Universal says: We will win in 2002

[DVC-Landbaron]

I think you’ll all find this interesting.

Orlando Sentinel article

Meetings all day Monday, so I’ll check back in Monday night.

Play nice and have fun!!!



PS: Mr. Show!!! Why no AV stuff yet??????!!!!!!

 

[raidermatt]

Three things stuck out for me:

1- Competition is good. From the article, it wasn't clear to me exactly what Universal was going to win in 2002, but that aside, a little tough talk is good once in awhile. If Universal truly is prepared to back up this talk, let's hope Disney is still the champion who will refuse to be beaten, as opposed to the washed-up has-been. (WDW does have at least two new attractions coming that I can think of, Space and Philharmagic.)

2- Universal is much more forthcoming of information. Three new attractions, that, if I read this right, aren't even officially green-lighted yet? And the green-light depends on attendance being high enough for the first two quarters? Isn't this really the same strategy as the rumors we hear about AK? We hear that BK is on hold because attendance is too low. Essentially, Universal is saying the same thing, the green light on these attractions is on hold because they aren't sure about attendance. But Universal spins it differently, and put the info out to the public. I understand both strategies, but unless Disney gives up some info on any of the rumored additions/refurbs (BK, ToT, ST, etc), it will only fuel speculation that they are NOT developing much of anything. I guess that's not really a big deal as long as they actually are developing these or other things. It will all come out soon enough...

3- True, Universal will now be paying their entry-level workers 10 cents more per hour than Disney, but they were 35 cents lower before the move. I would think Disney would consider at least a small move, since they probably don't want the public to have the perception that they have the lowest paid workers. (I know I wouldn't if I were Disney...)

 

[Safari Steve]

WDW's Mission Statement:
WE WILL:
-Create whimsical and enchanting experiences by bringing to life timeless stories, adventures, and childhood fantasies.
-Deliver unforgettable experiences that keep every member of our family of friends longing to return.
-Commit ourselves to bring life to the show each and every day, by viewing our resort through a child's eyes-- no matter what role we play.
-Contribute ... to the fabric of our organization... to perpetuate the magic in the kingdom.

That other place's mission statement (from 1998):
To be the largest tourist draw in Central Florida by 2000. (that was also SeaWorld's mission statement at that time.)

I think that says alot more than an article in the OS.

 

[Chuck S]

WOW! 10¢ more per hour....a whopping $4 per week for a full timer, I know I'd be switching to Universal if I were employed by Disney, especially if I lived closer to Disney...that $4 would be eaten up by gasoline.

 

[Captain Crook]

If I'm not mistaken Disney has always been the highest paying theme park employer in the area until the recent jump by SW & now US...Let's just see if WDW lets this stand.

As for the US proclomation...It's soooo easy to be a distant second. You can say anything. Hope springs eternal and no one holds you to your ridiculous boasts at the end of the day. Imagine if Disney boasted about everything all of the time. What would the hue & cry be upon a failure? Well, we saw it when Eisner opened his boneheaded mouth with regard to PH & the Disney enemies had a hey-day, if fact the critics were so critical that PH became known as a 'bomb' (despite the fact that PH has ended up being quite successful)...

I hope US continues to push the enveope of their plan...A park geared to a younger demographic offering the type of thrill that Disney is never going to offer (much to Bob O's chagrin ). IOA has some great attractions and Spiderman may be the best attraction anywhere, but it's only one. Unless these 3 new attractions push Spidey's creative limits, then there'll be little to talk about...

 

[OnWithTheShow]

Don't forget about the other part of the mission statement...

To turn welcomed guests into cherished friends.

 

[larworth]

Vivendi has been sitting on their hands for some time. With all their overseas expansion it was not clear when they would be making any big investment in Orlando (sounds familiar, huh). Gault obviously has some internal clout today. I find it hard to believe he won’t get something approved out of this. Great news as far as I can see.

I doubt either of the US attractions will come close to pushing the Spidey envelope. Doesn’t seem possible to approve something of this scale in 3Q02 and have it ready in 2003. Sounds like we are talking a clone here, which could be OK. Now, the IOA ride may be the rumored Jurassic Jeep ride which was supposed to be a biggee (sooko and boffo?). I’m a little surprised IOA only gets 1 out of 3. I would have thought they need the 2 to provide a little more balance between parks and to try to get attendance closer to US.

I say we need to organize a letter writing campaign. Tell Eisner that how dare Universal threaten Disney like this. He needs to uphold our honor and put these guys in their place. Green-lighting a couple new E tickets out to teach them a lesson.

 

[Another Voice]

Funny, the last mission statement I heard about Disney parks was something about reaping the returns on all the years of investment. And I what I picked up from the stockholders meeting is that my visit to WDW is little more than my “opt in” to a lifetime of special offers flooding my mailbox from Disney to buy videos. Perhaps the mission statement posted in Burbank is slightly different than the mission statement posted in Orlando.

Universal’s goal is to get people to stop thinking about “going to Disney World” and to start thinking about “going to Orlando”. To some extent they’ve already been successful at that; rumors already say that USF & IOA already out draw Animal Kingdom for “real” guests (as opposed to part-day park hoppers) and they have a good chance at catching up to Disney/MGM. There are a lot more non-Disney hotel rooms than there are room son property, so Disney’s lock on the guests is not a sure thing.

Disney’s own strategy is feeding into this as well. To increase profits, Disney is trying to make their guests visit more often with special offers, DVC and other marketing ploys. The problem is that Disney is not offering guests anything more to do during their repeat visits. Sure, ‘Mission: Space’ can take up an afternoon but after that it’s going to be the same old stuff all over again. Universal’s strategy is to grab a day or two from these guests as well. The more “new” that Universal offers, the greater the chance they’ll get guests to come.

And if some still don’t believe that Disney can’t be beaten, remember that Magic Mountain, Knott’s Berry Farm and Sea World San Diego all beat California Adventure’s attendance (legal disclaimer, according to “rumor”).


P.S. I believe the Bob Gault mentioned in the article is the same Bob Gault that used to run Disneyland operations. It seems there are more "Disney" people at Universal these days than there are at Disney.

 

[larry_poppins]

Universal Studios Hollywood Park already has the Waterworld Stunt show. It is excellent. An example of how a mediocre movie can be a great theme park attraction. My personal vote is with Bob Gault and Universal for 2002 and 2003.

Larry

 

[OnWithTheShow]

Voice,
You have struck the problem on the head!
"Perhaps the mission statement posted in Burbank is slightly different than the mission statement posted in Orlando"

And fortunately for the guests the cast at WDW, including most of the upper management still follows their own mission statement instead of the zanyness that comes out of California.

BTW when I stopped to ask a question at guest services at DCA I noticed that they have nice framed pictures of Eisner and Pressler on the wall. (kind of like how government offices have pictures of the president or Attorney General on the wall)

 

[Testtrack321]

A little too golting. He seems like he is blowing steam here people. I went to IoA and had little more than 3 hours of entertainment. This is the equivilant of saying that the Mexican Paso will beat the US Dollar in 2003. I can beat the bully in school by the last quorter or 2002. Pure fantasy. Their quality will end up hurting them. Although their rides might be well done, their ques and sceanery were *awful*. Did you ever go to Spiderman and see the opening que portion. A green room with two small tvs and a picture. And that's the reception area. If that was the reception area for a place I worked for, I would quit and go to work for Disney....

 

[Uncleromulus]

Rest assured-neither will put the other out of business.
And in all my travels, etc, I have still yet to hear anyone say they are going to Central Florida just to see Universal.

 

[damo]

Well here you are. We are going to Central Florida April 9 - 14 and guess what? We are only going to Universal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Annual pass is $99, deluxe room is $150, front of the line access for every ride. Hee-haa here we come!!!!

 

[Bob O]

I would agree with AV regarding disneys true mission statement.
Captian Crook disney doesnt have to offer a park with nothing but thrill rides but can have a couple of thrill attractions in their parks. IOA only has a couple of thrill attractiions in their park. Not every ride has to be up to Spiderman to be a great attraction, as long as they arent spinning carny rides with a small amount of themeing.

Its nice for a change to have a park talking of undoing all their cutbacks(when will wdw give us EE back) and adding things. Now they may not add all that they are talking about and only time will tell if they do but its nice to hear positive things rather than just talks of coutbacks and how once attendance improves we will make even more money due to our drastic cutbacks implemented earlier. From what ive heard on other sites was a possible coaster at Universal Studios based on Apollo 13 movie and a re-do of the Kong attraction based on Mummy/Scorpion King.
Testtrack 321 A nice que is good but its the ride itself thats important, and Spiderman easily beats any attraction in Florida IMHO, even if you dont approve of the que(i didnt see the que as having front of the line access at Universal i went on the ride right away, the best perk in all of florida)

 

[raidermatt]

With regard to the parks, I haven't heard any talk from Disney about cuts for quite some time now. There have been a few blurbs about attendance being down, but no talk about future cuts. There HAVE been articles about hours being restored for many workers, and one recently about Disney hiring more performers, but those seem to get very little attention...

Most of the talk about cuts comes on these boards, and they reference cuts made months ago. Meanwhile, Universal still has shorter hours than Disney, does not open every attraction when the front gates open, etc, etc, etc....

Universal is doing a nice job, but lets not overdo it.

 

[Testtrack321]

My comment on the que was in part due to the poor themeing their. I loved IOA eek: ) and thought it was good, but the themeing was that of a background tree fort. Nothing good. Some parts seemed to big for what they were. You could see show buildings. Don't get me started on DD. Although the que is excelent (I actualy left because it scared the poop out of me!) but the ride is muy horrible! And as Uncleromulus, no of the parks will close. And Universal won't be on top, ever. Sorry .

 

[Uncleromulus]

damo:
Well, you are the first!!! In all the time Universal has been open, I've never heard anyone say that. We'll do Universal for one day this time--but that's usually long enough for us.

 

[damo]

I think if you check out the Universal Board you will find that there are a lot of people who only go to USF/IOA. And this is not the first time we've only gone to Orlando for Universal only. Our teenagers much prefer it to Disney (they will do the coasters and Spidey and Fearfall over and over at IOA and ride MIB at USF until the park closes). They find that at Disney there are one ofr two rides at each park that they like and you need to wait in line forever to ride them. With all the money that we save on park passes and hotes and the time that we save with Front of the Line Access and the amazing quality of the parks and hotels I'm sure that we will be spending our vacations there for a while. How come people are so amazed that someone could go to Orlando and not do Disney? Universal has just as much to offer and at a much lower cost. For our family of teenagers it is the perfect 5 day vacation and at that price we can do it a couple of times a year.

 

[Uncleromulus]

I guess they have someting different to offer, but I'm not sure it's "just as much"....
But heck-let's be glad both exist. I wouldn't think of going to Central Florida and not do Disney. You wouldn't think of going and not do Universal. And both are in business to make $$$.

 

[Captain Crook]

Exactly! Too each his own. The choices just make it better for all of us, otherwise everyone would be going to one place! I personally can't see how anyone could spend more than 2 days a US/IOA but hey thats just me & if you can and are happy then that is all that matters. Lots of people dislike Animal Kingdom and it is my favorite...