Disney to Reveal Ambitious Star Wars Plans

[JordanNite]

If they take INdiana Jones away whilst building this supposed new ground the park will have very little left.

 

[spacemt354]

Do kids even know what or who Indiana Jones is anymore? It could use to be bull-dozed.

Yep. Absolutely they do. The Young Indiana Jones novels are great for kids. The Indy attractions throughout the Disney Parks still are some of the most popular around. The 2008 film made almost 800 million dollars. A reboot or continuation of the franchise would certainly be a hit.

You bulldoze one attraction to add another. There is no net gain in attractions in a park that desperately needs more. Indy packs house for every show. It would not make sense to bulldoze it.

 

[matt9112]

out of everything honestly i think streets of america has to go....i mean so much uselessness....

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

out of everything honestly i think streets of america has to go....i mean so much uselessness....

They could always move the Osborne lights over to EPCOT

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

They could always move the Osborne lights over to EPCOT

Or build another area in DHS for special events and holiday stuff - wasn't there land where the David Copperfield restaurant was going to be?

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Yep. Absolutely they do. The Young Indiana Jones novels are great for kids. The Indy attractions throughout the Disney Parks still are some of the most popular around. The 2008 film made almost 800 million dollars. A reboot or continuation of the franchise would certainly be a hit.

You bulldoze one attraction to add another. There is no net gain in attractions in a park that desperately needs more. Indy packs house for every show. It would not make sense to bulldoze it.

Build a new area in the park like they did with Lion King over at DAK

 

[Philharmagically]

LOTR and Star Trek are just to keep people coming. Both are timeless, long-standing franchises that are worth getting into Universal Orlando to keep the pressure on Disney World.

However, Nintendo/retro video games... that would be a big draw with families and kids. LOTR is still pretty huge though - a brilliantly executed Middle Earth area would bring in the crowds for sure.

Personally speaking, I'd love it if Uni did something akin to this:

USF

1. Soarin' esque ride themed to Wicked - The Musical (Twister replacement)
2. Universal's Cinematic Experience two-story Omnimover (Shrek/Lucy replacement) with scenes from Jaws, Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy, Psycho, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Birds, The Sting, Earthquake, Jaws, Animal House, Halloween, Back to the Future, teen movie scene (Ridgemont High, John Hughes, Dazed and Confused), Apollo 13, the Bourne series as the finale, and Ted as the conclusion.
3. Mummy revamp/upgrades
4. San Francisco rehaul - bulldozed for a Fast and Furious E-ticket (Disaster/Beetlejuice replacement)
5. Diagon mini-expansion - Weasley Bros Fantasyland-style dark ride
6. London expansion - Sherlock show (Choose Your Own Adventure format) and Doctor Who E-ticket: ToT meets Adventures Through Inner Space meets Poseidon's Fury in terms of format (Fear Factor replacement/expansion)
7. MIB upgrades (rethemed to London, new AAs/effects, etc)
8. Japan (MIB/Springfield expansion plot): features Godzilla dark ride, Hello Kitty mini-land (segues to KidZone revamp), martial arts show, Attack on Titan coaster
9. KidZone revamp - SpongeBob Splash Battle/play area, Chum Bucket replaces KidZone Pizza, TMNT family indoor coaster, Coraline trackless dark ride, Dora mini-land (flat ride and play area), MLP mini-land (boutique, restaurant and flat ride), Curious George revamp and flat ride and a Woody Woodpecker show
10. Hollywood revamp - E.T. relocated entrance/queue, also refurbed. Gardens of Allah museum, T2 3D upgraded

IOA

1. Enclose Storm Force, add fog and strobe lights, Storm & Xavier AAs
2. Replace Doom with ToT-esque indoor E-ticket themed to the Fantastic Four
3. Retheme Toon Lagoon to Hanna Barbera. Includes Flintstones water coaster, Scooby-Doo dark ride, Jetsons show (by Marvel), upgraded Popeye/Me Ship the Olive and a Rocky & Bullwinkle mini-swings or balloon race flat ride
4. JP revamp to JW: includes glass pods around the lagoon similar to HE, aquatic dinos dark ride in newly revamped Discovery Center, an amber mine family coaster like SDMT, upgrades for JPRA and CJ, plus an observatory tower in CJ. Pteranodon also gets overhauled to allow adults regularly
5. HP Phase 3: FJ upgrades including the full covering of the JP side of show building, Great Hall, Forbidden Forest to replace DC... includes Triwizard coaster themed to Everest, Ford Anglia family dark ride, Shrieking Shack show, Whomping Willow flat ride and Flight of the Hippogriff. Ollivanders expanded, too.
6. Wonka replaces LC: includes family boat ride, Glass Elevator E-ticket, interactive mini-show, and a parachute drop flat ride
7. Seuss expansion: NBA City and some USF soundstages knocked down for a Mt. Crumpett coaster, Lorax musical/show, Yertle the Turtle flat ride, Horton dark ride and the Noisarium (walkthrough/show). Seuss Trolley gets expanded/revamped. Cat gets an extensive upgrade. 1F2FRFBF moved to Green Eggs and Ham old spot. Green Eggs and Ham relocated to Seuss expansion area.

3rd gate

1. LOTR
2. Star Trek
3. World of Warcraft
4. Nintendo
5. Classic Monsters
6. Mythology (fully fleshed out)
7. Possibly Japan (only if MIB/Springfield plot was used to expand Springfield)

Some ideas for IPs

Okay.... First of all, a Wicked ride would NEVER happen at Uni given that Sondheim is now known to be working with Disney, first with Into the Woods, plus a rumoured possible movie version of Wicked in the works. And BBC stuff (Doctor Who, Sherlock) wouldn't happen because they've already got a theme park in the works in England.

Although I do agree with you about a possible revamp of Jurassic Park (to fit in with the new movie) in IoA, maybe a few revamps of rides. As for a third gate, I have heard of some rumours of a possible water park.

But anyway... Back to the actual thread topic of SW. I think we'll be seeing work starting soon on at least something in DHS. Maybe even just making some of the meet and greets of Star Wars Weekends a more permanent fixture. Because at the moment, things are looking pretty bare in the park. I'm certainly skipping it next time I go to WDW. I just hope they can do a DCA 2.0 and really turn this park around.

 

[PJBuckeye]

Or build another area in DHS for special events and holiday stuff - wasn't there land where the David Copperfield restaurant was going to be?

Or build a full blown Arrendale in DHS and do the lights throughout the village of Arrendale. It would work so well. You could also build ice skating, a huge restaurant, shops, an E ticket coaster through an ice palace on top of a mountain, and darkride. Makes so much more sense than jacking up Norway... And would drive so much more revenue.

 

[HauntedMansionFLA]

Or build a full blown Arrendale in DHS and do the lights throughout the village of Arrendale. It would work so well. You could also build ice skating, a huge restaurant, shops, an E ticket coaster through an ice palace on top of a mountain, and darkride. Makes so much more sense than jacking up Norway... And would drive so much more revenue.

Great idea - they could build that in the back part where LMA is. Norway is a done deal.

 

[Rotel1026]

Not saying a Wicked ride would or wouldn't happen, but Sondheim did not write Wicked. Stephen Schwartz did.

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Not saying a Wicked ride would or wouldn't happen, but Sondheim did not write Wicked. Stephen Schwartz did.

And Universal owns Wicked. They already had a shortened version in USJ. And the rumor is all the sets were shipped to Orlando when it closed.

 

[Goofnut1980]

Is this a serious question? Really?

It was a serious question. I didn't mean it to offend anyone. I just know that when I was a kid that is when Indy was popular back in the 80s. I didn't know if kids really knew who Indy was being 2015.

 

[Magenta Panther]

Yep. Absolutely they do. The Young Indiana Jones novels are great for kids. The Indy attractions throughout the Disney Parks still are some of the most popular around. The 2008 film made almost 800 million dollars. A reboot or continuation of the franchise would certainly be a hit.

You bulldoze one attraction to add another. There is no net gain in attractions in a park that desperately needs more. Indy packs house for every show. It would not make sense to bulldoze it.

I've seen the show twice. Know why I went the second time? Because it was a place you could sit down in and had shade. That's it. (It was still hot as heck though).

 

[Magenta Panther]

Not saying a Wicked ride would or wouldn't happen, but Sondheim did not write Wicked. Stephen Schwartz did.

Nuts to Wicked. In what way would that make any kind of good ride? f Disney wants to build an Oz-themed ride, then it should be themed to the definitive 1939 film. It's hard to believe that a film that's so iconic and long-lived still doesn't have at least a dark ride devoted to it in any American park.

 

[CaptainAmerica]

It certainly won't be built on Iger's watch.

He'll want the expense and loss of profits on the sheet to be on someones head. Remember this guys pay package is dependant on how much profiit Disney makes. If you spend big on infustructure projects that will take time to reep money back (not instantly like movies) then you are going to have a few years of downtime.

That's why it's dangerous to just give a CEO a salary based on profits. He is unlikely do anything to damage profits by spending money.

Wow so much wrong with this, I don't know where to begin.

1. Capital expenditures have no immediate impact on profits. Profit is the bottom line on a company's income statement, equal to revenues minus expenses. Capital expenditures are not expenses because they're exchanging one asset (cash) for different assets (attractions, cruise ships, resorts). Over time, these expenditures are recognized as expenses through depreciation over the life of the assets. Quick example, if you spend $100M on capital projects in 2015, you're not impacting 2015 profits at all. Assuming the assets you bought have a 25 year life, you'll see $4M in expense (and profit reduction) each year over the next 25 years.

2. Iger's salary is not based on profit. His base salary is independent of all metrics and his bonuses are based on stock performance. While tangentially related to net income, stock performance is influenced by a vast number of variables, including a company's long-term growth potential.

3. Cash makes up a very small portion (if anything) of C-suite incentive compensation. Whatever millions are reported as Iger's compensation for a given year, the vast majority of that comes in the form of company stock and stock options. As such, Iger has the same incentives as any shareholder because he is a (very large) shareholder himself. You couldn't be more wrong when you frame it as if Iger gets "X" dollars for achieving "Y" profit. Rather, his stock and stock option compensation becomes more valuable when he drives shareholder value.

4. Without incentive-based compensation, the world's economy would collapse in on itself like a dying star. Who owns The Walt Disney Company? Shareholders. What do shareholders want? Capital appreciation and dividends. If senior executives received their salaries independent of performance, there would be nothing linking their incentives to that of their "bosses." Iger could sit home and collect his millions without lifting a finger. By linking his compensation (and therefore his incentive) to the incentive of the rest of the shareholders, the goals of management and ownership are aligned.

 

[doctornick]

FWIW, WDW1974 in another thread indicated that an announcement for Star Wars in the US parks will take place at D23 in August.

 

[Admiral01]

LOTR and Star Trek are just to keep people coming. Both are timeless, long-standing franchises that are worth getting into Universal Orlando to keep the pressure on Disney World.

However, Nintendo/retro video games... that would be a big draw with families and kids. LOTR is still pretty huge though - a brilliantly executed Middle Earth area would bring in the crowds for sure.

Personally speaking, I'd love it if Uni did something akin to this:

USF

1. Soarin' esque ride themed to Wicked - The Musical (Twister replacement)
2. Universal's Cinematic Experience two-story Omnimover (Shrek/Lucy replacement) with scenes from Jaws, Frankenstein, Dracula, The Mummy, Psycho, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Birds, The Sting, Earthquake, Jaws, Animal House, Halloween, Back to the Future, teen movie scene (Ridgemont High, John Hughes, Dazed and Confused), Apollo 13, the Bourne series as the finale, and Ted as the conclusion.
3. Mummy revamp/upgrades
4. San Francisco rehaul - bulldozed for a Fast and Furious E-ticket (Disaster/Beetlejuice replacement)
5. Diagon mini-expansion - Weasley Bros Fantasyland-style dark ride
6. London expansion - Sherlock show (Choose Your Own Adventure format) and Doctor Who E-ticket: ToT meets Adventures Through Inner Space meets Poseidon's Fury in terms of format (Fear Factor replacement/expansion)
7. MIB upgrades (rethemed to London, new AAs/effects, etc)
8. Japan (MIB/Springfield expansion plot): features Godzilla dark ride, Hello Kitty mini-land (segues to KidZone revamp), martial arts show, Attack on Titan coaster
9. KidZone revamp - SpongeBob Splash Battle/play area, Chum Bucket replaces KidZone Pizza, TMNT family indoor coaster, Coraline trackless dark ride, Dora mini-land (flat ride and play area), MLP mini-land (boutique, restaurant and flat ride), Curious George revamp and flat ride and a Woody Woodpecker show
10. Hollywood revamp - E.T. relocated entrance/queue, also refurbed. Gardens of Allah museum, T2 3D upgraded

IOA

1. Enclose Storm Force, add fog and strobe lights, Storm & Xavier AAs
2. Replace Doom with ToT-esque indoor E-ticket themed to the Fantastic Four
3. Retheme Toon Lagoon to Hanna Barbera. Includes Flintstones water coaster, Scooby-Doo dark ride, Jetsons show (by Marvel), upgraded Popeye/Me Ship the Olive and a Rocky & Bullwinkle mini-swings or balloon race flat ride
4. JP revamp to JW: includes glass pods around the lagoon similar to HE, aquatic dinos dark ride in newly revamped Discovery Center, an amber mine family coaster like SDMT, upgrades for JPRA and CJ, plus an observatory tower in CJ. Pteranodon also gets overhauled to allow adults regularly
5. HP Phase 3: FJ upgrades including the full covering of the JP side of show building, Great Hall, Forbidden Forest to replace DC... includes Triwizard coaster themed to Everest, Ford Anglia family dark ride, Shrieking Shack show, Whomping Willow flat ride and Flight of the Hippogriff. Ollivanders expanded, too.
6. Wonka replaces LC: includes family boat ride, Glass Elevator E-ticket, interactive mini-show, and a parachute drop flat ride
7. Seuss expansion: NBA City and some USF soundstages knocked down for a Mt. Crumpett coaster, Lorax musical/show, Yertle the Turtle flat ride, Horton dark ride and the Noisarium (walkthrough/show). Seuss Trolley gets expanded/revamped. Cat gets an extensive upgrade. 1F2FRFBF moved to Green Eggs and Ham old spot. Green Eggs and Ham relocated to Seuss expansion area.

3rd gate

1. LOTR
2. Star Trek
3. World of Warcraft
4. Nintendo
5. Classic Monsters
6. Mythology (fully fleshed out)
7. Possibly Japan (only if MIB/Springfield plot was used to expand Springfield)

Some ideas for IPs

With the closure of Star Trek: The Experience a few years back, that franchise is really ripe for inclusion somewhere.

 

[Admiral01]

Well, considering the last movie was only in 2008, I'm sure kids do know who he is. And also considering the fantastic rides that Tokyo and Anaheim have that feature him and the stunt show has been around for 26 years and still packs them in ... But I can see what you mean.

Indy has been around for a long time and Disney will always find a way to keep him alive. Just like they do the Muppets. Yeah, neither may hold mass appeal like certain franchises do but I think Indy remains popular. Just not popular enough I suppose for WDW to ever add a ride.

Amazing that Indy isn't popular enough at WDW for a cloned ride...and yet DisneySea has TWO Indy rides.

I would love to see Indy Adventure at DHS.

 

[FrankLapidus]

It was a serious question. I didn't mean it to offend anyone. I just know that when I was a kid that is when Indy was popular back in the 80s. I didn't know if kids really knew who Indy was being 2015.

You didn't offend me, I was just surprised by the question. To me the IJ series, the original trilogy anyway, is up there with the best films that pass from generation to generation; Star Wars, Bond, Back to the Future, etc.

Maybe I'm blinded a bit by being a huge fan of Indy but then again I really do genuinely believe that the character himself alone is so iconic that exposure to the series has become almost a rite of passage for a lot of people. Its not Star Wars or Harry Potter in terms of mass appeal and popularity but Indy's been around now for nearly thirty-five years and Raiders of the Lost Ark is still up there with the very best adventure films of all time. And who could resist that music?

 

[marni1971]

With the closure of Star Trek: The Experience a few years back, that franchise is really ripe for inclusion somewhere.

That it is.