shark6495

There is nothing close to the Wizarding World. I liked the Jurassic Park part but the fact you can't see much outside of the world is a big piece. Trying to think of an area that's even close in WDW...maybe Main Street? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

See it's not called ignoring facts if you don't have one that another person has. In a conversation you try to help and give facts or ask questions. You don't accuse peeps of ignoring facts or making arguments. I kept trying to offer up my info with dates and no one till you (or I missed it) stated any contradictory dates. Just "Disney takes longer". All you had to do was say something. No need to go all Snicker Bar commercial. Plus to be truthful, my original comment was directed towards the semantic conversation one person stated about building and announcing but thanks for joining in. I was looking through some of the Orlando Sentinel Articles combined with some of the Universal Blogs and they stated that surgery Markers were put down in January of 11 and some behind Amity earth moving had begun in July/August (don't remember I was looking on my phone last night) that's why I was going off of that data. You say Google Earth shows it and good sweet, I'm not looking it because it the end it doesn't matter all that much haha. Look if thats true then yes Diagonal was completed very quickly. And then yes that product got turned around very quickly and surprisingly well done for such a short turn. Also to be truthful comparing projects is sort of silly in of itself. As someone on here stated HP at IOA was a massive undertaking and that can really only be compared to the other lands in that park. The Fantasy Land at WDW is great but not the total immersion that IOA offers in any land especially for HP. As for the connection at Universal with HP I haven't seen it but from all accounts once you disappear behind the wall, it's a 1 in the world experience. Maybe SW and TS will be like this, or maybe it won't. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I understand all that. This entire discussion is based around the fact that you challenged my statement that Disney has taken longer to build new attractions and themed lands in their parks than US is recent years. You've since tried to disprove that with incomplete and inaccurate data.Avatar land was announced 5 years ago and won't be ready until next year. New Fantasy Land was completed 5 years after being announced. Universal's major projects are completed in half that time from the time they are announced, yet still produce at a quality that is on par with Disney. Hence my original comment in this thread. And nothing in this post I quoted has relevancy to that discussion. You're going full on straw-man here. If you're trying to argue that Disney doesn't need to change as frequently or drastically, that's fine and I agree. But don't act like Disney takes the same amount of time to produce their new major overhauls in the parks when it simply isn't true. Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk I was trying to bring it all full circle and end in amicably. And also point out that while Universal was upgrading or adding a ride here or there, Disney was upgrading other things. They may not bring people to the park but it makes things slightly more enjoyable.But if you would like some facts about major park expansions. Here we go again. I don't care when something is announced I'm talking about from breaking ground etc. Avatar broke ground on Jan 10, 2014 and is expected to finish in 2017. 3-3.5 years Harry Potter broke ground mid 2007, finished June 18, 2010, 3 years. The second Harry Potter broke ground early to mid 2011, and finished July 8, 2014. 3 years Disney Fantasy Land: started 2011 and finished Nov 2014, 3.5 years. While not officially a rebuild and areas were opened up in stages. Who cares when it's announced. Just because it gets announced or confirmed doesn't mean a thing. I even agreed with you that it's all perception. That it seems to take longer because Disney announced things earlier. But that's hardly Disneys fault if anything they are giving people time to get "last rides". Kong Skull Island a smaller not as involved redo as compared to HP but from what I have seen online ground breaking started around Jan/Feb 2014 and will open mid 2016 so almost 2.5 years. Star Wars is broke ground this year and is expected to open 2018, 3 years. I'm not trying to compare single rides because the Redo of Hulk or Spidey or Transformers is no different than Disney doing the Snow White or KI building Banshee. From broken ground to completion the time lines are almost identical. Disney as a company has historically announced projects early in the design. From the parks to movies to anything. Disney almost enjoys taking the audience on a ride through development. It's almost like they are making money on it. Universal recently has not done it the same way. They make the announcement and then break ground. If I were to take a guess I would think the planning is about the same. So when Disney announces something and then breaks ground 2 years later they probably when through the same process as US. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Jaws was still open in 2012. You'll have to explain again how they broke ground on HP2 in mid 2011.... Diagon is the most immersive land in any theme park in this country. Every inch of it is themed in detail with AA's, fire and water effects. It includes a ride with tech that didn't exist before the ride. Huge themed sets with a lot of rockwork and AA's of better quality than most anything Disney has ever done. It was ground breaking and made Disney go back and change their plans on Avatar and set the bar for what Star Wars much become. They did this in a little over two years. Avatar seems to be detailed, but both rides seem to be using existing tech. and is going to take 3 1/2 years. Fantasy land was, again, nothing new tech wise. A spinner, a coaster, and an omnimover. All things they have done before. 3 1/2 years. Star Wars will not open in 2018. Even with how bad DHS is right now, they are still not going to be able to flip all of the existing buildings and infrastructure into a highly immersive land in less than 3 years. I don't even think Comcast could pull that off. Comcast is faster at getting things done. Period. I like Disney. I'm not knocking the place. But to say they are working on a comparable time schedule for construction as Uni is just ignoring the facts. Survey markers were in the ground in January 2011 as an FYI, official announcement in Dec 11 and Jaws Closes in 12. Other construction can happen that didn't involve the Amity/Jaws area building up to the announcement. I'm not sure how I'm ignoring facts. Please help me out here. As for Avatar and SW... Avatar started construction 14 and state it will be open in 17. I haven't read anything about it being behind schedule so how do you figure it will be open late if all they are doing is nothing new. As for SW I was wrong I gave the time line for the DisneyLand as I was reading the updates there. Toy Story stuff is scheduled for 18 at DHS. Again I'll reiterate my original point, to state that one company is slower than the other when it comes to building something is border line crazy. There are timelines that most people agree upon that it takes to do certain things such as build a building or finish a coaster. One company is not quicker than the other at constructing than the other. From announcement to completion, yes. Avatar was announced much much earlier in the process than say Diagonal Alley expansion. Hence the expansion was finished and opened before (or right at the same time) Construction began on Avatar. Uni from announcement to completion has been between 3.5-4 years while Disney is 5-6 years. Uni from construction starting on major areas they appear to be around 3.5 year on average and the only thing we have seen recently from Disney is Fantasy Land at 3.5. If Avatar Toy Story and SW takes longer then that gives us data points. I'm not attacking Uni in any way. But if we throw out things as fact we need to have some sort of data to back it up. I tried my best to show data (survey markers in 2011, openings dates etc)... But to compare we need to compare apples to apples. Announcement dates to construction dates is not a comparison. Announcement to announcement or construction time line to construction time line is comparable. Just because something is brought up is not meant to be attacked b Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Hands down if you are going to IOA get reservations for Mythos. Great little restaurant tucked inside the park. My wife and I made reservations 6 months out(ish?) and when we showed up they told us it would be 10-15 mins. The couple in front of us got the little vibration thing and a 4 hour window.... Anywhos.... Any new pics anywhere of he Hulk ride? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Gajone I feel that you and I are engaged in a good ol fashioned spitting into the wind contest. Where we both agree (perception makes it look like US turns things around quicker) while we disagree about the time frames. I offer this to you since we both probably won't change our opinions on here that if the time ever happens at a KIC event we can finish this convo over good ol adult brew .... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Then the signature meals would come off of the dining plan and or a new tier would be entered? Where did you read that the combing wouldn't be happening. Plus I just got the mailing from DVC that said you can use you meal credits for others. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

If that's the case and they take longer to BUILD it then congrats you were right. You said it takes longer to BUILD not see plans implemented. And also to the above poster I agree Forbidden Journey is a great ride that's more than just screens Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

From a family finance side, it was very nice to not worry about meals and spending money on them. For many families the cost to eat can be a significant amount of the money spent when on vacation. So much so that you may not have money left over for other things or you save it till the end. With my family we all had various amounts of money we could spend. But at the meal time there was no plate envy based on price. If you wanted the steak or the fish you had the choice. Plus if you wanted an Olaf cupcake or a big cookie you could do it. Yes we paid for it before we left but it made the entire trip sort of nice knowing it was all paid off so you could just eat and enjoy Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

But I will give you that from announcement to finish US does beat Disney. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I understand all that. This entire discussion is based around the fact that you challenged my statement that Disney has taken longer to build new attractions and themed lands in their parks than US is recent years. You've since tried to disprove that with incomplete and inaccurate data.Avatar land was announced 5 years ago and won't be ready until next year. New Fantasy Land was completed 5 years after being announced. Universal's major projects are completed in half that time from the time they are announced, yet still produce at a quality that is on par with Disney. Hence my original comment in this thread. And nothing in this post I quoted has relevancy to that discussion. You're going full on straw-man here. If you're trying to argue that Disney doesn't need to change as frequently or drastically, that's fine and I agree. But don't act like Disney takes the same amount of time to produce their new major overhauls in the parks when it simply isn't true. Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk I was trying to bring it all full circle and end in amicably. And also point out that while Universal was upgrading or adding a ride here or there, Disney was upgrading other things. They may not bring people to the park but it makes things slightly more enjoyable. But if you would like some facts about major park expansions. Here we go again. I don't care when something is announced I'm talking about from breaking ground etc. Avatar broke ground on Jan 10, 2014 and is expected to finish in 2017. 3-3.5 years Harry Potter broke ground mid 2007, finished June 18, 2010, 3 years. The second Harry Potter broke ground early to mid 2011, and finished July 8, 2014. 3 years Disney Fantasy Land: started 2011 and finished Nov 2014, 3.5 years. While not officially a rebuild and areas were opened up in stages. Who cares when it's announced. Just because it gets announced or confirmed doesn't mean a thing. I even agreed with you that it's all perception. That it seems to take longer because Disney announced things earlier. But that's hardly Disneys fault if anything they are giving people time to get "last rides". Kong Skull Island a smaller not as involved redo as compared to HP but from what I have seen online ground breaking started around Jan/Feb 2014 and will open mid 2016 so almost 2.5 years. Star Wars is broke ground this year and is expected to open 2018, 3 years. I'm not trying to compare single rides because the Redo of Hulk or Spidey or Transformers is no different than Disney doing the Snow White or KI building Banshee. From broken ground to completion the time lines are almost identical. Disney as a company has historically announced projects early in the design. From the parks to movies to anything. Disney almost enjoys taking the audience on a ride through development. It's almost like they are making money on it. Universal recently has not done it the same way. They make the announcement and then break ground. If I were to take a guess I would think the planning is about the same. So when Disney announces something and then breaks ground 2 years later they probably when through the same process as US. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

That's Standard Dining. Deluxe Dining is 3 meals anywhere, hence to maximize value you would eat at 3 sit down restaurants. You also get 2 snacks daily with that plan. Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk You are right! My brain went sideways for a moment carry on! Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Your point is right but Deluxe Dining is only 1 quick service and 1 table so you really only need to sit down 2 times. When we went, breakfast was one sit down and then either a large late lunch or an earlier dinner. Breakfast every day was in the hotel restaurant and we are almost all of the character meals Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Ok let's look at facts. Disney has built its park brand around the idea that you have to visit at least once in your life. The parks are crowded and they are raising ticket prices to maybe try and fix that problem. I really doubt that the Disney parks have a negative perception to the general public. And probably the park enthusiast crowd they couldnt care less about. Heck last year the Peter Pan ride and the Small World rides had long waits and people getting into line to experience them. Walt Disney has timeless brands. US lacks that long term iconic brand and thus have to reimagine their park more often as well. Name the last 3 things King Kong was in and then compare that to the Disney Peter Pan Whinnie the Pooh or Mickey Mouse. The fact that these characters keep showing up makes it that the rides don't have to change that drastically Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

A big selling point of the plan is its a good deal, which it really is though. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The perception is a big thing no doubt. As for the Magic Bands, that is no small feat and right or wrong have significantly altered (I think for he better) the guest experience in the park. During that time they also continue to work things in such as the light changing Mickey ears to match shows to continuing other infrastructure for the park systems. Also WDW has 4 parks a bunch of hotels while Universal has 2 and a handful of hotels. The cost to maintain and build has to be allocated as well. And the time frames I posted were from news articles I found on Google. But let's be honest. Both parks are killing it and I was just sort of defending WDW because it felt like everyone was making it seem bad when we are really lucky to see both pros investing in their properties almost on a yearly basis Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Terp it's like you took a slice of Americana and served it on a plate ... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Well depending on where your final destination is you can always take 71 to 70 over to 77 and take that down the coastline. A bit longer but not terrible Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Look at what I wrote. Construction started in 11 and finished in 14. Construction started about a year after construction ended on the first part. Planning probably started during construction of the first part. Pointing out a fact (construction taking about 3 years) doesn't make Universal bad. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I type all of that and say I really enjoy both resorts. Both are wonderful. I love the content at a Universal aAnd the dedication at Disney. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

The difference is Disney takes their sweet time to get new lands and attractions up and running, while Universal seems to be on a whole different level of production while still producing at a level on par with Disney (in recent years anyway).Sent from my SM-G925V using Tapatalk I don't want to start an argument but this line always gets bounced around with little to no "facts" to back it up other than assumptions. Harry Potter IOA was announced and construction started in 07 and finished in 2010. Avatar started construction in 14 and assumed completion in 17. 2011-2014 for the Second part of Harry Potter land to open up. 2010-2014 for Fantasy Lands upgrade at magic kingdom. Kong Island from 13-16 To be honest the timelines seem almost similar. Plus Disney for the most part is working with timeless attractions and characters while Universal is working with a limited character audience. The timeless characters means that the change don't have to happen as often. And maybe it's media coverage. Because thugs change a bit faster at Universal it could be that things are not released as early or found out about as they are over at Disney. Star Wars land announced in 15 construction to begin in 16 and most likely finished in 18... Not really different that Harry Potter. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

But it's no different that people will proudly pay $75month on a 700+ credit card debt while buying more on that card.... My real concern/question about everything is what happens if CF can't be bought outright. Will they spin the parks off individually or will they strip em down and limit the sale of the land... Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Love the writing and feel it should get a bump back to the front pge Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Not to be that guy but yeah.... I wouldn't expect anything but the best from Universal and/or Disney. The parks are fighting for the same tourist dollars practically Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I worked across the parking lot/street back in 07/08. After the show we would go over there for a drink or two. Always seemed clean and not terrible. My question is once a building gets so bad can it be fixed to house food again. Will people go with that record? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

True. The more rare a location the odds that it stays full which means more money. More money means they can take care of the place. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk