Bob Iger sheds light on Disney's response to upcoming Universal Epic Universe in Orlando

Apr 03, 2024 in "The Walt Disney Company"

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Bob Iger

Posted: Wednesday April 3, 2024 2:22pm ET by WDWMAGIC Staff

At today's Walt Disney Co. Annual Shareholders meeting, Disney CEO Bob Iger was asked about Universal's 2025 opening of Epic Universe in Orlando and how Disney has responded to the competition for theme park guests.

Bob Iger at Walt Disney World

Iger said, "We've been aware of Universal's plans for a new park for more than a decade. And we have a sophisticated approach to analyzing the needs of all of our businesses and strategically deploying capital."

He went on to list recent openings at Walt Disney World, including Star Wars Galaxy's Edge, the EPCOT transformation, and TRON Lightcycle Run at Magic Kingdom.

Nova Corps Starblaster with Spaceship Earth and Monorail passing by Guardians of the Galaxy Cosmic Rewind

Iger continued, "By staggering these major launches, we've been able to commercially and operationally optimize our new offerings over time, rather than having to do it all at once. And based on the guest experience that we've heard all about, from all of these items that I just mentioned, we know that they're extremely popular and they're serving our guests extremely well."

Universal Epic Universe – Bird’s-Eye View map

According to Universal, "Epic Universe will present a level of theme park immersion that is unmatched – transporting guests to expansive worlds featuring more than 50 awe-inspiring attraction, entertainment, dining and shopping experiences that come together to create an unforgettable adventure that is nothing short of epic. The addition of Universal Orlando's fourth theme park will also transform the award-winning resort into a weeklong vacation destination filled with even more compelling experiences. "

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Stripes4 hours ago

Karl Holz, the former President of DCL posted this just a few weeks ago: This past December, one of my neighbors stopped me and said "I just booked the Disney Treasure and was surprised at how much it cost me". He went on to mention he'd do anything for his grandkids! Well this morning I rode my bike in the neighborhood and saw him. I stopped and asked about his Disney Treasure cruise. To quote him... "we were blown away... we already booked our next trip on the Treasure... it was worth every penny and more!" He went on to explain that he'd sailed on Celebrity and Princess but he'll never go back there. He specifically mentioned the understated elegance of the ship, the countless reminders of his own childhood... growing up with Disney and what he really liked was that he and his wife enjoyed Palo Steakhouse and The Rose while the grandchildren wouldn't leave the kids clubs. Most of all, what sealed the deal for him were the tears streaming from the two girls eyes as they departed. It became clear to me that Disney Cruise Line remains a very special part of the Disney Experiences portfolio. I may be biased having been a part of it for ten years before retiring, but experiencing the Disney Treasure has made for another believer. The Difference is truly Disney.

CJR8 hours ago

I will say, Disney definitely comes across as a premium product compared to the others. We got our luggage tags in the mail today, I forgot that they did that still. Pretty much all of the other cruise lines just send you an email and have you print them off. Disney has a lot of little things that set them apart. They come at a cost, but there's a lot of them. Regarding the rotational dining, yes, all modern cruise ships have specialty dining, what I love about Disney's basic rotational dining though is that you have the same people serving you each night. They learn about you and by the end of the cruise, at least for us, offer amazing accommodation without even asking. I have yet to receive the level of dining service that I get on Disney anywhere else. To be fair, I haven't done Celebrity because while kids can go on them, it's not the most interesting brand for families with kids - definitely a more adult oriented brand (although not adult only like Virgin). Maybe when I'm older (and if they keep up their status match with Royal Caribbean).

wannabeBelle4 days ago

Forbes Travel just announced their winners for this year and four of the Celebrity Ships made the cut. Two of the ships, The Ascent and The Millenium have made the 4 star rating and two others, The Apex and the Flora have made the Recommended rating. I have been on the Apex and the Millenium and both were awesome ships. The Apex just seems to keep going to where I want to go so I have been on that one three times and the Millenium twice. Marie

DisneyHead1234 days ago

On vlogs, it’s usually explained as being a positive because your server gets to know you. I can see the extroverts in my family liking that a lot. On the other hand, for my socially anxious self, the group dining situation every night is a potential dealbreaker from ever cruising Disney. Depends a lot on the personalities involved I guess. I also wonder if the rotational dining was originally part of a general overall community theme, when paired with the “neighborhoods” (lounges in one area, shops in one area, etc.) Group dining, getting to know your server, smaller “neighborhoods” - I could see that being a great environment for extroverted, sociable types. That was the environment where things like fish extenders started, after all, so I imagine there was a community feel there. I think with the impersonal environment of the bigger ships some of that is probably lost though, and people getting excited about having the same server suddenly makes less sense.

rd8054 days ago

MSC is a miserable company, with some of the poorest reviews & experiences around. You did the right thing by going to Yacht club though, as they really do cater to you as opposed to virtually ignoring / awful service in anything else.

Sirwalterraleigh5 days ago

Even if they spend that (they won’t…at least not the way fans hope)…it’s diluted by the timeframe As you mess around…what you already rots. The only way to actually sttengthen parks is to let it rip and get things done

Sirwalterraleigh6 days ago

I don’t get this fascinating this fascination with “rotating dining” That’s Disney’s gimmick because they don’t have the upsell locations…which is the way to go Unless you’re on a better line like celebrity

wannabeBelle6 days ago

There is something similar to the rotational dining in the Edge class ships In the Celebrity brand. There are four different dining rooms with the same dishes in each of the four that change each day. Each of the four has a few items that are exclusive to that location and those items do stay the same for the length of the cruise. So for example, in the Normandie dining room they have Coquilles Saint Jacques as one of their specialties on the appetizer selection. The other locations don't have this item on their menus, however they have the items that are on the main dining options for that night and their own specialties. It is a nice option to kind of have the best of all worlds. Also if nothing on the Main Dining suits, the buffet is open for dinner as well and on the last few sailings I have been on, had some excellent choices. The Edge class of ships is the only grouping that have this option of the different dining rooms so far though. Marie

Sirwalterraleigh6 days ago

And of course…there is not one bit of guarantee behind this. TOTS Indeed…you are correct But as the bird said above…it was catchup for nuttin for along time. That decade of basically nothing prior is what has caused most of their park problems which they can’t get back ahead of now.

CJR6 days ago

I hear that, actually. MSC doesn't split either, if I recall correctly. Completely agree though that all lines have their strengths. For us, MSC gave us a butler, private pool area with two hot tubs, premium food and snacks, premium beverage package, a bottle of alcohol in our room, access to the thermal suites, and a few other things like wifi, for about the same price as a non-suite on DCL. The biggest downside for us was the shows and loss of rotating dining rooms. The food was fantastic, but it's in the same place each night. I believe Disney is the only cruise line with rotating dining rooms, Virgin is good too, but it's adults only and we have a kid. We still sail on multiple lines. We're doing Disney in April, Royal Caribbean in the fall, MSC again next year. Royal is fun too, just because of the Aqua Theater and ice skating shows, solid full Broadway shows on some ships too. I actually love the entertainment on Royal more than any cruise line, including Disney. Still, Disney is great all around (especially in service), but at a price.

wannabeBelle6 days ago

A few years back some of the other agents at Kingdom Konsultant and I were talking about this very thing and we priced out a cruise for a number of different family groups and it was crazy on the pricing difference between Royal and Disney. I have done Disney as well, as some of the other brands (Havent gotten to MSC yet) and certainly each has it's positives. There are a few negatives for me with Disney, pricing is among them, as well as limited itineraries as they only have a certain number of ships. Also the beds on the DIsney ships do not split, and as I usually travel with friends or family, I prefer a bed that can be split into two as opposed to sleeping on a pull out bed. The Wonder and the Magic had that when they were first out, but with the Dream and the Fantasy, that changed and when the bedding was replaced on the older ships they switched that over as well. Not a plus for my style of travel at all. Every other line out there does have the option to split the beds into two twins, into the higher end river cruises as well. That is pretty much industry standard, but when I asked about it I was told that this is what the Disney Cruise line clients wanted. Marie

CJR6 days ago

Don't forget MSC. We got status matched straight up to their Diamond status with just ten Disney cruises behind us. Got some great benefits, but the Yacht Club experience was cheaper than an inside room on DCL (at least at the time). We went straight to the top area of the ship for the same budget. Nice private island too.

HauntedPirate7 days ago

I wish I could find my post with the combined net profit of the Parks division for the decade before it became DPEP, and thus muddled with consumer products, compared with what they invested in the domestic parks. The numbers, IIRC, were astounding. And not tipped towards park investment in the slightest.

JD807 days ago

Someone should list all the stuff built right up to the start of COVID which also includes the capitol outlay for what was about to happen at EPCOT. It's a lot.