Let me preface this post by saying I believe that the attractions and immersive experiences that will be unveiled at the new Epic Universe theme park will be extraordinary. They will be state-of-the-art. Next level. Amazing. The question I am raising for discussion is whether or not it was necessary to build an entire, new theme park in order to open these attractions. Why was it necessary to build a new gate?
The existing Orlando Comcast parks could certainly play host to the Epic Universe attractions. Tear down ‘Fast & Furious: Supercharged’ and there is room for the ‘Ministry of Magic’. As for the Harry Potter theater performance, ‘Fear Factor’ is dead space. There are (probably fake) concept images that once placed Nintendo behind ‘Men in Black: Alien Attack’. There is already talk about replacing ‘Rip, Ride, Rock It’ – that could leave room for ‘Star Dust Racers.’ As for ‘Dark Universe’, ‘Lost Continent’ is sitting there empty. The only thing missing would be space for ‘How to Train Your Dragon’ but if that land is really exceptional, then say good-bye to ‘Toon Lagoon’. Or, to put it another way, I find it hard to believe someone at Comcast said, “We have to build an entire new park, with new infrastructure and back-of-house-support and guest parking lots and hardscape in order to save ‘Toon Lagoon’.
Other advantages, the attractions could be opened in phases – creating a sustained wave of return guests wanting to see the new big thing. Further, there would be no cannibalization of the existing parks.
Additionally, guests would not have to pay for another ticket (or as rumor has it THREE tickets) to get through that new gate. Meaning, when it comes to price point, they would be adding a ton of exceptional content without dipping too deeply into into the wallets of their customers. That would make them a more economical option than the Disney parks – better ensuring repeat business.
Now make no mistake, the team at Comcast are smart people. I am sure there are considerations that I know nothing about that justify this expenditure.
Nonetheless I advance the question: Was it a good idea for Comcast to build Epic Universe?
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All very interesting and vaild points made by TH.
I wonder if crowd density plays a part ?
Factor in the increased number of guests staying at the new Resorts and maybe Studios & I.O.A may have become over saturated.
I think the singular motivation for Epic Universe was to make Universal a full-vacation experience. Most people that travel to Orlando spend a week or more in the area, so Universal Orlando, as good as it is, has always been a second tier destination compared to WDW, which has plenty of attractions and things to fill a full week. That's why Universal is always offering free days to their multi-day tickets as a way to encourage guests to spend their entire vacation at Universal Orlando knowing that even if those guests don't use every admission day, they're likely to extend their hotel stays (likely in UO resorts) an extra day or 2 and eat meals at UO restaurants.
By building Epic, and more or less forcing guests to buy admissions to the other UO parks to get into the new theme park, Universal is reducing the number of days in a guest's vacation to spend at other Orlando attractions. If they had just added the Epic Universe attractions to the existing UO parks, most guests would probably still split their time between the Universal parks, maybe spending 2-3 days at UO, and the rest of the week at WDW (and other Orlando attractions). Building an entirely new theme park, and making it distinctly different from anything else in the world, particularly in how it's operated and managed, is attention grabbing, and forces everyone planning a trip to Orlando to take notice and carve out a day or 2 to experience it in addition to the time spent seeing long-time favorites (including legacy UO parks). While building Epic is coming with massive risks, especially if their crowd management strategies end up backfiring, the rewards are massive compared to adding each of the individual lands and attractions to the legacy UO parks.
There’s a real reason why Epic Universe was a necessity: hotels. That’s where major money is. Ten years ago, Universal had four on-site hotels. Now they have double that amount with three more on the way. Just like Disney, Universal wants to keep expanding their room count and at a certain point, there gets to be too many hotel guests at the existing parks before any benefits they offer start losing value.
Maybe. What I think the big problem is that it is down the road. They lose the convenience in having it close to the other parks. To take it closer would likely have cost the horror nights and soundstage spacing.
Let’s be honest. It will be very hard if not impossible to have the vacation destination appeal that is Disney. Most people do not have extensive theme park knowledge. They think Harry Potter is at Disney. Orlando is Disney the way sodas are ‘cokes’.
I think it is great that they are making another gate, although it may make the original parks less desirable with EU being down the road. We shall see…
The other thing is that any gains Universal makes is a gain for Disney as well. People want to come to see the new Universal attraction they also do a few days at Disney. For me Disney is just too damn complicated and difficult. This will mean instead of doing six days at Disney I now will do three or four.
Obviously yes! Sure they could have updated the 2 parks but nothing beats a brand new park with tons of space. Adding Epic's attractions to the 2 parks would not have been anywhere near as good!
@Franis24: Um, "tons of space"? Have you seen the concept videos? With the portals? Those lands are going to be packed. Also, my post targets unused areas that were formerly attraction locations.
I agree i've been saying Epic Universe was a cash grab from the moment it was announced. Nintendo and Potter could have been built in the existing parks and the rest of the park wasn't necessary, everyone is going to go for those two things and they know it so they want to be able to charge for another admission/day at UO for it. Like Russell said make their onsite resorts more appealing.
Although I will say they put a lot more major attractions into the park than I originally anticipated. But an entire theme park based off IP lands just isn't appealing to me at all, 10-15 years ago it would have been but now its just played out. And the name "Epic Universe" lol.
The D23 announcements add emphasis to the question posed at the top of this thread. By adding new attractions across their existing parks, Disney prevents one gate from stealing guests from their own businesses. If Comcast had added attractions to USF and IOA, instead of putting all of its eggs in the EU basket, they would be waist deep in black ink. Heck, some of those attractions might have already been up and running.
By the way, the D23 announcements already make Epic seem like old news.
Again...more hotels coming...need somewhere to dump all those extra guests...
Excited for EU but Disney has definitely done themselves a real solid here by rounding out and improving their existing parks. Hollywood has a stellar collection of attractions but the park is still lacking for more distinct areas and I think the surprise announcement of a Monsters Inc. land will immediately be a huge step forward to help rectify that issue. The same with DAK. While I love, love, love Dinosaur and will lament its removal, the Americas expansion with elevate that park to the next level IMO. So answer TH’s above query: I don’t know that EU is or isn’t the right way to go for Universal vs the expansion of their current parks, but I do think that WDW has wisely done what they’ve needed to do pad their parks’ future offerings rather than rashly announcing a fifth gate as a counter to Universal. No matter what, as a theme park fan, I’m thrilled to be here for the competition of these two titans.
@Trex: There is no need for for the hotels to be located close to the original parks. They could still build hotels
TH, I'm not sure I understand your rebuttal? Regardless of where the hotels are located, there are many paying guests who are expecting some sort of extra amenity. Whether it be Unlimited Express or Early Park Access, Universal has to send all those visitors somewhere and it's gotten to the point where two parks just isn't enough to cover all those rooms.
If hotels are a good source of revenue, Comcast could build them in the same location and they could be successful without the theme park. There is also the draw of the convention center and their proximity to (not only the Comcast parks) but SeaWorld and Disney. The only hotel that would be a bit over the top would be the the Helios Grand Hotel. But if they scaled that down a bit it would've cost less to build.
Adding to existing Universal parks will have limited attendance impact, adding a state of the art third park will have massive attendance impact.
I agree with Russell that part of Universal's strategy is to have exclusivity of some guests visiting Orlando and going nowhere near WDW. How much EU will cannibalise US & IOA remains to be seen.
WDW will be impacted. The Disney faithful will continue to prioritise WDW as will families with young children but for the teenagers and above, it will be Universal first, second and third.
The statistics I would like to know when Epic Universe & WDW additions are in full swing are:
What are the age demographics of the two destinations?
How many first timers and infrequent visitors choose Disney or Universal and why?
How many commit to one or the other or continue to mix and match and which parks do they mix and match?
How many stay at Disney resorts v Universal resorts?
With the new Lightning Lane it guarantees my group to stand in several standby lines due to tiers and the one ride per day limitations. The unlimited express pass does not (for the most part). I could definitely do more with Genie+ than the new system and can do much, much more with unlimited express pass. This fact will have me prioritize Universal, but I still doubt that WDW will take a hit, but, goodness, I wish they would add another gate and try to do something about their wait times.
Yes.