I think single IP lands work if the franchise is big enough. Frozen, Toy Story, Star Wars, Marvel etc. In Florida I don't think there are any left that are worthwhile that they can build since Marvel is off the table. Indiana Jones isn't worthwhile any more in my opinion and Cars is just dated.
It sort of depends - I think Toy Story actually has a lot of potential for a land, but none of the Toy Story Lands worldwide actually deliver properly on it. What should have handily been one of the most naturally fun and immersive themed entertainment experiences anywhere instead turned into one that's half-heartedly decorated where the smallest guests wait in the longest lines for the shortest rides.
One of the big issues, however, is that the choice for what gets its own land is entirely driven by how much money the property makes, not by how much potential it has as a themed environment. It's about what sells toys more than what's actually exciting to visit full-size in real life.
The Avengers Campuses are an example of that - you'd almost have to build a solid few city blocks to make a proper themed land for those IP, and short of spending that kind of money you get basically what we got. Which is pretty perplexing, since Marvel contains
so many massive money-making properties to play with. I don't know what possessed them to execute AC the way they did, but they didn't capture the spirit of the movies, the locations, or the characters in a way that's really satisfying to experience (Outside of the streetmosphere, which is nice).
Cars Land is a weird example where they got it right - while I don't think people were really begging to visit Radiator Springs, the fact that they did it on such a large scale, so thoroughly, cleverly,
and delivered on the experiential appeal of both the property and it's greater concept (the basic appeal of cars; wanting to drive FAST) that it turned into a self-sustaining experience. I bet many adults who enjoy Cars Land and its attractions have either not seen the movies or barely remember them.
If you tap into the right element then a prior connection to the IP doesn't matter, the thing stands on its own as worth experiencing. But it requires a level of intelligence and conceptual clarity to deliver on that for the guest, since half the reason these lands get approved in the first place is that many guests
will have a prior connection with the thing. It can almost be harder to navigate that since you now have to deliver on guest's expectations for the concept in the abstract
and their expectations for the branded property itself, as
well as avoiding the pitfalls that come with
both.
That's where the Toy Story Lands struggle - they somehow manage to trip on all of those, and those issues were barely addressed as they built successive lands. It was about being an ad more than it was about being an experience, and guests notice that.
