When and how will Disney respond to Epic Universe?

[Smugpugmug]

We recently started doing sit-down meals at Universal and discovered that the prices were only a few dollars more than the quick service and the food was much better. We only waited about 5 minutes for a table (as a walk-in) and our food came out rather quickly.

I think a lot of the sit down restaurants at Universal are decent to good. The quick service is horrible. The worst one is the one in Toon Lagoon (the one that has the ramen bowls).

 

[greeneyedchick]

I think a lot of the sit down restaurants at Universal are decent to good. The quick service is horrible. The worst one is the one in Toon Lagoon (the one that has the ramen bowls).

Good to know about the ramen. I was just suggesting that if you had the time, the sit downs are a better option. We usually try to sustain ourselves on soft pretzels and some snacks that we brought with us and then go to CIty Walk to eat afterwards.

Which does make me wonder....I just realized that Epic Universe will not connect to City Walk, correct? That is disappointing in that convenience/ walkability between the parks and stores. restaurants is a big plus for UO. I am happy to see that one of the new hotels will be right in Epic U. I'm sure it will be pricey but how convenient! Imagine Disney putting a resort in the Magic Kingdom. Maybe they can put it behind BTMRR?...

 

[Jrb1979]

I never implied you didn't have current knowledge of either property. You have gone on, at length, as to what you don't like about the current state of navigating WDW and that you are excited about the new park - that's awesome.

I think you may have hit the nail on the head. The Walt Disney Co. has some serious issues - Disney+ is a money pit among other problems. They've already cut some corners (and even completely eliminated) so much of what they planned for EP. How much can they really invest in the parks right now? I actually don't think they can "compete" on the scale of what Epic Universe will be anytime soon. I think my whole point is some of us don't care - nothing Uni builds will have the emotional draw that Disney has on a segment of their fan base. I don't think I speak for only myself when I say I am emotionally drawn to things like Mickey pretzels, hearing the Dapper Dans and watching Tinkerbell fly from the castle. Uni doesn't offer that same connection to many people. That's all.

I get that. For my family the things that made us love the parks are no longer there. For us the original Epcot was our favorite park. Horizons, World of Motion and the original Journey into Imagination. As well each park had its own theme and they were heavily dark ride based. Now they have moved to a more thrill ride base. The problem is for us other parks do thrills a lot better.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I think a lot of the sit down restaurants at Universal are decent to good. The quick service is horrible. The worst one is the one in Toon Lagoon (the one that has the ramen bowls).

Have you tried the new Minions Cafe?

The decor has us laughing, food was tasty, staff great, and it was fun to see many patrons Minions-bounding in yellow and blue. It is popular for good reason. This link offers a more detailed description of the menu https://thetakeout.com/universal-orlando-new-minion-land-cafe-review-food-2023-1850990538

The popsicles at the Freeze Pop stand are also tasty, IMO. Our favorites are the mango and the lemon mint (think virgin mojito.) Vector's orange cream was also pretty good. We haven't tried all the flavors yet, but quality popsicles are my idea of a perfect FL theme park food!

Mind, I'm not saying all the US QS are good. Some should be replaced, just as some Disney eateries are not great [*cough* Pinocchio's].

Did you try the crepes from the stand in US? They are made fresh to order as in Epcot, so they take a few minutes, but the blueberry lemon was well worth it.

 

[greeneyedchick]

Have you tried the new Minions Cafe?

The decor has us laughing, food was tasty, staff great, and it was fun to see many patrons Minions-bounding in yellow and blue. It is popular for good reason. This link offers a more detailed description of the menu https://thetakeout.com/universal-orlando-new-minion-land-cafe-review-food-2023-1850990538

The popsicles at the Freeze Pop stand are also tasty, IMO. Our favorites are the mango and the lemon mint (think virgin mojito.) Vector's orange cream was also pretty good. We haven't tried all the flavors yet, but quality popsicles are my idea of a perfect FL theme park food!

Mind, I'm not saying all the US QS are good. Some should be replaced, just as some Disney eateries are not great [*cough* Pinocchio's].

Did you try the crepes from the stand in US? They are made fresh to order as in Epcot, so they take a few minutes, but the blueberry lemon was well worth it.

Haven't tried those but I'm putting the the crepes and popsicles on my list. Thanks

 

[mum2simon]

It depends a bit what type of incentives Universal offers to keep people on property.

WDW used to be the master of keeping customers onsite back in the early days of Magic-your-way tickets. Back then adding days 4-7 cost under $5/day if no hopping, Magic Express brought guests directly from airport to WDW, the parks offered extended park hours from 9am until midnight or later most days for onsite guests, and if for any reason someone didn't use up their ticket, they could use it at a later date.


In that era, WDW did a great job of keeping people on WDW property for an entire week.

One thing Universal is doing way better than Disney is building value hotels for families. Our last two trips to FL were Universal only because our family of six could stay in a 2 bedroom family suite for $99/night or $129/night (two different resorts, two different years). We bought 15 month season passes for about $2000 for all six of us and had fabulous budget friendly trips. I loved that I didn't need a PhD to plan my vacation and could go with the flow all day long and not look at my phone unless it was my choice.

We are planning our first Disney trip since 2015 for this coming summer, we are booked for two rooms at a value because it is cheaper than the value family suite Disney offers, but still triple to quadruple what we paid for a family suite at Universal (We even considered staying at Cabana Bay and driving to Disney each day for this coming trip because we loved it).

My kids are excited for Disney....but really...they are stoked for 2026 when we are planning to go back to Universal for Epic Universe. When we come to Florida we don't do split stays and won't be going back to Disney anytime soon after this trip as the cost has gone up so much. I do think Universal's annual passes and hotel rates will rise with the opening of EU, but I still think they will stay under Disney's current pricing.

 

[DCJ]

Disney will convert 5 more hotels to DVC, talk about adding another land, maybe re imagine more rides and probably retheme a parking lot somewhere. Instead of a 5th gate, the idea from them is to try to sell out the same park twice a day with after hour events and maybe bring back another bonus round of Enchantment.

Since the pandemic, more people we work with come back from Disney and say thats it. Genie plus, park reservations, no magical express. Going to try Universal instead next visit.

We will definitly be checking out Epic Universe. I really hope it forces Disney to step it up.

 

[Dznefreek]

Simple, because Disney is a brand and Universal is not.
Also Universal is always a " and, then" after WDW.

 

[Jrb1979]

Simple, because Disney is a brand and Universal is not.
Also Universal is always a " and, then" after WDW.

If Epic Universe is a success I can see that changing.

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

Simple, because Disney is a brand and Universal is not.
Also Universal is always a " and, then" after WDW.

Universal is not a brand? That is a first

Adults love Disney and bring their children. The adults have the nostalgia. That is slowly dying off as the younger generations don't relate to the movies we grew up on.

I don't see them beating out Disney over the next 5 years, but 10 years down the line? Esp. with the negativity Disney has been getting lately as a company, as a whole, I could see it happening.

I don't see anyone beating up MK for attendance, but I could see MK being at the top, with universal parks being ahead of the other Disney parks.

 

[disneyseniors]

Er, no I was just at WDW a few weeks ago. My knowledge of both properties is very current.

Experiencing them side-by-side multiple times per year over 9+ years, we've really seen how WDW has slipped and Universal has improved. Like, just try calling either business. Call WDW, and odds are high you'll spend more time on hold than on a call to Universal.

Disney's myriad combo of ILL's, G+, and virtual queues is a confusing mess. And I say that as someone who is well versed in how to use them. Whenever MDE gets overwhelmed at 7am, WDW customers are just out of luck, even though they did everything they were supposed to do at the assigned time and paid for G+. That is bad customer service, and it happens quite often.

I am sad to see this happen to WDW and Disney. I would very much like to see them get their act together.

I don't think Disney HAS to do anything, but I predict the company will continue slipping in concrete ways we can measure if they don't. It isn't just the parks, Disney's recent movies have also not done very well. They also had the Starcuiser fiasco. More recently they fell from #6 to #12 on Forbes' list of top companies, and more pointedly from the #1 media company down to #4. That is not a good trend.

Maybe WDW will be able to keep charging ever higher prices, while making visiting even more complicated, and enough diehards will still keep paying even as we continue to age. Maybe.

I agree. I guess we also qualify as die hard disney fanatics who had been going to WDW since l977! Our kids, grandkids all grew up going to disney, and loving it. So we have seen the many changes not for the good at disney. It makes us sad as we have the nostalgia of many trips to WDW. I'm glad we went when we did before what it has become today. No comparison.

We were the family that helped others plan trips, and always praised WDW for their value and service. We went every year or more. Now we are Universal converts. For us, it is great to pay to enter the parks and go where and when we want to rides or restaurants. No D+, no being on the phone, no nickel and diming just to ride rides, TM's that are actually happy to be there, and I could go on and on. The Lowe's hotels are fantastic and service is great. Yes, it's expensive, but we feel we get our money's worth several times over. No stress and fun! What disney used to be For Us.

So the blanket statement that fans like us would never change is not true. Also our future generations are not interested in disney at all, so there is no nostalgia pulling at them. We no longer sing the praises of disney to our friends or anyone who asks. We are just honest about it.

Universal has our money from now on. And other parks are high up there too.

 

[thanxfornoticin]

Since the pandemic, more people we work with come back from Disney and say thats it. Genie plus, park reservations, no magical express. Going to try Universal instead next visit.

Just out of curiosity, unless I'm missing something, Universal has never had anything like ME, have they?

 

[clarker99]

Just out of curiosity, unless I'm missing something, Universal has never had anything like ME, have they?

Nope.

 

[Jrb1979]

Just out of curiosity, unless I'm missing something, Universal has never had anything like ME, have they?

Not free but they have always had an airport shuttle as an add-on

 

[thanxfornoticin]

And Universal still charges for resort guests to park if they have a car?

 

[Smugpugmug]

And Universal still charges for resort guests to park if they have a car?

Yes. It was around $21 a night when I last stayed at Cabana Bay.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

Simple, because Disney is a brand and Universal is not.
Also Universal is always a " and, then" after WDW.

?
Universal is indeed a brand.

 

[mickeyluv'r]

I don't see anyone beating up MK for attendance, but I could see MK being at the top, with universal parks being ahead of the other Disney parks.

That already happened in 2022: Islands of Adventure beat AK, HS, and Epcot. US beat AK and Epcot but not HS, though it was not far behind HS.

Universal theme parks had outstanding growth in 2022 and 2023.

Disney corporate has already said Walt Disney World did not have a good 2023.

But we are still waiting for the 2023 TEA/AECOM report to see 2023 numbers.

 

[0FF TO NEVERLAND]

That already happened in 2022: Islands of Adventure beat AK, HS, and Epcot. US beat AK and Epcot but not HS, though it was not far behind HS.

Universal theme parks had outstanding growth in 2022 and 2023.

Disney corporate has already said Walt Disney World did not have a good 2023.

But we are still waiting for the 2023 TEA/AECOM report to see 2023 numbers.

But how is that possible they didn't have good 2023 when their revenue was in the billions? 6 Billion QT 1 2024 alone? And that’s for the parks only

 

[Minnie1222]

But how is that possible they didn't have good 2023 when their revenue was in the billions? 6 Billion QT 1 2024 alone?

Maybe they were aiming for a 10 billion revenue.