Originally Posted by
starryeyes21
My husband and I included Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure when we went to Orlando for our honeymoon in 2008. I am a huge Disney fan and so is my husband but I also love Universal Orlando. We stayed on Universal's property and were extremely satisfied. I had never been to the hotels before and wasn't sure what to expect. Let me tell you it was a great experience. We stayed at Portofino Bay and were blown away by the attention to detail, the costumer service, and the high quality of the room. The staff was cordial and extremely helpful, housekeeping was impeccable, and the atmosphere, in general, was to die for.
Universal did everything right. They strove for excellence. Unfortunately, I think Disney sits back on its laurels far too much. Our experience at Disney was no where near as satisfying as our stay at Universal. Our room at the Wilderness Lodge was small and dingy. When complaints were made they were ignored. Mousekeeping was sub-standard and our room was barely touched.
What does this have to do with Harry Potter? I discovered all of this about Universal, almost, by accident. My husband and I decided that since we were spending two full days at Universal that we should stay on the property. How many more people will fall in love with Universal this way? Yes, they may draw people away with Harry Potter Land but they may keep them by exhibiting superior service, beautiful hotels, and wonderful theming.
I think that Universal's biggest problem is that their parks are not for small children. There is, almost, nothing for them to do. Unless you wish to spend your day spinning around on E.T. or in Seuss Landing. With and small handful of exceptions children are largely ignored. We were there in October and there were signs and props for Halloween Horror Nights everywhere. You would expect this scary attraction to be contained within Universal Studios but it even spilled out into City Walk. Many an anxious child was ushered out of City Walk in order to be spared the sight of Bloody Mary crashing through her evil mirror.
Somehow I think that Universal may fail in this respect again and theme the Harry Potter rides for tweens, teens, and adults. Where does that leave your seven year old who loves the books? Wandering around in Hogsmeade buying chocolate frogs. Kinda sad.
Will Disney lose business.....yes. Will it make a huge impact...can't say. Universal has excellent service and theming because it has to in order to compete. Disney, fearing nobody has allowed service, and attention to its parks to fall by the wayside. I would hope that Harry Potter would force Disney to begin moving forward to update the parks.