I also have to agree. I really enjoy the HP movies and am not a much of an Avatar fan. I'll go see HP at UNI sometime, but UNI isn't winning me over from being a Disney fan. I'll also go see Avatar as I'll be at AK anyway, and yes, it may make my stay at AK longer and more enjoyable once that and all the other updates are complete.
You are a fan of Harry Potter, yet you may go see it ''sometime''? And you have already stated that it won't win you over? Is WDW a religion for you? Does riding Small World make you feel baptized in the joy, the wonder, the MAGIC? I do think you are being honest, which is more than many Disney fans ... but I just wonder why? Why is Disney viewed as a religion or political affiliation? Why can't they ever lose your business, your support, your money?
I think it's more of a win/win. As stated by others, UNI needed a big IP to make IOA a bigger destination and revitalize their path. We need UNI to be successful as it does create competition with Disney and will at some point help drive new work. Certainly, this is NO lesson on how to maximize IP. As others have stated with Carsland as an example, Disney knows how, it's just a matter of do they want to? Sure it would have been cool in some ways, but it just doesn't fit right and I know Rowling would never have permitted it to be anything less then what UNI committed to. Also consider that UNI is essentially land locked like Disneyland. As they build out, price of surrounding property goes up, and thus it becomes less practical for them to expand. They need some big IPs to milk what they have, where WDW isn't facing the same dilemma. (Yeah, I know. Unless they keep selling of land. That's another thread.)
Really? UNI needed Potter because it's land-locked? That's the best you've got? And WDW has the blessing of size to waste all the land Walt bought? Remember that MAGICal film from the 60s where Uncle Walt said ''We have enough land here for all the timeshares and hotel rooms we may imagine''?
What does it say that UNI is buying up land while Disney is selling off land (see: Compass Rose)?
Not too mention, who would have wanted Cinderella's castle replaced with Hogwarts? Though an HP remake done in CG with the Disney characters in the movie would have been pretty damn funny! Mickey as Harry and Goofy as Lord V. Could have been worth it right there!
Now, I know you aren't serious about one castle replacing another ... but you do realize the way the Star Wars characters have been bastardized by mashing them with Disney's was something that Rowling would never support, right?
There wouldn't have been $48 Potter character breakfasts for
@WDWFigment's wife to look cute at (OK, Tom, you looked cute too! Happy?) and people to blog about. You can't even buy a Coke in Hogsmeade because carrying the narrative through is what was considered above all. But, hey, at least you can buy Tink antenna toppers in Liberty Square.
As for the whole NexGen point, can we let this go? Disney did not spend $1B on just WDW bracelets and that is a fact. Their entire infrastructure that manages sales, reservations, photos, and more across all their properties including the cruise ships all had to be upgraded & enhanced. It is a cross business unit enhancement so they can change direction in the long term. Like any other sophisticated system that requires touching almost every system in place, it has issues that they have been diligently working through. Frustrating for now, but later it will be no big deal. I'm curious if all of you who complain about NexGen would have thrown a fit back in the day when Disney changed A/B/C/D/E tickets to a single park entry paper ticket would have complained then? "Well, why should I pay for those rides when I won't go on them. I only like these rides, but now I have to pay for them all essentially." Or more recently did you complain with "I don't want my room key, park ticket, and charging privleges linked on this Key-to-the-World credit card thing. If someone gets a hold of it, they can break into my room and charge up all kinds of things, plus I'm out a park ticket!"? It's all so silly really. Just simple business evolution. The bigger the business, the harder it is to change course.
No, we can't ... and the number is over $2 billion, not that the lower figure isn't mindnumbing either.
Your argument comparing A-E tickets, which I am ancient enough to have experienced for many visits in the 70s and early 80s, to NGE is just not a valid one.