Harry Potter IS making a difference!!

[stitch2008]

Word on the street is that Universal is securing the Lord of the Rings rights right now actually. They even did a guest survey where they were asking people about LOTR attractions awhile back.

I've read articles on that. But I will believe that when I see it.

 

[Captain Chaos]

Funny thing is this was the second time Disney turned down the harry potter franchise. Yea the modern Disney company is that dumb




Word on the street is that Universal is securing the Lord of the Rings rights right now actually. They even did a guest survey where they were asking people about LOTR attractions awhile back.

I had that survey emailed to me... They were also asking if guests would want a Hannah Montana atraction in Universal... I don't think a survey is a sign of Universal buying the rights to Lord of the Rings...

 

[slappy magoo]

Pretty sure no one, especially not myself, insinuated that Disney make an attraction based on Pokemon...

Point was it's not a fad.

Oh, you want it. Admit it.

 

[Wilt Dasney]

Now Twilight is definately a fad. When the last movie is released with will unquestionably fade out of the public conciousness.

Dosn`t matter. The attraction stands up by itself.

I`m neither a fan of TZ or Potter. But I love the attractions they are based on. And that`s the icing on the cake for a true fully immersive E Ticket.

He meant this

Not this

 

[Skipper03]

I think Disney is or should be seriously looking into buying rights to Lord of the Rings. Just looking at the numbers, Two Tower's and Return of the King individually out grossed the highest grossing Harry Potter film, the first one. Plus The Hobbit and the other prequel is coming. Would seem like a hot product to me.

Actually the highest grossing Potter film would be the one just released... for biggest opening weekend anyway! Something tells me it will continue to grow in dollars and popularity!

 

[cowanfamily]

According to this article

,http://www.orlandosentinel.com/the-daily-disney/os-disney-world-attendance-20101126,0,5013073.story

it seems as though HP is really making a difference.. I'm glad to see uni stealing disney customers, hopefully it lights a fire, and disney will start making rides and attractions actually worthy of the disney name again.

Who cares! I just spent last week at WDW. It was wall to wall people. Nothing is going to change!

 

[ABigBrassBand]

NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO
NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO

no.

And as someone from the Pokemon generation, I can tell you that Pokemon is still going strong.

I agree--Pokemon hasn't died out yet, not close.

 

[lazyboy97o]

It was a gamble for Uni in the sense that it meant changing their business model and because it was like handling plutonium. Do it right and you win big. Had they screwed it up, it would have been the biggest failure in theme park history.
Thankfully, they did it the right way by not cutting corners and by involving JKR and WB throughout the entire process.

The story I have always heard in the past was that Disney did not like how much control Rowling wanted over the project. Also that she forced Universal Creative to bring on the team from Warner Bros. after tossing aside their original ideas and threatening to walk.

If anybody is looking for an interesting read, the original agreement is available

I think what Mouse Detective was saying is that UNI was paying Marvel before Disney bought them so it makes no difference where or who that money is going now. They were paying before, still paying the same, no difference now. And I think the HP merch sales has them consoling themselves. :lol:

I have to agree that I am not entirely convinced that Universal Orlando is all that concerned about Marvel now being owned by Disney. Marvel Comics in the mid-1990s was not what we know today, they even went bankrupt in 1996. The contracts all seem to be rather heavily in Universal's favor, as Marvel needed Universal at the time.

Controlling interest in Universal Orlando is also not with NBC Universal, but The Blackstone Group. Presently Blackstone Group subsidiaries own or control Universal Orlando, SeaWorld Orlando, Busch Gardens Tampa and they're building Legoland Florida. Despite all of that, Blackstone has yet to really push forward as trying to assert a coordinated effort to really take on Disney. Blackstone was already paying the royalties and Disney cannot use Marvel's most popular characters in the biggest area where Disney and Blackstone compete. I really have a hard time seeing Universal Orlando dumping Marvel until Disney is able to raise the amount of the royalties or Disney offers to buy back the rights, like they recently did with the films Paramount was set to distribute. Blackstone being Blackstone, they probably see it as being in their better interest to wait it out and see if they can get Disney to make an offer to buy back the rights.

 

[inluvwithbeast]

Who cares! I just spent last week at WDW. It was wall to wall people. Nothing is going to change!

Well, that was last week. A holiday week... And Disney hasn't seen a decline, if I read correctly. Just flat-lining. This is still bad. Even with the economy seeming to be looking up (well, relatively), I think what everyone is thinking is that Disney should be seeing increases, not flat-lines.

To ignore Uni's increases and Disney's lack there of is ignorant. You're sticking your head in the sand. Disney magic can only go so far, especially if the magic is not maintained. Maybe the problem IS maintaining the magic, as opposed to increasing and enriching.

 

[MAF]

Who cares! I just spent last week at WDW. It was wall to wall people. Nothing is going to change!

...and maybe that was because it was Thanksgiving week? LMAO! I love the denial going on in this thread. HP at Universal is hurting Disney, FACT!

 

[EvanAnderson]

^That's like guests who visit WWOHP for the first time during Thanksgiving weekend. They all say "OMG it was terrible, wall to wall people, lines for everything!" It's actually ALL the parks experiencing a crazy amount of people.

Here's a picture I took today. Go to the parks now! They're empty!

 

[T-1MILLION]

^That's like guests who visit WWOHP for the first time during Thanksgiving weekend. They all say "OMG it was terrible, wall to wall people, lines for everything!" It's actually ALL the parks experiencing a crazy amount of people.

Here's a picture I took today. Go to the parks now! They're empty!

This time is always the calm before the Christmas Storm. The week between Thanksigivng's end back to school and before Christmas Break.

Forbidden Journey has a better hourly capacity than even Haunted Mansion. A ten min wait for such a ride is still A LOT of people. The wait yesterday was light for things but the shops were sitll full. Not lines out the doors for the shops but just becuase there are not queues for the shops does not mean they are not busy. Just not as PACKED busy.

 

[SMRT-1]

...and maybe that was because it was Thanksgiving week? LMAO! I love the denial going on in this thread. HP at Universal is hurting Disney, FACT!

she just sniffed the dust...

 

[marni1971]

Marni, any idea what franchises Universal is looking at for IOA expansion???

I only know of expansion with what they have.

 

[Thurp]

Who cares! I just spent last week at WDW. It was wall to wall people. Nothing is going to change!

And Universal was wall-to-wall people last week as well. Your point?

 

[WALTISMYHERO]

Folks, this is my first post. I've been following and reading the forum on a daily basis for a couple of years.
I'm as big a Disney fan as there is. Head to the World on an almost-yearly basis. We have a 7 year old son, and have brought him to Orlando for 10 days, each of the past 2 years.

Prior to that, I had been with my wife (yup, without kids) for 4 consecutive years. Had been there countless times in the past as well. It's the highlight of my year. We had always stayed on Disney Property.

For the past 2 years, though, we've stayed at the Royal Pacific at Universal....for 10 days. My wife booked it, and I was extremely hesitant to stay off of Disney Property. She convinced me to give it a shot. I did so reluctlantly The hotel is fabulous, and Citywalk is great as well. If you stay on a Universal property, you get to go to the front of the line at ANY attraction at Universal. The hotel also has a nice boat shuttle to citywalk and the parks. Beautiful landscaping and pool. I've stayed at most of the Disney resorts, and this is nicer....and less expensive.

HP was a great ride, but too scary for my 7 year old. He rode it once, and that was it.

While Universal is great, it's NOT Disney. However, staying at Royal Pacific allowed us to visit the parks anytime, quickly, and go to attractions without a wait. It's a great value, especially for younger children. No 2 hr waits in lines.

That said, we still visited all of the Disney Parks as well at Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach during our June visit. But, we didn't stay on Disney property, didn't go to dinner on property, didn't visit DTD.....So, we certainly spent less money at Disney than we typically would have.

I, too, get extremely upset when Corporate owns the "keys to the castle" and holds the rights to what we all consider an "institution". I truly feel that with that there is a certain responsibility to exceed expectations, innovate, and be what everyone expects you to be.

I absolutely LOVE WDW. I don't ever begrudge someone from making a buck. But, I also feel that there's a responsibility to be the absolute best you can be....

 

[Lee]

The story I have always heard in the past was that Disney did not like how much control Rowling wanted over the project.

Yep. That was part of it.

If anybody is looking for an interesting read, the original agreement is available.

I haven't read it. Can you point me to it?

 

[JustInTime]

I agree--Pokemon hasn't died out yet, not close.

Pokemon is a mere flicker to what it once was. :ROFLOL:


But it does continue to sell...

 

[PolynesianPrincess]

Hi everyone! I'm new to this site and I wanted to say that I visited the Orlando area last week with my family. We own a timeshare outside WDW and LOVE it!! We try to come down from Maine once a year to visit. AS much as we love Disney though, we always spend at least 1 day at Universal. Now, I've never seen any of the HP movies nor read the books and I had no interest of visiting WWOHP. However, my tune changed after I rode Forbidden Journey. The wait time said 70mins but we waited about 50 and I'll tell ya, it was worth it. It was the best attraction I have ever been on in any theme park. The effects were brilliant. Also, the whole little village of Hogsmed is very well done. My cousins and aunt who are HP fanatics were in heaven.
It's been a LONG time since Disney has come out with a ride where after I got off I said "wow, that was amazing".. Uni has a lot of rides that utilize new technology (Spiderman, Mummy, Forbidden Journey) and those rides blow Disney's out of the water. While I'll ALWAYS be a Disney fanatic, those rides at Uni are what make us skip a day or two at Disney..

 

[pax_65]

It's been a LONG time since Disney has come out with a ride where after I got off I said "wow, that was amazing"..

EXACTLY my point. And that used to happen with every new attraction Disney built or rehabbed. I think the last time for me was Everest when the Yeti was in "A" mode - and we all know that was a LONG time ago. Prior to that, I guess you have to go all the way back to Tower of Terror. (Maybe Mission Space but that's a whole different can of worms, so let's stay away from that.) Soarin' and TSM are cool and fun but not really "wow, that was amazing" in the same way as Spiderman or WWHP is.

While I praise Uni for pushing the envelope a bit, this is really less about what Uni is doing and more about what Disney is NOT doing.