What’s in a name?
Well, as Universal learned the hard way back in 1998, when it decided to rename its recently expanded resort “‘>Universal Studios Escape” and thus confused hundreds of thousands of tourists … Sometimes picking the wrong name for your theme park and/or resort can prove to be disastrous.
Copyright 1999 Universal Studios Escape
Which is why it was kind of intriguing to learn late last month that Universal Studios Orlando reps were out there surveying up a storm. Not to find out what theme park goers actually thought of the names that Universal had chosen for its two Central Florida parks. But — rather — to learn about what Central Florida tourists thought of the new moniker that the Mouse had chosen for Disney-MGM.
To be specific, the folks at Universal wanted to know if theme park goers felt that Disney-MGM’s new name was confusing (i.e. Where would you expect to find “Disney’s Hollywood Studios” ? In Hollywood, California or in Orlando, Florida ?) as well as what their expectations for the soon-to-be-renamed theme park might be (i.e. What would you expect to find at a “Disney’s Hollywood Studios” that you might not find at a “Disney-MGM Studios” ?). They even went so far as to quiz people about which proposed name they liked best for WDW’s studio theme park (i.e. “Disney’s Hollywood Studios,” “Disney’s Orlando Studios,” “Walt Disney Studios” or “Disney-Pixar Studios”).
“And why would Universal be doing something like this ?,” you ask. To borrow an analogy from Steven Spielberg’s 1976 classic, “Jaws,” Universal sensed that there was blood in the water.
To explain: The executives who run the Universal Studios Orlando resort genuinely believe that the renaming of Disney-MGM Studios theme park will confuse a certain number of tourists. And Universal intends to take advantage of this confusion by launching a bold new promotional campaign for their resort in 2008.
To date, the Universal Orlando Resort hasn’t quite settled on which new tagline it wants to use. Among the finalists are:
- “Universal Orlando Resort: The Blockbuster Capital of the World”
“Universal Orlando Resort: The Feature Attraction“
But Universal is determined to do whatever it has to in order to grab would-be theme park visitors’ attention & nudge Disney out of the spotlight. Perhaps even going so far as to hire Academy Award-winner Morgan Freeman to serve as the new face & voice of their resort.
One of the ideas that’s currently on the table involves Freeman starring in an eye-popping series of commercials, which — through the magic of digital effects — Morgan would be inserted into memorable scenes from “Spider-Man,” “The Hulk,” “Jurassic Park,” “Men in Black” as well as the “Harry Potter” films.
Speaking of Harry … Even though “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” isn’t expected to open at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure ’til 2009, look to the Universal Orlando Resort to begin playing up the fact that J. K. Rowling’s characters (as well as the characters from “The Simpsons”) will soon be appearing in their Central Florida theme parks. Look for many of Universal’s TV commercials for 2008 to be peppered with brief clips from “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone,” “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets,” “Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban,” “Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,” and “Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix.”
Copyright 2007 NBC / Universal
FYI: You may have noticed that — in the early concept art of the Hogsmeade Village section of “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” — that this section of Island of Adventure‘s newest “land” is blanketed with snow. Well, there’s a reason for that. You see, Universal is hoping to turn IOA’s “Harry Potter” -themed section into a way to challenge Disney World‘s dominance when it comes to Christmas in Central Florida. Picture — if you will — a yearly “Holidays at Hogwarts” promotion at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure. With carolers strolling through the streets of Hogsmeade and a traditional English Christmas feast being served nightly in the Great Hall at Hogwarts Castle.
Of course, what’s kind of ironic about all this is that Disney is well aware of all the survey work that Universal has been doing lately. And Mouse House officials think that it’s silly that Universal Orlando Resort executives seem to believe that any Central Florida tourists will be confused by Disney-MGM’s upcoming name change.
As one unnamed MGM manager explained it to me:
“It’s not like we’re actually going to be closing the park while we rename the place. It’s all going to happen overnight. When the Studios closes on January 6, 2008, it will officially cease being called Disney-MGM and then become Disney’s Hollywood Studios. There’ll be absolutely no interruption in operations. So I don’t understand when exactly it is that Universal thinks that WDW guests are going to start to get confused by this name change.”
This same manager also asked that I please clarify some of the information that has been put out on the Web to date about the Studios upcoming Halloween hard ticket event. Which is now tentatively scheduled to get underway in late October of 2009, with a weeklong series of parties being held after-hours at that theme park.
“We’re not going to do anything nearly as scary or gross as Universal’s Halloween Horror Nights. To be honest, given that the Studios Halloween event is being built around Jack Skellington and the ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ characters, it’ll be more eerie and silly than anything.
People need to understand that the real reason that we’re prepping a second after-hours Halloween event for the Disney World Resort isn’t because we want to do something like Universal. To be honest, we’re just doing this because of the pent-up demand, because ‘Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party‘ sells out every year. Particularly during that week just before Halloween.
If we offer a second after-hours hard ticket event that’s Halloween-themed, we’ll then be able to meet that demand. Give those folks who weren’t able to get into ‘Mickey’s Not-So-Scary’ another place on property where they can then go and party with their friends & family.
Copyright 2007 Hong Kong Disneyland
So this isn’t really about Disney trying to out-gross Universal. But — rather — the Disney World Resort just looking for new ways to meet the seasonal demands of our guests. And if this Halloween event at the Studios proves to be successful … Well, we’ll then do what we did with ‘Mickey’s Not-So-Scary’ and ‘Mickey’s Very Merry.’ Which is add a few new dates every year. Maybe even offer people a combo package, so that — if they book a room at one of our on-property resorts during the months of September and October — we’ll then offer them the opportunity to buy tickets to both the Magic Kingdom‘s Halloween party as well as the Studios Halloween party.
But as for the Disney’s Hollywood Studios Halloween event being our way of challenging Universal’s supremacy when it comes to that holiday … Yeah, maybe there’s a little of that going on with this new hard ticket. But to be honest, this is mostly because ‘Mickey’s Not-So-Scary’ always sells out during that last week of October. We’re just trying to do something to meet that pent-up demand. Give the people who are staying on property and who are looking to attend an after-hours Halloween party during their Disney World vacation another alternative to chose from.
But please put the word out. The ‘Twilight Zone Tower of Terror‘ with its new 5th Dimension drop sequence — think ‘Up, up and Away!’ — is about as scary as this new after-hours event at the Studios is ever going to get.”
Now what’s kind of bizarre about all this is — even as the Walt Disney World Resort is trying to create a brand-new, on-property, after-hours Halloween event that will deliberately not be as scary as Halloween Horror Nights — Universal is reportedly looking into creating its own new family-friendly event that — come 2009 — would then challenge “Mickey’s Not-So-Scary Halloween Party.”
As the story goes, once Phase One of “The Wizarding World of Harry Potter” opens in 2009 (FYI: That phase of the project will probably only include Hogwarts Castle and Hogsmeade Village. Phase Two — featuring the Forbidden Forest and that Weasley-family-flying-car attraction — isn’t expected to come on line ’til sometime in early 2010), this new “land” will then allow Universal to offer yet another after-hours seasonal event, ” Halloween at Hogwarts.” So while Mom & Dad are next door at Universal Studios Florida getting the snot scared out of them at Halloween Horror Nights, their youngsters can be trick-or-treating in a deliberately scare-free environment over at IOA.
So all in all, it looks like an interesting couple of years for anyone who’s heading down to Central Florida. With Universal looking to take advantage of the confusion that it thinks will arise from MGM’s name change. So that the Universal Orlando Resort will then be able to reposition itself as the place where “… the biggest movies become the biggest rides.” Where you can “… experience the greatest blockbusters of all time in ways that you’ve never imagined.”
Whereas Disney’s response is basically (to borrow a phrase from Alfred E. Newman) “What, me worry?” They’re so confident that the Disney’s Hollywood Studio upcoming name change will be a non-issue (More importantly, that once “Toy Story Mania” opens, that this new state-of-the-art shooter attraction will give WDW guests a compelling new reason to come visit the studio theme park) that they’re not even bothering to prepare a response to Universal’s new ad campaign. These folks are just concentrating on making sure that this name change does go as smoothly as possible come January 6th. Then — once those new Pixar-themed rides & shows are up and running at Disney’s Hollywood Studios — they’ll turn their attention toward getting that new after-hours Halloween hard ticket event up out of the ground.
Copyright 2007 NBC / Universal
So what do you folks think? Will Disney-MGM’s name change — as well as those new “Simpsons” and “Harry Potter” -themed attractions that will be coming on line at the Universal Orlando Resort over the next two years — really be the opportunity that Universal execs seem to think that it is? Will this momentary bit of confusion really be enough to allow them to reposition their resort, convince Central Florida tourists to give Universal another try? Or is Disney forever going to be dominant in the Orlando tourism market?
Your thoughts?