Mickeys not so scary halloween disappointment (Christmas: price, train, ticket)

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by NextPhaseFL

I think in general Disney has lagged the other parks in investing in existing experiences and
keeping up to date. (Went to Epcot recently and most rides are same as they were 10 or 20
years ago)

Frankly, they don't have to update anything because guests will continue to come from all over
the world and pack the parks regardless.

@movetoorlando

This is not true about Disney lagging behind other parks in investing anymore, as Disney has and still is investing more in WDW's parks the last few years than any other parks in the world. You could have said that when Harry Potter first opened, but Disney has been punching back in a big way. Universal's heavy investments clearly had an impact on Disney's plans. Epcot is the only park that has not had a major expansion in the past 6 years, and they will be next.

Magic Kingdom - New Fantasyland featuring the most themed restaurant they've ever done, a new coaster, and a new dark ride. A new coaster themed to Tron is now being built next to Space Mountain.

Animal Kingdom - Pandora: World of Avatar, a visually stunning new land with 2 new rides, one of which is now considered by many to be the best in all of WDW. Cost was over 500M.

Hollywood Studios - Toy Story Land, with a new coaster and new flat ride opened this year. And next year Mickey's Runaway Railway will open, an E-ticket dark ride attraction, as well as Star Wars Galaxy's Edge with 2 new E-ticket attractions. Cost is over 500M for this as well.

Epcot - Will have 2 new E-ticket rides in the new few years: Ratatouille, an indoor E-ticket dark ride using GPS controlled vehicles, and Guardians of the Galaxy, a massive new indoor coaster. Future World is also going to be completely re-imagined from top to bottom.

[bmw335xi]

Disney is definetly lagging behind Universal in terms of thought, technology and theming in my opinion. Pandora they did a good job, excluding the the water ride there. However, Toy Story Land, Seven Dwarfs area, etc are just old technology, seems very rushed. Compare that to diagon alley, skull island, the new locker system, the lineless queue system, etc. So far all my friends who aren’t bias toward one or the other have said Universal seems lile they put a lot more thought into the rides and queues. I hope Star Wars Land impresses because Toy Story was pretty mehh.

[OTownKnight]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

Disney is definetly lagging behind Universal in terms of thought, technology and theming in my opinion. Pandora they did a good job, excluding the the water ride there. However, Toy Story Land, Seven Dwarfs area, etc are just old technology, seems very rushed. Compare that to diagon alley, skull island, the new locker system, the lineless queue system, etc. So far all my friends who aren’t bias toward one or the other have said Universal seems lile they put a lot more thought into the rides and queues. I hope Star Wars Land impresses because Toy Story was pretty mehh.

I think part of that might be target audiences for each park. With Disney, even though parents are buying the tickets, their target audiences to impress and dazzle are kids between 2-12 years old. They're much easier to impress as long as you have their favorite Disney characters running around, a bunch of bright colors, etc. With Universal, target audiences are 13+ as evidenced by their larger concentration of thrill rides and coasters. Universal needs to be more up to date on technology and cool rides to impress the teen and adult demographics.

I think each company is doing a good job in satisfying the demand that their target demographics are seeking. Also keep in mind that Disney has 4 gates compared to Universal's 2 here in Orlando. Universal Studios and IoA are much smaller land-wise than Disney's 4 parks as well.

[brinkofsunshine]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

Disney is definetly lagging behind Universal in terms of thought, technology and theming in my opinion. Pandora they did a good job, excluding the the water ride there. However, Toy Story Land, Seven Dwarfs area, etc are just old technology, seems very rushed. Compare that to diagon alley, skull island, the new locker system, the lineless queue system, etc. So far all my friends who aren’t bias toward one or the other have said Universal seems lile they put a lot more thought into the rides and queues. I hope Star Wars Land impresses because Toy Story was pretty mehh.

Diagon Alley was the last truly great thing Universal has done. Skull Island was fine, but Jimmy Fallon and especially Fast and Furious were duds. I can’t get behind the thinking that just because something has screens it means it’s miles above previous tech- I’d much rather ride Slinky Dog Dash at TSL than Fallon or Fast. Sometimes classic rides truly shine when they’re done well, and I think the theming in TSL is prett great. I think Universal felt they were untouchable for a while and got lazy, meanwhile Disney has ramped way up, churning out several lands (and soon to be more... I think Star Wars will be great). I hope Universal brings its A-game with the new Potter coaster. I love both companies, though, and love seeing quality attractions being produced.

[bmw335xi]

I’m not saying which rides you like more, I’m talking about the thought that went into them.

Jimmy Fallon for example spent a lot of time creating the line to make it like going to thr studio. They have live actors that do the actual skits from thr show while you wait. It looks really similar to the actual studio in NYC. Slinky is just a normal ride line with a normal child friendly coaster. Seven Dwarfs the same thing. The line didn’t improve much at all if any compared to some of their oldest rides. Pandora is the only new thing in disney that actually was done with thought. Then again disney is so busy they probably dont care. I still love disney, but i think they really need to step up their game.

[walmill]

I think that is part of the problem. Disney can do whatever lazy thing they want and the little kids will love it as long as they see their favorite character. But what little kid goes by themself? Of course, the entire family comes along. That's $$$$
And then you've got the disneymaniacs who all they need is coffee and disney (according to their FB posts). They'll love anything as long as it has disney on it.
Meanwhile the average person goes and enjoys some things and isn't too fond of others. Their opinions don't necessarily matter when millions will show up regardless just because it's Disney.

[Pete C]

Originally Posted by bmw335xi

Disney is definetly lagging behind Universal in terms of thought, technology and theming in my opinion. Pandora they did a good job, excluding the the water ride there. However, Toy Story Land, Seven Dwarfs area, etc are just old technology, seems very rushed. Compare that to diagon alley, skull island, the new locker system, the lineless queue system, etc. So far all my friends who aren’t bias toward one or the other have said Universal seems lile they put a lot more thought into the rides and queues. I hope Star Wars Land impresses because Toy Story was pretty mehh.

Pandora they did a "good" job? Dude that is a massive undersell to that area. I didn't really mean for this to turn into a Disney vs Universal thing because I really love both, more pointing out that Disney is not resting on their laurels at all. However, I will just say that Diagon Alley was the best themed environment I had ever seen when it opened, and I had been to DisneySea in Japan which is amazing. However, Pandora is on par with it. Disney went nuts with that area and the shock of walking in there is similar to that of walking in Diagon Alley. They both have their strong points. I think Flight of Passage is a better attraction than Gringotts. The coaster track of Gringotts didn't really add much to the experience other than the very first drop.

Flight of Passage was really Disney's first major E-ticket response to Universal, and it is without a doubt on par with anything Universal has done. I highly doubt that Star Wars and Guardians of the Galaxy will disappoint. Toy Story is a filler land in a park that just needs SO much. It gave Toy Story Mania a sense of place and added a fun family coaster which the park did not have.

[Icemodeled]

We have never gone to the Halloween nights at Disney. The biggest reason is price, seemed way to expensive - especially being a passholder. The second reason is I never seen anything unique to make me want to go - I only see kids getting candy trick or treating but not much else is different. I can see all the decorations during normal hours so I don't feel I miss much. We don't have any kids, so that appeal isn't there.

In Ohio when we had passes to Kings Island they really did a good Halloween party. All the staff was dressed up in good costumes and they actually had many extra things setup to do or to go through. It felt different. Although it's still not something we particularly care to do that much, least that one was worth it! Disney one seems pretty lame IMO for the high price.

[chopchop0]

Originally Posted by OTownKnight

With Universal, target audiences are 13+ as evidenced by their larger concentration of thrill rides and coasters. Universal needs to be more up to date on technology and cool rides to impress the teen and adult demographics.

I think each company is doing a good job in satisfying the demand that their target demographics are seeking. Also keep in mind that Disney has 4 gates compared to Universal's 2 here in Orlando. Universal Studios and IoA are much smaller land-wise than Disney's 4 parks as well.

Gotta say I was impressed with the rides for the under 13 crowd too at ioa and universal. Enough imo between both parts and express pass is much nicer than fast pass even if you have to pay extra and or stay at one of the hotels

[Pete C]

Back to the OP's topic, I think SeaWorld is a better option for both Halloween and Christmas events if you are taking small children. At Disney you are paying almost full single day ticket price for a half-day event, then you are staying there late to get your money's worth and getting home even later. For me personally, taking the kids somewhere that late is a nuisance. The kids get tired and cranky and it throws off their schedule.

At SeaWorld the events are all day long, which are better for picture taking too. Christmas at SeaWorld especially is much better than Disney's event IMO. There are lighting displays all around and even on the lake. It is really beautiful, and they have a really cool train display with tracks winding all around a village. It gets dark early that time of year so you can enjoy the lights in the evening rather than staying until midnight at Disney to "party".