Before The Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade opened in 2010 at Islands of Adventure, there honestly wasn’t much competition in the theme park industry. Disney owned the game, and to some extent they still do. But, things have changed; Universal is making strides every day to gain more and more of the market share from Disney, and Disney now realizes that Universal poses a real threat.
So, even with Universal’s gains what still separates Disney from Universal? I think there are four categories.
4) Quality Quick Service Food
This is one area where Universal is closing the gap. Ten years ago most Universal guests wished they packed a lunch, but today the food is greatly improving. The food in both the Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Hogsmeade, and Wizarding World of Harry Potter – Diagon Alley might be some of the best quick service food found in any theme park, but outside of that Universal still has some ground to catch up on. The quick service food outside of the Harry Potter themed areas is mostly the cheeseburger, chicken fingers, and pizza you can find at any theme park. And while Disney is guilty of serving this food as well, they also have a number of quick service restaurants that go above and beyond the simple typical quick service locations.
If Universal can learn from the successes they’ve had with the quick service food in the Harry Potter themed areas, and spread that around the rest of their theme parks, that might be a major step in the continued encroachment by Universal in the market share in the theme park industry.
3) An Extremely Devoted Fan Base
There are a lot of critical Disney fans, but there are also thousands of fans who will blindly love anything Disney does. Universal has number of these fans as well, but generally Universal fans are more willing to be critical of the park they love. This is a huge advantage for Disney because they get applauded for almost anything, even if it would be wildly unpopular at another theme park. Guests will continue to return to Disney regardless of what they do. Universal doesn’t have that luxury.
2) Classic Attractions Not Tied To Intellectual Properties
The intended purpose of Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure was to include intellectual properties. So it isn’t their fault that they lack intellectual property-free attractions, but I will say that it is something that separates the Disney theme parks. Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad were all designed without any movie, television show, or comic book based around it.
1) Spectacular Parades and Fireworks Shows
There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it, Disney is just flat out better when it comes to parades and fireworks. After a long day in at a Disney park, the fireworks are the perfect “kiss goodnight.” Meanwhile, over at Universal, the fireworks are decent, but they aren’t necessarily a critical part of the day. It isn’t that Universal fireworks are bad, they just aren’t super impressive, especially for someone that is used to watching the Disney fireworks. In the same sense, any parade at Universal doesn’t hold up to any of the Disney parades.
