DHS Makeover - What we know so far.....

[deere839]

Awesome. I was hoping to finally get my own "perfect" shot of the theater from partially down the street on our next trip. Guess that is in the toilet now. "Hey look. Two huge concrete towers! What's that behind them? Oh, yeah, I think that's the Great Movie Ride."

They arent really in the way the stage right now is in the way these are kind of more on the sides and there still under construction so they could theme it with the great movie ride

 

[Rodan75]

So it is like the new Castle Turrets? Light and sound?

 

[deere839]

So it is like the new Castle Turrets? Light and sound?

bassically but without theming right now

 

[doctornick]

Yes except the Entrance is the one part that is actually staying the same.

I think the reference was to the parking entrance (toll plaza and such) for the park being redirected.

 

[Sped2424]

I'm curious. With all the expansion they've done at the parks recently including Hogsmeade, at what point did Universal hit $1Billion? Just for a good reference point.

Wasn't both potter expansions around the 500 range put together? I know hogsmeade was around 150 but I can't remember if diagon was 250 million or more

 

[Sped2424]

So for ~$500 million, Universal got The Worlds of Harry Potter - Forbidden Journey, Gringotts, and Hogwarts Express; rethemed Dragon Challenge and Hippogriff; multiple small shows and meet and greets; and a litany of shops and restaurants, all done in some of the best immersive theming even seen at a theme park.

Meanwhile, for the same money, WDW got New Fantasyland - Seven Dwarfs Mine Coaster and a Mermaid clone; rethemed Barnstormer; relocated Dumbo; 2 meet and greet attractions, and a couple restaurants and shops, all dressed in lovely facades but ultimately lacking in substance.

WWoHP
- Phase 1: Announced May 2007, opened June 2010 (3 years, 1 month)
- Phase 2: Announced December 2011, opened July 2014 (2 years, 8 months)
Total time: 5 years, 9 months from announcement to opening.

NFL
- Announced September 2009, fully opened May 2014
Total time: 4 years, 8 months

I forget - who is supposed to be the industry leader again?

Again I am baffled that CEO's and board members see what Universal is spending and not saying "Where the hell is all our money going here?". How is there not emergency and an immediate effort to restructure WDI to fit the uni model of dev and creation.

 

[Mike S]

Again I am baffled that CEO's and board members see what Universal is spending and not saying "Where the hell is all our money going here?". How is there not emergency and an immediate effort to restructure WDI to fit the uni model of dev and creation.

There is, it's just the wrong solution. Cuts, cuts, and more cuts. Just look at TSL.

 

[twebber55]

Wasn't both potter expansions around the 500 range put together? I know hogsmeade was around 150 but I can't remember if diagon was 250 million or more

pretty sure DA was around 400
gotta remember a lot of the infrastructure for Hogsmeade was already there including two of the three rides

 

[Mike S]

pretty sure DA was around 400
gotta remember a lot of the infrastructure for Hogsmeade was already there including two of the three rides

I actually think only the two rides were saved. Hogsmeade is so radically different from Merlinwood that I doubt any of the buildings were reused.

 

[twebber55]

I actually think only the two rides were saved. Hogsmeade is so radically different from Merlinwood that I doubt any of the buildings were reused.

right which is what i said
when i say infrastructure im thinking kitchens,plumbing, etc...

EDIT: which is why i dont think its fair to compare price tag of hogsmeade
now DA is fair game

 

[Rodan75]

So what we don't know about Disney's declared budget/spending on their internal projects is how much of that is affiliate spending and how much of that is true cost going out the door. We don't know how much they are truly over-spending vs just adding affiliate revenue back into the company.

It is the same concept of Disney spending $100M on advertising for a movie then advertise it primarily on Disney owned networks, but instead of getting a discount they spend $75M of it on rack rate ads with no discount. It is just a revenue game.

 

[WildcatDen]

Again I am baffled that CEO's and board members see what Universal is spending and not saying "Where the hell is all our money going here?". How is there not emergency and an immediate effort to restructure WDI to fit the uni model of dev and creation.

I love me some Forbidden ___________(Journey) but I could see where mine train costs more based on all the rock work. Now Pandora like it or not, should be easy to explain costing more than Diagon. Still $1B is a bit flabbergasting.

 

[ToTBellHop]

I love me some Forbidden ___________(Journey) but I could see where mine train costs more based on all the rock work. Now Pandora like it or not, should be easy to explain costing more than Diagon. Still $1B is a bit flabbergasting.

It is. It has a lot of rock work, but so did Everest. You could build about 8 Everests for $1bn.

 

[AEfx]

I love me some Forbidden ___________(Journey) but I could see where mine train costs more based on all the rock work. Now Pandora like it or not, should be easy to explain costing more than Diagon. Still $1B is a bit flabbergasting.

Oh come on...rockwork is no big cost driver.

I actually am a fan of New Fantasyland - the placemaking was essential, our Fantasyland was simply embarrassing thematically, for the flagship resort no less - but when you look at Diagon Alley and FJ, and you look at New Fantasyland, and realize that Diagon Alley was cheaper - there is no comparison.

I mean, even ignoring the "wow" factor, just in terms of ROI - Universal changed the entire paradigm of the theme park game with their investment, bringing millions of new folks to Orlando, and WDW was just making up for decades of neglect.

 

[Mike S]

Oh come on...rockwork is no big cost driver.

I actually am a fan of New Fantasyland - the placemaking was essential, our Fantasyland was simply embarrassing thematically, for the flagship resort no less - but when you look at Diagon Alley and FJ, and you look at New Fantasyland, and realize that Diagon Alley was cheaper - there is no comparison.

I mean, even ignoring the "wow" factor, just in terms of ROI - Universal changed the entire paradigm of the theme park game with their investment, bringing millions of new folks to Orlando, and WDW was just making up for decades of neglect.

It was needed to enhance the theming but it was also complete style over substance. To expand on your HP comparison a bit, if Uni built it the same way Disney did NFL we would walk into Hogwarts only to find a Great Hall restaurant and nothing else. Oh, and the castle would be much smaller in a lame attempt at forced perspective.

 

[WildcatDen]

Oh come on...rockwork is no big cost driver.

Rock work is not a cost driver? Really? Compared to steel or aluminum frame buildings with themed facades? I am sure one of our construction experts could weigh in. Still, with potential projects coming to all 4 parks, I think you may like the potential pace.

 

[WildcatDen]

It is. It has a lot of rock work, but so did Everest. You could build about 8 Everests for $1bn.

I would be happy with 2 Everest (fully functional). We could have dueling Yeti's?

 

[WildcatDen]

It was needed to enhance the theming but it was also complete style over substance. To expand on your HP comparison a bit, if Uni built it the same way Disney did NFL we would walk into Hogwarts only to find a Great Hall restaurant and nothing else. Oh, and the castle would be much smaller in a lame attempt at forced perspective.

To be truthful, Hogwarts is also pretty lame when you see a bird land on it. Or are those remote controlled Hippogriffs? Now, if they would have built Hogwarts on the scale of Cindy's castle, that would have been sweet!

 

[Mike S]

To be truthful, Hogwarts is also pretty lame when you see a bird land on it. Or are those remote controlled Hippogriffs? Now, if they would have built Hogwarts on the scale of Cindy's castle, that would have been sweet!

Birds sometimes land on Cindy's Castle as well and throws it off a bit. It happens.

 

[WildcatDen]

Birds sometimes land on Cindy's Castle as well and throws it off a bit. It happens.

True. Regardless, I am a fan of USF Potter offerings and I cannot wait to see Diagon. That said, I am even more intrigued to see Pandora and eventually Star Wars and other non Toy Story IP slated for DHS.