The battle for tourists' time and money between Disney and Universal in Orlando, Florida, has intensified, as both theme park giants grapple with negative headlines that are prompting visitors to rethink their loyalty. Disney's decision to suspend popular comedian and late night TV host Jimmy Kimmel because of pressure from the U.S. government and an untimely death of a 32-year-old guest at Universal's Epic Universe have shaken customer perception of the brands.
Disney's recent fumbles
In the last week, ABC, which is part of the Walt Disney Company led by CEO Bob Iger, at first caved to intimdation from the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) and President Donald Trump's administration by agreeing to indefinitely suspend Kimmel for comments he made on air about conservative commentator Charlie Kirk, who was recently assassinated. The news sent shockwaves throughout the country and garnered responses both in defense of free speech by some and in demand of an apology by others.
However, the overwhelming majority of headlines made DIsney out to be the bad guy. The criticism from Hollywood heavyweights, including some of the Marvel cast members, Ben Affleck, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Wanda Sykes, and many more, and customer protests - canceling vacation plans and Disney+ streaming services, for example - led the company to bring the show Jimmy Kimmel Live back on the air. In the end, customers probably played a large role in the backlash that led to Kimmel's return. However, the details of the terms and conditions for the show's return are unclear, so far. Regardless, Iger and the Disney company have a long road to walk to restore customer's trust.
After all, this debacle comes in the aftermath of criticism about how Disney is missing the mark on customer experience (CX). Known for its outstanding customer service, the company was once held as the gold standard, and it still teaches others CX at the Disney Institute, which offers professional training and advisory services on the best practices in business.
"At Disney, everything is done with intention—what we call intentionality. The magic is truly in the details, both in the employee and customer experience. Even our language reflects this: Guests are treated as cherished friends, and employees are called cast members because they’re part of the show," said Barry Jacobson, former Disney executive and consultant at Barry Jacobson Consulting at the CX Network's All Access: Future Contact Centers 2025 webinar series. "This attention to detail starts from the hiring process, through training, which we call 'traditions,' and continues into daily operations. We constantly communicate our common purpose and thank our employees for what they do. Ultimately, it’s a people-first philosophy: If you put your employees first, everything else follows."
Despite the historical focus on CX, Disney has faced criticism in recent years for pricing out customers, neglecting families in favor of Disney adults, making money grabs by charging for once free amenities and producing some cookie-cutter attractions like the panned Toy Story Land in Hollywood Studios.
In addition, the complicated nature of planning a Disney vacation, along with the requirement of being glued to devices while in the theme parks to get on queues for rides, mobile order food and snag coveted and pricey lightning lanes to bypass the long waits in line for attractions has made vacation far less relaxing, say many tourists. It also excludes those who are not tech savvy, particularly grandparents who used to plan and pay for trips. This was covered in the CX Network article Is the Disney customer experience in crisis?
Universal makes gains on Disney
During the pandemic, when Disney forced people to make reservations for theme parks and refrain from any spontaneity, took away services, some of which still have not returned more than five years later and upset tourists, Universal Studios saw an opening to capture more of the market, according to a number of travel podcasters. Some, including Tom Corless of WDW News Tonight (WDWNT), a popular Disney podcaster, have also suggested that Universal's decision to allow more people to enter its parks during the pandemic was dangerous. However, it may have won over some travelers. Many applauded the ease of a Universal vacation. Some have talked about the additonal amenities for lower price points at Universal's value resorts when compared to Disney's, too.
More recently, Universal Studios has been drawing crowds because of its newly opened third theme park, Epic Universe. The park, which includes Super Nintendo World and another Harry Potter land called the Ministry of Magic, is attracting many tourists for its novelty and innovative theming and attractions.
In fact, four of the five Amusement Today 2025 Golden Ticket Awards won by Universal were for Epic Universe. The company won best new roller coaster for Stardust Racers, best dark ride for Monsters Unchained: The Frankenstein Experiment, best new theme concept for Darkmoor (the Dark Universe) and best new attraction installation for Harry Potter and the Battle of the Ministry. Universal also won best water park for Volcano Bay in Orlando.
These recent award announcements were another inflection point in the competition between Disney and Universal.
"Not only did Universal push Disney off the top spot in the Best Dark Ride category, but they also relegated Rise of the Resistance [the Disney ride that had been considered the best] to third place, and Sunken Treasure moved to fourth place," writes Blog Mickey. "This is a massive win for Universal Orlando Resort, and a shift in the wind when it comes to Universal’s best beating out Disney’s best. This is another great example of how the two theme park giants will continue to push each other in the years to come, creating attractions that push the industry forward and create amazing guest experiences."
Angry customers at Universal's Epic Universe
However, since Epic Universe's opening in May, the company has received some criticism, especially from theme park and travel podcasters, about the fact that many attractions go down periodically during the day and the wait times can be excrutiangly long. Some have said they have seen five hour wait times for Battle of the Ministry. This criticism is compounded by the fact that tickets for a family of four cost more than $600 for one day.
Recently, Universal Parks News Today, which is part of the WDWNT podcast family, had a segment about customers being angry. Visitors to Epic Universe described operational challenges in negative reviews on travel platforms. At the time of the video during the week of Sept. 8, the Epic Universe had been open about three months, and it had a rating of 3.8 on Google, 3.1 on Yelp and 2.2 on TripAdvisor. This means the park ranked lower than both Disney and Universal's other parks.
"It's not that the park is bad. When digging into the reviews on TripAdvisor, one of the popular mentioned keywords is the park [has] long waits. Yeah, we know," said Eric Morton, vice president operations at WDWNT and a host of the Universal Parks News Today podcast. "It doesn't have a lot of attractions. Some of them are prone to a lot of down time. One other major issue that appears repeatedly in lower ranked reviews is mechanical issues, technical difficulties, inconsistent ride operations. Guests report many experiences with select rides going down in the middle of the day, not opening back up for several hours or even staying closed for the rest of the day. Overall, it seems many guests are disappointed due to the continuous operational issues taking place at Epic Universe causing it to have significantly lower scores than many of its competitors. Time will tell if the park is able to reduce the downward trajectory in the future."
All this was overshadowed by a tragedy that unfolded on Stardust Racers, the intense, award-winning roller coaster. Guest Kevin Rodriguez Zavala, 32, was found unresponsive on the coaster and was later pronounced dead at the hospital. First responders told reporters that they were called because he had a laceration and was not breathing, according to Florida Today. An autopsy later revealed that "multiple blunt impact injuries" were the cause of death. An investigation is ongoing. The ride was still closed at time of publication.
Travel bloggers could not help but speculate on how this tragedy would further impact customer sentiment. The thought of someone dying on a roller coaster and the inevitable concerns about safety, even if it turns out that Universal was not to blame, are hard to ignore.
A rivalry for the ages
For years, Disney and Universal have had a bit of a rivalry that is most evident at the theme parks in Florida. Being the first to open and having international cachet, Disney had been in the lead. But Universal's decision to open a park themed to its movie studio in the late 1980s put Disney on notice, according to the book Disney War by James B. Stewart. Then Disney CEO Michael Eisner put the imagineers, the name given to Disney's engineers and creative theme park developers, in overdrive to build their own studios park to compete with Universal's. They completed the project within one year to ensure it would open before the original Universal Studios Orlando.
Ever since, the tit-for-tat competition has continued. In the latest battle, Universal Studios opened Epic Universe. And Disney announced it would be investing $60 billion in its Experiences segment over the next decade. The Central Forida Tourism and Oversight District and Disney approved a $17 billion investment in the Florida resort in 2024, according to Forbes. Construction is already underway at Magic Kingdom, which will get lands dedicated to the Pixar franchise Cars and Disney villains, and at Animal Kingdom, which will receive a new tropical Americas-themed space with attractions for Indiana Jones and Encanto.
Ahead of Epic Universe's opening, ClickOrlando.com waxed philosophical on the theme park wars. In that article, Richard Lewin, a professor of international business at Rollins College, got the last word on the competition, which he described as "creative tension."
"They’ll nudge each other from time to time just to kind of get the best out of each other,” Lewin said, according to the article. “So, from the customer experience point of view, it’s a wonderful thing.”