Epic Universe: Universal Destroying Modern Theme Park Ideology

Harry Potter fans are lucky Disney didn’t get their hands on it

Disney is literally the definition of "You either die a hero, or live long enough to see yourself become the villain."

One thing I think helps is the fact that Universal was able to get ahold of a number of Disney's imagineers. So now they have this untapped Talent that's probably itching at the feet to really get creative again and I think that's what we're seeing with epic universe

Theme park attendance and demand rises. Universal: well, guess we’ll have to build new attractions and parks. Disney: well, guess we’ll have to charge people to be in the crowd.

Ive worked as an artist for both Disney and Universal. What I can say about the experience from an employee perspective is there is a HUGE difference between how these companies invest in there creatives and artists. Disney contracts out most of their work. Their park maintenance, on the viz art side, is all third party. That leaves you with unhappy, under compensated, and typically (though not always) passionless people working with basically no direction from Disney itself. Universal has built themselves a robust in-house art team to take care of the parks. They DUMP funds into their property and their people. They spare absolutely no expense to get the job done and shower their employees in goods, opportunity, and appreciation. We are compensated well and happy at work. These parks are our full time home so we give it the love and attention it deserves. And we are compensated abundantly in return.

I’m an architect for Isle of Berk at Universal Epic. It’s so cool that we can actually talk about it now. I had to sign a few long NDAs so I couldn’t tell anyone about it for a long time, so I love hearing people’s thoughts about it now

disney really needs to finish animal kingdom and epcot before they make a 5th park.

Her turning down Disney was a blessing in disguise.

Epic Universe is finally getting me out to Orlando. I’m already planning and saving for my trip next summer. It’s my birthday present to myself. I’ll be staying at a Universal resort and doing all of their parks. I can’t wait!

I live in Florida and have a good friend that worked at both Disney and Universal, a couple years at each. He told me Disney managers beat him down really bad. His universal employers treated him well. Gave him a lot of pats on the back and he loved his job

If it makes Disney USA finally truly innovate and not just reuse stuff, it's a win for everyone.

As someone who always preferred Universal as a theme park destination over Disney pre-Harry Potter, I’m so happy at the growth of the resort and super excited for Epic Universe (the Dark Universe theme is something I’ve wished for since childhood)

I've never been to either resort, but I always say "People go to Disney because it's Disney. People go to Universal because it's actually a good park."

Disney lost the vision Walt had years ago!

As someone from Florida… universal has always been better than Disney

If I was ceo of Disney I would actually invest 60 billion in the parks and not just say I would

Super Nintendo World also gives the equivalent of 4 Disney princesses for Universal in the forms of Peach, Daisy, Rosalina and eventually Zelda.

"Come back, we have Dole Whip!"

The checkmate would be universal incorporating some kind of park area including lord of the rings.

Everything you said is spot on, except that comment about Nintendo having a resurgence in the 2010's. Nintendo has never gone anywhere, maybe the most valuable entertainment name and brand in the world from the 80's until today. Sure the Wii U underperformed, but that was against Nintendo expectations, and their other product lines carried them through that.