A different sort of Cold War

In 1985, Universal Studios enjoyed widespread success in mainstream cinema. Their biggest hits of 1985 were timeless classics such as Fletch, Out of Africa, and Back to the Future. Meanwhile, Disney bet their summer box office campaign on…The Black Cauldron. It was so unsuccessful that the company’s boardwalk questioned the viability of Disney animation moving forward.

Disney vs. Universal Studios is an ongoing battle in Hollywood. Fans of the latter institution note that their idea of a Hollywood amusement park dates back to 1915, the first time guests had the opportunity to tour the studio backlot. Disney fans (rightfully) note that Disneyland became the first true theme park in the world at its 1955 debut. Roughly a decade later, Universal Studios copied some of the concepts of theme park attractions, co-opting them for what we now know as Universal Studios Hollywood. Since July 15, 1964, the two companies have warred against one another as the two most heralded businesses in the theme park industry.

Then again, the battle has been largely one-sided. Before Harry Potter, saying that Universal Studios was competing against Disney for theme park tourists is the equivalent of my saying I’m competing against LeBron James to become the greatest living basketball player. Even if it’s true in the most technical sense, the only commonality between us is that we’ve both shot a ball into a hoop countless times. Just because Universal Studios had a clever Jaws encounter didn’t make it the equivalent of the Happiest Place on Earth.

Despite the inequality between the two theme parks during the first two decades of existence for Universal Studios Hollywood, Disney execs kept a wary eye on their foes. When rumors arose of a new Universal Studios theme park arriving in central Florida, these park planners experienced a certain familiarity. Similar rumors had proven true during the 1960s only 35 miles from Disneyland. Why wouldn’t Universal Studios once again follow Disney in building a theme park near Walt Disney World? Once again, Disney execs felt the surge of adrenaline that stems from competition. And it led them to explore a new avenue for a theme park, albeit one that returned the company to its roots.

It takes people to make the dream a reality

Walt Disney plotted a course for his themed lands that didn’t conform to any single blueprint. At times, he was almost stubbornly averse to tethering his parks to Hollywood convention. And that’s odd in and of itself since so many of the early Disneyland attractions employed techniques Disney and his Imagineers learned by making films. From the founder’s perspective, he’d already told stories in that sort of format. Disneyland and the planned Experimental Prototype City of Tomorrow afforded him new avenues to entertain children of all ages.

In the aftermath of Walt Disney’s death, Imagineers tried to honor his legacy to the best of their ability. The result of their efforts was Walt Disney World. The place that their founder envisioned as a functional city evolved into something different initially before eventually becoming a version of his intention. First, a theme park originated there on land conceived as a targeted utopia. Afterward, part of the vision of EPCOT came to fruition at EPCOT Center’s World Showcase, which did include a version of a permanent World’s Fair.

In the time between Magic Kingdom’s arrival in 1971 and EPCOT Center’s start in 1982, most of Walt Disney’s ideas had devolved. They became debased by people who didn’t understand them quite like he did. After EPCOT Center opened, the big thinkers at Disney faced a single difficult question. “What’s next?”

In choosing the next steps for Disney’s theme parks, one thing they recognized is that Uncle Walt was the one who specifically chose to dissociate his parks from Hollywood. The park planners who followed him felt so such compunction. If anything, they lamented the fact that they now had three parks operating on a daily basis yet none of them included specific ties to the work of Walt Disney. Sure, they were tributes and derivatives everywhere in sight at Disneyland and Walt Disney World, but none of them screamed Classic Hollywood.

With plenty of land to spare in Orlando, Florida, everyone at Disney agreed that their third gate should have more ties to the early days of the Disney Empire. They built a checklist of items they can use to populate this new park. Virtually all of them would enjoy ties to the Hollywood of old as well as the popular movies and television shows of modern times. Disney architects crafted an entire proposal for their next enterprise, a celebration of all things cinema.

Still, nobody was pushing for the third gate until rumors of a Universal Studios Florida grew louder in 1985. While the park itself wouldn’t open its gates to the public until 1990, corporate execs at Universal started evaluating land acquisitions by 1985. Disney still had employees familiar with this process from their own Florida real estate deals two decades prior. Through their local connections, they quickly uncovered the truth. Universal Studios Florida would become a real thing within a couple of years.

Disney executives felt pressured to act. That’s how competition can impact a business, even one that is light years beyond the competition in terms of market share.