Universal and Sea World: Could They Take the Florida Tourism Market?

For those interested in the business side of things, or as I like to call it "playing the home game", here is an interesting article from Chad Emerson at the Blooloop.com blog. He poses that Sea World and Universal could give Disney a run for it’s money in the next few years because they have new offerings for guests and rely less on bus transportation (i.e. have less property to cover). It is a well reasoned and interesting argument and article.

I have to agree that there is a possibility that the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and Sea World’s new water park Aquatica may shorten some folks stays at Walt Disney World. They are a less expensive alternative to the Disney parks. However, I would be surprised if travelers to Orlando did not go to Disney World at all during their trip. I think that most people agree that over the next year (or until the recession is over), the pool of people actually making the trip to central Florida will shrink due to higher gas prices and fewer flights into the local airport. If the price is right at Sea World and Universal, these parks may have a bit of an edge over Disney. However, Mr. Emerson and I both agree that this is not likely, particularly over the long haul.

For those actually going to Orlando, the reality is that Disney has the better product. Universal is good for a day or maybe two and Sea World is a day but the two parks do not constitute a week’s vacation, even with the addition of Aquatica. It is in my plans to go to Universal just to see the Wizarding World once that opens because I am a Harry Potter fan and love the idea of visiting Hogsmeade and Hogwarts; but I am not operating under any sort of delusion that this will be as magical as it might have been if the Imagineers got a crack at it. I am excited to see what Universal does with this amazing opportunity. This is their chance to do a “Disney Job” on their park and Harry has an edge to it that Disney generally lacks and this is where Universal succeeds, think Halloween Horror Nights.

Furthermore, for those of us reading every scrap of information on the web about Disney (or is that just me?) Disney is rolling out new attractions, just over the next five years not the next two years. If anyone caught Honor Hunter’s article this week on what Disney has in the pipeline, there is a lot of cool stuff in the works. A total refurbishment of Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom including a new Little Mermaid attraction and Epcot is supposed to be getting a new E-Ticket ride. Hollywood Studios is getting the most work with a whole new land “Pixar Place”, Star Tours will be showing version 2.0 and there will be several new smaller attractions in the park. There is also that persistent rumor of a fifth gate: Night Kingdom/Jungle Trek, whatever you want to call it for now, this high end experience is going to be interesting.

Although all of these attractions will not open quite as quickly as we might like, with the exception of American Idol, I haven't seen any definitive time lines for anything. I do think that they will continue to keep the parks fresh and keep casual visitors feeling like they have to go to Disney World for a vacation. For the rest of us, do we really need an excuse?

What do you think?