Walt Disney World Tech News & Discussion- Magic Bands, Genie+, and more

[OrlLover]

How come no one posted their Q2 FY25 earnings results because they were relatively positive ??

Usually you guys have discussion on that.

 

[SkiBum]

I personally think that there is no way that Disney (including D'Amaro) will ever admit that Universal is a threat or that Disney mismanaged the parks. To discuss being on the offensive when the build times will be three years (minimum for Cars, Monsters, and Encanto) and longer, that's evidence of poor planning and execution. Being on the offensive would have meant have a new ride open this year (Cars) and a new ride each of the successive years. That's aggressively moving in a proactive measure against Universal instead of Disney's reactive response.

 

[Mad Dog]

I personally think that there is no way that Disney (including D'Amaro) will ever admit that Universal is a threat or that Disney mismanaged the parks. To discuss being on the offensive when the build times will be three years (minimum for Cars, Monsters, and Encanto) and longer, that's evidence of poor planning and execution. Being on the offensive would have meant have a new ride open this year (Cars) and a new ride each of the successive years. That's aggressively moving in a proactive measure against Universal instead of Disney's reactive response.

Pure defense. Most nothing would have happened if Hogsmeade and Diagon weren't so succesful....Disney kept saying, before Potter, that Orlando was a mature market and there was no need to spend on new attractions. Offense is pure BS.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

How come no one posted their Q2 FY25 earnings results because they were relatively positive ??

Usually you guys have discussion on that.

A bit sidetracked with the Abu Dhabi news.

 

[Jake S]

because a blue blood performing well isn’t compelling news. a blue blood being challenged in their own backyard? now that’s interesting. i agree that id rather discuss both resorts on their own merits, but there’s no question that a conversation about universals growth in central florida is more compelling (for now)

 

[OrlandoGuy]

I can't adequately verbalize how much I dislike the compulsion to turn this situation into some kind of contest between Disney and Universal.

It’s natural for fans of one thing to want to compare it to another but people have been saying Universal is going to dethrone Disney for 15 years now and time and time again, the paradigm hasn’t shifted (I mean, obviously Universal’s gotten so much bigger but Disney has gotten increasingly popular in parallel).

For fans and locals, Disney and Universal are in competition for dollars and Annual Passholders but for the tourists, the bread and butter, Orlando may as well be seen as one big resort. You’re not coming to Orlando to see the beautiful sites or absorb the rich cultural history with a possible add-on to either Magic Kingdom or Epic Universe to the trip…you’re here for theme parks. The brands of said parks are secondary.

The reality is anything that draws people to Orlando benefits all of the attractions…that goes for Disney, Universal, Sea World, Marriott, Hilton, I Drive, all of it. If you read the article from that lens, you realize that it’s less about competitive posturing and more-so just a business assuring its shareholders that it’s prepared to capitalize on the influx to the greater Orlando machine as a whole.

The “competition” is just a mechanism for fans to shape a discussion…Disney is either not investing enough or over-investing to defend themselves against Universal depending on what suits any particular conversation.

 

[Mad Dog]

It’s natural for fans of one thing to want to compare it to another but people have been saying Universal is going to dethrone Disney for 15 years now and time and time again, the paradigm hasn’t shifted (I mean, obviously Universal’s gotten so much bigger but Disney has gotten increasingly popular in parallel).

For fans and locals, Disney and Universal are in competition for dollars and Annual Passholders but for the tourists, the bread and butter, Orlando may as well be seen as one big resort. You’re not coming to Orlando to see the beautiful sites or absorb the rich cultural history with a possible add-on to either Magic Kingdom or Epic Universe to the trip…you’re here for theme parks. The brands of said parks are secondary.

The reality is anything that draws people to Orlando benefits all of the attractions…that goes for Disney, Universal, Sea World, Marriott, Hilton, I Drive, all of it. If you read the article from that lens, you realize that it’s less about competitive posturing and more-so just a business assuring its shareholders that it’s prepared to capitalize on the influx to the greater Orlando machine as a whole.

The “competition” is just a mechanism for fans to shape a discussion…Disney is either not investing enough or over-investing to defend themselves against Universal depending on what suits any particular conversation.

Yes. No way Universal dethrones Disney. WDW parks are really good, and people love Disney and their IP's. Their (WDW) hotel resorts are way overpriced, and that's one area that Universal has extended their underdog foothold. Epic will probably give Universal a couple extra points in Orlando market share. But because of all the money thrown at Epic, USF, and IOA have somewhat languished behind the quick turnaround with 'really good' new attractions (the other stuff was minor or mediocre) that USO experienced during the first Potter years. IOA and USF have only had a combined three (Hagrids/Velocicoaster/Bourne) 'really good attractions/rides' in the past nine years, so those parks have fallen a bit behind what WDW did in that same period. Cinemagic and the Parade don't count much since they only run those on a sporadic schedule. Epic will help, of course. But now, Universal really needs to start some consequential high level new attractions in USF and IOA. If not, USF and IOA will fall behind the WDW parks.