Universal versus Disney: The Unofficial Guide to American Theme Parks' Greatest Rivalry

by Sam Gennawey

Universal Studios never really wanted to get into the theme park business. They wanted to be the anti-Disney. But when forced to do so, they did it in a big way. Despite the fits and starts of multiple owners, the parks have finally gained the momentum to mount a serious challenge to the Walt Disney Company. How did this happen? Who made it happen? What does this mean for the theme park industry? In Universal Versus Disney , his newest work to investigate the histories of America's favorite theme parks, seasoned Disney-author Sam Gennawey has thoroughly researched how Universal Studios shook up the multi-billion dollar theme park industry, one so long dominated by Walt Disney and his legacy.

Genres: Nonfiction

264 pages, Paperback

First published October 20, 2014

Reviews

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good read but a little bit of confused one. The title is misleading, the book implies it is about the feud between Disney and Universal, but in actuality, the book is really more about Universal's history in the theme park industry. I enjoyed hearing about the conception of the rides and the various changes that occurred to the park. I kept hoping the book would have been longer and more in depth but no dice. Overall, it was an interesting read. I hope the author will cover the history of Disney World proper!

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book isn’t really about the rivalry between Universal and Disney as much as it is a history of the Universal theme parks but, since I’m interested in that, I’ll give it a pass. There are, however, a number of typos including things like mislabeling characters (‘Transformers’ is not the name of the good guys in the movie. ‘Autobots’ are the good guys.)
Still, I’d recommend this to anyone interested in Universal’s theme parks.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book had a lot of potential. I decided to read this in the hope that it would be a nice companion to Disney War, James B. Stewart’s 2005 book about Disney under Michael Eisner, since the book is marketed as an inside story of the rivalry. This book is not what I hoped for. Instead, this felt like a chronological history of Universal parks. I was hoping for insider drama surrounding the race to create a “studio” themed park in Florida but this book barely scratched the surface.

This book was published in 2014 and it already feels really out of date. It discusses the Wizarding World expansion and does go into depth on the development of Islands of Adventure and the themed lands which I did find interesting. The most shocking part of this book is how many of the creatives and executives who worked on these projects ended up being really bad people. I won’t go into too much detail but Gary Goddard is featured heavily and he is an absolute piece of human garbage and abuser of children by many accounts (google him at your own risk). I also found it interesting that Edgar Bronfman Jr., heir to the Seagrams fortune, was also once owner of the Universal parks. Sure, Universal’s current owner, Comcast, isn’t great but at least they are no longer owned by Bronfman who has been convicted of insider trading and whose sisters were huge supporters of Keith Raniere and the NXIVM sex cult. (I’m sure there are many other problematic people featured here but I think I’ve ranted enough for now.)

Overall, I would give this book 2-stars. If you are looking for the history of Universal parks, you’ll probably enjoy it. The book is very bias to Universal and spends most of the time explaining rides and attractions in exhausting detail. This is cool if you are looking for information on rides/attractions that have closed but it very skippable if you are already familiar with the ride/attraction. There was interesting information but I found many parts of it to be wordy and exhausting. If you are looking for an in-depth analysis of the 1980s/90s competition between Disney and Universal, I would not recommend.

[Brad Linden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fun read. It's a thorough history of Universal, starting with the movie studio opening in Hollywood in the early 1900s. Since Universal in Hollywood didn't set out to be a theme park, there's a great story to it's slow evolution as it pioneered the "studio tour", then tried various "behind the scenes" shows and demonstrations, and then many years later the theme park rides.

Disney enters the story when Universal toys with creating an East Coast studio tour: the competition quickly ramps up, there's thrilling corporate backstabbing, and both companies get very serious. (The good news is that the result is cooler Florida parks than were originally planned.)

If you're not a theme park nerd, you'll probably want to skim through later parts that are basically written descriptions of rides, but the overall history, competition, and stories from people who were part of it all make for an engaging read.

[Daniel Butcher · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a general philosophy about a Disney vacation. Why leave property? I take long vacations where I spend nearly all of my time if not all under the Disney umbrella. But during my last trip I did discover that I could have some fun without being in the Disney zone at all times. So I am beginning to ask myself if there might be things in the entrainment industry outside of Disney that I would consider sampling. But would I ever consider visiting Disney's biggest theme park rival?

Universal vs. Disney: The Unofficial Guide to American Theme Parks' Great Rivalry by Sam Gennawey details the foundation and expansion of Disney's theme park rival. Universal's introduction to entertainment actually goes back to December 3, 1913, when Carl Laemmle opened his film studio to the public allowing them to see movies being made. In 1915, Laemmle expanded his lot Universal Studio even further and began to stage a fake disaster for those who took the studio tour. In 1958, Music Corporation of America (MCA) would purchase the Universal Studio lot and the studio tour would grow under the leadership of Lew Wasserman and his associates such as Jay Stein. The MCA team would regularly work to create attractions that could attract locals and repeat business whie making the best commercial possible. However, MCA saw their tour as an attraction that complimented not competed with Disneyland. With the expansion of Disney into Florida in the 1970's, the Universal team looked to build a production studio and studio tour that could again complement Disney theme parks. However, with the naming of Michael Eisner as Disney CEO, Disney announced their own movie theme park, which would become Disney-MGM Studios with attractions that seemed to duplicate Universal's plans for a Florida park. With Disney's own announced park, the Universal team began a quest to build a park to challenge Disney with partners like Steven Spielberg. The quest would not be easy as MCA changed hands through corporate sales. Gennewey discusses Universal's failures, delays and eventual success in building a theme park that could rival Disney with Universal Orlando.

I really enjoy Sam Gennawey books, and his books always come across as serious history to me. His use of footnotes and extensive research makes it clear that his books are a step beyond the typical book directed for Disney fans but are also books that could be used by academic historians. Universal vs. Disney is the kind of book that could be used in a theme park history course, and probably will be in the future. And it has the tone of an academic monograph. His writing is clear and easy to understand. My chief criticism of his writing is that his chapters tend to stop abruptly. I really wish he had provided a summary paragraph that captures the tone or theme of his chapters. It would provide the reader both a review, but a sense of closure and likely foreshadowing of what is to come.

One of the things that I really hoped for was a discussion of the Universal Orlando contract licensing Marvel characters. As a Marvel Disney fan this contract fascinates me since you can see Captain America at the competition and not on Disney property. Gennawey does give over five pages to the discussion of Marvel, but the majority of this information is about attraction development especially The Amazing Spider-Man: A Web Slinging 3-D Ride and not contracts. And the Disney purchase of Marvel and the limitations in place for Disney's use of Marvel properties is not detailed. I would have liked to see mention of the Avengers themed monorail for example. I assume that this conversation was limited by two things. First, Universal vs. Disney really is a book about the Universal theme parks. And honestly that felt like a good choice to me so Gennawey did not have to repeat material from books including his own The Disneyland Story. Since my knowledge of Universal and MCA history is quite small the book felt new and fresh to me. Second. I doubt that the details that I want about the Universal/Marvel contract are really available for public review.

As I mentioned, there is not as much Disney history as I expected. Disney's presence is always there throughout the book, but Disney is a supporting actor not the co-star of the book. Disneyland and Walt Disney World is discussed as a complimentary and different type of attraction; a theme park not a studio tour. And until Eisner's arrival at Disney, Universal was really not attempting to promote themselves as the same type of experience as what Disney offered. But Eisner really did serve as a catalyst for two entertainment companies. While his leadership was taking Disney to new places, the image of him as a villain was taking Universal into the theme park industry with the hope of challenging Disney and embarrassing Eisner personally. Eventually the Wizarding World of Harry Potter would finally reach a level of theming beyond Disney's high standards, forcing Disney to go to new places years after Eisner was no longer with Disney.

Mistakes were made. If Universal had the proposed Knight Rider/A-Team stunt show they hoped for, it would have had me through the gates years ago. Sadly the show would never be. And perhaps it was mistake on my part never visiting a Universal theme park. Universal vs. Disney has shown me a history of a theme park that started four decades before Disneyland opened. And I can truly say that I know understand how Disney both positively and negatively influenced the development of a non-Disney park.



Review Copy Provided by Keen Communications

[Sharon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very detailed history of the development of Universal. Some comparisons to Disney and a timeline of their development. Most of it was not what I was interested in so if it only were for me I'd rate a little lower. But well written and could be interesting to the right person.

I've never been to either Disney or Universal so that also affected it. My main purpose in reading was to find out what it's like for practical reasons. My favorite part was when he described the development of the Harry Potter world which is what I'm most interested in.

[Chris Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a fantastically interesting read. To see how Univeral studio developed its park from a studio tour to a theme park was really interesting. The title is a little misleading, as the Disney point of view is a very minor point of this book. It makes comparisons and at the end you are left with a distinct sense that Universal have struggled to compete with Disney and eventually drawn level. The book covers the rides and while I'm not a theme park fun, I am a major film fan and therefore found it interesting seeing their approach.

[Andy · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are a bazillion books about the history of Disney and those parks. It was greatly refreshing to find a book on the Universal side of Theme park business.

[John Gregory · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very, very dry. Useful as a reference for the parks but a dull read.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lot of people think that the world of theme parks begins and ends with Disney, and judging by the books you'll find in the travel section of most retailers, so do a lot of publishers. Sam Gennawey's book does a great job of demonstrating this this just isn't so. There's another giant in the theme park industry, and Sam introduces us to how it got to where it is today.

Much like his other recent book " The Disneyland Story", Sam has written a concise and throughly researched history of the Universal Studios theme parks, providing a brief summary of the California studio prior to the Studio Tour, how the tour was developed and how it changed to meet the expectations of guests, and how the industrial tour in California developed into a true theme park. The book also tells how Universal came to Orlando, and how competition led Universal to expand its offerings at both parks.

Sam has managed to capture the feel of a corporate culture that from the beginning was the antithesis of Disney's, and how that culture influenced the rides and shows Universal offered to the public. Sam also shows what factors shaped the rivalry between Disney and Universal, and how the rivalry has affected what's been offered and what will be offered to guests of both companies' parks. Sam's book provides a glimpse of how the Universal parks' headliner attractions were created, how they sometimes didn't quite work as planned, and he brings us to meet the people that brought those rides and shows to the public, as well as sharing a few of the tricks and technology they used to enhance them.

My main quibble with "Universal Vs. Disney" is with the book's title; although the book covers how and why Disney and Universal became rivals, the rivalry is tangential to the story, not the story itself. Hopefully, the book will eventually regain its working title of " The Universal Story", because that's what this book is really all about. Aside from that and limited information in the text about Universal's international theme park expansion ( where Universal competes as vigorously with Disney as it does in the US), there's little in this book that detracts from the story Sam wants to tell.

Sam Gennawey has added another gem to his collection and of books about theme park design and history, and I'm glad someone's finally telling readers about the other iconic California and Florida theme parks that have had such an influence on the theme park industry. Sam has mentioned recently that he intends to focus his future work on his other great passion, urban planning; while I wish him luck, I hope he'll change his mind. There are a lot of stories about the history and development of theme parks left to tell.

[Ray Palen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This did not turn out to be the book I expected. I figured it would be a 'cute' comparison of coasters and attractions between the two theme-park giants. Instead, author Sam Gennawey (himself a planner specializing in Theme Parks) takes us back to the very beginning in an eye-opening look at the history between Universal and Disney.

Universal Studios enjoyed much success and wanted to translate this into a tour of their Hollywood film base. While Disneyland, Marineland and Knotts Berry Farm were enjoying much success on the theme park front. Universal had no interest in this. In fact, Walt Disney sent some of his best men to help Universal get their Hollywood tour off the ground.

Things changed decades later in the 70's when the 'monster' attractions took off for Universal --- Jaws and King Kong. They now saw an opportunity to immerse their guests in their films the same way Disney had been doing for decades. The gloves finally came off when the then President of Universal accused then Disney Chairman, Michael Eisner, of stealing the film studio tour idea with the creation of Disney MGM Studios (now Hollywood Studios).

Whether this was true or not, the fans are the ones who benefit from this gigantic game of one-upsmanship. Every time one does something on a grand scale the other has to top it --- and everyone wins. The only critique I have is that Gennawey spends far too much time on Universal and their growth and far less on Disney. Even so, this was a well-researched and very interesting read.

[Paul Gray · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mr Gennawey tells it like it is

Once again, Sam Gennawey combines his personal love of theme park with his innate ability to delve deeply into all available sources to provide well informed yet entertaining reading.
This book provides so much insight to the workings of the corporate identity behind the Universal theme parks. Better still, he paints such a credible picture for the future of their parks and the competition which will motivate both the Universal and Disney organizations to keep the public entertained well into the future.

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title is deceptive, as this is mostly a history of Universal Orlando with parts that focus on the Disney vs. Universal battle. Even so, it's still a really interesting book with a lot of information from the people who worked on Universal's attractions and on the business side.

[Jacob Hodges · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read my full review and others at Nebula of Books!
www.nebulaofbooks.com

Fun though slightly long look at the history of Universal Studios.

[Greyson Rome · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is a very interesting book, it details the history of Universal Studios Hollywood from the past to the present.

[Amanda Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

It would have made more sense to call this The Universal Story.