well I'll bite first... I completely disagree.... I for one am glad Harry Potter did NOT come to Disney..that's not to say they don't need to be doing other things though, just never thought HP was a good Disney fit
I'm not sure about Avatar being a good fit for them either...however I can see them doing some really cool stuff with it
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.
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.)
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!
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.
