Cars Land, Star Wars Land, Monstropolis...

[yensidtlaw1969]

Regarding (ugh) Star Wars Land...maybe Disney is waiting to see if there really IS a demand for more Star Wars movies before committing any land to the franchise. After all, look what happened with the Muppets...

The high attendance for Star Wars Weekends should be a little reassuring to the suits, though. But is that attraction based on fresh new interest, or mere nostalgia?

Disney ought to be focusing any new "Land" or attraction dollars on Frozen, IMO. First of all, it's a Disney-spawned film. And it fits perfectly into the aesthetics of WDW. And if anything could be a Potter Swatter, it's that film, since, as I understand it, little boys are quite into it as well.

Star Wars has been a proven cash cow for 30+ years. Frozen is several months old. While I could understand them investing in either property, only one of them has stood the test of time. We may find Frozen does so as well, but it certainly hasn't yet. Both are good bets, but Star Wars is undoubtedly a better one.

(NOTE: I don't love either Frozen or Star Wars with the particularity of most - certainly not as much as I love a good Muppet - but I think you'd have to be kidding yourself to question whether more Star Wars in the parks would be a smart financial idea. I just hope it doesn't "take over". Same with Frozen. they have their places, put them there, do it well, and call it a day).

 

[Mike S]

I would also like to add that once Pandora opens that the entire "quadrant" of DAK on the north and west portion of the park will be entirely "matured". This seems to me to be a fairly rare occurance for WDW parks. And it is an important milestone. It will have reached the point that we know the parks should reach. It seems to me they are trying to do this with all new adds. The FLE, the new HUB and crowd management systems for the MK and establishing Soarin as a long term fixture. These are adds that will last many decades. It all seems too slow to us but they are moving in the right direction when they do act. TDO/TWDC are not just treading water.

~glass half full~

What about that huge plot of empty land above Asia?

 

[alissafalco]

On a positive note - most of the MM+ roll out team ends their project in less than a month so less being spent.

When do CM's get magic bands?

 

[Bolt]

When do CM's get magic bands?

Doubt it's high priority as cast have RFID cards.

 

[kucarachi]

I think a cars land or star wars land will be tricky to get a lot of girl interest? If you do star wars you are leaving out girly girls and classic princess types...if you do cars land you are leaving out most girls in general. Monsters Inc was a decent movie but you can't tell me the second one wasn't painful to watch and kind of killed any hope at that franchise moving forward. If you had to pick one i guess it would be star wars based on knowing there will be a lot more movies to come and merchandising galore. If they build a true scale Millenium Falcon and make it a ride and or restaurant that would be epic!

 

[Mike S]

I think a cars land or star wars land will be tricky to get a lot of girl interest? If you do star wars you are leaving out girly girls and classic princess types...if you do cars land you are leaving out most girls in general. Monsters Inc was a decent movie but you can't tell me the second one wasn't painful to watch and kind of killed any hope at that franchise moving forward. If you had to pick one i guess it would be star wars based on knowing there will be a lot more movies to come and merchandising galore. If they build a true scale Millenium Falcon and make it a ride and or restaurant that would be epic!

That's why the best thing to do would be both Star Wars AND Frozen. Then there would be something for everyone.

 

[danlb_2000]

I think a cars land or star wars land will be tricky to get a lot of girl interest? If you do star wars you are leaving out girly girls and classic princess types...if you do cars land you are leaving out most girls in general. Monsters Inc was a decent movie but you can't tell me the second one wasn't painful to watch and kind of killed any hope at that franchise moving forward. If you had to pick one i guess it would be star wars based on knowing there will be a lot more movies to come and merchandising galore. If they build a true scale Millenium Falcon and make it a ride and or restaurant that would be epic!

Star Wars has a bigger female following then a lot of people would suspect.

 

[Macca250]

I think a cars land or star wars land will be tricky to get a lot of girl interest? If you do star wars you are leaving out girly girls and classic princess types...if you do cars land you are leaving out most girls in general. Monsters Inc was a decent movie but you can't tell me the second one wasn't painful to watch and kind of killed any hope at that franchise moving forward. If you had to pick one i guess it would be star wars based on knowing there will be a lot more movies to come and merchandising galore. If they build a true scale Millenium Falcon and make it a ride and or restaurant that would be epic!

Monsters Uni wasn't that bad I don't think, not as good as the first but still a quality sequel- although as a viable franchise for a theme park attraction, I agree. I think there's better Pixar properties; UP dark ride anyone? where your ride vehicle takes off courtesy of balloons? Or an Incredibles attraction that finds you in the midst of battle with Frozone? Or at the very least they could clone overseas attractions like Paris' Crush's Coaster or even the Ratatouille ride (although I'm aware there is discussion of the Rat making an appearance over at EPCOT which could work). I think from Star Wars, Pixar, Frozen (maybe even Marvel someday) they're certainly spoilt for choice!

 

[David Matte]

Star Wars has a bigger female following then a lot of people would suspect.

Agreed. Star Wars and it's over 30 year legacy has more draw potential than almost every other franchise out there, even Harry Potter. If Disney does this right, it can pull people that otherwise would never have set foot in a theme park. It's annoying when people talk about Frozen in the same context, because even thought it is huge right now, it's new and can loose its luster rapidly. Of course it will stay relevant and good for future attractions, but not on the scale that Star Wars can bring.

On the Universal side, Harry Potter is huge right now and they will be milking that cow for a while, but a new Star Wars land, a Pixar expansion, and some real money sent into Epcot and in 3-5 years any talk about Universal trying to dominate WDW will be snuffed.

It would be funny if Disney announced that they would pay for the new Star Wars expansion solely from profits generated from Marvel licensing fees that Universal pays for it's attractions. Ok, that would be kinda low. lol

 

[lpet11984]

I think a cars land or star wars land will be tricky to get a lot of girl interest? If you do star wars you are leaving out girly girls and classic princess types...if you do cars land you are leaving out most girls in general. Monsters Inc was a decent movie but you can't tell me the second one wasn't painful to watch and kind of killed any hope at that franchise moving forward. If you had to pick one i guess it would be star wars based on knowing there will be a lot more movies to come and merchandising galore. If they build a true scale Millenium Falcon and make it a ride and or restaurant that would be epic!

Playing Devil's Advocate, one might argue that Star Wars is just as popular with the ladies (if not more) than the Disney princesses are for the boys. Both are part of the target demographics of their respective markets.

And I was not a huge fan of the movie Cars, but holy man, CarsLand is in a league of it's own out there in CA Adventure. You don't necessarily have to be a huge fan of the movies in order to appreciate the artistry and design that went into that area.

Star Wars has a bigger female following then a lot of people would suspect.

Agreed; especially given the years of pop culture reference and history of the franchise.

 

[Stevek]

If SWW is a ridiculous success this year, I predict that Glendale will greenlight the project.

They need the numbers to back up the ideas..... sadly

Which is just stupid on their part. Biggest movie franchise in history (I believe) and will be an incredible success if done similar in detail to let's say, Potter. Even if done on the cheap (heaven forbid) it will draw boatloads of families. If they don't get it then they're clueless. Should have been greenlit the day Disney closed the deal.

 

[GoofGoof]

StarWarsLand is already under development. They haven't formally announced anything yet and probably won't until they are near breaking ground. They already named a person from WDI to head up Star Wars related projects. You can bet that they will be developing rides and cloning them to multiple parks. The only question now is timing. Who gets it first? Past history tells us DLR, but Spirit dropped in on the Nick Franklin thread last night and hinted at a major expansion in China including a second gate. If that happens I'm sure it will include a Star Wars presence. It also helps to get the Chinese government to foot part of your design and R&D costs for new attractions. It's a matter of when not if for DHS. The only question is if they want to push its major construction and opening back until Avatar gets further along.

My personal opinion is they should first build out an expansion of Pixar Place. Maybe a spinner or Mater ride from Carsland, a Monsters dark ride like the one at DCA and possibly one other D ticket type dark ride attraction (Incredibles could work). In addition they should replace Beauty and the Beast and LM shows with Frozen and Tangled shows with a possible Frozen dark ride too (that one is a reach). If they add 3 new family friendly rides that will hold people over during the construction of SW Land. Without anything new attendance is going to be tough for 3+ years if they rip out Indy or some other stuff and don't build anything else new. Those rides could be open by 2016 or maybe sooner if ground was broken today. Then Avatar opens 2017. Ground is broken on SWLand in 2016 and work wraps up by 2020.

While I'm brain storming on possible additions to DHS doesn't the park need a water ride? I love water rides so I think it does. Doesn't need to be a flume or rapids ride where you get soaked, could just be a boat ride like Pirates or Small World. Maybe an Indy themed water ride if they really cut the Indy show. It could also fit in Pixar Place somewhere. Maybe Monsters or Incredibles water ride instead of a dark ride. Now I'm just getting carried away

 

[Suspirian]

Regarding (ugh) Star Wars Land...maybe Disney is waiting to see if there really IS a demand for more Star Wars movies before committing any land to the franchise. After all, look what happened with the Muppets...

The high attendance for Star Wars Weekends should be a little reassuring to the suits, though. But is that attraction based on fresh new interest, or mere nostalgia?

Disney ought to be focusing any new "Land" or attraction dollars on Frozen, IMO. First of all, it's a Disney-spawned film. And it fits perfectly into the aesthetics of WDW. And if anything could be a Potter Swatter, it's that film, since, as I understand it, little boys are quite into it as well.

http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=Harry Potter, Star Wars&cmpt=q

http://www.google.com/trends/explore#q=Harry Potter, /m/0kvhr5y&cmpt=q

 

[Mouse_Trap]

I really don't see why they won't go ahead with Star Wars Land already. Do they not see that it would attract the same or more amount of people that Harry Potter did when it first opened? If money is the reason than that's even more stupid cause they would easily make their money back and more within one year, I guarantee it. I just don't get TDO's idiocy.

It will happen that for sure, when is another question. You would think an opening after the first of the new films would have been ideal but no way can I see that happening.

I'm just not sure I would agree with making the money back in a year. On a $1bn investment that would involve extracting a $100 extra out of 10 million people with 12 months - that would be a pretty hard task. Remember that $100 has no come in additional revenue to count, not moved for expenditure elsewhere on property. So extra days, extra people - who wouldn't have come otherwise.

I wouldn't disagree it would be a cash cow, and excellent roi, but maybe not quite payback within 12 months.

 

[doctornick]

What about that huge plot of empty land above Asia?

Not to mention there will be space on the east side of the park (along the connector path between Africa and Pandora).

 

[GoofGoof]

It will happen that for sure, when is another question. You would think an opening after the first of the new films would have been ideal but no way can I see that happening.

I'm just not sure I would agree with making the money back in a year. On a $1bn investment that would involve extracting a $100 extra out of 10 million people with 12 months - that would be a pretty hard task. Remember that $100 has no come in additional revenue to count, not moved for expenditure elsewhere on property. So extra days, extra people - who wouldn't have come otherwise.

I wouldn't disagree it would be a cash cow, and excellent roi, but maybe not quite payback within 12 months.

You won't get $1B in profits in 12 months, but an extra billion in revenue is possible. $100 out of 10 million people or $1,000 extra out of 1 million people or $5,000 extra out of 200,000 families. When you factor in meals, merchandise, hotel rooms and park tickets it's not as unrealistic. I know tons of people who never set foot into Universal until Potter was built. Maybe Disney is a lot more popular already than Universal was, but there are still many who don't visit regularly but would be likely to book a vacation to see a truly spectacular Star Wars Land. If you could get 200,000 unique families who were not planning a trip to WDW to come for a week and drop $5,000 there's your billion in revenue.

 

[omurice]

Not to mention there will be space on the east side of the park (along the connector path between Africa and Pandora).

you mean "west si-yeed"?

 

[CinematicFusion]

What happens with all these projects? they have been stalled because of the MyMagic+ plan?
Thanks

The only reasons I see Star Wars Land Stalled is (these are just guesses)...
1. Give Avatar Land its due. Don't want to steal the spotlight from this new land coming.
2. Save money. With Avatar Land being built. Disney doesn't have to answer the question why they aren't building more at the parks. They can say, "We have finished the New Fantasyland and are currently working on Avatar Land. How dare you say we aren't trying to make the greatest theme parks in the world better." Thus..they are saving money not building at multiple parks at the same time.
3. As much as we think Star Wars will be a huge hit. Disney might want to see just how big the new trilogy is before throwing huge money at a theme park land. The first movie will need to do north of 1 billion world wide.
A bad movie and we might be looking at no land at all.

Those are my guesses.

 

[Magenta Panther]

Star Wars has been a proven cash cow for 30+ years. Frozen is several months old. While I could understand them investing in either property, only one of them has stood the test of time. We may find Frozen does so as well, but it certainly hasn't yet. Both are good bets, but Star Wars is undoubtedly a better one.

(NOTE: I don't love either Frozen or Star Wars with the particularity of most - certainly not as much as I love a good Muppet - but I think you'd have to be kidding yourself to question whether more Star Wars in the parks would be a smart financial idea. I just hope it doesn't "take over". Same with Frozen. they have their places, put them there, do it well, and call it a day).

I agree completely about Frozen or SW takeovers. The thing is, Frozen is a Disney creation. That's why I'd rather Disney focused on it as far as the parks are concerned. And I think, because of its timeless fairy-tale motif, it will stand the test of time. People won't go nutso over it forever, but I think it'll last. Just about anything with a Disney princess in it tends to do that.

 

[aladdin2007]

I agree completely about Frozen or SW takeovers. The thing is, Frozen is a Disney creation. That's why I'd rather Disney focused on it as far as the parks are concerned. And I think, because of its timeless fairy-tale motif, it will stand the test of time. People won't go nutso over it forever, but I think it'll last. Just about anything with a Disney princess in it tends to do that.

agree, and now its sounding more likely that a value engineered frozen overlay is going to happen to Maelstrom,(check out the frozen maelstrom thread), sad, it should be bigger and better than this.