Okay, I'm really really getting sick of hearing commercials on the radio for USH that say "Hurry, because the season pass for the price of admission deal ends on _____" They've said it EVERY month, since November! I'm just waiting for someone to sue them for false advertising. They'd have a pretty good case, too. I mean, say you live out of town. You hear that the deal is ending on X date. Not wanting to miss the deal, you make plans to be at USH by that date, which forces you to travel during peak travel times, costing you extra money. But the next thing you know, the deal is mirculously extended for another month! Sounds like a good case to me. A bit extreme, maybe, but this is EXACTLY what they want to happen. Why else keep lying about it ending like that?

Sounds like a simple case of the old "terrific offer extended due to popular demand!" which means "no response so we will continue to offer this ridiculous marketing program until a few people bite on it"

Let's face it - nobody wants to go to Universal Hollywood more than once every two or three years so nobody cares about a yearlong pass offer .................

GD, did you buy one of those annuals? yeah, so they are just begging to drag bodies in, but at least they're having more attendancd than dca.

No, haven't been. Don't really plan to any time soon.

Originally posted by FantasmicFan82
at least they're having more attendancd than dca.

Is this true? Are there published attendance figures to support this?

Originally posted by Iceman


Is this true? Are there published attendance figures to support this?
Nope. According to these figures (http://www.saferparks.org/attendance.htm), DCA managed to pull in about 300,000 more bodies than Universal Studios Hollywood last year.

I haven't been out to USH in a few years, but it seems like it's not getting the treatment it deserves, while Orlando got IOA and USF got MIB. I dont' understand why Universal wont' add a big ride(spiderman/or coaster). I feel bad for those out there who deserve more.

UD - thanks for the numbers!

A couple of observations based upon those numbers (if they are even somewhat accurate .......):

(1) No wonder Universal is offering huge discounts to get persons in USH - here was an established park with a very recognizable name getting beat in attendance by a very mediocre Disney offering last year - what are they going to do in the next couple of years when Disney brings in ToT and maybe RnR Coaster? No reason Disney won't expect that DCA will hit 7 million per year in the next year or two, especially when ToT opens.

(2) Numbers also show that in Orlando, even Universal's IOA, a park with some tremendous attractions and themeing, gets beat by whatever Disney decides to put out there. Got to be disheartening for Universal ........

(3) No wonder Universal has raced to put a park in Japan (opened prior to TDS), in Spain and is looking at Germany - their only hope for expansion is to get where Disney ain't and set up shop ..........

Good points, but let's not forget that Disney beat Universal to the Japan market by about twenty years. Universal was smart to build in Osaka where they are less directly a Disney competitor. They have talked about China but they will no doubt be second to market there, too.

Maybe Universal has ACCEPTED that they will never beat Disney (just a theory here), and so their corporate strategy is to cement themselves as the solid #2 player in the theme park industry?

Iceman: Thanks for the reminder on TDL!

As regards China, with Disney already building on the doorstep in Hong Kong, Universal's only hope would be something in Bejing or a more central location ............

I suppose there is nothing wrong with #2 if it means 20 million visitors a year but looking at it as a fan of Disney who would love to see them sweating out some new and exciting attractions/parks/resorts, a clear-cut distinction between #1 and #2 in the business will not create that level of "interest" (kind of like the way the Lakers ho-hummed through Game 1 last night)

If Universal does not present a challenge, then Disney will be able to win without their "A" game and that would be disappointing.......

Have you seen the signs outside the park? "Today only: Get your Celebrity Annual Pass Coupons!" These signs are there every day.

Originally posted by Iceman
Good points, but let's not forget that Disney beat Universal to the Japan market by about twenty years. Universal was smart to build in Osaka where they are less directly a Disney competitor. They have talked about China but they will no doubt be second to market there, too.

Maybe Universal has ACCEPTED that they will never beat Disney (just a theory here), and so their corporate strategy is to cement themselves as the solid #2 player in the theme park industry?


I have been to both parks, in Sept. ( yes we were there on Sept. 11th. ) and in may. Attendence looked pretty even to me, maybe a little lower in may at MGM and epcot compared to IOA. Deff. no more at magic kingdom than at IOA. I would say about the same. alot more little ones at disney, ioa more ,about 12 to adult . I love disney but I gotta tell ya, they better get with it or ioa is gonna tear them up soon. I hate to say it.

There is nothing better than competition to drive a company to new and more productive heights and I believe that the failure of Universal to mount any real challenge to Disney in the USA is the reason that Disney has become so complacent in recent times and produced such minimal offerings at DCA and DAK.

(1) In numbers discussed elsewhere in postings on Mouseplanet, attendance figures reported by an amusement park business magazine in 2001 at WDW was something like this: 14M for MK; 9M for Epcot; 7M each for DS and DAK. DLR was approx 13M for DL and 5M for DCA. Universal's USF had something like 6M and IOA had something around 5.5M; Universal Hollywood had something around 4M.

So why should Disney be at all concerned about Universal? Clearly they are in distant second place and even a mediocre 2nd gate park at a Disney Resort draws more than even the newest state-of-art non-Disney offering at IOA.

(2) So since Universal seems content to live with #2 in the USA, their strategy is to beat out Disney to other locations in the world that hunger for US-type theme parks. So Disney's attention will be diverted from the USA to their competition in the worldwide marketplace where Universal can compete on a more level playing field (kind of like a game of Risk .........)

(3) Universal has been quite the soap opera in the news as the internal power struggle to get Messier out has evolved. That kind of thing has to filter down through to the theme park side of the business if only because how can the unproven Barry Diller (from a theme park standpoint) prove himself when he doesn't even know who his boss is?

Sure, I love Disney parks as much as the next guy and to me, it is only when the Disney guys perceive competition that they do their best work and take their bigger and better risks (like Epcot and AK) as opposed to DS or DCA.

Originally posted by coronamouseman
There is nothing better than competition to drive a company to new and more productive heights...
Sure, I love Disney parks as much as the next guy and to me, it is only when the Disney guys perceive competition that they do their best work and take their bigger and better risks (like Epcot and AK) as opposed to DS or DCA.


As a WDW fan all my life, and stockholder.... I've always worried about the competition!!! I know its good to have it, it keeps you on your toes!!! We have been going down to WDW for years, when our children were very young! What I did notice over the years was that as the kids got older, they out grew the some of the rides (peer pressure) and were bored, they gravitated to the faster and more thrilling rides!! My point is... I know that Walt always wanted the famlies to ride together and share the thrill with their children.... But times have changed, I think that the older ones (13-18) have a say in their parents trip planning, and if there was a theme park #5 at Disney World with all themed thrill rides (I'm talking similiar to RR Coaster) it would be another draw for Disney and a place where the older children could go when their parents want to walk around WS at Epcot!!! There are many parents who still enjoy a fast ride (I'M not one of them LOL) , it would work for both old and young!! I just think it would bring parents back with older teenagers for second and third visits!! I would enjoy hearing everyones opinion on this!!! Goofy...

Fg: I don't know how the topic of a 5th park at Disney got into this discussion and there have certainly been a number of threads on that in the WDW space, but just one comment here on a park dedicated to coasters .............

In my opinion, if there is one tenet about the Disney "formula" for theme park success that they have religiously held on to by both Disney and a number of their competitors in the theme park business, it is the idea that each park have attractions which appeal to guests of all age groups. For each high-tech coaster, there is one or two other more sedate attractions geared to either the very young, those accompanying the very young or simply those too old to want th experience the stresses and strains of a high-speed, high-gforce ride.

Yes, it is true that Six Flags, for instance, has staked out a strategy of building as many extreme rides as possible to attract as many of the "extreme ride" fans as they can - but in the bigger picture, there are not enough fans of those rides to sustain the kinds of attendance numbers that Disney parks post with year-round admission - Six Flags Magic Mountain has bascially the same urban population to draw on as DLR, Knott's and Universal Hollywood and it is open 7 days a week only during the summer and the spring break weeks.

So while the concept is enticing, it probably is not going to make fiscal sense to Disney to build such a one-audience park. Besides,
in TDS they already have a park which they could pretty much "cut and paste" into Orlando and have immediate success with.

It's only a matter of time ..................

Originally posted by coronamouseman
Fg: I don't know how the topic of a 5th park at Disney got into this discussion and there have certainly been a number of threads on that in the WDW space....
In my opinion, if there is one tenet about the Disney "formula" for theme park success that they have religiously held on to by both Disney ....
So while the concept is enticing, it probably is not going to make fiscal sense to Disney to build such a one-audience park..
Sorry for a repeat thread on this subject.... Im new here, so I was unaware of the previous thread!! Just a final note here... Im in some agreement with the Six Flags concept that you spoke about... I would not want to go that route either!!! I was thinking more in line with lots of themed rides like SM and RRC, SM.... with some less wild rides thrown in the mix... all themed of course.... The four parks have all tame rides with one or two themed thrill rides thrown in.... I think that it could work the other way.... Have the shows and parades and all the other stuff that comes with a Disney park....One last note.... there were rumors flying during the talks about Disney having a 4th theme park at WDW... And one of the rumors was exactly what I have said here.... but this is just a Idea I've had , and my opinion.... It may end up on the cutting room floor... Goofy.....