Iger Confirms Star Wars Domestic Parks Presence

[Kamikaze]

I'm guessing Iger's comments were a test to see how people react. Seems like even a hint of Star Wars went over a lot bigger than an announcement of Avatar. Hopefully they get the message and react accordingly.

Avatar was big news when it was announced. That was forever ago so no one cares now, but obviously anything SW related is going to get press, especially with new movies on the near-horizon.

When Avatar opens I'm sure it will get decent press then as well.

it would be like calling in a bomb threat with your OWN cellphone...

While in the police station.

 

[dumboflyer]

Careful @Unplugged , your optimism and pro-Disney stance will not long be tolerated in the forums here...

 

[wdw71fan]

'Checking cookies'? Do you even have any idea of what that means? Obviously not. Only a complete idiot would leak information from a computer or network TWDC can access.

it has happened before.. on this very site.

 

[TP2000]

“We’re also developing ideas and designs for a far greater Star Wars presence in our parks,” Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger told investors on the company’s quarterly earnings call Tuesday. “We expect to provide details about this sometime next year."

Hmm. Next year, Bob? I wonder what your timing will be like? Oh, wait...

D23 Expo, August 14th-16th 2015, Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, California

While there may be an announcement on Star Wars in the parks sometime earlier in 2015, it probably won't be much more than identifying which park or parks it will go in, and then provide maybe one or two vague sketches. The real meat of the announcement will be had at the Imagineering Pavilion on the Expo exhibit floor on August 14th, 2015. That's where there will be models and sketches and mockups and Imagineers hovering around answering questions.

Or, the entire Star Wars announcement is purposefully delayed until D23 Expo next August. That would be the big bombshell announcement they lacked at the last D23 Expo in 2013.

Come see the Star Wars announcement inside!

 

[Unplugged]

Careful @Unplugged , your optimism and pro-Disney stance will not long be tolerated in the forums here...

Thanks for the warning! I know they are as fallible (or more so when we're talking TDO specific) as the next company. I'm just think "If I was as cheap as TDO and I milked my cash cow to the point that they were going to start drying up on the near term horizon, what obvious business choice would I make to inject some moisture into the cows before it shrivlles up and actually dies on me?"

They seem to be following that logic. Minimal in = Maximum out.

 

[jdmdisney99]

“We’re also developing ideas and designs for a far greater Star Wars presence in our parks,” Disney Chairman and CEO Bob Iger told investors on the company’s quarterly earnings call Tuesday. “We expect to provide details about this sometime next year."

Hmm. Next year, Bob? I wonder what your timing will be like? Oh, wait...

D23 Expo, August 14th-16th 2015, Anaheim Convention Center, Anaheim, California

While there may be an announcement on Star Wars in the parks sometime earlier in 2015, it probably won't be much more than identifying which park or parks it will go in, and then provide maybe one or two vague sketches. The real meat of the announcement will be had at the Imagineering Pavilion on the Expo exhibit floor on August 14th, 2015. That's where there will be models and sketches and mockups and Imagineers hovering around answering questions.

Or, the entire Star Wars announcement is purposefully delayed until D23 Expo next August. That would be the big bombshell announcement they lacked at the last D23 Expo in 2013.

Well, I'm almost positive SW Celebration in April will be chock full of SW7 updates/hype. Title, posters, possible trailer, etc. So it would make some sense to save SW Land for D23.

 

[danlb_2000]

haters gonna haters... don't sweat it..

for what it's worth.. 1.5 will be the project balance including development, which has already run up quite the price tag from my understanding..... True believers will see how quickly the plans can/will materialize for this project over Avatar when you don't have a 3rd party IP telling you what you can, and can't do..

Does that development include costs for attractions that would go into other parks also?

 

[tl77]

The way they teased Star Wars coming to the parks at the 2013 D23, they had better have something figured out by the D23 in Aug 2015, especially with the movie hitting theaters in Dec 2015

 

[jdmdisney99]

The way they teased Star Wars coming to the parks at the 2013 D23, they had better have something figured out by the D23 in Aug 2015, especially with the movie hitting theaters in Dec 2015

Good point. If they put out some SW7 stuff at SW Celebration (8 months before release) and continue the hype at SWW (7 to 6 months before release) and D23 (4 months before release) they'll keep the ball rolling for us SW geeks all through 2015. That would result in a lot of cash flow for SW7 in the holiday season (like $2.75bil a lot).

 

[tl77]

Good point. If they put out some SW7 stuff at SW Celebration (8 months before release) and continue the hype at SWW (7 to 6 months before release) and D23 (4 months before release) they'll keep the ball rolling for us SW geeks all through 2015. That would result in a lot of cash flow for SW7 in the holiday season (like $2.75bil a lot).

Yeah I think they've been doing a pretty good job of hyping the movie so far, plus there's at least 5 SW movies planned at the moment, so there's really no reason to rush into the parks with it, except that there are quite a few people who would like to see it sooner rather than later

 

[CinematicFusion]

"For Walt Disney Co., a franchise reboot can mean additions to their already enormous and infamous theme parks. CEO Bob Iger assured investors recently thatStar Wars would be getting a bigger presence at Disney parks as fans anxiously await the release of Episode VII.

Entertainment Weekly reports that the company is in the early stages of developing ideas and designs for the sacred franchise, which Iger likened to Harry Potter for Universal and Cars."

Looks like this is going to be a huge land. Iger is comparing it to Cars land and Harry Potter at Universal.
I think this is going to be worth the wait!

 

[Pumbas Nakasak]

How funny will it be if they are as rank as the last lot.

 

[ABQ]

How funny will it be if they are as rank as the last lot.

Meesa no understand what you mean by rank?

 

[wm49rs]

I wish I recorded the laugh I had at this post. Are people that naive to believe all of Potter was done for 500 million? It was well over a billion. Believe what you will of course but state of the art attractions are not cheap. Gringrotts by itself was almost 380 million.

Another example Transformers was 150 million and its an exact clone of Spider-Man.

Some people.

No, it wasn't....

 

[twebber55]

I'm guessing Iger's comments were a test to see how people react. Seems like even a hint of Star Wars went over a lot bigger than an announcement of Avatar. Hopefully they get the message and react accordingly.

a smidge of revisionist history don't you think

 

[Kamikaze]

it has happened before.. on this very site.

There is quite a difference between a person visiting the site from within TWDC (which happens a lot) and said person posting unreleased information and then getting caught (by cookies mind you).

 

[Wags14]

Announcement will be made in Anaheim in April 2015.

Recent wetland permit filed ties into this.

DHS will get the best "version" of Star Wars but most will get something.

1.5 billion dollar budget rumored for DHS which is about what all of Potter got in comparison so if that budget is true its substantial.

Everything is designed, blueprints finished. Heard comic book legend Neal Adams has been comissioned to do some mock up artwork. Just waiting on final approval.


Again take this with a grain of salt. I can't offer anything more than what I just wrote, Disney is starting to clamp down about this subject and checking cookies so the well looks like its going to dry up pretty fast.

This. Is. Awesome!

This could mean a solid two e-ticket attractions along with an entire revamp for a Star Wars Land.

Was so excited to hear this news. If they go big like Harry Potter, and hopefully Universal taught them a thing or two, then this could be huge. I can't wait to hear more news on this in the future.

 

[Mawg]

Go to Disney now! Once they complete Avatarland, StarWars land and add a Frozen ride the cost of a Disney Vacation will sky rocket.

 

[ford91exploder]

Yawn, Wake me when TWDC actually DOES something about Star Wars right now this is just another press release and as such not worth the paper it's printed on. I gave up long ago being excited about Disney pressers as 99 out of 100 never happen anyway.

 

[Ranch Dressing]

Now the bad news.

That 1.5 billion dollar budget includes up to possibly 5k value hotel rooms for a SW themed value hotel.

Muppets and Streets will be sacrificed in the expansion.

Last and worst of all.

Iger is going to get the fanboi's pumped and excited but nothing will get started until after he leaves.

A Princess Leia stickybun dessert?


That's all I have.