Delirium_Guy Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 Potter Crowds Continuing on through the winter, the holiday crowds have descended upon Universal in full force. - Todd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thekidd33 Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 I'm heading out there next week. Hopefully things will have slowed down a bit by then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delirium_Guy Posted December 30, 2010 Author Share Posted December 30, 2010 I'm heading out there next week. Hopefully things will have slowed down a bit by then. You should be fine next week. Traditionally, that week is always pretty slow.....though Potter will still be steady. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RingMaster Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 Disney is definitely shaking in their boots right now. Makes me wonder if they'll try to gobble up the theme park rights to Marvel Comics as has been rumored. Also makes me wonder if Uni Hollywood really wants to push for a Potterland West after Uni Orlando's runaway success with El Wizarding World as has been also rumored. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KIfan1980 Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 If a greater percentage of the crowd is at Universal when my trip to Disney arrives this spring, I won't be too upset I'm actually wondering though if the Potter effect impacts any of the Tour Guide Mike reco's for Disney visit days. I'm using TGM for planning help this year (based upon positive reviews from other members) and am hopeful that the history used in developing TGM advice isn't changing too drastically. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colonel_SoB_fan Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 Both Disneyland and Disney World have been filled to capacity at least once lately. So I doubt Disney is too worried Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delirium_Guy Posted December 30, 2010 Author Share Posted December 30, 2010 Both Disneyland and Disney World have been filled to capacity at least once lately. So I doubt Disney is too worried Disneyland Resort has been doing very well this year, however Florida has seen attendance declines. I'm not sure worried is the right word to use here, but they definitely under estimated the effects that Potter would have in Orlando. It is exactly why we are now seeing them re-imagine the Fantasyland expansion. Yes, Magic Kingdom has been at capacity a few days this week....so has SeaWorld. It happens every year during this week. The growth that Universal has seen since Potter has been nothing short of amazing and the fact that for the first time in the history of the resort they are having both parks filled to capacity? That's saying something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bkroz Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 And in my opinion, it's deserved. Both Universal parks are among the best large-scale corporate parks I've been to. I'm happy that Harry Potter has put Islands of Adventure "on the map" again, because it deserves to be there. Port of Entry, Seuss Landing, Wizarding World... In my opinion, those areas deserve as much attention as Main Street, Fantasyland, Adventureland, etc... I'm glad that Universal's pulled ahead and learned the value of attention to detail. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
son of beast214 Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 i have a season pass their and the best one you can get and they have plans of putting black out days on the pass for the 2011 season because it is so busy!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 Universal? Or the Magic of Harry Potter? I submit that though Universal did this well, Disney underestimated the Potter appeal, and passed on the author's demands of a high price...unwisely so...What was that about E.T. and M & M's in another era? How'd that work out? In pieces, I think..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XGatorHead 8904 Posted December 30, 2010 Share Posted December 30, 2010 A major part of why we decided to go to Universal instead of WDW in 2011 is because of the Fantasyland expansion at MK. Because of the construction going on, we wanted to wait until it was done before we go again. Plus, we haven't been to Universal since '99 (so we're long overdue), and we've gotten GatorGirl excited about E.T. and Seuss Landing. So this news, while good for Universal, has me a little worried about our trip. I don't like dealing with crowded parks. We'll go to Potterland once, but avoid it the rest of the time. So far I'm planning on getting 3 day tickets so we can go to Studios one day, IoA another, then the third day split between the two for anything we might have missed or want to do again. My dad and stepmom might be accompanying us on our IoA day because they love HP, and based on our visit to DHS a few years ago with them, they don't have the stamina that we do when visiting parks so we would need the extra time the 3rd day on our own. I was also trying to get Mrs. Gator to consider Sea World too, but she wasn't too keen on that. She's only been to SW Ohio, I've only been to SW Orlando and the last time was about 1981. I tried to convince her that SW Orlando today is very little like the SW Ohio that she's been remembers, but so far it's not working too well. But then a wrench was thrown into our plans on Christmas Day... We watched the Disney Parks Christmas Parade and Mrs. Gator and I realized that we really, really, really miss WDW and it's been far too long since we've gone (plus my playing Epic Mickey and guiding Mickey through a twisted version of Disneyland doesn't help either!). Mrs. Gator suggested that we go to AK in addition to Universal (AK is the only WDW park we haven't visited), and I said it just wouldn't feel right to go to WDW and NOT visit MK. So now it looks like we'll be going to US, IoA, MK and possibly AK. Orlando just has too many options! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 I recently visited Sea World Orlando for the first time (back in early December). I had an absolute blast at Sea World. Manta is one awesome ride. And the queue is simply amazing. I love the way they integrated the aquarium exhibit right into the queue line! Here is my trip report from Busch Gardens Tampa, Sea World Orlando, and both Universal parks. The only park I had previously visited was Islands of Adventure in 2004. I was rather displeased with the Universal admissions staff, but do not care to divulge specifics right now. I would highly recommend Sea World Orlando to anyone. And this coming from a guy who until this year, had only visited Florida twice, and each of those times with the sole intention to visit Disney. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tubaman Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 I was at IOA on the 29th...it was insane. The only reason I got into IOA was because they took the members of the Pride of West Virginia, the Mountaineer Marching Band in through a different entrance after we peformed in the other park. Then, I waited half an hour in a line at a restaruant before waiting 4 hours to get into the HP park. Worth every second of wait though, I loved it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HTCO Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 (Taken November 24th, 2010) This is what WWOHP looks like when its at capacity. They will give you a ticket with the number of people in your group and when to come back. Usually around 7ish it calms down and it isn't at capacity anymore. I recommend you visit the other parts of IOA thekidd33 and hit potterland at around 6ish. Also when you ride Forbidden Journey, if you don't really care about who you sit with and don't care about the line experience, go in the single rider line. Took my group about 10 minutes. And we all ended up riding together! Have fun! Be safe! Be sure to visit all the stores! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TOPGUN1993 Posted December 31, 2010 Share Posted December 31, 2010 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 The Motley Fool: Can Mickey Mouse Surpass Potter? (Worthy of a full read): http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2011/01/19/can-mickey-mouse-surpass-potter.aspx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 A very interesting article. I would agree that Disney seemed to be resting too much on new attraction development the last few years and is now playing catch up. It also still seems like much of the attention has been over at California`s Adventure. While I like that the Fantasyland renovation now includes a coaster, and isn`t geared so much to the princess theme, it seems like the other Disney parks in Orlando are being neglected a little bit. Of course, they may have plans to add new E ticket attractions to those parks too, we just don`t know about them yet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PREMiERdrum Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 A very interesting article. I would agree that Disney seemed to be resting too much on new attraction development the last few years and is now playing catch up. It also still seems like much of the attention has been over at California`s Adventure. While I like that the Fantasyland renovation now includes a coaster, and isn`t geared so much to the princess theme, it seems like the other Disney parks in Orlando are being neglected a little bit. Of course, they may have plans to add new E ticket attractions to those parks too, we just don`t know about them yet. The problem with the Orlando property is that, new attraction or not, people come. Visiting Walt Disney World is still the ubiquitous family vacation for Americans and foreign tourists alike. Disneyland has a very local, vocal fan base of SoCal'ers and Annual Passholders that keeps the pressure on TDA for new attractions, as well as the meticulous maintenance of existing attractions. With Disney World, if Splash Mountain has missing effects and moldy boats, people still come. If the glass in the Haunted Mansion's ballroom scene is left dirty, people still come. Hell, the over publicized Yeti in E:E stopped working 6 months after the ride's opening and has been broken since, yet people still come. TDO has shown their commitment to add just enough, while spending as little as possible, to keep the parks from appearing completely stagnant. There are current, incredible concepts for each park just waiting for the greenlight... Carsland and the Monsters Inc coaster at DHS, Journey into Imagination redo at Epcot, and a Mysterious Island (Tokyo DisneySea) area for Animal Kingdom. It will be interesting to see if Rasulo's attention shifts to Orlando once California Adventure's extreme makeover is done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avatar Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 That is why I like competition it brings out the best of us, usually sooner than later. Noticed that Holiday World really had a great year last year, I knew they would from all the comments I was hearing around Indy about them. I just wonder if Holiday World's per cap spending went up too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 There was a time when Geauga Lake was in competition with Cedar Fair. There was a time when Paramount Parks was in competition with Cedar Fair. There was a time when many small parks were in some ways competition for Six Flags. Currently Six Flags is, in some ways, competition for Cedar Fair. Terp making 'random' observations....or perhaps not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterguy15 Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 I really wish that somehow, Disney would have thought of doing the Harry Potter themed are before Universal. Disney would have had a hard time fitting it into their current park layouts, but I think Disney would have been able to make it bigger, meaning more guest capacity, due to the fact that they are not very land-locked. They also would have done a better job with hiding the behind-the-scenes stuff like ride buildings. When I went to IOA on the 28th of last month, I noticed most of the ride buildings there were rather exposed, while in contrast Disney World does an excellent job at hiding the boring buildings. But, WWOHP was amazing even though it was ridiculously crowded. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 The Potter franchise was made available to the theme park company willing to pay the most for it while allowing the author the ability to control its development. That company was not Disney. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 And if i`m not mistaken, Rowling first went to Disney pitching the idea of a Potter themed area, and Disney did not want to pay the money that was being demanded. Universal quickly agreed and the rest they say, is history. I know that Universal considers that money well spent now. And Disney has kind of been caught with its pants down so to speak. They clearly underestimated the draw (and in turn the negative impact) that Potter would have on their theme parks in Florida, and in turn the negative impact it would have on their bottom line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterguy15 Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 Interesting, I didn't know that. That frustrates me a bit more now because Disney definitely would have gotten their money's worth on that investment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 It is my understanding that Disney quite bluntly and rudely showed Ms. Rowling the door, guffawing at the ridiculousness of the amount of money and artistic control she wished to retain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CoastersRZ Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 And for those of you who are wondering, yes, I have read all seven Potter books. And yes, i have visited Islands of Adventure since Potter opened. The entire Potter area is incredibly well done. It looks like it is straight out of the movies. And there are lots of little things that you can pick up if you have read the books. And the Potter ride is simply amazing. The queue line is an adventure itself. And the ride technology is simply amazing. I definitely recommend a visit if you are a Harry Potter fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterguy15 Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 And for those of you who are wondering, yes, I have read all seven Potter books. And yes, i have visited Islands of Adventure since Potter opened. The entire Potter area is incredibly well done. It looks like it is straight out of the movies. And there are lots of little things that you can pick up if you have read the books. And the Potter ride is simply amazing. The queue line is an adventure itself. And the ride technology is simply amazing. I definitely recommend a visit if you are a Harry Potter fan. I couldn't agree more. Forbidden Journey is a must ride, no matter the wait. It was just absolutely breathtaking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PREMiERdrum Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 And if i`m not mistaken, Rowling first went to Disney pitching the idea of a Potter themed area, and Disney did not want to pay the money that was being demanded. Universal quickly agreed and the rest they say, is history. I know that Universal considers that money well spent now. And Disney has kind of been caught with its pants down so to speak. They clearly underestimated the draw (and in turn the negative impact) that Potter would have on their theme parks in Florida, and in turn the negative impact it would have on their bottom line. Interesting, I didn't know that. That frustrates me a bit more now because Disney definitely would have gotten their money's worth on that investment. It is my understanding that Disney quite bluntly and rudely showed Ms. Rowling the door, guffawing at the ridiculousness of the amount of money and artistic control she wished to retain. And it is my understanding that it was much more about the artistic control than the money... Disney brass didn't mind to pay the cash (if nothing else than to keep Universal from getting the rights), but Rowling demanded total control and exact replicas of the world she had imagined, which didn't gel with Disney's use of scale, imagination, and overall imagineering outlook. She wanted a literal recreation of the spaces. She got that, with Universal. Some Imagineers who worked up preliminary plans to show her have since said that they had major concerns about capacity and crowd flow with the scale and scope she was demanding. Those issues are now Universal's headache. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Interpreter Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 See also, as previously stated: The Potter franchise was made available to the theme park company willing to pay the most for it while allowing the author the ability to control its development. That company was not Disney. There is much to what you say, but there is also an element of "sour grapes anyway" in Disney's rationalization now as to why they didn't get the Potter concept... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PREMiERdrum Posted January 20, 2011 Share Posted January 20, 2011 See also, as previously stated: The Potter franchise was made available to the theme park company willing to pay the most for it while allowing the author the ability to control its development. That company was not Disney. There is much to what you say, but there is also an element of "sour grapes anyway" in Disney's rationalization now as to why they didn't get the Potter concept... BUT, the cramped walkways, tiny shops, and overall under-scaled area (relative to the park) lend credence to the imagineers claims. This wasn't Disney brass trying to save face by saying "we didn't want it anyway," this was imagineers expressing their concerns with the project. Concerns that appear to have been validated at IoA. I'll add here, too, that I think the concept is a much better "fit" for Universal than Disney. That potential tie-up always seemed a bit odd to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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