Universal is buying a mega theme park, which is rumored to be a Disneyworld killer with the billions that Bob Iger will be paying them for Hulu (which he is incidentally shutting down and rolling into Disney+. That’s some 4D chess Bob).
I realize there are a few pixie dusters out there that have been trained by Mickey the Great and Terrible to snort, “they can announce what they like. It’s what get built that counts.”
Sorry guys you’re going to have to just take a hit of that Special Magic and try to convince yourselves that Disney’s is better because this is already under construction. And it will open next year.
Given the scope of the project, I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of it isn’t finished by then but even Disney at its height could never deliver on that. You have to remember each and everything here is a prototype, there are going to be things going wrong that you’ve never foreseen and couldn’t foresee. But I do expect all of it to be finished eventually. Anything that was going to be cut has been cut by now.
The Harry Potter expansion was expected. The Ministry of Magic was known well in advance although the Paris scene from Fantastic Beasts wasn’t. There were a lot of rumors about Azkaban, but I think Universal was wise not to go with a prison amusement park. They are trying to brand themselves apart from Disney World.
Dark Universe is basically going to be Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights all year round.
Dragon’s Isle of Berk is a little questionable to me. The franchise is comparatively new. But Splash Mountain (before it was mauled) was based on a banished franchise, and it was (until its untimely death) the most popular ride in Orlando. I’ll give that one a wait-and-see.
Super Nintendo World is a very safe bet. Nintendo knows how to take care of a franchise.
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Celestial Park is just themed dining and shopping, but that is to be expected at something like this.
The Helios Grand Hotel is going to be the real bite out of WDW’s bottom line. Universal has hotels, but the Royal Pacific’s only real theming is the New York City Hotel. It’s designed more for black-tie events than for little kids. The Helios, on the other hand, looks to be everything the Star Wars hotel wasn’t. The theming looks amazing.
What really has to hurt is that Disney is about to have an earnings call. The stockholder phone calls to the CEO are obviously screened at this point. Weatherman Bob knows how to play to a friendly audience but not a hostile one. It doesn’t really matter; the votes that really count are the institutional investors, and they were just reminded about how they backed the wrong pony.
What do you think of Universal’s new theme park? Is it a Disneyworld killer? Leave a comment and let us know.
On the left: Japanese company that doesn’t give a fuck about identity politics. On the right: Franchise made by a woman that doesn’t give a fuck about identity politics. This theme park should come with a trigger warning for sensitive babies. lol