Disney, Universal vying for spotlight on new attractions
Well, this is awkward. Walt Disney World and Universal Orlando find themselves in the unusual position of opening massive new additions to their resorts the same week — and showing them off to journalists the same day.
Universal’s new Volcano Bay water park opens May 25.
Pandora: The World of Avatar, a 12-acre themed land at Disney’s Animal Kingdom, opens two days later.
Media from around the country will experience the attractions the same day — May 24. Disney said it expects hundreds of journalists in town to cover its new opening.
A Universal spokesman did not respond to requests for comment. Disney said the timing was coincidental and described Avatar’s debut as part of a bi-coastal
strategy to open big attractions Memorial Day weekend, the unofficial start of summer. At Disneyland in Anaheim, Calif., a refurbished ride — the Tower of Terror redone with a “Guardians of the Galaxy” theme — debuts.
“Summer is the height of the travel season, and it is common in our industry to debut new products and attractions prior to Memorial Day,” the company said in an emailed statement.
Some industry watchers suspect that Disney is trying to drown out coverage of Volcano Bay, a high-tech water park at a resort that’s becoming a formidable rival.
“There are no coincidences there,” said Scott Smith, an assistant hospitality professor at the University of South Carolina. “I can say with almost certainty that everything Disney does is strategically done to minimize the impact Universal has.”
Others say timing of the events is affected by many factors, including executives’ schedules.
“I don’t think either one of them did it on purpose,” said Matt Roseboom, editor-in-chief of Orlandobased Attractions Magazine. “I just think it happened that way.”
Opening the two simultaneously could generate more publicity for both, said Duncan Dickson, who teaches at the University of Central Florida’s Rosen College of Hospitality Management. Media that might not be interested in sending journalists to cover one attraction might be enticed by two, the former Disney executive said.
Theme parks sometimes reveal news at the same time as each other. On Thursday, for example, Universal announced its Harry Potter Christmas celebration as SeaWorld was holding a news conference unveiling a raft ride opening next year. In June, Universal released detailed information on the attractions at Volcano Bay the same day that Disney opened its Frozen ride at Epcot.
Both projects opening next month are potential game-changers for the rival resorts. Pandora is part of Disney’s plan to reshape Animal Kingdom into an all-day theme park. By adding a water park, Universal gives its visitors more reasons to stay on its property longer.
California-based Theme Park Insider editor Robert Niles has a plan in place for his Orlando trip to cover both attractions. “I’m going back and forth between the two on the 24th,” he said. He’ll visit Volcano Bay during the day and Pandora at night.
Then, “I’m hightailing it to the airport, flying back [to California] and then doing the Guardians of the Galaxy,” he said. “I’m throwing Disneyland into the mix because this wasn’t hard enough.”
Travel+Leisure magazine will cover both openings. It will send one staffer and one regular freelance writer to Disney. One or two freelancers will go to Universal.
“There has been tons of interest in updates about the coming Avatar attraction at Disney for the past year, and Volcano Bay at Universal is also generating a lot of buzz,” deputy digital editor Jessica Plautz said in an emailed statement.
Attractions Magazine will send staffers and freelancers to Disney World and Universal, giving each equal weight online.
The magazine’s next cover will feature Avatar.
The spring issue had Universal’s new Jimmy Fallon ride for the cover, so now it’s Disney’s turn. And “most of our fans are primarily Disney fans before they’re Universal fans,” Roseboom said. “Print’s limited, so you have to make choices.”
As far as what TV station pays more attention to which attraction, here’s one hint: The Walt Disney Co. owns ABC. Both Universal and NBC, meanwhile, fall under Comcast Corp.’s umbrella.
Already, Disney has gone on an Avatar media blitz. Last month, it featured the new land on a series of ABC shows. Nothing similar has happened yet on NBC to promote Volcano Bay, which remains under construction.