“Is Disney Worried?” How Disney World is Responding to Universal’s Brand New Theme Park

Epic Universe is the first major theme park to open in Orlando since 1999 and has already received great reviews during its preview period which we recently just experienced. Many theme park fans have questioned how Walt Disney World will respond to the opening of a brand new theme park just down the road.

We have seen many discounts, old perks from pre-COVID era days, and new summer entertainment which is a benefit for all guests in the short term. But in the long term, Walt Disney World is planning their own expansions and new rides. Let’s get into Walt Disney World’s response to Epic Universe and how you can take advantage of it.

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Battle of the Theme Park Hotels

The real push for competition is going to come at the hotel level. If guests are lured away to Universal Orlando to stay in their hotels, especially Universal Grand Helios Hotel with its viral theme park views of Epic Universe, this is going to hurt the attendance at Walt Disney World resorts.

Universal Orlando’s strategy has been to lure guests to their hotels for the opening of Epic Universe. The rollouts of access to Epic Universe have all prioritized multi-day tickets and hotel reservations. Universal’s goal has been to convince guests they should stay at their resort hotels to truly get the full Epic Universe experience. Universal expanded their hotel inventory significantly with the opening of Epic Universe with three brand new hotels all of which are within walking distance to Epic Universe. With the opening of the three new hotels near Epic Universe, there are now 11 Universal Orlando hotels.

In the end, this may just become a battle for hotel guests because this is the true money maker. If you stay at a theme park resort, you are not just spending money in the parks but on your hotel reservation, hotel dining, souvenirs, and nearby shopping/dining districts. There is a reason why theme parks want you to be a hotel guest, not just a day trip visitor.

Walt Disney World does not want to lose hotel guests and become the “side stop” on the family vacation instead of the main event. The short term response we’ve seen from Walt Disney World has been focused on keeping guests firmly planted in their resort hotels while the long term response is a massive list of new rides, updates for old attractions, and expansions to the parks.

Disney Resort Hotel Perks Return

First, Walt Disney World has been working to expand their perks for resort hotel guests which in many cases means bringing back resort perks that never returned after the pandemic-era closures. Disney started testing out a returning perk from the pre-COVID era days this year. Select hotels at Walt Disney World can utilize airline check-in services if they are flying Southwest Airlines.

The service was initially only available at Pop Century Resort during the beta testing phase and is now available at all their value resorts which includes all three of the All Stars resorts plus Art of Animation. Guests staying at these resorts and checking bags with Southwest Airlines are now able to check their bags to their final destination directly from the hotel. If the beta testing goes well, the service will likely expand to all Walt Disney World resort hotels.

We speculated during this initial announcement if this could pave the way for additional services meant to keep guests inside the Walt Disney World “bubble” for return like Disney’s Magical Express.

Walt Disney World Water Parks Open at Same Time

Walt Disney World hotel guests can now enjoy the water parks for free on the day of their hotel check in. This perk for resort hotel guests originally was announced for 2025 but has now been extended into 2026. With both water parks open this summer, this resort hotel perk is extra valuable since you can pick from both.

Since 2021, Walt Disney World has only operated one water park at a time and we haven’t seen both Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon open at the same time in years. This is one major change that Walt Disney World made for this summer season to keep both open at the same time which appears to be directly tied to the benefit of water park access on check-in days for resort guess.

Guests can enjoy both Blizzard Beach and Typhoon Lagoon from May 21 through September 7, 2025. This will be the first time since 2019 that Walt Disney World will have all their parks open at the same time.

Multiple Discounts Especially for Disney Resort Guests

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Returning pre-COVID era perks are not the only appeal to staying at a Walt Disney World resort hotel. Disney has been rolling out many discounts ranging from free dining plans for guests staying at their hotels to percentage off nightly stays and low cost ticket options.

Families with young children have definitely been the target of many of these discounts with major ticket discounts for families with kids under the age of 9 throughout the 2025 summer plus free dining for kids on the Disney dining plan in 2026.

You can track all of the currently available Walt Disney World discounts in our guide to see how they stack up throughout the year. But one thing is clear, Walt Disney World is being generous with discounts for the next two years. This isn’t entirely due to Epic Universe, many theme parks are rethinking their promotions in light of criticism that these experiences have become too expensive for middle class families. But that just means if there are fewer families opting for theme park vacations, the inventory of guests will become more limited which generates some healthy competitive pricing.

New Entertainment This Summer at Walt Disney World

Walt Disney World is also expanding their entertainment at the parks this summer with two shows at Disney’s Hollywood Studios and a new parade at Magic Kingdom. Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After and The Little Mermaid- A Musical Adventure will both debut on May 27, 2025 at Walt Disney World.

Disney Villains: Unfairly Ever After will feature appearances by dozens of villains, including Cruella de Vil, Captain Hook, and Maleficent, who will take the stage in live numbers. This show replaced the Lightning McQueen Racing Academy. The Little Mermaid – A Musical Adventure, reopening after a long closure since 2020, with new sets, puppets, live performers, and visuals.

But the real star of new entertainment at Walt Disney Word this summer is the Disney Starlight: Dream the Night Away parade debuting at Magic Kingdom. We see this as the most effective counter-programming against Epic Universe. Unfortunately, the parade still does not have an opening date and is slated to open “later this summer.” While the opening date of the parade is delayed, it will still be a considerable draw for guests once it debuts as its the first nighttime parade to come to Magic Kingdom in years.

Walt Disney World Building New Rides

In the longer term, Disney is continuing to invest in their theme parks as they plan new expansions, new rides and refurbishments to long term favorites. You can see all the new Disney World rides planned here. This will bring additional capacity to the parks along with new attractions which will entice guests to visit.

The biggest expansion is coming to Magic Kingdom, where there is the new Villains Land featuring villains from favorite Walt Disney Animation Studios classic films. It will have two major attractions, dining, and shopping. There’s also the new Disney Cars attractions replacing the Rivers of America which will drastically change the park.

Magic Kingdom isn’t the only park getting a new land. Over at Animal Kingdom, Disney has already started work on the new Tropical Americas land replacing DinoLand, U.S.A. featuring areas themed to Encanto and Indiana Jones. Hollywood Studios is also getting a new Monsters, Inc. Land with the Muppets moving across the park for a retheme to the popular Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster.

Smaller updates at Walt Disney World are also in the works with a major update for Buzz Lightyear at Magic Kingdom, a new vision for Test Tack at EPCOT debuting later this year, new theme park lounges, a Zootopia show at Animal Kingdom, and much needed updates to the Millennium Falcon at Hollywood Studios.

These long term plans will take some time but when they’re complete, we’re going to have an abundance of new experiences at Walt Disney World and this will be a major draw for guests.

Should Walt Disney World Be Worried?

Since the Universal Epic Universe preview periods have begun, I’ve seen so much of this commentary on social media. Should Walt Disney World be worried? Many visitors experiencing Epic Universe have been posting their positive reactions online with many calling out Disney directly.

I think that initial reaction from fans is mostly a result of riding that initial high of experiencing Epic Universe for the first time. And I don’t mean to say Epic Universe isn’t impressive, we ranked the best rides at Epic Universe with many of these rides easily being some of the best we’ve seen at Universal Orlando and at theme parks in general! But does that mean Walt Disney World is going to lose a large number of guests to Universal? I think that might be a stretch.

Young Families Are a Target Audience

Disney’s bread and butter is families with young children and that’s a large demographic to “steal” away. While How to Train Your Dragon- Isle of Berk and Super Nintendo World are both lands that will be popular for children, many of the other areas of the park are not quite as appealing when you compare them to iconic areas at Magic Kingdom.

Let’s face it, it’s hard to compete with the Most Magical Place on Earth. Parents of young children are going to want to watch their kids meet Disney Princesses, ride iconic attractions like Dumbo, and take in the famous fireworks in front of the equally famous castle. Disney is known for these iconic moments that have become a bucket list item for many families. Notoriety is hard to compete with especially with a company with so much emotional nostalgia like Disney.

Epic Universe Is a Reason to Spend More Days at Universal

Disney knows they have an unbeatable nostalgic connection with audiences and addressed that the opening of Epic Universe may likely just be a scenario of a “rising tide that lifts all boats” and will also increase attendance at Walt Disney World. How could you visit the Orlando area and not go to Walt Disney World too? That’s a predicament I’ve been in myself a few times and I’ve never been able to say no.

That said, we have shifted days from Walt Disney World to Universal in order to see this new theme park. I found myself planning my first split stay between Universal Orlando and Walt Disney World for my upcoming family vacation. This is a first for my family as we usually always stay at Walt Disney World and only spend just a day visiting Universal Orlando. But now, we find ourselves splitting our stay between the resort hotels at both theme parks for the first time to spend more time in Epic Universe. That’s one reason we’re particularly worried about Animal Kingdom which will be the first park that Disney guests would cut to reallocate their limited vacation time.

At the end of the day, the real push and pull is going to come from these two theme parks trying to make their resort hotels more appealing than the other options. The good news is when two theme parks compete with each other, the guests are the ones who win.

READ MORE – These 10 Disney Rides Have Changed Dramatically Since Their Opening

READ MORE – These 10 Disney Rides Have Changed Dramatically Since Their Opening

I’ve seen changes come and go, and like many seasoned Disney park goers, I’ve become familiar with the resulting emotional rollercoaster. It can be sad when the company decides to overhaul or even remove a beloved attraction. On the other hand, there are times when it’s easy to embrace a much-needed update. Here are ten Disney attractions that have transformed substantially since opening day, for better or worse.

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