Attendance: WDW Up, Universal and SeaWorld Down

[Ed]

Interesting article in today's Orlando Sentinel. (http://thedailydisney.com/blog/2010/04/as-rivals-struggle-disney-widens-gap/)

Despite the lousy economy, attendance at WDW was up by about 1% over 2008; Universal Studios was down 10%, Islands of Adventure down 11.8%, and SeaWorld was down 6.8%.

Apparently, WDW is doing something right.
:thumbsup:

:mickey:

[finaldynasty]

The other parks don't have the magic or mystic of the World that Walt built! :mickey:

[DizneyRox]

Explains why they are not discounting as everyone wants. And also that Disneys plans are working to keep people on site. Unfortunately, this also means more cutbacks are to be expected since people are still going.

[brownie]

That's great that attendance was up, but if there wasn't a corresponding increase in the financial measures, it doesn't have as big an impact as I would expect. Maybe they would have lost more money without the discounts.

[DadTriton]

Explains why they are not discounting as everyone wants. And also that Disneys plans are working to keep people on site. Unfortunately, this also means more cutbacks are to be expected since people are still going.
Well, they have been discounting the Florida residents nicely.
4 day pass for $99 - I jumped on that.
I also received 40% off my WL reservations.

[TheRustyScupper]

1) The others don't discount like WDW.
2) WDW is losing profit percentage due to discounts.
3) The other parks are down attendance-wise.
4) But are not as low profit percentage-wise as Disney.
5) Plus, Universal is hiring HUNDREDS for Harry Potter.

[princessgirls]

My husband called Universal to see if we could book a package... HE WAS SO ANNOYED that basically they don't offer anything close to Disney in a nice neat package that he is seeing that the "Magic" is good. He thought we should try something new, but I think He's well over that now!

We've done 5 trips in 5 years with the girls, Disney makes it easy!

Took them to SeaWorld, and although we did enjoy it, the park lacked the Magic, but it is clean and they have the sea life that my girls love so much. We took them in 2008, and I don't know if I can watch the "Shamu" show the same way I did when we went after the tragedy.

Universal...only in California. I think Orlando lacks everything. Maybe the new Harry Potter attraction will breathe some life into this park.
The Universal in California is really good, but it's got location. You are right in the middle of LA.
Just my two cents worth...
Julie:mickey

[luvdiznee]

Seaworld is now discounting with the $5 tix for the kiddos. With the purchase of a full adult tix. So I hear. :cool:

[Frog]

Im gonna bet this trend is a "we are not sure when our next trip might be due to the economy, so lets do the classic wdw thing if we are gonna do anything at all" vacation thinking here...

[DizneyFreak2002]

I am going to make a prediction... Universal's attendance keeps dropping every year... Not a good sign... Harry Potter will be opening up soon, and MAYBE the attendance will spike.. but, isn't that hollow??? I mean, their attendance is down year after year... Even if attendance increases by 1 million people, attendance is still DOWN from years past... And I am sorry, even if HP is the be all end all of rides, Universal's attendance will stagnate.. However, people will scream it is a bloody success... I'll deem it a success if and only if it brings Universal's attendance levels to heights they never saw before (by the way, it won't)....

[Jennifer_and_Chris]

If there is any spike to Universal's attendence because of Harry Potter, it will be short lived and not "residual". They may have spikes when new HP movies come out but, there are only 2 more. While the books are timeless, there will be no new debuts to draw new legions of people into Potterland. Maybe new attractions added to HP but, nothing outside of the park will be new to the HP brand once the final 2 movies are out.

And I'm a huge HP fan. I think for the first couple of years it will be a cool land to visit. But, after the last movies come out, it may be a ghost town.