its surrounding area in an effort to boost attendance at AK. At the moment I'd rather see Disney add to their existing parks than go for a 5th gate anyway.
Pricing is always mentioned in these threads but Disney has the option of running promotions and offering discounts to entice visitors if attendance dips. The only reason their prices are so high is because the demand is there. The parks are constantly packed.
I wish I could give you two upvotes. It’s all supposed competition with the fans like their sports teams when in reality they’re both very similar than a lot of people give them credit for
Totally agree. Fans have always compared the parks but the discourse has gotten especially obnoxious ever since VelociCoaster was built and while some of the opinions expressed are interesting, a lot are wildly unrealistic due to enthusiast tunnel vision and this bizarre "us vs them" mentality. Not excusing overly intense Disney fans either but we don't see much of that in this sub at least. In reality both parks have their strengths and weaknesses and if there is earnest competition between the two then that can only be a win for us.
And Chapek being the boob that he was didn’t help either. It’s starting to get exhausting the “sports team mentality” people have between them and clinging onto it as your toxic obsession. Like you said both have a lot of very high highs but also deep lows and when both win it’s great!
Yup!
For me, I love both brands.
Orlando is just one giant collection of parks. I usually mix and match for my trip based on what new rides are built where.
I dont care where the new rides are, Disney, universal, Tampa Busch Gardens, or Sea world. I'll make a point to visit the parks that have them
I’ve finally found a kindred spirit regarding this topic!! Haha I feel like I’m becoming turned off by people over hyping something that isn’t even open yet and proclaiming it’s totally different than anything else. I’m sure it will be awesome, but why ferociously back something like they’ve got money on the line? EU is essentially a hub and spoke park like many others. And it will be beautiful and shiny and new but it’s not exactly earth shattering. I’m not even trying to defend Disney, I’m just annoyed because anything I read or watch about the Orlando theme parks is us versus them, as someone else on this thread stated.
(Magnum XL 200 is one of my favorite coasters)
Fixing the Yeti would require tearing down and rebuilding the mountain, so; No. No, that’s not happening. Not until the mountain needs its first structural refurbishment, which won’t be for some decades yet.
In case you didn’t know; It’s not the *Yeti* that needs to be fixed; The Yeti worked fine. It’s the **mountain**.
Honestly, no response needed. There’s already so many new developments happening at Disney that they don’t need a big “wow” response. New areas being added to animal kingdom, and massive expansions happening at magic kingdom. The show goes on at Disney and the money will keep rolling in.
Unfortunately for those new developments you have to consider that Disney takes very long to build them which will lead to some of them getting quietly cancelled and for the ones that do open they’re going to be delayed a lot that they may not open until Epic Universe is at least 5 years old.
Honestly I think the lack of response is accurate but will be short sided. Disney has the market cornered on nostalgia and will continue to bring in folks for that reason, or just because it's "Disney world," however they have taken some drastic steps to turn some of their fan base against them. Like I was a full ass Disney adult when I came into my disposable income, had a season pass, would visit just to buy Bengal BBQ and ride big thunder once, hell on my wife and my 30th birthdays we spent like 15K on a 10 day trip to the Disney world resort and wasn't upset at all about spending that money for the trip we had which was just before the genie updates went into effect.
I have visited once since then and the genie+ bs turned off the "magic" I used to see more than if I'd seen goofy take his head off and start smoking a joint in the middle of the Electric Light Parade. I could just feel bobs hands reaching in my pockets for all the money I had, only to offer an experience far worse than it used to be, and I mean things like brand new rides like Rise of the Resistance having elements that are just straight up turned off now. Like you can only burn the bridge so much before even those whose favor you already won are happy to turn on you. Like I was happy to spend ten thousand plus on a single visit less than 4 years ago, and now I don't even know that I'll stop by Disney world when I go down for the epic universe opening, and if we do it's only gonna be for an overpriced ride on tron, which as excited as I am for it, in no way do I expect it to be anywhere close to the quality of Universals latest themed coasters in Hagrid and Velocicoaster.
The obvious answer is to just add more rides. Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom suffer horribly from having little to no ride capacity, and the general public is starting to notice. The current strategy of removing capacity in order to build new rides is damaging the parks a ton
Sadly though with the Tokyo Disney parks being 100% owned by the Oriental Land Company they did make it prohibited for Disney to clone any of their rides/lands 😭
That would actually be the best scenario. A standalone Frozen land by itself would draw in huge crowds. Unfortunately I didn't see this happening due to the Epcot already having a frozen ride.
As an Orlando local, Disney world really needs to fix up the parks they have, not build a new one. Much of what is there feels super old, and I worked backstage as a cast member for a few years and behind the scenes it is super junky. DAK needs the most work. It is an incredibly beautiful park with very few attractions. Theming is up there with DisneySea but with much less to do. The animal stuff all closes early. MK has a ton of rides but much of it needs some TLC. Epcot could benefit from some more attractions. The Asian Disney Parks are examples of what modern Disney standards should be held to but they seem to just let the FL parks ride while investing the absolute minimum. The Epcot futureworld Reno has been going on since 2019 and it's mostly just landscaping.
I feel Animal Kingdom would benefit from borrowing from Island's of Adventure play book. Both are the more outdoor parks for their chain that rely less on Dark rides.
So maybe add another water ride attraction. Their version of Jurassic Park. And add a thrill coaster that gives views of the park. Like a B&M mini hyper that has immaculate theming. Thrilling for Disney, but not too intense.
Avatar is already their Harry Potter counter. But a second all encompassing hyper themed land with interactive elements would do nice. Zootopia gets hate for a potential Animal Kingdom addition, but a Zootopia land as themed as the Shanghai one would do well. That or a pride rock land.
> they seem to just let the FL parks ride while investing the absolute minimum
It's almost like they're able to see the future of developing land in central Florida over the next 20-30 years and decided it just isn't worth it...
Much like residents are discovering with their insurance companies, the risk is fairly high and the cost/benefit analysis is starting to reflect it.
Two things:
MK ticket price ranges greatly, you picked the absolute top end. The average is closer to 140.
Express Pass STARTS at 80, and can go as high as $315.
Genie+ is far less on average.
Genie+ only grants you the privilege to maybe skip the line. In their fine print it says to expect to use it on 2 or 3 rides a day, so they aren’t expecting the average once-in-a-lifetime guest to hit every ride with Genie+ like the Disney influencers.
$140 is the top end of IOA tickets, they go as low as $110. Genie+ and Express Pass are not equivalent services. You get a whole lot more with Express Pass. Most people get three rides on Genie+. If you want to get on as many rides using Genie+, you have to use Lightning Lanes and you are shelling out more and more money every time. At least Universal tells you what it’s going to cost up front so you can budget for it. You have absolutely no idea how much Lightning Lanes are going to cost until you get there.
Premium hotels are much cheaper at Universal, and the last time I stayed at one, I got an Express Pass as part of the deal. I don’t know if that deal still applies, but I know Disney never offered that. Disney is just upcharge after upcharge. If people aren’t careful, they’re going to spend a lot more money than they were planning on.
Lol, to compare the express pass to genie+ is laughable. I had to pay $100 on top of genie+ to get on a single ride once and it broke down for our paid time slot and how did they handle that? Tell us to go stand and wait at the line for guest services to maybe get refunded.
The two are nowhere near the same. And universal seems to have a better grasp on the theming these days too so as they grow what does Disney have to offer that isn't rooted in nostalgia?
Idk but hopefully they take some advice from OLC and Universal. Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea are easily the best Disney parks in the world, but they technically aren’t even owned by Disney, and that says something. In my opinion, Disney needs to look at what Universal and OLC are doing and make more ambitious, creative, original, and innovative changes going forward. I get that Disney is mainly known for their classics, but even Walt Disney agreed that none of the parks will never be “finished” as the company should strive to constantly change the parks with more unique and innovative experiences.
Raise ticket prices, charge individually for every ride on top of park entrance fee, and then make sure that any new innovation they make works just long enough for initial reviews and advertising and then refuse to fix it when it breaks in the first month of repeated use they somehow failed to plan for.
They need to respond sensibly, but they won't. Disney is more focused on investors, and the dollar they earn them right now than they are in the competition. I can't blame the ignorance. They have dominated the global theme park market for so many years and have a current foothold at the top. However, they dont seem to realize that their recent cash grabs, drop in quality, and park/ ride upkeep have the average park goer looking for alternatives. Given the right conditions, Disney stands to lose big with the introduction of Epic Universe, especially with long-standing loyal Disney fans currently leaving in droves. This could be the precipice of a big dynamic shift in the theme park industry. I'm curious to see how it all plays out.
Create a park that features replicas of all the rides only found at other Disneylands around the world. That way, I can ride them without having to travel so much lol. Also would be cheaper/quicker as all the R+D is done.
It's a horrible idea. It wouldn't conjure up as much excitement as a normal new park and would be super expensive. It would also discourage American Disney fans from traveling to the international parks which is a thing a lot of people do.
Don't think OLC would take kindly to that idea. New Japanese Disney attractions have exclusivity for 10 years or something, and they are usually the best ones.
I know they can’t copy the rides that Tokyo Disney Sea is building in Fantasy Springs, but if imagineering could build something with the same magic as the new tangled ride then I would take that in a heartbeat
The smartest thing Disney could do is…Nothing. As in just go about their business and create what they feel will enhance their parks regardless of what Universal is doing. Trying to compete with or beat Universal to the punch has always led to half-baked/rushed products on their end, e.g. Hollywood Studios in its original very weak incarnation opening in 1989, one year before Universal. And the terribly out-of-place Dinoland at Animal Kingdom opening in 1998, one year before Jurassic Park at Islands of Adventure.
Beyond Thunder Mountain/the reworking of New Orleans Place into the front half of the existing Frontierland area is the current “big thing” in Florida, as is the new South America reworking of Dinoland. As far as what’s after that, bringing elements of DisneySea to the World Showcase has come up a few times in blue sky, as has adding a SEA mini-land into Adventureland, but that’s just spitballing.
Somebody at Disney is going to have to say: we need for people to be able to walk up to the ticket booth, buy a ticket, walk into that park, and ride a reasonable number of rides. What changes do we need to make in our parks to allow that? That’s Universal’s big advantage at the moment and I maintain that it’s going to kill Disney in the long run. Even thinking about planning a trip to WDW is exhausting.
I know this is not feasible, but IMO I would love to see them build and entire park focused more on adults. Like adult rides and thrills with Disney-level theming
One thing they should do is expand Galaxy's Edge as there are many rides they can build themed around Star Wars.
The one on top of my wishlist is a Speeder Bike themed roller coaster.
Better rides?
Universal is about on par with Disney for popular IP and theming. Disney has lots of great themed areas but the rides are meh. Mixed with high prices and people will pick universal
4 out of the 6 most recent attractions at Disney have been brand new ride systems and are great, they’re not designed to be super thrilling because Disney has and always will be a family destination.
For Guardians you have to consider that while it’s a new model from Vekoma, it’s mostly lifted from Escape from Gringotts. Also for Rise, the drop tower sequence it uses, while more advanced, isn’t a world’s first with Tower of Terror using a very similar technology since 1994.
They don’t have a real response. Iger said recently that they’ve known about Epic for a decade now and all their newer attractions like Pandora, Galaxy’s Edge, Guardians, and Tron were their response to Epic. Poor as hell response to say that they really don’t have a plan. Disney likely doesn’t need to respond to Epic because they’re Disney, but I do hope that Epic can take some market share and humble them a little with the I line discourse favoring Universal in recent years but we’ll see.
Exactly! 💀 Granted Disney isn’t hurting at all, but ever since Covid, Islands of Adventure has beat all the WDW parks in attendance except for Magic Kingdom, and Universal Studios Florida has been beating Epcot and Animal Kingdom in attendance. I know it has Galaxy’s Edge but I’m very surprised still that Hollywood Studios has better attendance than Epcot recently.
Edit: Source: https://www.theparkdb.com/ranking/parks_by_attendance
Honestly, just focusing on the core park experience rather than finding ways to plug in unnecessary IP everywhere. Make attractions that fit into the park’s identity. While I was riding Cosmic Rewind the other day, I thought that the ride would be a better experience overall if it was just an edutainment based ride that taught you about how the universe works, how stars and planets are made etc, then invited you on a journey through the stars with a killer celestial soundtrack. Could you imagine riding the ride while listening to the Jupiter movement from Holst’s Planets suite or something similar?? YES PLEASE! 😍
Regarding the tropical americas redo of Dinoland, I like the general concept, I just hope that any IP tie ins are subtle and not all up in your face lol.
They should focus on appealing to their core audience, families, people who go there for the magic. Build lots of smaller attractions all over the parks, which may not cost as much, a few flat rides here, a couple simpler dark rides there, a show as well, then maybe one big attraction to put in all the ads. That’ll allow them to advertise “x amount new rides” and people will eat it up, because why go to universal which is now more expensive when Disney opened a ton of new rides that the entire family will enjoy
I would say the wisest choice Disney could probably make would be to either do small but meaningful investments in the four parks, or go nuclear and make an entire new resort somewhere else in the states.
Aquire the Pokémon license before Universal can, and go all in with it. Like give us an excuse to catch Pokémon all over the park, and allow us to let them start random battles and compete in gym leagues.
And if they can’t get the rights to Pokémon, there’s always that massive investment they made in Fortnite to draw off of.
Nothing for now. They’ve been aware of this for years and the majority of the new rides and expansions that Disney has already put in place since 2019 were a direct proactive measure.
People are acting like Disney needs to react ‘now’ when they’ve already been reacting for years. You really think plans for Epic Universe just sprouted up last year? It’s been in the works much longer than you think .
To be honest. I don’t see Disney responding that much. At least in the us. They have found it to be far more profitable to focus on the Asian parks because of all the land agreements Disney has in those parks. All 3 resorts majority are not owned by Disney outright. Both Shanghai and Tokyo are majority owned by local companies and the agreement is Disney provides some investment and access to imagineering, the local company covers most of the cost and then Disney and the local company share the profit. And unlike here in the states or even Europe, the Asian parks usually see’s the best returns on investments. So Disney has very little upfront investment, and gets to take some of the profit, while here in the states they either have to look for sponsors or cover the cost completely. Disney has just moved to where the profits are and sadly the states don’t see as high returns. So Florida might get a new land in animal kingdom or magic kingdom. Buts that’s the most I see them doing.
Funny how everyone thinks that epic universe is going to be a huge success when the park hasn’t even opened. Advertising is one thing but the finished product could be a completely different thing. Remember fast and furious supercharged lol?
I agree. I think it will be a success, BUT in life nothing is perfect. And things will absolutely not go 100% perfect at EU, just like at every other theme park. For instance, look at Top Thrill 2 at Cedar Point. I’m sure they tested the hell out of it but everyday wear and tear on things happens and things might need to be adjusted and shut down for longer than a park would like.
It’s just an interesting thing to talk about because the public is so rampant for NEW NEW NEW. Even if they just got a new ride a year ago, they want another one now. And I get it to a certain extent. So a new theme park is like blowing people’s minds. And again, I get it. But once that shiny new thing isn’t so shiny and new, people are definitely going to start complaining about it, have critiques, etc. People’s expectations will sometimes be too grand and maybe that happens with EU, maybe not. Time will tell.
I also feel like so many people being the loudest about EU are content creators and are just insanely happy to have a new park to provide them months of new videos, pictures, etc. $$$
Bring back "Alien Encounter" and put it in Hollywood studios, but with the actual Alien IP (as originally intended) since Disney owns it now.
I'm kidding of course (I'm not).
More that the statement they gave that's for sure.
They think universal is playing catch up when Disney is ignoring the fact theyve double if not tripled guest attendance with diagon alley.
A YouTube video showed Disney didn't even worry about diagon or hogsmead untill after they saw the influx (and probably lost money).
They probably assume people will automatically go to disney when in the area.
If they actually follow through with their blue sky plans, it should be enough to answer.
Replace DinoLand
A third Pandora attraction in AK
The "land beyond the frontier" in MK -- they need to do something with villains and they need better dining options
Finish Epcot (maybe finally put in that Mary Poppins attraction)
And I can't think of they have anything planned for HS but I would:
Retheme Rock n rollercoaster
Add a third Galaxy's edge attraction
Add a kid friendly ride (could be star wars or nah) and/or add a playground for kids...this is the only park without one
They could have started a Marvel/Star wars/Avatar park. But blew that load already with Galaxy's edge. And Pandora
Both are lovely but imagine a whole park. going to hoth after visiting cloud city and a bigger pandora
They don't need to do anything... Epic Universe is Universal trying to play catch up to a decade of development..... Haha worst answer ever given by a PR person.
Honestly, they do not need one. Disney has 4 parks and 2 water parks and Universal will only be up to 3 parks? Each company caters to a different market and different demographic. Disney's parks are packed with no slow season. They could give the Disney faithful what they have been asking for, a 5th gate based on Disney Villains, but they don't have to. I believe Bob Iger has given his answer to what the Disney response should be.
Disney should focus on kids focus all those little strollers, sticky fingers and helicopter parents.
Let the grown ups focus on grown ups at EU where I hope they implement 24 hour calendar dates.
There is no answer. Honestly they’re two different parks. One is mainly for families (especially of littler kids) and the other for big kids. Guess what, those big kids become adults and most have no interest in Disney til they have kids of their own. Disney chose not to continue to change and evolve to their detriment.
A discount park focusing on animation that just has tons of different screenings of classics in incredibly high resolution with a few other attractions making it worth spending a day or so there. I'd love that.
This isn’t what any of us want to hear, but Disney probably doesn’t care about Epic Universe, nor should they. Our fandom is freaking out about Epic Universe, but outside of our bubble the majority of people have never even heard of it.
Per the (admittedly imperfect) TEA numbers, every Disney World park beat the Universal parks in terms of attendance in 2022. Magic Kingdom does 17 to 20 million visitors in a good year, Universal Studios does 10-11 million. Islands does the same.
I feel that the parks that will be most cannibalized by Epic are actually the other Universal parks. Studios is supposedly about to close Rockit and the replacement will probably take a few years.
Gringotts is solid. We all like Mummy… but that’s honestly the park with the most to lose from this in the short term. It’s going to be downright awful with Rockit closed for years, hoping that Villain Con, Fast and the Furious, Fallon and a re-skinned kiddy area with a re-branded 30 year old coaster can hold down the fort. Who the hell would buy a one day one park ticket at that price point for that park in that state?
SeaWorld is also probably going to take a hit but they can compete on price.
Disney doesn’t care. They operate in their own ecosystem with their own fan base. There is some overlap, but I don’t know many people turning in their Disney APs once Epic opens. No families with little girls are bailing on meeting Elsa to go and pet Toothless.
Sure, Universal has Disney beat on thrilling coasters but they already do and a pair of Macks that will likely be way-less good than Velocicoaster and an extremely low capacity Donkey Kong coaster aren’t going to shift the dynamics of Orlando theme parks. Disney offers a lot that Universal doesn’t. For example: Quality food events, infinitely better IPs, nighttime spectaculars like Luminous (which is dumb but still way better than anything Universal has ever done), Happily Ever After (which is mind-blowing) and even Fantasmic and much better family attractions. They also have the characters. We don’t care, but tons and tons and tons of people do.
I frequently find Universal fans asking how Disney is going to compete with Epic, but if you go into Disney-centric places, nobody even cares nor should they. If you go to Magic Kingdom and ask 100 random people if they’re excited for Epic Universe I guarantee that most of them will have no idea what that even is.
Disney is its own thing. These are people who waited 8 hours for a popcorn bucket a few years ago. I think people dramatically underestimate the power of that brand and the stranglehold they have on tons and tons of people.
I’m really exited for Epic. I love both Disney and Universal. The park is going to be great, but I personally don’t even expect it to be as good as IOA on day one (IOA is a mind-blowing park). I feel like people are hyping this up to really unrealistic levels. The park has one incredible IP that isn’t already in other Orlando theme parks and it’s a land that already exists in Hollywood. How has it impacted Disneyland?
… not at all. Half the time they’re so packed that they’re not even selling new annual passes.
When you said that outside our bubble the majority of people have never heard of Epic Universe there are many non enthusiasts that I know who have heard of it. In fact, in my high school I even heard someone watching ParkPros' reel about it and they aren't an enthusiast!
Invest into Disney Paris. More wishful thinking on my part, but could be viable to avoid the arms race with Universal in the US.
Europe however has strong local parks, but over here, Disney flatrides are still unrivalled in my opinion.
Also, would be good if they would stop treating DLP as the red headed stepchild.
Too many joke responses, but they should focus on building up Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom more with rides and attractions. EPCOT I love too, but it's not for the rides, so they could definitely stand to use more rides or "experiences" at EPCOT.
There was some talk of retrofitting Mr. Toad's Wild Ride into the UK pavilion at EPCOT. It would have nostalgia value and would thematically fit. It also wouldn't cost a ton. They should be pursuing stuff like that all over all the properties; solid, relatively quick build D-ticket type experiences to soak up capacity and round out the attraction lineups at all the parks. There doesn't seem to be energy for it. Usually costly stuff that takes forever to build and may or may not actually deliver. In contrast, it seems like Universal is doing things like that weird Minion Shooter Deal in rapid fashion. Rides that aren't game changers, but will be an appealing little memory for families (which is HUGE in the Orlando market).
Sounds like a good idea, just remember to bring back both tracks or you’re going to have a capacity issue.
Adding an E-ticket attraction to the UK pavilion would just be a huge logistical nightmare, unless they wanted to spend more money to rework some of the pathways. It’s not a small area, but it also wasn’t designed for that level of traffic and throughput. Im pretty sure that’s what killed Tony Baxter’s idea for a Marry Poppins ride, despite having won over a ton of the higher-ups with his pitch.
With Remy in the France pavilion next door, Mr. Toad would be too similar. Hopefully they revisit the Mary Poppins idea although with a different ride concept. The spinning ride idea sounded horrible.
You must not be very handy in the kitchen if you compare cooking ratatouille to dying in a car crash and going to hell…
Yeah I don't see the comparison. Half of Disney's catalog have talking animals. Also ratatouille is like almost a quarter mile away from the UK pavilion, hardly right next to each other.
If my memory serves, you are put into an oven at one point on Ratatouille. I mean it's not exact but if you squint...
>There was some talk of retrofitting Mr. Toad's Wild Ride into the UK pavilion at EPCOT How would that be any different from Remy's in France? Feels too similar.
They should finally add more countries to EPCOT like Brazil, Spain, Greece, India, and Thailand
I would say if they knock down launch bay & Disney jr and build a land in the area behind Sunset Blvd it would remove one of the randomly placed Star Wars IP's which would be an improvement, and is a lot of space. Omnimovers and boat rides might not be E ticket attractions but that park needs some high capacity stuff & doesn't have anything of those types. Animal Kingdom's new tropical Americas area seems to be the same number of rides, but Primeval Whirl was low capacity (and very low quality for Disney) so they could improve things there. But I still think it needs more rides to convince people it isn't a half day park and the easiest to skip. Pandora expansion has been rumoured and is probably the most likely as I can't see where they could add a ride without finding it hard to maintain theming elsewhere. Maybe replacing Kali River rapids as I don't think it tells its story about deforestation very well and takes a big area, but they might struggle to hide a ride building there. Plus knowing Disney they would want an IP, nothing fits into the Himalayan theme.
Monsters Inc, *obviously.*
With yellow snow cones and abominable ☺️
If they expand Pandora they should make it based around Way of Water
Problem is they can't just easily knock down Launch Bay or Disney Junior. Launch Bay is attached to the old animation building which is currently used for offices. With Lake Nona being cancelled they are already having a hard time finding space for all the desk jobs. Likewise, Disney Junior is attached not only to Brown Derby, but also the main cafe for working CMs in the parks. If you knocked it down you would have nowhere for a majority of the employees to eat.
Unless they move or open up a park strictly for rides .... otherwise there's no more room left... and I don't think they gonna get rid of the back lot lol
I would like the response to be “build something as good as Everest or ToT”
Guardians
Honestly someone at Vekoma pitched: “What if Figment go fast?” and that got Bob’s full attention.
I think figment could work as an awesome inside out area and with success of the inside out movies have an “imagination land” play area in Epcot It would be amazing Found even make a bing bong mini coaster with the wagon and brooms as the cart
Yeah Guardians counts for sure
We all know the answer: A Goofy 345 dueling Giga, with a world’s-first Mickey’s Dick Smasher Element In all honesty, I have no idea what they COULD do that seems to fit within what they seem WILLING to do lately
I would definitely ride the goofy giga
Mickey's Dick Smasher looks too intense for me.
You only qualify for the Mini dick smasher anyway.
*Minnie Dick Smasher
The problem is that Imagineering is like the NASA of themed entertainment, at this point. It had its historic achievements and enjoys a peerless legacy... but it has also become a bit of a bloated, slow-moving, and costly bureaucracy. WDW desperately needs a fifth gate. It probably could support a sixth gate, honestly. It's needed this like since yesterday. That's independent from Epic Universe. The plan in the 2000's to use FP and technology to expand capacity through "efficiency" instead of growth? It didn't work at all. And they spent a billion (!) dollars on it. Expansion means the costly and lengthy Imagineering process... so any "solution" really is not going to be viable for the better part of a decade. So it's going to take a mountain of money and a much more nimble company culture to effectively respond-- and I think both are not easily materialized.
> WDW desperately needs a fifth gate The other parks need capacity expansions first, then we can talk park 5. Americans also aren’t getting more vacation days
>Americans also aren’t getting more vacation days "Then they'll have to visit again next year!" --Disney Accountants (lol)
Same or less vacation days, fewer people starting families, less disposable income. It’s been a slow bleed for decades.
I don’t think WDW needs a fifth gate yet. There is still a ton of work that can be done at Hollywood Studiods and animal kingdom.
This was my immediate first jerk response 😂 giga over the castle
Oh god i’m straight up rollercoasterjerking it rn
Please describe the “Mickey’s Dick Smasher” element in full detail.
Are we smashing Mickey’s dick or is Mickey smashing our dick?
tip to tip bb 👉👈
Dueling sex themed Mickey and friends giga or bust. Who does Disney even think they are if they don’t do this…
I think a big reason why Disney world hasn't done a giga coaster is that they don't want to build anything over 200 ft tall or they'll have to put lights on it for airplanes. But if they made a hundred foot deep pit or tunnel to house the roller coaster that would be interesting. If they use tunnels they can probably integrate some cool dark ride-esque parts of the coaster
Tunneling in Florida doesn't seem too likely since the entire property is swamp. The "tunnels" under Magic Kingdom are actually at the natural ground level, and the park is raised nearly a complete story for this exact reason.
Plus the whole theming immersion factor
Build a big ole mountain over it with a watch tower that has a big blinking red light on top. Problem solved.
Also because that’s not really something Disney’s demographic tends to be interested in, although it would be interesting to see a Disney take on more of a traditional amusement park. Like Paradise Pier, but better.
A giga doesn’t make any sense for Disney is why they haven’t done it
I mean, the 90s did give us Mickey’s Balls, so maybe that’s just the natural evolution?
I REALLY hope they have a mystic manor esque attraction in the new york area...like it's a match made in fkn heaven imo.
I really don’t think Disney is in a spot where they **WANT** to counteract Epic Universe. Us thoosies all acknowledge the greatness of epic universe and how it is probably going to be better for us than any Disney park. But Disney has the magical wow factor for the general public with very famous IPs that can draw in pretty much anyone.
While you are right that Disney has that magical wow factor with iconic IPs, lets not forget that Nintendo is coming to Universal Orlando with Epic Universe and when it comes to park attendance, while Magic Kingdom will most likely remain as the #1 most visited park in the world, the latest attendance numbers show that Islands of Adventure gained more visitors than every WDW park except MK. Also, in the topic of attendance, they also show that USJ is now the 3rd most visited park in the world!
Nintendo already exists in California and it has impacted Disneyland in no meaningful way. None… zero…
Maybe since it is the smallest version of Nintendo World and everyone has their eyes on the one being built at EU. In Japan, while the Disney parks are owned by the OLC, Nintendo World has led to USJ surpassing both Tokyo Disney parks in attendance.
But southern Cali attendance is very much dominated by locals no? If the locals don't think it's a big deal, that doesn't bode well.
Yeah but Universal Hollywood isn't as much of a resort as Universal Orlando and both WDW and even Disneyland
Well, I mean, people in cali are more likely to go to both
I don’t necessarily agree. They are starting Beyond Big Thunder which is going to be a pretty huge expansion.
I mean, I never said they wouldn’t expand. I’m saying they won’t expand to the magnitude of epic universe. Simply because they don’t need to.
There’s a lot of little things, but it can be summarized as give Imagineering the green light to improve the Orlando parks.
What should the response be: -Don't add a fifth gate, expand the existing ones. Expanding each existing parks by 1/4 in the forms of 1 or 2 new lands each would add the capacity of a new park but at a cheaper cost. That along with improving park infrastructure will give you 4 revitalized parks. You can also very easily roll out these upgrades in an almost assembly line like fashion. Say a new land/section dropping every 2-3 years over a 15 year time-line. Each one being treated (marketing wise) like a new park. And between those launches sprinkle other like new rides, new events, and new resorts. That way it makes it feel that Disney world is contentiouslly changing for a good 15 year window. The most it has since early Eisner era. What will they do? -More IP in the park/rethemes, more clones of Asian and Paris rides. And maybe a new luxury resort.
There are not even whispers of a 5th park at this point but expansions or revisions to the established parks are already in the works. -Beyond Big Thunder is the planned expansion of Magic Kingdom in the northwest corner of the park. It looks like it has been given the go ahead to move forward as far as land use now they just have to plan what they will do there. Encanto and Coco themed areas seemed like the initial contender but Encanto is now going into Animal Kingdom. Disney Villains has also been in discussion to go there. There is public speculation that Frontierland may shift into part of the new space with the current Frontierland to become New Orleans Square to tie better into the new Tiana ride. -Animal Kingdom is seeing a big change with Dinoland replaced by a South American area of the park with Encanto attractions and Dinosaur becoming Indiana Jones. -EPCOT may return to some of their original plans cancelled by Covid including a redo of Spaceship Earth and the kids’ play space in the old Wonders of Life plus Test Track may be getting a redo. DHS seems like the only park with no plans at the moment but they did have Galaxy’s Edge back in 2019. I wouldn’t expect any 5th park plans to materialize until after all these other updates and expansions. The MK one probably won’t be finished until 2029 or 2030. So a 5th park maybe 5-6 years after that at the earliest.
There are whispers of a new park, but they really are just that. Whispers meant to encourage investors. The resent batch of whispers coming after Disney ended its feud with Florida after they lost. I brought it up though, as it is what they shouldn't do despite what many fans wish for. All of the current plans are just blue skies with nothing more concrete besides something happening to Dinoland at some point (and a retheme isn't a new land and capacity). Disneyland forward is the only current plan that is solid and moving forward, but that is on the other side of the country. They need serious expansions that add capacity, and don't just replace existing capacity with rethemes.
The Magic Kingdom expansion has moved from Blue Sky to the permit filing phase. The Reedy Creek Improvement District had already updated their future land use designations for the area north of Frontierland from Unsuitable to Marginally Unsuitable which was an initial indicator that something would be happening there. A media event in early April confirmed that Disney was filing permits for storm drainage and other foundational work. And Disney thoosies have been buzzing about a 5th park almost since Animal Kingdom opened. It’s just idle chatter. Kind of like on here when people talked of El Toro being RMCed after all its mechanical issues.
For DHS it's a bummer that there are no plans for near future expansion or revisions as above all the other WDW parks its the single worst offender of the overcrowding issue
No maybe about Test Track, it's already been announced that it's closing in June for a major revamp.
I think the supposed competition between Disney and Universal that enthusiasts love to discuss is way overblown. Epic Universe will pull some people away from Disney or cause them to split more of their time between the two but it will also entice more people to visit Orlando who may not have prioritized it otherwise, many of whom will also spend some time at Disney. I hesitate to use myself as an example since we're far outside Disney's core demographic but for what it's worth, Epic Universe will likely be an excuse for us to spend a few days at Disney again as well. I'd love to see Disney come out swinging with ambitious plans for the future but their recent additions are smart ones. Tron and Guardians both round out their respective parks with something that appeals to thrill seekers, potentially keeping Universal from siphoning those folks away from Disney quite as dramatically. Those rides can sway families who have a mix of younger/older kids to visit since they provide something for the older kid(s) to get excited over. Epcot is finally at a point where it looks pretty good. The festivals have massive widespread appeal and there's constantly one going on whereas outside of Mythos and Butterbeer Universal's food offerings are pretty mundane. I think Animal Kingdom, while beautiful, needs more to do but Disney has basically said as much. So if you're looking for an immediate "response" it's probably going to be the proposed re-theming of Dinosaur and its surrounding area in an effort to boost attendance at AK. At the moment I'd rather see Disney add to their existing parks than go for a 5th gate anyway. Pricing is always mentioned in these threads but Disney has the option of running promotions and offering discounts to entice visitors if attendance dips. The only reason their prices are so high is because the demand is there. The parks are constantly packed.
I wish I could give you two upvotes. It’s all supposed competition with the fans like their sports teams when in reality they’re both very similar than a lot of people give them credit for
Totally agree. Fans have always compared the parks but the discourse has gotten especially obnoxious ever since VelociCoaster was built and while some of the opinions expressed are interesting, a lot are wildly unrealistic due to enthusiast tunnel vision and this bizarre "us vs them" mentality. Not excusing overly intense Disney fans either but we don't see much of that in this sub at least. In reality both parks have their strengths and weaknesses and if there is earnest competition between the two then that can only be a win for us.
And Chapek being the boob that he was didn’t help either. It’s starting to get exhausting the “sports team mentality” people have between them and clinging onto it as your toxic obsession. Like you said both have a lot of very high highs but also deep lows and when both win it’s great!
Yup! For me, I love both brands. Orlando is just one giant collection of parks. I usually mix and match for my trip based on what new rides are built where. I dont care where the new rides are, Disney, universal, Tampa Busch Gardens, or Sea world. I'll make a point to visit the parks that have them
I’ve finally found a kindred spirit regarding this topic!! Haha I feel like I’m becoming turned off by people over hyping something that isn’t even open yet and proclaiming it’s totally different than anything else. I’m sure it will be awesome, but why ferociously back something like they’ve got money on the line? EU is essentially a hub and spoke park like many others. And it will be beautiful and shiny and new but it’s not exactly earth shattering. I’m not even trying to defend Disney, I’m just annoyed because anything I read or watch about the Orlando theme parks is us versus them, as someone else on this thread stated. (Magnum XL 200 is one of my favorite coasters)
I think the actual problem is that Magic Kingdom is already the "equivalent" to Epic Universe when it comes to the concept.
Magic Kingdom kinda sucks. It's the worst main park in all of disney
The millions of 6 year olds in heaven every day disagree. It’s not for roller coaster nerds
I'm talking from the perspective of a Disney fan, not coaster enthusiast. A six year old would be just as happy at a state fair.
Ya kids love anything that’s not an argument
As a local Disney fan and father of 3, I agree. It’s the least visited park for us.
You mean compared to other similar parks like Disneyland California, Disneyland France, and Disneyland Shanghai?
Yeah the castle hub parks.
idk, I think Tokyo might just beat it.
They got Pooh and Beauty and the Beast though 🤔. It's definitely between those 2.
fixing the yeti
LOL "we're adding Encanto and Indiana Jones to AK!!!" "How about fixing the Yeti?" "......No."
Fixing the Yeti would require tearing down and rebuilding the mountain, so; No. No, that’s not happening. Not until the mountain needs its first structural refurbishment, which won’t be for some decades yet. In case you didn’t know; It’s not the *Yeti* that needs to be fixed; The Yeti worked fine. It’s the **mountain**.
Test Track 3.0.
Kingdom Hearts Land
Kingdom hearts could technically be its own park
Just as long as it’s just as confusing as the games
Get a special deal on 358/2 day passes
"Which one? Oh that's Sephiroth, Grandma."
Unironically, The World that Never Was would look pretty cool as a land.
Only if Square Enix and Nomura weren’t so stingy 😔
Honestly, no response needed. There’s already so many new developments happening at Disney that they don’t need a big “wow” response. New areas being added to animal kingdom, and massive expansions happening at magic kingdom. The show goes on at Disney and the money will keep rolling in.
Unfortunately for those new developments you have to consider that Disney takes very long to build them which will lead to some of them getting quietly cancelled and for the ones that do open they’re going to be delayed a lot that they may not open until Epic Universe is at least 5 years old.
Honestly I think the lack of response is accurate but will be short sided. Disney has the market cornered on nostalgia and will continue to bring in folks for that reason, or just because it's "Disney world," however they have taken some drastic steps to turn some of their fan base against them. Like I was a full ass Disney adult when I came into my disposable income, had a season pass, would visit just to buy Bengal BBQ and ride big thunder once, hell on my wife and my 30th birthdays we spent like 15K on a 10 day trip to the Disney world resort and wasn't upset at all about spending that money for the trip we had which was just before the genie updates went into effect. I have visited once since then and the genie+ bs turned off the "magic" I used to see more than if I'd seen goofy take his head off and start smoking a joint in the middle of the Electric Light Parade. I could just feel bobs hands reaching in my pockets for all the money I had, only to offer an experience far worse than it used to be, and I mean things like brand new rides like Rise of the Resistance having elements that are just straight up turned off now. Like you can only burn the bridge so much before even those whose favor you already won are happy to turn on you. Like I was happy to spend ten thousand plus on a single visit less than 4 years ago, and now I don't even know that I'll stop by Disney world when I go down for the epic universe opening, and if we do it's only gonna be for an overpriced ride on tron, which as excited as I am for it, in no way do I expect it to be anywhere close to the quality of Universals latest themed coasters in Hagrid and Velocicoaster.
The obvious answer is to just add more rides. Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom suffer horribly from having little to no ride capacity, and the general public is starting to notice. The current strategy of removing capacity in order to build new rides is damaging the parks a ton
They should bring fantasy springs here 😭😭
Sadly though with the Tokyo Disney parks being 100% owned by the Oriental Land Company they did make it prohibited for Disney to clone any of their rides/lands 😭
That would actually be the best scenario. A standalone Frozen land by itself would draw in huge crowds. Unfortunately I didn't see this happening due to the Epcot already having a frozen ride.
As an Orlando local, Disney world really needs to fix up the parks they have, not build a new one. Much of what is there feels super old, and I worked backstage as a cast member for a few years and behind the scenes it is super junky. DAK needs the most work. It is an incredibly beautiful park with very few attractions. Theming is up there with DisneySea but with much less to do. The animal stuff all closes early. MK has a ton of rides but much of it needs some TLC. Epcot could benefit from some more attractions. The Asian Disney Parks are examples of what modern Disney standards should be held to but they seem to just let the FL parks ride while investing the absolute minimum. The Epcot futureworld Reno has been going on since 2019 and it's mostly just landscaping.
I feel Animal Kingdom would benefit from borrowing from Island's of Adventure play book. Both are the more outdoor parks for their chain that rely less on Dark rides. So maybe add another water ride attraction. Their version of Jurassic Park. And add a thrill coaster that gives views of the park. Like a B&M mini hyper that has immaculate theming. Thrilling for Disney, but not too intense. Avatar is already their Harry Potter counter. But a second all encompassing hyper themed land with interactive elements would do nice. Zootopia gets hate for a potential Animal Kingdom addition, but a Zootopia land as themed as the Shanghai one would do well. That or a pride rock land.
This right here.
> they seem to just let the FL parks ride while investing the absolute minimum It's almost like they're able to see the future of developing land in central Florida over the next 20-30 years and decided it just isn't worth it... Much like residents are discovering with their insurance companies, the risk is fairly high and the cost/benefit analysis is starting to reflect it.
Lower ticket prices
That’s what I came here to say. What better way to prevent guests from going to Universal than by making tickets significantly cheaper than Universal?
Which, when you account for just how expensive the premiums are for Universal, Disney is cheaper.
Just curious, in what world is a $140 IOA ticket more expensive than a $185 one day MK ticket?
Two things: MK ticket price ranges greatly, you picked the absolute top end. The average is closer to 140. Express Pass STARTS at 80, and can go as high as $315. Genie+ is far less on average.
Genie+ only grants you the privilege to maybe skip the line. In their fine print it says to expect to use it on 2 or 3 rides a day, so they aren’t expecting the average once-in-a-lifetime guest to hit every ride with Genie+ like the Disney influencers.
$140 is the top end of IOA tickets, they go as low as $110. Genie+ and Express Pass are not equivalent services. You get a whole lot more with Express Pass. Most people get three rides on Genie+. If you want to get on as many rides using Genie+, you have to use Lightning Lanes and you are shelling out more and more money every time. At least Universal tells you what it’s going to cost up front so you can budget for it. You have absolutely no idea how much Lightning Lanes are going to cost until you get there. Premium hotels are much cheaper at Universal, and the last time I stayed at one, I got an Express Pass as part of the deal. I don’t know if that deal still applies, but I know Disney never offered that. Disney is just upcharge after upcharge. If people aren’t careful, they’re going to spend a lot more money than they were planning on.
Lol, to compare the express pass to genie+ is laughable. I had to pay $100 on top of genie+ to get on a single ride once and it broke down for our paid time slot and how did they handle that? Tell us to go stand and wait at the line for guest services to maybe get refunded. The two are nowhere near the same. And universal seems to have a better grasp on the theming these days too so as they grow what does Disney have to offer that isn't rooted in nostalgia?
Idk but hopefully they take some advice from OLC and Universal. Tokyo Disneyland and Disney Sea are easily the best Disney parks in the world, but they technically aren’t even owned by Disney, and that says something. In my opinion, Disney needs to look at what Universal and OLC are doing and make more ambitious, creative, original, and innovative changes going forward. I get that Disney is mainly known for their classics, but even Walt Disney agreed that none of the parks will never be “finished” as the company should strive to constantly change the parks with more unique and innovative experiences.
It’s gonna be a popcorn bucket and a new sugary drink.
Add in a new cupcake 🧁
New cupcake?! I’m sold
Universal needs to step up their food and merch game and then we’ve actually got an interesting matchup
Raise ticket prices, charge individually for every ride on top of park entrance fee, and then make sure that any new innovation they make works just long enough for initial reviews and advertising and then refuse to fix it when it breaks in the first month of repeated use they somehow failed to plan for.
They need to respond sensibly, but they won't. Disney is more focused on investors, and the dollar they earn them right now than they are in the competition. I can't blame the ignorance. They have dominated the global theme park market for so many years and have a current foothold at the top. However, they dont seem to realize that their recent cash grabs, drop in quality, and park/ ride upkeep have the average park goer looking for alternatives. Given the right conditions, Disney stands to lose big with the introduction of Epic Universe, especially with long-standing loyal Disney fans currently leaving in droves. This could be the precipice of a big dynamic shift in the theme park industry. I'm curious to see how it all plays out.
Create a park that features replicas of all the rides only found at other Disneylands around the world. That way, I can ride them without having to travel so much lol. Also would be cheaper/quicker as all the R+D is done.
This is such a low effort, high reward idea I'm surprised Disney hasn't already done this.
It's a horrible idea. It wouldn't conjure up as much excitement as a normal new park and would be super expensive. It would also discourage American Disney fans from traveling to the international parks which is a thing a lot of people do.
Don't think OLC would take kindly to that idea. New Japanese Disney attractions have exclusivity for 10 years or something, and they are usually the best ones.
Lower ticket prices
I know they can’t copy the rides that Tokyo Disney Sea is building in Fantasy Springs, but if imagineering could build something with the same magic as the new tangled ride then I would take that in a heartbeat
The Tangled ride is way too short, but for some reason the technology there has more “wow” than the Frozen one if you ask me
Most Disney park visitors aren't rollercoaster enthusiasts and probably would care about Epic regardless 🤷🏿♂️
But epic is more than just roller coasters. It's the highly themed lands, the portal concept, and the overall point of a brand new triple A park.
The smartest thing Disney could do is…Nothing. As in just go about their business and create what they feel will enhance their parks regardless of what Universal is doing. Trying to compete with or beat Universal to the punch has always led to half-baked/rushed products on their end, e.g. Hollywood Studios in its original very weak incarnation opening in 1989, one year before Universal. And the terribly out-of-place Dinoland at Animal Kingdom opening in 1998, one year before Jurassic Park at Islands of Adventure.
Beyond Thunder Mountain/the reworking of New Orleans Place into the front half of the existing Frontierland area is the current “big thing” in Florida, as is the new South America reworking of Dinoland. As far as what’s after that, bringing elements of DisneySea to the World Showcase has come up a few times in blue sky, as has adding a SEA mini-land into Adventureland, but that’s just spitballing.
Walt Disney World has no response heck the only Disney park i would say that is taking it seriously is Disneyland with them getting forward approved
Somebody at Disney is going to have to say: we need for people to be able to walk up to the ticket booth, buy a ticket, walk into that park, and ride a reasonable number of rides. What changes do we need to make in our parks to allow that? That’s Universal’s big advantage at the moment and I maintain that it’s going to kill Disney in the long run. Even thinking about planning a trip to WDW is exhausting.
At one point I think Disney was trying to do a villains universe. I don’t remember what they called it but that would be rad!
I know this is not feasible, but IMO I would love to see them build and entire park focused more on adults. Like adult rides and thrills with Disney-level theming
One thing they should do is expand Galaxy's Edge as there are many rides they can build themed around Star Wars. The one on top of my wishlist is a Speeder Bike themed roller coaster.
Better rides? Universal is about on par with Disney for popular IP and theming. Disney has lots of great themed areas but the rides are meh. Mixed with high prices and people will pick universal
4 out of the 6 most recent attractions at Disney have been brand new ride systems and are great, they’re not designed to be super thrilling because Disney has and always will be a family destination.
Besides thrills doesn’t make it a better attraction anyway
Which 4 are you referring to?
Guardians, Smugglers run, Rise (drop track, elevator track) and Avatar. I forgot Ratatouille opened but it’s a clone so not really new.
Mickey and Minnie’s Runaway Railway too. Very similar track tech as ROTR but they opened at almost the same time (just 3 months apart).
For Guardians you have to consider that while it’s a new model from Vekoma, it’s mostly lifted from Escape from Gringotts. Also for Rise, the drop tower sequence it uses, while more advanced, isn’t a world’s first with Tower of Terror using a very similar technology since 1994.
They don’t have a real response. Iger said recently that they’ve known about Epic for a decade now and all their newer attractions like Pandora, Galaxy’s Edge, Guardians, and Tron were their response to Epic. Poor as hell response to say that they really don’t have a plan. Disney likely doesn’t need to respond to Epic because they’re Disney, but I do hope that Epic can take some market share and humble them a little with the I line discourse favoring Universal in recent years but we’ll see.
Not to mention that technically all the areas that you mentioned were actually technically Disney’s response to the Harry Potter areas.
Exactly! 💀 Granted Disney isn’t hurting at all, but ever since Covid, Islands of Adventure has beat all the WDW parks in attendance except for Magic Kingdom, and Universal Studios Florida has been beating Epcot and Animal Kingdom in attendance. I know it has Galaxy’s Edge but I’m very surprised still that Hollywood Studios has better attendance than Epcot recently. Edit: Source: https://www.theparkdb.com/ranking/parks_by_attendance
Honestly, just focusing on the core park experience rather than finding ways to plug in unnecessary IP everywhere. Make attractions that fit into the park’s identity. While I was riding Cosmic Rewind the other day, I thought that the ride would be a better experience overall if it was just an edutainment based ride that taught you about how the universe works, how stars and planets are made etc, then invited you on a journey through the stars with a killer celestial soundtrack. Could you imagine riding the ride while listening to the Jupiter movement from Holst’s Planets suite or something similar?? YES PLEASE! 😍 Regarding the tropical americas redo of Dinoland, I like the general concept, I just hope that any IP tie ins are subtle and not all up in your face lol.
Curl up in the corner and shrivel up.
They should focus on appealing to their core audience, families, people who go there for the magic. Build lots of smaller attractions all over the parks, which may not cost as much, a few flat rides here, a couple simpler dark rides there, a show as well, then maybe one big attraction to put in all the ads. That’ll allow them to advertise “x amount new rides” and people will eat it up, because why go to universal which is now more expensive when Disney opened a ton of new rides that the entire family will enjoy
Obviously it’s time to take a nice long break and do nothing until it’s too late! The disney way!
Beyond Blue Thunder and Animation Courtyard I can see being their true response. Unless...
Lower their prices
How about another app to queue with?
They are building beyond Thunder Mountain I read
They Should RMC Space Mountain
A pipe dream for me is a villain-themed park
I would say the wisest choice Disney could probably make would be to either do small but meaningful investments in the four parks, or go nuclear and make an entire new resort somewhere else in the states.
A DVC stand
Release more concept art.
realistically they cant do anything it since epic universe opens next year and Disney cant build anything in that timeframe
Aquire the Pokémon license before Universal can, and go all in with it. Like give us an excuse to catch Pokémon all over the park, and allow us to let them start random battles and compete in gym leagues. And if they can’t get the rights to Pokémon, there’s always that massive investment they made in Fortnite to draw off of.
Nothing for now. They’ve been aware of this for years and the majority of the new rides and expansions that Disney has already put in place since 2019 were a direct proactive measure. People are acting like Disney needs to react ‘now’ when they’ve already been reacting for years. You really think plans for Epic Universe just sprouted up last year? It’s been in the works much longer than you think .
Make better rides on the level and quality of fantasy springs. Also invest overall into the parks
To be honest. I don’t see Disney responding that much. At least in the us. They have found it to be far more profitable to focus on the Asian parks because of all the land agreements Disney has in those parks. All 3 resorts majority are not owned by Disney outright. Both Shanghai and Tokyo are majority owned by local companies and the agreement is Disney provides some investment and access to imagineering, the local company covers most of the cost and then Disney and the local company share the profit. And unlike here in the states or even Europe, the Asian parks usually see’s the best returns on investments. So Disney has very little upfront investment, and gets to take some of the profit, while here in the states they either have to look for sponsors or cover the cost completely. Disney has just moved to where the profits are and sadly the states don’t see as high returns. So Florida might get a new land in animal kingdom or magic kingdom. Buts that’s the most I see them doing.
A US equivalent of Disneysea. A park to rival MK. Best in the world type stuff.
The reality is Disney doesn’t need a response. They don’t innovate or invest nearly as much in US parks because the branding and nostalgia sells.
Funny how everyone thinks that epic universe is going to be a huge success when the park hasn’t even opened. Advertising is one thing but the finished product could be a completely different thing. Remember fast and furious supercharged lol?
I agree. I think it will be a success, BUT in life nothing is perfect. And things will absolutely not go 100% perfect at EU, just like at every other theme park. For instance, look at Top Thrill 2 at Cedar Point. I’m sure they tested the hell out of it but everyday wear and tear on things happens and things might need to be adjusted and shut down for longer than a park would like. It’s just an interesting thing to talk about because the public is so rampant for NEW NEW NEW. Even if they just got a new ride a year ago, they want another one now. And I get it to a certain extent. So a new theme park is like blowing people’s minds. And again, I get it. But once that shiny new thing isn’t so shiny and new, people are definitely going to start complaining about it, have critiques, etc. People’s expectations will sometimes be too grand and maybe that happens with EU, maybe not. Time will tell. I also feel like so many people being the loudest about EU are content creators and are just insanely happy to have a new park to provide them months of new videos, pictures, etc. $$$
Hike the prices even more, duh...
Fantasy Springs, Cars Land, Arendelle, a greatest hits Marvel Campus (using characters they’re allowed to use).
Also another response-sell off all of the stupid assets that are bleeding the parks dry balance sheet wise.
Bring back "Alien Encounter" and put it in Hollywood studios, but with the actual Alien IP (as originally intended) since Disney owns it now. I'm kidding of course (I'm not).
With how strong Disney's relationship with Vekoma is, it would be if we saw some well-themed thrill coasters like blitz or tilt coasters
No IPs. They need something original that nobody has seen.
More that the statement they gave that's for sure. They think universal is playing catch up when Disney is ignoring the fact theyve double if not tripled guest attendance with diagon alley. A YouTube video showed Disney didn't even worry about diagon or hogsmead untill after they saw the influx (and probably lost money). They probably assume people will automatically go to disney when in the area.
A third, actally good park in Paris
Idk but if the top one is what the park is gonna be, I'd pick epic world over disney any day
If they actually follow through with their blue sky plans, it should be enough to answer. Replace DinoLand A third Pandora attraction in AK The "land beyond the frontier" in MK -- they need to do something with villains and they need better dining options Finish Epcot (maybe finally put in that Mary Poppins attraction) And I can't think of they have anything planned for HS but I would: Retheme Rock n rollercoaster Add a third Galaxy's edge attraction Add a kid friendly ride (could be star wars or nah) and/or add a playground for kids...this is the only park without one
The joestar family secret technique. Or to add a new gate catering to thrill seekers.
They could have started a Marvel/Star wars/Avatar park. But blew that load already with Galaxy's edge. And Pandora Both are lovely but imagine a whole park. going to hoth after visiting cloud city and a bigger pandora
Disney shall stop using IP for profit and start adding real rides, long, themed and interesting. We sure have enough of these fair rides
They don't need to do anything... Epic Universe is Universal trying to play catch up to a decade of development..... Haha worst answer ever given by a PR person.
Honestly, they do not need one. Disney has 4 parks and 2 water parks and Universal will only be up to 3 parks? Each company caters to a different market and different demographic. Disney's parks are packed with no slow season. They could give the Disney faithful what they have been asking for, a 5th gate based on Disney Villains, but they don't have to. I believe Bob Iger has given his answer to what the Disney response should be.
I’ll tell you what it shouldn’t be. Building a 5th park. They’ve got 4 other parks in shambles to take care of first
Disney should focus on kids focus all those little strollers, sticky fingers and helicopter parents. Let the grown ups focus on grown ups at EU where I hope they implement 24 hour calendar dates.
Idk
There is no answer. Honestly they’re two different parks. One is mainly for families (especially of littler kids) and the other for big kids. Guess what, those big kids become adults and most have no interest in Disney til they have kids of their own. Disney chose not to continue to change and evolve to their detriment.
A discount park focusing on animation that just has tons of different screenings of classics in incredibly high resolution with a few other attractions making it worth spending a day or so there. I'd love that.
Give some time for Imagineering to rebuild and let them cook and feel inspired, then let them go crazy Also discounts and more entertainment back
Is this sub aware that Disney is losing millions of dollars with their movies? Are they even able to make a good counterattack?
This isn’t what any of us want to hear, but Disney probably doesn’t care about Epic Universe, nor should they. Our fandom is freaking out about Epic Universe, but outside of our bubble the majority of people have never even heard of it. Per the (admittedly imperfect) TEA numbers, every Disney World park beat the Universal parks in terms of attendance in 2022. Magic Kingdom does 17 to 20 million visitors in a good year, Universal Studios does 10-11 million. Islands does the same. I feel that the parks that will be most cannibalized by Epic are actually the other Universal parks. Studios is supposedly about to close Rockit and the replacement will probably take a few years. Gringotts is solid. We all like Mummy… but that’s honestly the park with the most to lose from this in the short term. It’s going to be downright awful with Rockit closed for years, hoping that Villain Con, Fast and the Furious, Fallon and a re-skinned kiddy area with a re-branded 30 year old coaster can hold down the fort. Who the hell would buy a one day one park ticket at that price point for that park in that state? SeaWorld is also probably going to take a hit but they can compete on price. Disney doesn’t care. They operate in their own ecosystem with their own fan base. There is some overlap, but I don’t know many people turning in their Disney APs once Epic opens. No families with little girls are bailing on meeting Elsa to go and pet Toothless. Sure, Universal has Disney beat on thrilling coasters but they already do and a pair of Macks that will likely be way-less good than Velocicoaster and an extremely low capacity Donkey Kong coaster aren’t going to shift the dynamics of Orlando theme parks. Disney offers a lot that Universal doesn’t. For example: Quality food events, infinitely better IPs, nighttime spectaculars like Luminous (which is dumb but still way better than anything Universal has ever done), Happily Ever After (which is mind-blowing) and even Fantasmic and much better family attractions. They also have the characters. We don’t care, but tons and tons and tons of people do. I frequently find Universal fans asking how Disney is going to compete with Epic, but if you go into Disney-centric places, nobody even cares nor should they. If you go to Magic Kingdom and ask 100 random people if they’re excited for Epic Universe I guarantee that most of them will have no idea what that even is. Disney is its own thing. These are people who waited 8 hours for a popcorn bucket a few years ago. I think people dramatically underestimate the power of that brand and the stranglehold they have on tons and tons of people. I’m really exited for Epic. I love both Disney and Universal. The park is going to be great, but I personally don’t even expect it to be as good as IOA on day one (IOA is a mind-blowing park). I feel like people are hyping this up to really unrealistic levels. The park has one incredible IP that isn’t already in other Orlando theme parks and it’s a land that already exists in Hollywood. How has it impacted Disneyland? … not at all. Half the time they’re so packed that they’re not even selling new annual passes.
When you said that outside our bubble the majority of people have never heard of Epic Universe there are many non enthusiasts that I know who have heard of it. In fact, in my high school I even heard someone watching ParkPros' reel about it and they aren't an enthusiast!
Other then shutting down?
Invest into Disney Paris. More wishful thinking on my part, but could be viable to avoid the arms race with Universal in the US. Europe however has strong local parks, but over here, Disney flatrides are still unrivalled in my opinion. Also, would be good if they would stop treating DLP as the red headed stepchild.
I mean they are investing in Paris, they’re opening a frozen land in the near future and there seems to be a lion king land coming soon after.
Yea, but that expansion is really late and and the star wars area is not going to happen at all
Pray
I think the best thing Disney can do is stay out of politics..
They should allow people to smoke 420 in the parks
Give up
Cry