Comcast CEO: Universal will compete aggressively with Disney

[John]

Comcast CEO: Universal will compete aggressively with Disney

January 7, 2014|By Jason Garcia, Orlando Sentinel


The top executive at Comcast Corp. signaled Tuesday that the company expects to win theme-park market share away from industry leader Walt Disney Co. and other rival park owners.

"We're doubling down on theme parks," Comcast Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Brian Roberts told analysts during a conference in Las Vegas that was broadcast online. "We think that there is a lot of 'there' there in the theme-park business for many years to come and that we have a low market share — and only one way to go."

Comcast's Universal Parks & Resorts operates the third-busiest collection of theme parks in the world, with combined attendance of more than 36 million a year, according to estimates compiled by the Themed Entertainment Association and consulting company AECOM. But it remains far behind the global leader, Walt Disney Parks & Resorts, which draws more than 126 million theme-park visits per year.

(United Kingdom-based Merlin Entertainments Group, whose attractions include Legoland parks and Madame Tussauds wax museums, is No. 2, with about 54 million visitors.)

NBCUniversal's U.S. theme parks — Universal Studios Florida and Universal's Islands of Adventure, both at Universal Orlando, and Universal Studios Hollywood in Southern California — rank behind only parks at Walt Disney World and Disneyland in attendance.


More Here:

http://articles.orlandosentinel.com/...versal-orlando

[BrerGnat]

It's nice to have lofty goals. However, I don't know that I can ever see that happening. Disney World is just too big for Universal to surpass. Has any other (non Disney) theme park even come close to matching the Magic Kingdom in annual attendance?

[DizneyFreak2002]

It's nice to have lofty goals. However, I don't know that I can ever see that happening. Disney World is just too big for Universal to surpass. Has any other (non Disney) theme park even come close to matching the Magic Kingdom in annual attendance?

It is not about beating Disney in attendance... Universal knows they aren't large enough to even consider beating out WDW for annual visitors... It is all about gaining market share... They want to take a bite out of Disney's market share in Orlando... They want to take days away from a Disney vacation.... They want the 7 day visitor to not spend 1 day or 2 days at Universal... They are aiming for that 3rd day... Maybe 4th day... If someone wants to give them the full week, they will take that too... But they aren't stupid or ego driven (like certain mouse managers) to think people won't visit WDW while visiting Universal as well...

Oh, and they don't need to beat Disney in attendance... Pulling people away for an extra day or two is money NOT being spent at WDW... THAT is what Universal is after... And that is a win...

With that said, IOA and Universal can easily top DAK and DHS in the very near future... Especially with DHS rotting away and not getting anything of any substance for at least 5-6 more years.. MAYBE...

[Mickey'sGirl]

Well, Universal's getting three days out of us this summer. Three days that would have been spent at a Deluxe Resort, likely in Club Level. Whatever Universal is doing is working on this annual pass holding DVC owning multiple weeks per year family of four.

[1DisneyNut]

They are getting a day or two out of us this summer for the very first time. (Well I should say first time in the park. We have visited City Walk a few times to eat because we can get into Universal's restaurants without having to make reservations 6 months ahead of time.) Not necessarily because of anything they are doing though.....it is Disney and the FP+ that has us trying something else. Disney is getting a few days out of us but at Disneyland instead of WDW and then we are trying Universal. If it goes well, we will be visiting Universal Orlando next year.

Between Universal stepping up efforts and adding to their parks along with WDW alienating their long time customers, I don't see any reason Universal can't steal away more market share. One of my cousins has been trying to talk me into visiting Universal Orlando for years. He loves the place and hasn't been back to WDW in probably 5 years.

[NJGIRL]

A little off the subject...but another thing I enjoy about Universal is the merchandise. Each themed attraction's store is unique. There are so many cool things to buy. It's not the same stuff store after store. We do buy more stuff at Universal than Disney now. They are definitely getting our souvenir money.

You get off of the Mummy....you have Egyptian stuff

You get off of Men in Black...you have futuristic merchandise.....

It's not copy cat stuff in each store

And HP World....enough said.

[MizMissy]

A little off the subject...but another thing I enjoy about Universal is the merchandise. Each themed attraction's store is unique. There are so many cool things to buy. It's not the same stuff store after store. We do buy more stuff at Universal than Disney now. They are definitely getting our souvenir money.

You get off of the Mummy....you have Egyptian stuff

You get off of Men in Black...you have futuristic merchandise.....

It's not copy cat stuff in each store

And HP World....enough said.

I agree completely. The store next to the twister attraction has some really cute and unique merchandise (cows of all things). We bought my daughter a "keep calm and click your heels" shirt with ruby slippers on it. Too cute. We definitely spent a lot more on souvenirs at Universal. Whereas, at Disney, I searched for days and finally just bought a shirt because I wanted I shirt, at Universal, every store had something different and we just kept buying ... again, not even mentioning the wands and candy and extras at HP.

[Hammer]

A little off the subject...but another thing I enjoy about Universal is the merchandise. Each themed attraction's store is unique. There are so many cool things to buy. It's not the same stuff store after store. We do buy more stuff at Universal than Disney now. They are definitely getting our souvenir money.

You get off of the Mummy....you have Egyptian stuff

You get off of Men in Black...you have futuristic merchandise.....

It's not copy cat stuff in each store

And HP World....enough said.

I agree completely. The store next to the twister attraction has some really cute and unique merchandise (cows of all things). We bought my daughter a "keep calm and click your heels" shirt with ruby slippers on it. Too cute.

I can't speak for all attractions at Disney, but many of the gift shops when you get out of rides do have merchandise themed for the ride

Off the top of my head

Pirates- pirate stuff in the gift shop
Splash Mountain- Shirts themed to the ride
Rock and Roller Coaster-Lots of music and Aerosmith stuff
Muppets 3D- self explanatory
Everest and the shops in the area-Indian style clothes and stuffed Yetis

The problem is the non-ride gift shops.

[NJGIRL]

Christine when I am at Disney all I see is the same stuff over and over again. I will see the same shirt in at least 15 different Disney stores over the course of our stay. And I'm not kidding.

On our girls trip a few years back we all wanted princess tee shirts and guess what. We couldn't find enough for the 6 of us to have a different princess. What you find at MK, you find at AK, and DHS, and EPCOT. Very few stores carrying different items.

Snow globes.....I collect them...in the good old days I purchased different ones each year....I have a tower of terror...safari....etc...you get the picture. Now I only buy one once every three years because they never change them.

I could probably spend $1000 at Universal if I let myself...not so at Disney.

[Hammer]

Rita, I was speaking strictly about the ride gift shops, none of the others. The ride gift shops DO have unique merchandise. I agree that most of the non-ride gift shops do carry the same things.

Though, I am not much of a souvenir buyer when I am on vacation, regardless of where I go. I'm pretty cheap about that stuff . I have a $100 souvenir budget for most vacation destinations.

[DizneyFreak2002]

Not to continue to pour on how bad WDW merchandise and stores are compared to the Universal merchandise and stores, but remember how WDW sold Hannah Montana merchandise at the Space Mountain gift shop? Nothing says space travel like Hannah Montana!!!!

[BigRedDad]

Universal is a great distraction. Themes are very nice, but in some cases less detailed than Disney. One thing that they have over WDW is thrill rides and a fast pass system that works. I would only go if I were staying at their resorts though. You can get deluxe rooms for the price of Disney Moderates. City Walk is nice at night for adults. Many of the bars have happy hours.

In order for Universal to catch up with WDW, they have to drastically increase the number of attractions. You can do both sides in a day.

[DizneyFreak2002]

In order for Universal to catch up with WDW, they have to drastically increase the number of attractions. You can do both sides in a day.

You can do all four Disney parks in 1 day too, if you only do the headliners and skip everything else... And actually, you can do DHS and DAK in one full day combined, and that includes doing most everything... Otherwise, if you take in the surroundings, and shows, and the little things, no, you cannot do IOA/Universal in one day... You need at least one day each... I know I prefer two days in IOA, and as of now one in Universal... But once Diagon Alley opens up, I think I may need two for both... Not to mention IOA needing another day once Kong opens...

That means, no worries, Universal will be adding several E ticket, well themed attractions and several family friendly attractions as well in the next several years...

[NJGIRL]

I also disagree when I hear people say you can do both parks in one day. Yes, you can, if you skip about 50 % of the attractions in both parks.

[JRocker]

We typically go just before the summer season kicks into full gear and by mid-afternoon the second day, we are done. And that's doing probably 90% of the parks.

To this point, they get two days of our vacation. It's getting close to a third, but they aren't there yet. There are times when we actually go to US and a WDW park the same day.

With that being said, there is a night and day difference between the forward momentum of the two companies.

I don't know the actual time frames, but it feels like Universal creates new rides, and even areas, at lightspeed compared with the mouse. Fantasy Land and Avatar feels like they have taken forever. I mean, how many years have they discussed Avatar and it's just now breaking ground?

The Harry Potter area seems like someone discussed it over lunch and broke ground by breakfast.

Both companies are moving forward, but Universal seems more serious about it.

[Tekneek]

It's good for everyone that Comcast is serious about this. The better Universal gets, and the more they can siphon off of Disney, the more Disney will have to actually try to compete instead of being a sleeping giant.

[Tekneek]

Both companies are moving forward, but Universal seems more serious about it.

That is the difference between the big, complacent leader and the hungry up-and-comer. Disney, for the most part, is trying to squeeze more money out of the same number of guests, while Universal is trying to get more people through the gates.

[EeyoresBestFriend]

I also disagree when I hear people say you can do both parks in one day. Yes, you can, if you skip about 50 % of the attractions in both parks.

Totally agree! US has, what I think of as, a more adult line of rides, but you definitely need at least 3 days to see everything and do it justice. Yes you can probably run through a park a day, but I can guarantee you (unless it is absolutely devoid of other tourists) you are missing ALOT of cool things.

[MNNHFLTX]

Christine when I am at Disney all I see is the same stuff over and over again. I will see the same shirt in at least 15 different Disney stores over the course of our stay. And I'm not kidding.

On our girls trip a few years back we all wanted princess tee shirts and guess what. We couldn't find enough for the 6 of us to have a different princess. What you find at MK, you find at AK, and DHS, and EPCOT. Very few stores carrying different items.

We ran into this at Disneyland Paris last summer. True, some of the items were personalized with the DLP logo and name, but most of the stuff was generic Disney stuff that you could buy at any of the parks in the U.S. It was really disappointing. The only souvenirs I got there was a DLP Dooney (that had images of the park-specific rides on it--very cool) and a DLP coffee mug with Paris landmarks on it as well as the Disney characters. Everything else was ho-hum.

[big blue and hairy]

Comcast CEO: Universal will compete aggressively with Disney

January 7, 2014|By Jason Garcia, Orlando Sentinel


The top executive at Comcast Corp. signaled Tuesday that the company expects to win theme-park market share away from industry leader Walt Disney Co. and other rival park owners.

"We're doubling down on theme parks," Comcast Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Brian Roberts told analysts during a conference in Las Vegas that was broadcast online. "We think that there is a lot of 'there' there in the theme-park business for many years to come and that we have a low market share — and only one way to go."

I agree that Universal is doing some big things lately, but the whole story makes me laugh. It's just a typical nothing story if you think about it. What do expect him to say? Oh no, we expect to continue being run over by DIsney, nothing's going to change there.....