Move over, Mickey!
Universal Orlando is here and Orlando will never be the
same.
First came the Mouse. Walt Disney World, that is, which opened near Orlando in 1971 as a new, improved version of California’s Disneyland. With the luxury of 43 square miles in which to expand, the new park quickly eclipsed its West Coast namesake. Three more theme parks followed the Magic Kingdom — Epcot, Disney-MGM Studios, and Animal Kingdom. For good measure, Disney threw in a couple of water parks, a slew of themed resorts, and a sprawling shopping and entertainment district.
In 1990, Universal Studios opened Universal Studios Florida. Like Disney World, it was an outpost of a California original. It quickly became Orlando’s number-two attraction, but it was just one theme park to Disney’s many and seemed doomed to perpetual also-ran status.
That all changed in 1999 when Universal Studios Florida almost literally exploded and, in the process, was renamed Universal Orlando. For the first time, Walt Disney World had competition worthy of the name and Orlando had its second multi-park, multi-resort, multi-activity, all-in-one, never-need-to-leave-the-property vacation destination. But Universal Orlando is no mere copycat operation. It represents a new departure in theme park and resort destinations that is very shrewdly positioned in the marketplace to build its own following and capitalize on any decline of the Disney brand. It is sure to capture the imagination of new generations of vacationers who are seeking a different kind of theme park experience designed with the twenty-first century in mind.
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