Disney and Universal working on Marvel deal for Florida?

[bakntime]

But to say that all Universal did in Hogsmeade is overlay 2 rides and build one new one is disingenuous at best. Flat out wrong is more accurate.

In terms of attractions, it's exactly what they did. Yes, they also added a street, but let's face it, there's not a lot of navigable real estate back there. The land is relatively small, especially when you look at only what's new.

I'm not bashing Universal here (I really enjoyed Wizarding World and FJ), simply stating common criticisms and relevant facts. Hogsmeade is not large scale. Calling it Wizarding World is almost silly. Universal touted it as a theme park within a theme park, when it contained, in fact, a single new attraction and a small street with overcrowded shops.

 

[marni1971]

Universal touted it as a theme park within a theme park, when it contained, in fact, a single new attraction and a small street with overcrowded shops.

In all fairness they didn't. The media did.

There again, Diagon Alley could legitimately be called that. And I'm not a Potter fan.

I just prey the Banshee ride is everything Forbidden Journey was. It has to replace the missing E. And DAK needs it.

 

[AEfx]

Universal Orlando Resort has licensing deals with every major studio and then some. The Marvel contract is in all likelihood the cheapest, simplest, longest term and most secure of all of their deals. If they ever tired of paying the set, predictable fees it would be after jettisoning many other deals first.

That wasn't what I said at all. I was talking about the merchandising. We all know that merchandise is one of the primary revenue streams and if I had the choice between a homegrown IP where I got all the money or an IP where I had to fork over much of that revenue, eventually I'd consider a transition to the latter.

That's like saying Uni probably wants to get rid of Potter because they have to pay liscensing fees.

Actually, no, not all all. On so many levels they are entirely different situations.


In any case, I'm not joining the silly little endless debate over when or if something is or is not going to happen, I simply was stating that this "they have absolutely no reason to ever examine the issue" nonsense is just that - nonsense. To think that either one of them has the other "by the balls," or that both companies will perpetually wish to keep this arrangement as is, is terribly naive of how corporations work.

 

[Bairstow]

And in light of Avatar Land, I wouldn't say that Disney would build a simple overlay of a single attraction if they had Marvel, but have at it.

Hogsmeade is ultimately a single, small street. Beautiful, absolutely, especially if you're a fan of the movies, but the scale of that land hardly impresses the way the films did, and the way Avatar Land should, in terms of size and scope. The Wizarding World land itself feels compact and claustrophobic, but it's understandable considering the space they had for it; they simply couldn't replicate the expansive feel of Hogwarts and the surrounding countryside. They couldn't even effectively hide the show building without risking throwing off the artistic integrity of the castle.

Isn't most of the cinematic Harry Potter world supposed to feel claustrophobic and compact?
You get the big reveal view of the castle, which I feel is highly impressive, and the rest of the land feels tight and lived-in, just as it should.
If Hogsmeade had been as large and as spread out as Fantasyland, it wouldn't just have been more expensive, it would have been wrong.

 

[lazyboy97o]

In all fairness they didn't. The media did.

I'm fairly certain it did start with Universal. The media didn't get the nuance and just called it a theme park.

That wasn't what I said at all. I was talking about the merchandising. We all know that merchandise is one of the primary revenue streams and if I had the choice between a homegrown IP where I got all the money or an IP where I had to fork over much of that revenue, eventually I'd consider a transition to the latter.

There are merchandising deals for all of the present licensed properties and they all have a cut going to the property owner. And again, still probably a bigger cut than what desperate Marvel asked for back in '94.

Isn't most of the cinematic Harry Potter world supposed to feel claustrophobic and compact?

Correct. The small spaces were intentional, not a constraint.

 

[Bairstow]

I'm fairly certain it did start with Universal. The media didn't get the nuance and just called it a theme park.

Ironically, Universal also totally botched the PR for the opening of Islands; a lot of the media and most of the general public interpreted Islands of Adventure as an expansion of USF instead of a new park.
So, whether or not it was Universal's fault, the public's potential disappointment in Wizarding World only being a small section of a larger park was tempered by the fact that a lot of people didn't know that Islands existed in the first place.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Ironically, Universal also totally botched the PR for the opening of Islands; a lot of the media and most of the general public interpreted Islands of Adventure as an expansion of USF instead of a new park.
So, whether or not it was Universal's fault, the public's potential disappointment in Wizarding World only being a small section of a larger park was tempered by the fact that a lot of people didn't know that Islands existed in the first place.

Yep. One can still see the Universal Studios Islands of Adventures name at the Islands of Adventure Trading Company signs in Port of Entry.

 

[WondersOfLife]

Thought I'd share this here, too.

 

[danlb_2000]

I found a video of a Universal Executive negotiating with Disney about them getting the rights back...

 

[Mike S]

A quote directly from Universal. Doesn't get any clearer than this.

The Disney-owned Marvel movie brand was conspicuously absent from plans to rehabilitate Hollywood Studios. Although Disney bought Marvel in 2009 for $4 billion, the Florida theme park rights to Marvel characters like Spider-Man, the Hulk and Captain America continue to be held by Universal under a long-term contract.

Asked in an interview in July if Universal would ever sell those rights, Thomas L. Williams, Universal’s theme park chairman, answered with one word: “No.”

http://nytimes.com/2015/08/16/busin...lans-for-star-wars-attractions.html?referrer=

 

[PhotoDave219]

A quote directly from Universal. Doesn't get any clearer than this.

http://nytimes.com/2015/08/16/busin...lans-for-star-wars-attractions.html?referrer=

Bookmark that..... we may need that a few thousand times.

 

[TeriofTerror]

Bookmark that..... we may need that a few thousand times.

Like it'll do any good. "What is dead may never die."