jasonlulu_2000
Senior Member
- Joined
- Apr 2, 2012
- Member Type
- Student or Learner
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- Chinese
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- China
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- China
Source: https://www.themeparkinsider.com/flume/201810/6310/
Getting back to future parks in the U.S., though, we do have two new parks on the horizon: a new Legoland, coming to New York in 2020, and whatever Universal Orlando is doing with those hundreds of acres near the Orange County Convention Center.
A Legoland is hardly a major park, though, and — as I wrote in my Register column — what Universal is doing in Orlando has less to do taking advantage of a growing, captive market as it does trying to reach a critical mass to better attack rival Disney. Universal needs another gate to help it become a more viable primary, week-long destination for Orlando visitors, instead of settling for being an add-on to a Walt Disney World vacation, as it is now for many fans. That desire changes the standard for feasibility for Universal's rumored fourth gate.
With that shrinking middle class and crowded marketplace in the U.S., new park developments are far more likely to cannibalize existing parks' attendance and revenue than they are to grow the overall market. But Universal is trying to cannibalize other parks. It just wants them to be Disney's rather than its own — though it more likely will be SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay that take the biggest hits.
That's a highly unusual reason to build a new theme park. But it's pretty much the only scenario under which anyone is going to build a major new park in America's mature theme park market. So get used to what you have, U.S. theme park fans. The parks surely will continue to expand and change their attraction line-ups. New lands will open, perhaps as others close. But it's going to be very rare to see any major new parks opening near us anytime soon.
1. What does "a growing, captive market" refer to?
2. What does the second underlined sentence mean?
Does it mean that Universal is trying to build a new theme park to grab market shares from its rival Disney?
Thanks for your help!
Jason
Getting back to future parks in the U.S., though, we do have two new parks on the horizon: a new Legoland, coming to New York in 2020, and whatever Universal Orlando is doing with those hundreds of acres near the Orange County Convention Center.
A Legoland is hardly a major park, though, and — as I wrote in my Register column — what Universal is doing in Orlando has less to do taking advantage of a growing, captive market as it does trying to reach a critical mass to better attack rival Disney. Universal needs another gate to help it become a more viable primary, week-long destination for Orlando visitors, instead of settling for being an add-on to a Walt Disney World vacation, as it is now for many fans. That desire changes the standard for feasibility for Universal's rumored fourth gate.
With that shrinking middle class and crowded marketplace in the U.S., new park developments are far more likely to cannibalize existing parks' attendance and revenue than they are to grow the overall market. But Universal is trying to cannibalize other parks. It just wants them to be Disney's rather than its own — though it more likely will be SeaWorld Orlando and Busch Gardens Tampa Bay that take the biggest hits.
That's a highly unusual reason to build a new theme park. But it's pretty much the only scenario under which anyone is going to build a major new park in America's mature theme park market. So get used to what you have, U.S. theme park fans. The parks surely will continue to expand and change their attraction line-ups. New lands will open, perhaps as others close. But it's going to be very rare to see any major new parks opening near us anytime soon.
1. What does "a growing, captive market" refer to?
2. What does the second underlined sentence mean?
Does it mean that Universal is trying to build a new theme park to grab market shares from its rival Disney?
Thanks for your help!
Jason
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