I know the new Universal park isn’t opening officially until late May, but does anyone know if there are previews or anything that will hopefully be pulling people from WDW the week of April 15th into Universal’s new park? (really hoping for some lower-than-usual easter week crowds! Especially since it’s gonna be 90º daily that week!)
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I have my doubts anything at Universal will do anything but ADD to Disney crowds…or in the very least, have no impact. I don’t think Disney will see any declines due to Epic Universe opening soon. In fact, it may actually increase Disney crowds because people may move up a Disney trip sooner than they had planned so that they also tack on days to see Epic Universe.
Prior to May 22, though, I don’t think there will be any noticeable changes. Those previews are limited, and probably focused on a demographic that wouldn’t have had much impact on Disney crowds anyhow.
This is just my take, though. I am curious to hear other opinions.
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Epic should no longer have any closed days. It’s in full “soft open” mode now. AP and TM previews are available every day.
I do agree that this will have no negligible impact on WDW crowds right now.
When the park is officially open and it’s full summer is when WDW may notice a change in CLs.
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Yes…BUT, I think people are expecting WDW crowds will drop as a result. I, personally, think the opposite will happen. I think Epic will result in HIGHER crowds at WDW…at least initially. (I hope I’m wrong, though.)
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Looking at the deals available, Disney seems to think they need to entice people to come.
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I think that is most likely due to softening market in general due to economic factors… I don’t think it is due to Epic itself.
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More competition is good for consumers! Not that folks are disputing this, but it’s all pretty dang exciting.
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Maybe not. But it’s an indication Disney thinks attendance will be down if they’re trying to entice people to come.
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Disney doesn’t give deals out of the goodness of management’s heart. Resort occupancy and tickets sales are clearly down given the number of deals this summer. Yesterday’s Disney+ deal on some of the resorts is essentially 50% off the rack rates.
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Initially I think were going to see a drop mainly influenced by out of State and Foreign visitors focusing extra days and time into Universal… (Highly noticeable that some agents West Coast and UK, Japan especially are now focusing packages on longer stays in Universal). Add to this the younger FL AP holders will probably be maxing out the Universal AP days instead.
Disney do seem to have responded with offers globally (mainly free dining or 50% off rack rates). However I’m not sure in terms of Q times well see much difference (Disney tends to just reduce the ride capacity down)- just a feeling of more space.