Why is IOA's attendance so low?

[SharkTums]

^Ahh good point bringing up the Magic Your Way ticket... best concept ever!!!!

 

Disney does a great job of 'trapping' people on their property. I can't tell you how many times I've stayed at Disney and even though I have a car and an annual pass to Universal or Sea World or Busch, I can't be bothered to leave the awesome resort area!

 

For a family doing a trip to Disney where Disney is bringing them to/from the airport and hotel and they look at their budget and see "Hmmm, $6 to add on another day of Disney or $75 to add on a day to a different park and then we have to pay for transport as well"...it's a no brainer!

 

Disney was smart!

 

It will be interesting to see if Blackstone tries to offer any sort of similar ticket/transport (kind of like the Orlando Flex Pass) that includes Lego/Universal/Busch/Sea World, etc.

Edited July 14, 2010 by SharkTums

[davisal771]

^^ Now that I re-read my post I didn't really make my point clear, which is that disney is just a more family friendly place than IOA. (Or thats at least the way the GP look at it)

[Erik Johnson]

It should be noted that Jurassic Park did get a lot of love and care a few months ago. When I rode it early June, every effect was running including ones I have never seen before. It certainly was the very first time I have ever seen mist in the opening section of the ride before the double doors. I will be curious to see if they manage to keep everything going by the time for my next visit. Hulk did get a new light/effect package in the lift hill tunnel which includes few new sound effects as well as a bunch of new pulsing green lights, but yeah everything else is not in the very best shape. With that said, it is true that they really did let a lot of things go in the park, especially with ride operations. Things were certainly better in June but I wonder how things will be once the off-season starts. As Elissa noted, IOA is perhaps the most unfriendly park in Orlando for younger kids. There is simply hardly anything to do for them there.

Edited July 14, 2010 by Erik Johnson

[Jay20016]

^^ Now that I re-read my post I didn't really make my point clear, which is that disney is just a more family friendly place than IOA. (Or thats at least the way the GP look at it)

 

It isn't an impression, it is a reality.

 

I like the Universal parks, don't get me wrong, but there is a reason people continually spend thousands upon thousands of dollars at Disney. It isn't some right of passage, but an idea and expectation of what their hard earned money will net them. Sometimes people have outrageous ideas of what that is, but on the whole, Disney seems to be able to deliver most of the time. That is what people look at and think.

 

Another side note, from the families that I talk to at our park, it seems that most of the Americans stay at/near Disney and do their 5 day vacations at Disney. While, the Europeans (mainly Brits) who spend 2 weeks here in Orlando/Florida/States seem to be the ones that include days at the other local parks. It is for this reason that I doubt there will ever be another full-blown park built by Disney here in Orlando.

 

As far as IOA goes I remember when it opened it was phenomenal. A year or two later, the subsequent visits still had a lot of "Wet Paint" signs all around and the upkeep was top notch, but then... it just went to hell.

[knottslover77]

A side note there really missing the basic rides! everything there is like a E or D ticket. They need Swings and more flats maybe a a large family kind of coaster(in between hulk and Unicorn size) or a small dark ride. just the basic rides that make up a park.

 

--Jay

[mightbeawannabe]

In my opinion, people see big rides and lovable characters in Disneyworld and only see a backlot and movie set in Univeral and not anything else in either while both have way more to offer to guests. This doesn't even scratch the surface of my opinion on the subject.

[The_Mad_Hatter]

A side note there really missing the basic rides! everything there is like a E or D ticket. They need Swings and more flats maybe a a large family kind of coaster(in between hulk and Unicorn size) or a small dark ride. just the basic rides that make up a park.

 

--Jay

 

I would say Cat in the Hat fits the description of a small [family] dark ride.

[knottslover77]

A side note there really missing the basic rides! everything there is like a E or D ticket. They need Swings and more flats maybe a a large family kind of coaster(in between hulk and Unicorn size) or a small dark ride. just the basic rides that make up a park.

 

--Jay

 

I would say Cat in the Hat fits the description of a small [family] dark ride.

 

I agree with you but they need another. Disney has like 6.

 

--Jay

[The_Mad_Hatter]

A side note there really missing the basic rides! everything there is like a E or D ticket. They need Swings and more flats maybe a a large family kind of coaster(in between hulk and Unicorn size) or a small dark ride. just the basic rides that make up a park.

 

--Jay

 

I would say Cat in the Hat fits the description of a small [family] dark ride.

 

I agree with you but they need another. Disney has like 6.

 

--Jay

 

well theres also MIB-AA and ET in the Studios. I believe it is Quality, not Quantity.

[SharkTums]

^MiB has a 42'' height requirement so it's NOT a kids ride/dark ride like at Disney. Plus it's at the Studios, NOT IOA.

[taytig]

My 2 cents - It is just too expensive. I know the prices are comparable to Disney, but we always buy 10 day no expiry tickets and it works out to be only $35ish a day. I just can't justify $70 for a day to ride only a handful of rides. I have been in the past and the rides are great, but the number of attractions is just not high enough to justify me spending the money to return. Having said that, if there were discounted tickets or multi-day, no expiry option, I'd consider it, but again, when my kids are older. My girls love Disney because there is just so much they can do, Universal/IOA just doesn't seem to offer the selection and variety. And the attractions at Disney are so reridable - I can't say I think this for IOA (for kids who aren't into big coasters yet).

 

By the way - My kids even love Animal Kingdom, even though rides are limited as they could spend all day just looking at the animals on the trails.

[1pizza14]

IMO When you think of florida.. what do you think of? Disney.. this is the major problem comparing disney to universal. People have so many memories from when they were a kid which makes them want to revisit. Disney has been open much much longer than universal. Also they offer resort transport and they have many hotels, parks, shopping, transportation, golfing, dining.. ect... universal does have some of that but its just not enough to grab all of the disney families out there. I like both disney and universal equally and they both have great rides. US just really needs to market both of their parks very well and try to surpass disney. They could try opening a water park.. or something else on a small scale to grab in some new tourists.

[RCFreak]

They could try opening a water park.. or something else on a small scale to grab in some new tourists.

 

Uh, Wet 'N' Wild.

 

Anyway, I agree with the notion that there just hasn't been enough added to justify the massive influx of people that they will see this year with the major addition of Wizarding World of Harry Potter before. I've been there three separate occasions, and honestly, if it wasn't for WWoHP I would have no problem skipping both parks when I head out in November since I've done it all so many times.

[the ghost]

All right, so last summer I went to IOA/Universal for the first time and Disney for the second time, and I want to throw in my to cents. Also, I am a disney fanboy, but I had a great time at both IOA/Universal, so I will try to be unbiased.

 

A: The disney magic works for me. Now do I clearly know the characters are random people in costume, or that the mountains holding various rides are artificial? Yes, but they sure as hell are charming. There is so much effort put into wonderfully theming the attractions at Disney, and it is down to the tiniest detail. This is not about dragons so much, but Hulk just looks so average, and it is relatively average besides the launch, which has been done by many other companies. Then we get to something Chuck said before, Toon lagoon is okay, but GOD DAMN Duddley Do Rights mountain thing is hideous, despite the ride being good. The theme parks are both very impressive, but they feel like a theme park, not like a crazy beautiful immersive environment like I get with Disney.

 

B: The rides. Cat in the hat is(I believe) the only truly kid friendly dark ride at either park. MIB and Spidy, both awesome, are not kids rides. Disney has Indy and Dinosaur, which are less family friendly dark rides as well, but as a whole there is much more for kids to do at each park.

 

C: The Disneyland resort system just works so well. Disney is its own town. It is literally kind of strange leaving Disney, cause when your at Disneyworld nothing is not Disney, and it shows. Its so immersive and well done that Mickey stuff was at our hotel, or that there were fun activities and Disney related stuff to do 24/7. Universal does not have that... it just feels like "Yay, another theme park, a DAMN good theme park, but still a theme park.

[disneyfan1313]

One other thing which is a huge issue with IOA is that during the famous afternoon thunderstorms.. the entire park feels shut down. Most other parks in Florida have a larger selection of things to do indoors... Here is what gets shut down almost every afternoon.

 

Dr Doom

Hulk

Ripsaw Falls

Popeye Play Area

Blutos Bilge Rat Barges

Jurassic Park River Adventure

Camp Jurassic

Petradon Flyers

Dragon Challenge

Hippogriff Coaster

One Fish Two Fish

Carousel

Seus Trolly Train

 

If this was a park somewhere in the country where afternoon thunderstorms were not common... it wouldn't be as big of a deal.

[CoasterEricHP]

I agree with most people on here as far as Universal (especially IOA) not adding new attractions enough to keep people interested, but it's also not even remotely possible to compare Universal parks attendance with Disney.

 

I dont think ANYONE, especially guest relations, wants Universal to compete with Disney with attendance because the parks are TINY compared to Epcot or Magic Kingdom, and probably even smaller than Disney Studios. When I worked at Universal, a 30k day was a BUSY day. That's probably an average day at MK. I think MK maxes out around 75k (if I can remember right), and Universal and IOA are around half that, maybe a tad more.

 

It would be very interesting to see how the attendance in each park in Orlando compares to something like "guests per acre" or something like that.

 

Obviously Universal is not geared specifically towards younger kids, and having only three onsite resorts (which again are tiny compared to the tens of thousands hotel rooms on Disney property), PLUS the fact that Disney (and Universal) have the consecutive day ticket plans that are designed to keep you on property and make you feel like you're wasting money by going up or down I-4 to visit BGA, UNi, or SW.

 

I do however think what Universal does.. it does very well, and even though attendance could always go up a bit, I'm pretty sure Universal is doing great for what they expect (not 17 million people!)

[10ryansmith]

I agree with what people are saying about Universal, but I HATE Disney. Too many little devils running and screaming everywhere. All the people that let there little monsters run around everywhere. Disney has like 3 trhilling rides? (Rock N' Roller Coaster, Everest, and Tower of Terror) While I know that Universal is more geared towards adults and would suit me more, I really would just want to go to Busch Gardens in Tampa then even deal with all the craziness that is Orlando now. With the addition of Legoland, it just helps me tell people to avoid Orlando atogether.

 

On the addition of rides, Disney and Universal are one in the same. OK, Disney added new rides but they are an afterthough. Not like WWOHP is. That is the reason that everyone wants in IoA, not the tiny dark rides that Disney keeps adding.

 

I dont visit Florida anymore, I go to Tampa for a couple of days a year and then Im done. I would rather stay at home and go to CP, HW, or KI which are all within 4 hours of the house. Hell, I would even rather go to the tourist trap that is Pigeon Forge for Dollywood and some thrills.

 

I know some people are going to hate me for saying I HATE Disney, but I would rather go to any Six Flags park than Disney.

[timfreeman]

A few things people mentioned may be fixed due to the whole WWHP thing. Normally my family doesn't go to Orlando in the summer as we don't like the heat. We went a couple weeks ago and noticed immediately things had been touched up. I also noticed many affects and items that aren't normally there on the rides (T-Rex was actually working!!). I can't list all the little things, but it was enough for the kids to notice too. I thought maybe they turned some of them off during the off months to conserve money, but they could have just been broken and never fixed. The downside was Spiderman seemed to break down on a daily basis at night. I don't recall one night where it didn't break down on my wife or I (child swap with the little one).

 

Here's the issues I see that would drive attendance:

 

1) Resort - Universal has been trying to change this, but right now there is no competing with the Disney Resort. They pick you up from the airport, have "affordable" hotels, stores on-site (or Downtown Disney), and drop you back off at the airport. To add Universal to this mix means a $50 cab ride or rental car on top of the park tickets ($10 extra a day for Disney or $100 for Universal?). It's just not economically feasible. Universal's on site resorts are great, but I would compare them to the moderate or deluxe at Disney. If you want to go the Value route, you are either stuck off site at a run-down hotel, or paying $120+ a night.

 

2) Rides - I love Universal/IOA, but I doubt I'll ever go back before 4pm, especially with a Premier Pass. Most don't have a pass, so I'll not delve into that. UO/IOA just don't have enough rides to keep a full family entertained for a full week. If you have little kids, you are even more limited. IOA has the Cat, One Fish, Carosuessel, and Trolley. I guess you could also count Storm as it doesn't have a height restriction. UO has Shrek, Neutron (height restriction, stationary seating), Animal Show, and Barney. You can count Twister, Disaster, and Jaws if you want as they don't have height restrictions, but can be scary to certain kids. They do have the play areas, but my kids can play at the park in town for a lot less money rather than sit there all day with them and we have passes locally to Kings Island and the water park. We do visit them, just not all day. There is no comparison to the 4 parks full of rides at Disney.

 

3) Staff - While both Disney and UO/IOA have gone way down hill in the last years with customer service, IOA just plain stinks and I'll give an example. We were at the Cat a few weeks ago. Someone had a scooter, so we went up and asked the attendant what to do. The conversation went like this:

Me: Do you guys allow the chair in the line?

Girl: No (that was it, looked at me and walked to the other side of the line and stared at the sky)

Me: How do we get [the person] into the ride?

Girl: I don't know (again looked away)

Me: (now irritated) You mean Universal has no policy to get a handicapped person into a main attraction ride?

Girl: (shrugs her shoulders and turns around again)

At this point a manger (plain clothes but has a tag on her shirt) walks up and explains that the motorized chair isn't allowed in the queue, but they can transfer to a push wheelchair to get to the ride. I'm hoping the manager gave the worker a flogging, but I doubt it fixed anything. This is only the first example that popped into my head.

 

4) Disney - There's really nothing to compete with the Disney brand. Mickey and friends, Princesses, Cars, Toy Story....the list goes on and on for little ones. UO has Dudley Dooright, Popeye, Woody Woodpecker, Barney, Fievel.... While my older kids have always liked the rides (been going since they were around 3), I doubt they have ever seen a show with any of the above in it other than Barney.

 

5) Shows - Disney has 400 parades (maybe a slight exaggeration ) and fireworks at most parks daily. Illuminations and Fantasmic are about the best things I've seen anywhere. The sheer mass of fireworks in the new show at Magic Kingdom is outrageous....UO just brought back Universal 360, but that's it.

 

Bottom line on attendance is I don't think UO/IOA is little kid friendly. Harry Potter will definitely spike attendance, but I don't think it fixes the overall issue. I'm not really sure anything could fix it though as you can't compete with the mouse or the girls.

[DOCTOR DOOM!!!]

I agree with what people are saying about Universal, but I HATE Disney. Too many little devils running and screaming everywhere. All the people that let there little monsters run around everywhere. Disney has like 3 trhilling rides? (Rock N' Roller Coaster, Everest, and Tower of Terror) While I know that Universal is more geared towards adults and would suit me more, I really would just want to go to Busch Gardens in Tampa then even deal with all the craziness that is Orlando now. With the addition of Legoland, it just helps me tell people to avoid Orlando atogether.

 

On the addition of rides, Disney and Universal are one in the same. OK, Disney added new rides but they are an afterthough. Not like WWOHP is. That is the reason that everyone wants in IoA, not the tiny dark rides that Disney keeps adding.

 

I dont visit Florida anymore, I go to Tampa for a couple of days a year and then Im done. I would rather stay at home and go to CP, HW, or KI which are all within 4 hours of the house. Hell, I would even rather go to the tourist trap that is Pigeon Forge for Dollywood and some thrills.

 

I know some people are going to hate me for saying I HATE Disney, but I would rather go to any Six Flags park than Disney.

 

I second this... but WOW!!! You flamed Disney AND Dollywood

[timfreeman]

I agree with what people are saying about Universal, but I HATE Disney. Too many little devils running and screaming everywhere. All the people that let there little monsters run around everywhere. Disney has like 3 trhilling rides? (Rock N' Roller Coaster, Everest, and Tower of Terror) While I know that Universal is more geared towards adults and would suit me more, I really would just want to go to Busch Gardens in Tampa then even deal with all the craziness that is Orlando now. With the addition of Legoland, it just helps me tell people to avoid Orlando atogether.

 

On the addition of rides, Disney and Universal are one in the same. OK, Disney added new rides but they are an afterthough. Not like WWOHP is. That is the reason that everyone wants in IoA, not the tiny dark rides that Disney keeps adding.

 

I dont visit Florida anymore, I go to Tampa for a couple of days a year and then Im done. I would rather stay at home and go to CP, HW, or KI which are all within 4 hours of the house. Hell, I would even rather go to the tourist trap that is Pigeon Forge for Dollywood and some thrills.

 

I know some people are going to hate me for saying I HATE Disney, but I would rather go to any Six Flags park than Disney.

 

I think it has more to do with age than anything. Some people and their kids are extremely annoying, but I've learned (sometimes) to look past them and enjoy the moment. I enjoy watching my kids more than most rides. To see the sheer enjoyment and happiness on their faces really is priceless to me. Watching the electrical parade, Snow White came up and kissed my 2 year on the forehead. I'll remember his face long after the thrill of riding any ride. When my middle son was 3, Snow White (I see a theme) kissed him on the cheek during a breakfast at the castle. He wouldn't wash his face, swim, or ride any water rides for 2 days because he didn't want to loose the lipstick.

 

At 19 though, I don't see making a trip to central fla and not at least try to hit UO/IOA

[robbalvey]

I know some people are going to hate me for saying I HATE Disney, but I would rather go to any Six Flags park than Disney.

When I read posts like yours I just assume you're posting to stir up trouble and drama...so I ignore them...and I would encourage others to do the same. There have been some VERY good points of discussion raised in this thread (other than 10ryansmiths flame bait post) so I would recommend discussing those points instead.

 

--Robb

[1pizza14]

They could try opening a water park.. or something else on a small scale to grab in some new tourists.

 

Uh, Wet 'N' Wild.

 

 

oops.. i forgot universal owned wet n wild.

[Jay20016]

They could try opening a water park.. or something else on a small scale to grab in some new tourists.

 

Uh, Wet 'N' Wild.

 

 

oops.. i forgot universal owned wet n wild.

 

Technically Blackstone owns it. And, if we want to talk about how IOA has fallen far... who's been to Wet n Wild lately?

 

That park, while having some good slides (Disco H20 is by far my favorite slide, and Bombay is good as well), is just an example of how much park aesthetic factor in to the whole experience. It is run down, dirty, and just very untidy the times I've been lately.

[froggypheebs]

 

Technically Blackstone owns it. And, if we want to talk about how IOA has fallen far... who's been to Wet n Wild lately?

 

That park, while having some good slides (Disco H20 is by far my favorite slide, and Bombay is good as well), is just an example of how much park aesthetic factor in to the whole experience. It is run down, dirty, and just very untidy the times I've been lately.

 

I have to agree with this. I made my first visit to Wet'n'Wild in June and was surprised that a park in Orlando would be that run-down. I also visited Aquatica on this trip so that may have led to me being disappointed in Wet'n'Wild as a comparison. Aquatica, while small, was extremely clean. Also there were many more bathrooms. At Wet'n'Wild, I think there were only three bathrooms there.

 

In general, I love USF and IOA with IOA being my favorite park anywhere. All of the special effects did seem to be working in June when I was there and all of the employees were extremely friendly, maybe this was due to WWoHP just opening that week, I'm not sure. I do agree that there is just not enough to do and Hulk desperately needs a paint job.

 

Just out of curiousity, is there any room either within the park or an expansion area where they could build new rides/attractions? I am unfamiliar with their land situation so I do not know if they are landlocked. I understand that it would not be anytime soon as they will ride the Harry Potter momentum for a while but I am just curious as to what their land situation is.

[dragonskeep]

IOA is my home park. I have been a season pass holder since the beginning . It has been a disappointment for a long time. I go out for a coaster fix from time to time but don't stay for more than a few hours. I used to love to take people who had not been, but not anymore. I find myself saying stuff like, this used to be real cool, or, I wish you could have come 6 years ago. The staff has gotten bad. I wont blame some kid for not creating a fun atmosphere, I will blame their boss. I am probably in the minority here but I think both of the recent additions to UO and IOA have been a disappointment. The overflow line for Potter( which goes all the way to Toon Lagoon) is actually marked with masking tape on the ground. That's just tacky. The ride is good and obviously popular, It's just not great and I was expecting great. When I went to Potter it seemed like they didn't have quite enough space or quite enough money. The Dueling Dragons queue is a joke, there I said it, you took something iconic and made it suck great job. I can't believe they didn't change the bodywork on the trains, or at least paint the track. The audio is just lazy. Mentioning the Qudditch world cup in the queue for Dragons is just dumb.

 

The good: The events at The Studios are what keep me a pass holder. I love Mardi Gras and HHN. The summer concert series was cool too. Train was just awesome. If you ever have a chance you should see them.