I gotta say, as someone who is not a Star Wars or Avatar fan, I enjoy doing the rides, but I don’t get as much of a thrill walking through the lands as someone who really enjoys them. The Harry Potter worlds, I am constantly amazed, checking out every little thing, (stupidly) purchasing a wand every trip and trying it out, waiting for the dragon to breath fire….I enjoyed the hell out of the nighttime Christmas show on Hogwarts. But I am a huge Harry Porter fan. I think it all depends on your fandom. I could spend hours in Harry Potter world…Star Wars and Avatar, get me on the ride and get me out. Luckily, DS13 is the same as me so he’s my perfect travel companion.
I am also a huge Marvel fan and can’t wait for the day I get to the Avenger’s Campus.
Oh, and I did UOR at Christmas this year instead of WDW for the first time in years. I thought I would miss it. But I really didn’t. They did a wonderful job. The Macy’s Parade, the Hogwarts show, Grinchmas….it was a lot of fun!
Ds did Na’vi and was fine w/ FOP as it is a simulator which he actually enjoys (we have done Star Tours A LOT in the past). Since MFSR is a simulator as well, he would probably be fine w/ it. I am not sure if ds would be okay w/ ROTR w/ the drop, we would have to discuss that.
So both areas do have more than thrill rides.
I am not trying to be argumentative either. I just keep hearing how wonderful UOR is and for us it really wasn’t. While we enjoyed parts of it, it was REALLY hard to enjoy the parks as a family because we had to split up the majority of the time. WDW is just themed as a complete package and far more inclusive for everyone.
Nope. I too thought he would at least ride that and we got him all the way to boarding and he said no. Anything that makes your stomach go all dippy and turn over makes his vestibular system kick into primal fight or flight.
ETA: Pair the primal fight or flight with anxiety and any ride that looks like it will cause that dippy stomach feeling becomes a no go.
Interestingly, simulators don’t bother him at all and he actually loves them. Hence we rode Simpsons and Spiderman a whole heck of a lot (and Star Tours at DHS).
Just to explain this little fun chart, I think what the ridiculously high inflation of theme park tickets represents is a large percentage of American (and international) families rising above subsistence-level income. Crossing that milestone is like popcorn kernels popping and overflowing in a pan - it opens up a whole new world of opportunities for spending.
Disney is a luxury - it isn’t a necessity. And there’s only so much room in a Disney park. As opposed to food and housing, where supply can grow along with wages/population, there hasn’t been a new Disney park in the U.S. in over 20 years.
So same supply plus an increasingly large number of families bubbling up into the target demographic = hyperinflation of ticket prices. And no one can say it’s not fair, because no one “needs” to go to Disney. And it’s a good thing prices have gone up, because otherwise Disney would be even more crowded than it is. It’s a scarce resource.
What about Kong, Spider-Man, Despicable Me, Simpsons, Transformers, Fast and Furious, Race Through New York, Forbidden Journey? These are all simulator rides. Plus the shows, such as the Monster Make Up show, and Bourne Stuntacular, etc?
I said previously that he spent two whole days riding Spiderman, Despicable Me, Simpsons and Men in Black (not simulator).
Kong had opened just before our trip (like a week before?) and it didn’t have Express Pass so we opted to not brave the 3+ hour lines for it.
I can’t remember why he didn’t do Transformers (he loves Bumble Bee and got a hat and a picture w him). Fast & Furious, Bourne, and Race From NY weren’t there yet.
This is what I come back to over and over. There is only so much room in the parks. Travel is easier than ever (besides the pandemic of course). People don’t want to wait in line for hours and hours. So what choice is there, especially for a business, except to raise the prices to decrease the demand?
If there gets to be a point where I am priced out…I have no doubt that I can be replaced by someone who values the experience more and is willing to pay for it. That already is the case for things like Deluxe resorts, after hours parties, etc. Is there a ceiling where eventually the prices have to start to level off a bit or there won’t be demand to meet it? Of course. But I dont think we are any where close to that point.
UOR’s solution is to build another gate. Disney could do the same.
It’s seems to me to be a peculiarly American approach to say that prices should rise until numbers become manageable even if that means we ourselves will be priced out.
Maybe I’m being a typical socialist European by suggesting that more parks should be built until numbers become manageable.
Besides, isn’t that what almost every other business does when faced with huge demand?
A crazy thought: could dispersing the crowds over a greater period of time ease the crowding instead of rising ticket prices? For example, bring back extra park hours for resort guests (more than the pittance than is being offered now); if resort guests take advantage of those extra hours there could be less ppl in the gen. public hours to help w/ crowding. I know that pre-covid I could always anticipate crowd levels by the park hours. For example, if MK was open until 2 am that meant they were expecting A LOT of ppl that day.
yes, I agree. I can’t find the article, but Orlando area saw a marked increase in visitors, and profit, this past Dec. The numbers were higher than precovid days.
I think they will eventually get to this point. They might have announced it already if the pandemic hadn’t happened. But capital expenditures for something as intensive as a theme park rely on very long term forecasts, and I think Covid has spooked investors since you never know what’s going to happen to completely torpedo demand for your product.
Even though Disney has done a good job of staying mostly busy the last couple of years, they have achieved that largely by reopening in stages. Think of the hotels, restaurants, stage venues, etc. sitting empty for months and months. Some are just barely getting back on line now. It will be a while before the Disney board gets behind the type of spending that a new gate (or even a new resort in say, Texas) would require.
Oh, and another point from your friendly capitalist across the pond, if demand is high and supply is low, there’s nothing stopping other companies from jumping into the fray. Disney is a monopoly because we treat it as one. We don’t think UOR and WDW are fungible. But they could be (maybe if UOR tried a little harder to appeal to families and increased the consistency of the quality beyond their best lands). Or there could be a Warner Brothers Resort or a Paramount Resort or whatever to up the competition (which would put downward pressure on Disney’s prices).
UOR could also step up their in park dining game. Once the third park is open, I’m thinking this is when we will go again. If they have more attractions for children and family, I might even bring the littles and middles. Disney wins right now because I know their will be something for everyone food, entertainment, rides, etc everyday for multiple days. I do not feel the same at UOR, but I do love that place too.
