DVCNews Debates: Other parks

[DVCNews]

Universal Studios Florida opened the most widely known park addition in recent years: *the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. *However it isn't the only Orlando-area park looking to wrest some business from Disney. *Sea World, Legoland, Busch Gardens and others have also made investments in an attempt to attract new customers away from The Mouse. *

Topic: *Has expansion at other Florida parks impacted your Walt Disney World vacation time?

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[bb9822]

My take on the other Florida parks is just ok ,i have been to Bush Gardens and i have had a good time ,but when you think Florida you dont think of the other parks their you think of the Mickey Mouse and Disney World besides their is so much to do that Walt has built something for everyone to enjoy so why leave and go to another park like sea world or universal or legoland or even bush gardens ,so stick with DVC and Disney .

[KNWVIKING 2.0]

For years we had annual passes to SW and Aquatica. When the free beer & Clydesdale horses went away, so did we. Inbev just wasn't interested in the parks. Blackstone has since purchased the parks and are willing to put capital into the parks and we have revisited SW, but it still doesn't feel the same as when Bud owned & operated them. Deep down, I think Auggie Busch had a lot of Walt Disney in him.

To be truthfull, the area outside the bubble needs to add another major theme park. I would love to see BG leave Tampa and set up shop on I-192 just west of AK. Right now the Lake Buena Vista area has more beds than the ques can handle.

While the other parks may seem like competition for WDW, what I commonly hear is "X park was fun, but it sure wasn't Disney". In some respect the other parks make you appriciate just how great WDW is. I know I point out a lot of the negative aspects of WDW, but that's only because I don't want them to get lazy and allow WDW to become just another park. I like visiting other parks because they are fun, but driving back onto WDW property just has that "ahhhhhhh" feeling I never get at US/IOA/SW/BG or Camden.

[bakerworld]

Have enjoyed other venues but not the like WDW. Somehow it is just different. Eventually we hope to branch out and do other Floridian activities but for our limited vacation $$ it just doesn't see worth the effort. I can shop at home, roller coasters and water parks will eventually give me motion sickness so I can't do them for an extended period of time and the urge to re-visit BG, IOA, WWUSA or even BB/TL are activities I can easily push away. Beach sitting was nice when the kids were small and any moment of peace was appreciated but that time is long gone. Adventure vacations have been equaling spending a lot of time travel and the appeal just isn't there. I really can't think of anything that other FL parks could do to equal the 'easy' that is Disney.

[idratherbeinwdw]

My feelings exactly Janet.

[RichGBC]

There are other parks?!

Just kidding. Been to SeaWorld a couple of times, mainly when I was a kid. Last time I went there was 97. It just didn't feel right, compared to the hospitality of WDW. I wouldn't mind going there again, but don't really have interest in seeing the rest. DVC, annual passes, and Magical express...I don't bother adding cars and admissions into the logistics and budget to bother with the rest.

[DizDays]

It has been a good 15 years or more since I've been to an "outside" park. Not that we don't think about it, just that we never manage to pull ourselves away from Disney. We keep saying, "This time we'll try Sea World since we haven't been there since they added all the rides" or "Maybe we should check out Universal since they added Harry Potter" but we don't make it. DVC and Annual Passes have something to do with it. I'm not going to buy tickets to another park when I have tickets for Disney - so timing is a part of it. I went to Universal Studios the weekend it opened and was appalled at how dirty (and unfriendly) it was. There was sticky, chewed gum on the sidewalks! We then tried it again when IOA opened because we love rollercoasters. Just not a fan (and we felt physically abused by The Hulk). We liked Busch Gardens because of the coasters, but haven't been there since '98. Disney is our home. It's what makes us happy.

[RAMartin]

We go to WDW about every other year. Our next planned trip is in 2013 and all my kids talk about is going to Universal/IOA. I am sure part of it is that we live in Southern California and visit Disneyland almost monthly. However, our family feels that WDW has had little new to offer in recent years and the improvements to Fantasyland are not compelling to my teenage daughters. The Fantasyland improvements feel more like an attempt to follow in the footsteps IOA's Potter. WDW just has a been there done that feel to it for us and it does not measure up to Disneyland. So in 2013 we will go to the Space Center and spend a few days at Universal/IOA. We will not go to a Disney theme park. Perhaps Avatar at AK will bring the cutting edge back to WDW. WDW needs to stop reacting and start leading the way.

[DiZ NeE 08]

For years we had annual passes to SW and Aquatica. When the free beer & Clydesdale horses went away, so did we. Inbev just wasn't interested in the parks. Blackstone has since purchased the parks and are willing to put capital into the parks and we have revisited SW, but it still doesn't feel the same as when Bud owned & operated them. Deep down, I think Auggie Busch had a lot of Walt Disney in him.

To be truthfull, the area outside the bubble needs to add another major theme park. I would love to see BG leave Tampa and set up shop on I-192 just west of AK. Right now the Lake Buena Vista area has more beds than the ques can handle.

While the other parks may seem like competition for WDW, what I commonly hear is "X park was fun, but it sure wasn't Disney". In some respect the other parks make you appriciate just how great WDW is. I know I point out a lot of the negative aspects of WDW, but that's only because I don't want them to get lazy and allow WDW to become just another park. I like visiting other parks because they are fun, but driving back onto WDW property just has that "ahhhhhhh" feeling I never get at US/IOA/SW/BG or Camden.

I totally agree with you ken! I went to BG not to long ago and the last time I had been to bg was in 2005-2006. I noticed that they did not have the anheuser-busch clydesdales and that they didnt have the beer tasting that they previously had when I had gone before. I was so disappointed at the changes that were put in place of the old stuff. I did see a few improvements in ride cleanliness and ride operation but not sure if they did that or it was previously performed. with your post I started researching and o was surprised that when inbev bought anheuser busch they wanted to get rid of all the parks but thats how some companies work.

On the question above... Everytime I talk to someone or I am in another park, I always hear/think this is nothing like disney! Wdw is so much better when it comes to everything basically, the rides, atmosphere, cleanliness and the experience that is attained in wdw is on another level. I have so much fun at bg because I am obsessed with roller coaster and they have good ones but just riding roller coasters gets boring after the 3rd to 5th time riding the same thing right after each time. Its amazing how your surroundings can make such a big difference. my gf and I went to us/ioa a while back, as soon as we got out of the car we were disgusted as the employees directing cars were chit chatting with each other across the parking garage and they were cursing. you would never see that at wdw! I have come to believe that wdw keeps its standards (standards that walt created) because they know better than to stray from the standards that got wdw to where it is now.

[thebwit]

We've gone to IOA/US a couple of times outside of our Disney trip. But from a cost perspective it is difficult. A single day at any of the other parks for the family costs close to $800 if not more (transportation, tickets, food, etc...) and to think that a single day on a 7 day trip costs that much it isn't really worth it. We really like IOA, and probably when our kids are older we will go back, but until we can figure out a good way to do split stay and make it more cost effective, it isn't really happening for us.