It’s been decades since either Disney or Universal opened a new theme park on American soil… and in those decades, game-changing innovations in ride systems, guest-facing technology, and industry best-practices have changed by leaps and bounds.
Now, just over the horizon, those decades of innovation and imagination appear ready to coalesce on the first from-scractch major U.S. park born after the Wizarding World reset the rules of themed design. And indeed, Universal’s Epic Universe looks to be a best-of, portfolio-defining park marked by immersive, blockbuster themed lands and cutting edge E-Tickets based on some of the world’s highest-earning franchises.
Universal’s new multi-billion dollar theme park looks poised to command the attention of just about everyone, shifting the gravity of an Orlando vacation forever. In fact, the only one who doesn’t seem to be focused on the game-changing Epic Universe project is its direct competitor: Disney. At least as of late 2022 – Disney’s slate of announced projects goes totally blank just before Universal opens its new third gate.
Why doesn’t Disney seem worried about the massive new project miles from its de facto headquarters, developed by its only serious competitor at the top of their game? Let’s get caught up. The story of Epic Universe – and Disney’s response to it – is as old as the story of Universal’s plans for a park in Central Florida…
The Studio Wars
In the mid 1980s, MCA – owners of legendary film studio Universal – began to get serious about long-considered plans for a brand new movie studio & theme park in Florida.
It made some amount of sense. After all, Universal’s real, working film studio and backlot in Hollywood, California had become something of a tourist phenomenon thanks to its fabled Studio Tour – a tram-led journey through fabled film sets that had launched in 1964. In the decades since, increasingly-elaborate special effects demonstrations and staged encounters with Jaws, an Earthquake, and King Kong himself had become Tinseltown standards.
But even as Universal Studios ceded more space to its visitor-facing endeavors and more backlot soundstages to its Studio Tour, it increasingly stood to reason that Universal could hold its own with a from-scratch, movie-centered theme park in the growing tourism hub created by Walt Disney World itself…
Of course, things got a little more complicated when a down-on-its-luck Walt Disney Productions made a massive move, hiring former Paramount CEO Michael Eisner and Warner Bros. executive Frank wells to take the reigns of the Mouse House. The Board hoped that Eisner could use his success in the film industry to right the sinking ship of Disney’s own production company, and its animation studio and theme parks along with it.
Suffice it to say: it worked. The ’80s and early ’90s saw an impossibly-scaled, blockbuster era for Disney, filled with acquisitions, partnerships, expansions, box office dominance, and theme park investment that literally evolved it from the film-focused and floundering Walt Disney Productions of the early ’80s to the modern, multimedia Walt Disney Company we know today.
Allegedly having been tipped off to Universal’s plans for a Florida studio while at Paramount, Eisner launched a preemptive strike: the Disney-MGM Studios. Literally stealing the concept of a tram-led tour right from underfoot, Disney’s own third theme park was fully centered around the Declassified Disaster: The Backstage Studio Tour whisking guests through “real” production facilities in single a multi-hour attraction.
If the move was meant to scare Universal off, it failed.
Instead, Universal merely revisited its own plans, downplaying the “real, working studio” and tram tour and instead splitting the components of its Hollywood tram ride into standalone E-Tickets – the Lost Legends: Jaws, Kongfrontation, Earthquake, and the from-scratch anchor, Back to the Future: The Ride. There’s no doubt at all that Universal’s attempt was ambitious, and its cast of “creature feature” disaster rides touched a niche that even Disney’s “studio” didn’t.
Still, it turned out that Eisner’s race to beat out Universal wasn’t all that necessary. 5.9 million visitors passed through Universal’s gates in 1991 (its first full year of operation). That’s an impressive number, until you learn that Magic Kingdom welcomed 28 million the same year. Even if its ingredients were astounding, Universal Studios Florida never stood any chance of toppling the Disney World behemoth alone. It opened as – and largely remained – an Orlando aside. An A-List one, to be sure, but a sideshow to Disney’s main attraction nonetheless.
The Master Plan
But that didn’t stop Universal from trying… From the moment Universal Studios Florida opened in 1990, executives behind the scenes were already planning out not just their next move in the Central Florida, but the next several moves.
Step 1: The Second Gate
The first we know well, because Phase I of Universal’s Millennium-era expansion came to be. Since Disney had stolen Universal’s Studio Tour out from underfoot for their own studio park, Universal would likewise use Disney’s M.O. to power their next.
As far back as the early ’90s, Universal had been negotiating with various rightsholders to assemble the ingredients of a park they called “Cartoon World” – a timeless, intergenerational collection of characters like Batman, Superman, Bugs Bunny, Dudley Do-Right, Popeye the Sailor, and the Cat in the Hat who, together, could challenge Disney’s dominance in the family market.
A falling out with Warner Bros. (and, if you believe the rumors, a mass exodus from Disney Imagineering) saw “Cartoon World” reshaped by the subtraction of DC Comics and Looney Tunes and the addition of Marvel, Jurassic Park, and a land of legends, creating the second gate concept we know: Islands of Adventure.
And make no mistake: the threat of an all-star, from-scratch, 21st-century park packed with technology-fueled Modern Marvels: The Amazing Adventures of Spider-Man, Jurassic Park River Adventure, Dueling Dragons, Poseidon’s Fury, The Cat in the Hat, and Dudley Do-Right’s Ripsaw Falls was enough to grab the attention of Disney. Even in the late ’90s – when Imagineering was plagued by cancellations, closures, and cost-cutting, several very high profile concepts were developed for Walt Disney World just in case this Islands of Adventure really did live up to the hype…
But just as important is what happened around Universal Studios and its walkable sister. Seemingly overnight, the single Studios park and its blacktop parking lot became a new transportation hub and 10,000 space parking deck that fed visitors into a retail and dining district with mirrored portals to the two parks; around the resort’s perimeter, the first hotels arrived with parcels set aside for future hotel capacity, filling or at least earmarking nearly all of Universal’s real estate between I-4, Kirkman Road, Vineland Road, and Turkey Lake Road. Today, you could easily argue that Universal’s model of a walkable, pedestrian-friendly, automobile-free, interconnected destination is far closer to the 21st century ideal that Disney World’s sprawling resort with its blacktop parking lots, highways, and piecemeal transportation systems.
Universal’s all-at-once ascendence from a single theme park to what we’d now easily identify as a multi-park “Resort” was impressive. Likewise, Islands of Adventure itself stood to be a real game-changer in the Orlando area… so much so that even a wary Walt Disney Company was readying to mobilize against it. And if all had gone according to plan, Universal’s groundbreaking, attention-grabbing second gate would only be the start of the company’s rise in Orlando…
Step 2: The South Complex
What you might not know is that as part of the same massive, all-at-once, master-planned growth spurt that created Islands of Adventure, Universal also purchased 2,050 acres of land southeast of that built-out core. For $208 million (nearly $100,000 per acre), the land Universal purchased between Sand Lake Road and Universal Blvd. was one of the most expensive land buys in Florida’s history. (By comparison, Disney spent about $200 per acre to acquire their land in the ’60s.)
But by acquiring the land from aerospace and defense technology company Lockheed Martin, Universal gained the ability to more than double their footprint in Orlando. And in fact, Universal expected to use this “South Complex” to house a third and fourth theme park, as well as 10,000 additional hotel rooms over the ensuing decades. At full build-out, this multi-park complex would have as many theme parks and nearly as many hotel rooms as Walt Disney World does today, just split between a compact “North Complex” and a “South Complex” connected by Universal Blvd.
Reportedly, Universal spent millions of dollars on the initial site prep for the South Complex in the late ’90s (including clean-up of the toxic remains of the site’s former owner). But the South Complex went south… Why?
Escape & Retreat
It turned out that Islands of Adventure wasn’t the hit Universal had anticipated.
Sure, Islands of Adventure was a jaw-dropping, pulse-pounding, ultra-ambitious outing. Universal’s first try at breaking away from the “studio” aesthetic, the park was bright, bold, immersive, kinetic, and thoughtful in a way few but Disney Imagineering had accomplished before. It included an all-star IP list including Spider-Man, Jurassic Park, and The Cat in the Hat. It was packed with groundbreaking dark rides, thrilling coasters, and incredible environments… So what went wrong?
Islands of Adventure’s initial underperformance is often blamed on a failure of branding. A national marketing campaign was built around the newly-designated “Universal Studios Escape” – ostensibly, the name of the new, multi-park, multi-day complex that included the original “Universal Studios Flordia,” the new “Universal Studios Islands of Adventure,” and the new retail district connecting them, “Universal Studios CityWalk.”
Highlighting Spider-Man, Terminator, and Jurassic Park (below), the campaign was filled with radical ’90s awesome-ness and marked by the mysterious, intriguing tagline, “Are you ready?” But even as “Universal Studios Escape” commercials were practically beamed directly into the brains of Millennials in the ’90s and plastered across Slime Time Live, Legends of the Hidden Temple, and other Nickelodeon favorites, they largely failed at their primary responsibility…
The campaign failed to convey what, why, and where “Universal Studios Escape” was. How was “Universal Studios Escape” different from “Universal Studios Florida”? Had the park been renamed? Why? What, exactly, were the new “Universal Studios Islands of Adventure” – rides? A show? A waterpark? A tie-in television series or comic book line? And for that matter, why would we want to “Escape” Universal Studios?
Altogether, the “Universal Studios Escape” campaign is remembered as one of the most consequential and damaging “flops” in the industry. In 2000 – its first full year of operation – the brand-new, cutting-edge, big-budget Islands of Adventure reportedly saw only 6 million guests… far fewer than its own sister park, Universal Studios (8.1 million) or Disney’s lowest performer, Animal Kingdom (8.9 million) the same year. Universal’s unfathomable investment in its all-at-once, multi-park growth spurt was essentially a failure.
By 2000, the “Universal Studios Escape” moniker had been entirely phased out. In its place rose “Universal Orlando Resort” (answering the where and what) with Universal Studios Florida and the possessive Universal’s Islands of Adventure nested beneath. The naming conventions Universal settled on – “Resort” as a multi-park entertainment destination and “Universal’s” as an official prefix – are, of course, industry standard today (Disneyland Resort; Disney’s Animal Kingdom, etc.), but hard-fought and learned by Universal via the School of Hard Knocks.
But even if the re-rebranding had done its job of more clearly establishing what Universal had to offer, the September 11th terrorist attacks of 2001 cooled any interest in tourism. The result was a multi-year downturn in attendance across Orlando’s theme parks that ensured Islands of Adventure and the expanded Universal Orlando Resort would remain undervalued for years to come.
This much was clear: Universal wouldn’t be needing that “South Complex” anytime soon. For a brief period in the early 2000s, Universal was wholly owned by a French media company called Vivendi. The combined enterprise (called, of course, Vivendi Universal) was weighed down in debt and stricken with massive financial losses right out the gate. So in 2003, Vivendi Universal sold nearly all of the “South Complex” land – 1,800 acres – for a meager $70 million.
So how did Universal find space for a third park? And will the third time be the charm when it comes to Universal’s attempts to take on Disney? Read on as we explore the situation that made Epic Universe possible… and why we think this time, Universal’s stars may have really aligned…
When Universal built its first theme park in Orlando, it was an in-your-face response to Disney’s meddling. And even if Universal Studios Florida was bigger and better than its Disney-MGM Studios competitor, fortune favored the Mouse.
Less than a decade later, Universal made its most ambitious move yet with Islands of Adventure – a park that could’ve and should’ve shifted the gravity in Central Florida… but a marketing mishap left the spectacular park ranking far below any of Disney’s and failed to communicate to the nation and world that Universal had become a world-class, multi-park resort destination in its own right.
The lesson? Twice, Disney had readied itself for a clash with Universal. And twice, practically no action had been necessary. The plans Disney had drawn up as “Break Glass In Case of Competition” backup plans never came to be because they simply weren’t needed. Bold, brave, and brash as Universal might’ve been in its efforts, both the 1990 opening of Universal Studios and the 1999 opening of Islands of Adventure had about as much impact as a stalwart knight punching bare-handed at the leg of a dragon – an irritation at worst. And frankly, little looked likely to change that…
The Playing Field Changes
Then, in May 2007, Universal officially confirmed a longstanding rumor: in partnership with Warner Bros., they had licensed the Harry Potter franchise for use in their parks. And more to the point, this wasn’t just a Harry Potter ride in a soundstage at the Studio, nor even (as originally envisioned) a mere Harry Potter “wrap” to Islands of Adventure’s existing Medieval section, Merlinwood. Instead, the Wizarding World of Harry Potter would recreate – to slavish scale – the snow-topped village of Hogsmeade and the looming Hogwarts castle as seen in the films.
The first ever “Living Land,” the Wizarding World would quite literally pluck a place from the screen and give guests the opportunity to step where their favorite characters stepped; to shop where they shopped; to eat where they ate. With incredible devotion to the world of the books, guests would find no Coca-Cola; no Harry Potter LEGO sets; no Universal Parks sweatshirts. Instead, Hogsmeade would sell only “in-universe” wares – House robes, quills and ink, Quidditch flags and text books, Wizarding sweets and, of course, wands.
Only the 2010 opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter managed to really spotlight Universal Orlando as more than just a sideshow to Disney’s circus… And while images of the land’s opening day – with crowds wrapped throughout CityWalk – no doubt caught the attention of Disney World executives, the real stomach-churn must’ve come from the more enduring successes: queues formed not for rides, but to enter shops and restaurants. This wasn’t just an attraction; it was a world that guests wanted to inhabit.
Publicly, Disney spokespeople conveyed that the rising tide in Orlando lifted all ships; that visitors weren’t replacing a day at Disney with a day at Universal, just adding additional days to their vacation to pop into Universal for a day trip. But privately, the 2000s and 2010s saw Disney institute increasingly more “perks” for on-site guests – FastPass+, MagicBands, Dining Plans, Magical Express airport transportation, and more – that all covertly doubled as incentive to stay on Disney property… and away from Universal Orlando.
It looked like the Wizarding World really had changed things. And believe it or not, it had changed things at Universal’s parent company, too…
Comcast’s surprise
In 2009, telecommunications giant Comcast made an unexpected foray into the entertainment business by announcing their intention to drop $14 billion on securing a controlling 51% stake in NBCUniversal from its post-Vivendi-owner, General Electric. Even in the era of corporate mergers and increasingly-massive conglomerates, a company widely known for its Internet service, phone service, and poor customer service seemed an odd parent for NBCUniversal – an already-supersized entertainment company created by the 2004 merger of NBC and Universal Studios.
Industry insiders largely expected Comcast to pick apart NBCUniversal, saving the company’s more relevant networks for its own cable packaging while quickly spinning off other divisions and selling them to the highest bidder. That, of course, would’ve included the Universal Parks & Resorts division – something Comcast seemed unlikely to have any interest in getting involved in.
But as luck would have it, Comcast inherited a controlling stake in Universal Parks & Resorts at a key moment – months before the opening of the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. With attendance skyrocketing, per capita spending growing by exponents, and fortune favoring the bold work of Universal Creative, Comcast did something no one expected: they held onto the parks. In 2013, Comcast bought out the remaining 49% of NBCUniversal from General Electric for $16.7 billion, fully acquiring the company just in time for the debut of Diagon Alley.
In 2014, Comcast CEO Brian Roberts told analysts, “We’re doubling down on theme parks. We think there is a lot of ‘there’ there in the theme park business for many years to come […] We have a low market share – and only one way to go.” In the same breath, he noted that while Universal had over 4,200 hotel rooms at the time, evaluation suggested the resort could support as many as 15,000.
As for having just “one way to go”? Among Roberts’ assurances was that each Universal Resort would gain a major new addition, every single year for the foreseeable future. From just 2013 to today, we’re talking about…
- …in Hollywood: Despicable Me: Minion Mayhem, Springfield: Home of the Simpsons, The Wizarding World, Walking Dead: The Attraction, DreamWorks Theater, Secret Life of Pets: Off The Leash, Jurassic World: The Ride, and Super Nintendo World;
- …in Orlando: Transformers: The Ride, Springfield, Reign of Kong, Race Through New York, Volcano Bay, Fast & Furious: Supercharged, Cinematic Celebration, Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure, Jurassic World VelociCoaster, the Bourne Stuntacular…
Not to mention the opening of Universal Studios Beijing and massive reimaginings of Universal Studios Singapore… It’s just an absolutely astounding level of investment in eight years. But beyond the new ride headlines, Comcast made an even more intriguing move in 2016 when, for $130 million, they quietly bought back 475 acres of the “South Complex” that Vivendi’s Universal had sold 13 years earlier… Things were about to get interesting…
Ingredients for Expansion
In 2019 at an inoccuous investor’s meeting, Chairman and CEO of Universal Parks & Resorts Tom Williams confirmed a rumor long-circulating among industry fans: that Universal Orlando was readying for the construction of a third theme park – their most “immersive and innovative” yet. Considering that neither Disney nor Universal had built a theme park in the Western hemisphere since 2001’s California Adventure (preferring the largely untapped markets and massive populations of Asia), that alone was a big deal.
Then in August, it was official. For the first time since 1999’s Islands of Adventure, Central Florida would become home to a brand new theme park: Universal’s Epic Universe. The new, from-scratch gate would be Universal’s third Orlando park (though they officially call it their fourth based on the somewhat silly notion that their 27 acre waterpark counts as their third, which actually just discounts what a big deal this actual-third-park is.)
After inventing the concept of literary, stylized, IP-focused “islands” with Islands of Adventure and arguably mastering the art with the perfectly to-scale Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, Epic Universe would be the first from-scratch, post-Potter U.S. park from either Disney or Universal, with every single land (or, presumably, “universe”) cordoned off from the rest, fully immersive, and totally “in-universe” just like the Wizarding World.
Technically, the only thing officially confirmed about Epic Universe (and again, only through investor calls and not as public marketing) is that it’ll contain Super Nintendo World – the jaw-dropping and unexpected collaboration between Universal Creative and Nintendo that opened in 2020 in Osaka, and 2022 in Hollywood. Even then, Orlando’s version will come pre-packaged with a Super Mario themed Mushroom Kingdom as well as a Donkey Kong expansion pre-built – larger than either of the existing versions.
(That land alone will contain a Mario Kart: Koopa’s Challenge AR-based E-Ticket dark ride, a Yoshi’s Adventure outdoor family ride, and a Donkey Kong coaster, plus countless interactive experiences activated by a Power-Up Band that serves as Super Nintendo World’s wand equivalent.)
We also know that the park’s “entry land” will be a massive space. A sort of bronze, art deco, otherworldly “Celestuary” packed with a dozen restaurants, several flat rides, a headlining dueling coaster, and more, reportedly separated out into elemental mini-lands themed to Earth, Water, Fire, Air, and Aether. Beyond it all, a deluxe hotel (reportedly called Universal’s Helios Grand Hotel) will serve as a cosmic, art deco centerpiece.
Otherwise, insiders tracking the park’s development (like the incredible Orlando ParkStop) confirm that the park will also contain a land themed to Universal’s Classic Monsters (think the black-and-white, pre-code horror films like Dracula, The Wolf Man, Frankenstein, and more); a land devoted to DreamWorks’ How To Train Your Dragon films (recreating the Viking world of Berk, above); and a third Wizarding World of Harry Potter locale to join Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley. (This land, it’s believed, was designed as a 1920s Paris to complement the Fantastic Beasts franchise, but given that film series’ lukewarm reception, expect the rides within it to be set firmly in the more familiar Potter timeline.)
Epic Universe and its associated hotel (no doubt in Universal’s Premier tier) will be the first projects to take shape on the regained “South Complex” property. They almost certainly won’t be the last. ParkStop reports that already, paperwork has been filed for two more hotels – Universal’s Terra Luna and Stella Nova Resorts – and space for a fourth theme park and several more hotels will remain. (Remember, in the ’90s, this “South Complex” was envisioned as the home of two theme parks and 10,000 hotel rooms.)
Though a second “half” of Universal Orlando physically disconnected from the existing core by urban sprawl may seem disjointed, a purpose-built extension of Kirkman Road with Universal shuttle lanes will ensure transportation between the existing transit hub and the South Complex is continuous and smooth. (And lest we forget, a far, far more complex drive is required to travel between any two Disney World parks!)
And perhaps more to the point, Epic Universe resides just steps from the Orange County Convention Center. Apparently, the park’s enormous hub is envisioned as staying open well into the night, serving as a self-contained “CityWalk” for conventioneers, while portals into each “universe” of the park can be opened and closed independently for corporate buyouts or special events. Put another way, Epic Universe appears to be a brilliant and thoughtful anchor for the new South Complex.
Thinking bigger, though, just as Universal’s “learn-as-you-go,” “school of hard knocks” lessons from its 1999 expansion informed the evolutions-into-multi-park destinations of the Disneyland Resort, Tokyo Disney Resort, and Disneyland Paris that followed, the clever “multi-campus” setup established by the South Complex could help shape an inevitable third park in Anaheim, Tokyo, or Paris – any of which would almost certainly located several blocks away from the existing resort core.
No matter how you slice it, Epic Universe looks to be a world-class theme park. And don’t misunderstand – we could (and have) argued that Epic Universe may actually be more than Universal can handle; that it might be just as smart to take those lands to drop them into the resort’s two existing parks where such investment is inarguably needed rather than spreading the resort’s resources thin.
But given that Universal’s decided to go with an entirely new gate, we can look on in awe and ask ourselves: just as they were ready for Universal Studios and ready for Islands of Adventure, what has Disney gotten start to combat Epic Universe? The answer might surprise you…
Disney Parks fans had never been more ecstatic than upon entering the 2022 D23 Expo.
Disney’s semi-annual conference has long been a banner day for fans of Disney Parks, and especially over the preceding decade, had become the event of odd-numbered years. With its biggest fans in attendance, the weekend-culiminating, multi-hour Parks Presentation has always been part wedding, part funeral; a place for big announcements, splashy cameos, and concept art reveals that leave fans stunned and speculating.
Given that the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic had seen the face of Disney Parks forever changed by cancelled projects, lost perks, and new upcharges, the 2022 Parks Panel was viewed by many as a chance to see what lay ahead for a rebounding division of the company… and under the new leadership of franchise-focused CEO Bob Chapek, IP infusions across the resorts seemed inevitable. Fans merely crossed their fingers that, post-COVID, the projects announced at the Expo would match the ambition of former CEO Bob Iger’s splashiest, like the billion-dollar reimagining of California Adventure, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge, Cars Land, and Pandora: The World of Avatar.
But no one expected the news that fans actually left the Parks Presentation with: nothing.
Though Disney’s Parks Chairman, Josh D’Amaro, took the multi-hour window to provide status updates on some (but not all) projects already in the works, re-affirmed plans for a (scaled back) Avengers E-Ticket at California Adventure and a Princess and the Frog reimagining of Splash Mountain, and spoke at length about new meet-and-greets, merchandise, and promotional shows planned for Disney’s parks during 2023 and 2024, fans left the Presentation with zero new projects announced.
That’s surprising for a few reasons. One is certainly that with skyrocketing prices, increasingly incomprehensible complexity, and slashed perks galore, online sentiment has turned against Disney World since 2020. Industry insiders warn that Disney’s post-pandemic cash-in on formerly-free services (like airport transportation, FastPass, package pick-up, resort parking, and MagicBands) may be a smart move for the quarter, but that long-term, the moves have soured word of mouth and ensured that over the next few years, Disney will doubtlessly see a major drop-off in bookings.
But the lack of anything new announced at D23 is also surprising because it means Disney isn’t worried about Epic Universe at all. Think about it – Disney is notoriously slow when it comes to developing new attractions. As an extreme example, though the pandemic surely slowed its construction, Magic Kingdom’s Modern Marvel: TRON: Lightcycle Run was announced in July 2017 and will just barely be ready to open in Spring 2023 – nearly six years later (even excepting a three-month outright pause and a company-wide slow-down during the pandemic).
That means that if Disney were going to have anything ready for 2025’s Epic Universe, it would’ve needed to have been announced in… well… let’s just say, Disney won’t have anything ready to meet Epic Universe head on. If Disney broke ground on a new E-Ticket just after the conclusion of the D23 Expo in September 2022, it surely wouldn’t be ready until 2026 or later.
Disney Indifference
You can see why everyone wishes that Disney had leapt into action at the idea of Epic Universe. For Universal fans, it would’ve been confirmation that the third gate project really is a substantial move that could shift the gravity in Orlando; for Disney fans, it would show that the company can still rally around its theme parks post-pandemic and continue the build-outs that EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, and Animal Kingdom so desperately need.
So… why isn’t Disney worried about Epic Universe? Here’s our thinking…
1. Disney’s current leaders just aren’t theme park people
Back in the ’80s and ’90s, Michael Eisner embraced Disney’s theme parks as an untapped gold mine; a “secret weapon” in the company’s arsenal that, when empowered with big budgets, pop culture presence, and new technologies, could become global destinations and feel-good public relations centers. Eisner really seemed to love the parks both personally and professionally, and that reflected in his early work with them.
Eisner built out not just the capacities and contents of Disney’s theme parks, but the infrastructure that supports them –the hotels, restaurants, architecture, services, perks, and systems. Eisner oversaw international expansion, park-to-resort transformations, and big, bold ideas for what “Disney” could be – from winners like the Disney Cruise Line and Disney Vacation Club, to bold, ambitious losers like DisneyQuest and the Disney Institute. But every step of the way, the parks were one of his focuses.
Bob Iger took up that cause, too – albeit, at first, by having to right the wrongs of Eisner’s last few mistakes. After that, Iger seemed to see how his own legacy – acquisition and growth – could be reflected in the parks. Hence the 2000s and 2010s being an era of incredible investment. Iger saw the parks as “brand deposits,” endeavoring to exceed Universal’s Wizarding World watermark with unprecedented expansions, culminating in Galaxy’s Edge and his own legacy marker: Shanghai Disneyland, embodying his focus on Disney Parks as company landmarks.
By comparison, Bob Chapek seems to view Disney’s theme parks very differently. In part because he arrived at the Parks via the division’s merger with Consumer Products (through which he arose), Chapek is viewed as a reactive leader who relies heavily on data rather than creative intuition. It makes sense for a data-driven manager from Consumer Products to see the parks through the (boring) lens of being “brand loyalty centers” – a divisional bucket whose best use is to collect content from Disney + Pixar + Marvel + Star Wars. And hey, from a company-wide perspective, that’s not an inherently wrong way to view Disney’s theme parks… but it does feel short-sighted.
Franchise-focused and laser-set on reorganizing Disney as a tech-first entertainment company with streaming, merchandising, and licensing at the forefront, Chapek just doesn’t seem very interested in Disney’s theme parks… at least, not beyond the notion that they can be franchised and monetized. That’s why operational efficiency and per-capita spending have de facto replaced guest satisfaction as the Parks’ metric; it’s why Chapek’s team plainly states that fewer Annual Passholders and more “favorable guests” who spend more money on each visit is the goal.
Put simply, those who follow the Walt Disney Company today aren’t particularly surprised that it isn’t being proactive about prepping for Epic Universe. Though Parks fandom is eagerly awaiting the “showdown,” corporate Disney is focused elsewhere. If Epic Universe ends up making a dent in Disney Parks’ bottom line, Chapek will likely instruct his teams to react.
And that “if” brings us to our next reason Disney doesn’t seem too worried…
2. Universal hasn’t hurt them yet
Lest we forget, both of Universal’s theme parks have threatened Disney’s dominance in theory, then left next to no mark on the Mouse House’s bottom line.
That’s not a slight to Universal, whose two Orlando parks are sensational in their own right, and made all the more unmissable by the Wizarding World. There’s no question that Universal has taken big chances and gotten big results. Islands of Adventure, in particular, resides atop many theme park fans’ rankings as an A-Tier park rivaling and in places surpassing some of Disney’s equivalent efforts.
But let’s not lose our heads. Though fans cite the Wizarding World as the one to beat in today’s theme park industry, the fact is that in 2019, Islands of Adventure was visited by 10.3 million guests; Universal Studios, 10.7 million. The same year, Magic Kingdom was visited by 21 million… the equivalent of Islands of Adventure and Universal Studios combined.
So the long and short is that – three decades after Universal arrived in Orlando – Disney still hasn’t had to shatter that “Break Glass In Case of Competition” emergency box. Disney didn’t really need to do anything at all to combat Universal until the Wizarding World, and only once Hogsmeade opened did the lumbering beast of Disney begin to stir on projects that didn’t actually open for 7, 8, 9 years after. So even if you could argue that the Wizarding World lit a fire beneath Disney’s parks, Chapek’s ascendence seems to snuffed it back out.
If “the best predictor of future behavior is relevant past behavior,” is it really any surprise that Disney’s 2022 D23 Expo didn’t include any “Epic Universe killers,” or really, anything at all? We can hope that Epic Universe is different – either because we want Universal to dominate, because we want a fire lit under Disney, or both – but from Disney’s perspective, you can understand why the threat of Epic Universe isn’t exactly paralyzing. Quite the contrary, Disney likely anticipates weathering the opening of Universal’s new gate – whether it’s a rainshower or a hurricane.
You can chalk that up to our frustrating-but-true areas in which Universal simply can’t beat Disney – a sort of brand-loyalty foundation that comes pre-baked into Disney, rain or shine. Universal can expand its footprint, ride count, and quality all it wants, but Magic Kingdom will always be the most-visited park in the country for a whole lot of very complex reasons.
So it makes sense that Disney would expect to weather this one just like it’s weathered every challenge Universal has mounted so far. And as a cherry on top, there’s one last reason we think Disney just isn’t too worried about Epic Universe…
3. Universal could very well mess this up… again
What is a “resort”? If you ask most people, it’s an all-inclusive luxury hotel at a tropical destination, or a mountainside European lodge. But if you’re visiting Universal Orlando Resort or Disneyland Resort or Walt Disney World Resort, you’re meant to know that it means “an entertainment complex with multiple theme park, retail, dining, and hotels.”
What is a “theme park”? Some may think of a single “gate” like Islands of Adventure, California Adventure, or Disneyland Park as a theme park residing within a Resort; but others call Walt Disney World a theme park. And hey, Universal tells us that its waterpark is a “theme park,” but supposes Disney’s two waterparks aren’t.
And then there are the “Harry Potter theme park,” the “Cars theme park,” and the “Star Wars theme park” that the media talks about, recognizing (probably correctly) that discussing the same projects as “lands” wouldn’t translate well to the general public for whom that term doesn’t mean anything.
In short, none of this is intuitive. It’s a big task for a 30-second ad spot to explain to guests that Universal’s Orlando “Resort” has a new “Theme Park” with a Nintendo “Land” and a MarioKart “Ride” – all of which are essential messages if you want people to understand that they need not only to visit, but to stay longer.
Unless Universal really nails the marketing campaign, the differences between Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, and Epic Universe won’t be obvious at first glance or even casual study. (Why should Monsters be in Epic Universe instead of the Studio? Why would Marvel superheroes on an Island instead of a Universe?)
Sure, the “rules” of Resorts and Theme Parks are more solidified today than they were during Universal’s first growth spurt… But consider that even after Universal’s official announcement of Epic Universe, even in-the-know fans briefly debated whether Epic Universe was the name of the park, or of the entire new “South Complex,” which will contain the theme park, its “CityWalk” like shopping district, and a number of hotels all with the same aesthetic as the Epic Universe logo. And to that point, look at the simple, infographic map again, which really does little to visually rank each logo, or to clearly articulate what’s what in the hierarchy of the destination. Universal still doesn’t seem entirely clear on how to convey what its main draws are versus the supporting actors.
There’s no question that Universal’s star is rising in Orlando, and that the presence of Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley has helped not only to get folks into the property, but to reintroduce and differentiate its two parks – at least by their respective halves of the Wizarding World.
But look at Universal’s current international marketing blitz – “Let Yourself Woah!” It’s certainly a great tone-setter, and does a remarkable job of showcasing a number of the resort’s newest rides and biggest brands. However, would a layman recognize from it that Universal has multiple theme parks, a waterpark, and hotels to visit? And if extending stays is your objective, shouldn’t a marketing campaign clearly convey that?
After all, most people in the country – and even most visitors to Orlando – have far less familiarity with Universal Orlando than with Walt Disney World. It will be an uphill battle to clearly, concisely articulate in ads that Universal Orlando now offers three (or – blegh – is it four?) theme parks – the movie one, the adventure one, and the new one; the cities, the islands, and the galaxy; the Studio Gates, the Lighthouse, and the ______; Universal Studios, Islands of Adventure, and Epic Universe.
Comcast may give Universal Parks an unprecedented mouthpiece for spreading the mouthful that “Universal’s Epic Universe at Universal Orlando Resort” is coming, but the question is, will people understand it?
Though the far reach of Comcast may provide an unprecedented mouthpiece to deliver the mouthful that “Universal’s Epic Universe at Universal Orlando Resort” is coming, will the message be understandable? And even if it is, will people understand? That’s the question…
The Coin Flip
So will Universal’s Epic Universe shift the gravity in Orlando in a measurable way? Will Walt Disney World actually loose some ground to its longtime competitor, whose new, deep-pocketed owners see “only one way to go” for their expanding Florida campus?
Right now, we’d call it a coin flip.
A whole lot is leveraged against Universal – including its own history, rife with big, bold, ambitious plays at Disney that largely landed with thuds. As we’ve explored, each of Universal’s previous two parks has seemingly been perfectly angled to compete with Disney’s equivalent offering of the era… and each, for one reason or another, hasn’t. The financial backing of Comcast has clearly reinvigorated Universal’s fight, with Epic Universe as a pinnacle of their decade of massive investment. But Universal could easily miss the mark, failing to convey what they have to offer… it’s happened before.
But we also can’t fully consider the effects of Epic Universe without acknowledging Disney’s current position… Having radically shifted its vision toward streaming and content acquisition, the company leadership’s attention is simply elsewhere. For many reasons, Disney doesn’t feel the need or even want to buff up its Parks prior to Epic Universe’s opening. That’s their prerogative, and perhaps even conveys a quiet strength; that they’re quite literally unbothered by the opening of a multi-billion dollar park down the street.
The flip side of that coin, though, is that Disney’s shifted focus has also seen some of its longstanding allegiance and earned goodwill evaporate.
Just five years ago, Disney’s premium pricing and on-site lodging guarunteed guests free parking, free FastPass, free airport transportation, and free MagicBands. Today, a family of four will pay over $700 just to recreate what used to be included in a Disney World hotel stay to say nothing of increased ticket, hotel, and food prices across the board – all while Chapek proudly proclaims his preference for business models that rely on fewer guests who pay more, and strict, unflinching reliance on Disney+ content to populate the parks.
Put another way, post-pandemic Disney Parks haven’t made many friends, or kept all the ones they’d had to begin with. If ever Universal had the opportunity to take the market share who’ve sworn off Disney’s astounding price increases, unapologetic complexity, slashed perks, overreliance on cell phones, and unmitigated upcharges, now is the time… and Epic Universe could be the thing to do it.
Until then, it’s really no surprise that Disney’s project timeline goes blank just as Epic Universe rises. If Universal’s Epic Universe turns out to be the game-changer that so many hope, maybe Disney will awaken and stretch and lumber back to life once more to add some ill-begotten animated lands to Animal Kingdom, or shoehorn more Disney and Pixar into EPCOT.
But until then, Disney’s new model – add-ons, upcharges, slimmed portions, meet-and-greets, limited time promotional events, and character overlays – is doing just fine, with or without those noisy neighbors down the street.
What do you think? Is Epic Universe going to shift the gravity in Orlando toward Universal Orlando? Is it some combination of Universal’s new park and Disney’s growing upcharges and apathy that’ll amount to a sucker punch to the Mouse House? Or could Disney once again escape unscathed thanks to its own pop culture dominance or Universal’s career of playing catch-up and losing out?
