Lord of the Rings and more coming to DHS?

Florida_is_hot

Florida_is_hot

Well-Known Member
What makes people think the masses want the Lord of the Rings?
Maybe a few geeks, but I assure you the majority of Americans could care less.

This thread is not even a rumor, so I see no point the Lord of the Rings is not happening.
 
Disneyhead'71

Disneyhead'71

Well-Known Member
I could see Universal building this:

rivendell-rivendell-8527334-319-237.jpg


That would compete against Avatar and Cars Land quite nicely. Throw a big E-Ticket inside and The Shire next to it and I think we're on to something.
 
Glasgow

Glasgow

Well-Known Member
wdwfan4ver said:
I disagree with you in terms of a bigger splash. The first fact is the attendance would go down at DHS and AK with a new park because a 3 reasons.

1.) Universal in increasing numbers for booth theme parks by adding new attractions.
2.) DHS not getting anything new when 5th park comes means park goers from that park will be going to the new Disney 5th park instead.
3.) The 3rd reason is Americans wouldn't book another day to Florida for a 5th WDW park because of the amount of off days Americans have compare to the folks of other countries like in Europe.

Finishing an existing park will do benefits than a new 5th park opening at WDW would for 4 reasons. Here are the 4 reasons:
1.) The Orlando area already has a lot of theme park and is almost over saturated and this would be a big problem if Universal adds a 3 gate before WDW adds a 5th gate.
2.) Universal has proved improving an existing gate will draw more people like Harry Potter did for IOA.
3.) Disney's DCA theme park expansion increased attendance by a lot.
4.) People will have less need to use their park hopper and that would be a great thing in the eyes Disney in terms of money spent at AK and DHS. The fact is if a Park goer only stays at a theme park for 4 hours starting at gate opening, that person isn't likely going to spend a lot of money on food or merchandise.
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I understand and like your points - I'm not saying a 5th gate is the only answer. I know its a big up front capital expenditure and I know as fans we want to see all 4 existing parks to be as good and complete as they can possibly be. I'm not privy to the actual hard accounting numbers so I don't know how the two scenarios ultimately compare to one another, but I'm sure at least one person in management is pushing for another gate. Its all about ensuring future income. At some point current guests will grow weary of the current offerings, expansions notwithstanding. The main factor IMO is if infrastructure costs outweigh potential future gains. I do know this though - park saturation has been ever increasing and I'm inclined not to return due to the misery of fighting the indomitable crowds. That's a problem that's hard to deal with just by expansion. The other way to deal with it is by simply increasing costs, their current crowd strategy.

I know the Universal model has been brought up but you know they are dying to build a 3rd gate - they just don't have the space so they HAVE to expand the current parks to bring in new or repeat guests. I just went to UNI with my family last month for the first time, but we likely won't be back any time soon. Reason? Not enough for us to do as a family, need another gate to cover our week long vacation. That's my situation and I know it doesn't coincide with everyone.
 
CDavid

CDavid

Well-Known Member
Laura Ellen said:
A Lord of the Rings theme park or even a ride would draw people, as TWWOHP does with HP fans. BUT, it kinda already exists. I mean you can visit the sets in New Zealand and go to WETA. Also, the family would probably never let it happen, they tried to use a LOTR theme in slot machines and that got struck down. LOTR is fictional, but the film's advertising and press is so heavily invested in New Zealand as literally being "Middle Earth", that it could really never match what already exists.
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By that logic, then, Avatar also already exists in China. Granted, its not nearly to the same level as Lord of the Rings in New Zealand, but its there.

Glasgow said:
I know the Universal model has been brought up but you know they are dying to build a 3rd gate - they just don't have the space so they HAVE to expand the current parks to bring in new or repeat guests.
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Universal will have a third gate before Disney ever has a fifth. They'll get the land, if they haven't already.
 
Glasgow

Glasgow

Well-Known Member
GoofGoof said:
Sure worked for IOA. Tons and tons of new guests came just for Potter. I don't think you need an entire new gate to add meaningful attendance numbers.
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Agreed, but they don't have any other choice - they don't have enough available land to do anything else. Do you think if they could have added a 3rd gate and brought in more people for 4-7 day holidays (instead of single day vists) they would've done that instead? You betcha. UNI and WDW, as much as we like to compare them, are two different animals in two completely different states of development. Once the new UNI resort goes in I'll be curious to hear of UNIs 5 year plan and if they can somehow procure some nearby land .. who knows.
 
T

twebber55

Well-Known Member
CDavid said:
By that logic, then, Avatar also already exists in China. Granted, its not nearly to the same level as Lord of the Rings in New Zealand, but its there.



Universal will have a third gate before Disney ever has a fifth. They'll get the land, if they haven't already.
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i agree with this..no doubt UNI gets a third gate..i think WDW is done in terms of gates
 
R

RivieraJenn

Well-Known Member
Laura Ellen said:
A Lord of the Rings theme park or even a ride would draw people, as TWWOHP does with HP fans. BUT, it kinda already exists. I mean you can visit the sets in New Zealand and go to WETA. Also, the family would probably never let it happen, they tried to use a LOTR theme in slot machines and that got struck down. LOTR is fictional, but the film's advertising and press is so heavily invested in New Zealand as literally being "Middle Earth", that it could really never match what already exists.
Click to expand...

I think we can say with certainty that a LOTR world is NOT happening at any U.S. theme park, but I don't think the fact that the sets and experience exist in New Zealand would be the determining factor here. From my local international airport, it would take me 30 hours to get to NZ (plus a bit more on the way back)--and thanks to that handy dateline, if I leave on Sunday I don't arrive until late Tuesday afternoon. That's a daunting flight for me, and I regularly make the 22-hour hop to Taipei on business. It simply isn't feasible for the majority of families in the U.S. to make that trip, so New Zealand wouldn't really be competing for the same market.
 
Disneyhead'71

Disneyhead'71

Well-Known Member
Glasgow said:
Over by Wet and Wild? Very interesting indeed
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They bought 55 acres along I-Drive that includes the current WnW real estate. But that is not for their 3rd gate. It is for their 6th and 7th resort hotels and CityWalk 2.0. And should be connected to the current resort with an elevated transportation system.
Their 5th resort hotel will be a ultra high end Boutique style Loews Resort between Cabana Bay and The Royal Pacific
They are buying more land for their 3rd gate.

Edited for clarity.
 
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T

twebber55

Well-Known Member
Disneyhead'71 said:
They bought 55 acres along I-Drive that includes the current WnW real estate. But that is not for their 3rd gate. It is for their 6th and 7th resort hotels ) and CityWalk 2.0. Their 5th resort hotel will be a ultra high end Boutique style Loews Resort between Cabana Bay and The Royal Pacific. And should be connected to the current resort with an elevated transportation system.
They are buying more land for their 3rd gate.
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so what you re trying to say is UNI is going "all in"
 
ChrisFL

ChrisFL

Premium Member
Florida_is_hot said:
What makes people think the masses want the Lord of the Rings?
Maybe a few geeks, but I assure you the majority of Americans could care less.

This thread is not even a rumor, so I see no point the Lord of the Rings is not happening.
Click to expand...

You realize that LOTR has a massive worldwide following for 70+ years, and the books are often studied in schools. The movies were some of the most popular in history, with the eventual eleven Oscar sweep after the ROTK came out. It isn't "a few geeks"
 
Lord_Vader

Lord_Vader

Join me, together we can rule the galaxy.
@ChrisFL, you are very correct. We read the LotR trilogy and The Hobbit in sixth grade when I grew up, one a quarter. Not all the kids liked them but we all read them, they were the first fantasy books I read after reading a great deal of Bradbury's works in fourth/fifth grade and I truly loved them.

To this day J.R.R. Tolkien and Ray Bradbury are two of my favorite authors and I would love to experience something I have imagined for years but really don't give this one much credence, Disney has lots of IP that could be leveraged without ongoing licensing costs such as Star Wars and many Pixar movies that would translate into great attractions.
 
Wilt Dasney

Wilt Dasney

Well-Known Member
Laura Ellen said:
Also, the family would probably never let it happen, they tried to use a LOTR theme in slot machines and that got struck down.
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This caught my eye, because I actually played a LOTR slots game in Vegas over the summer. Lots of free spins to extend gaming time, but alas, I did not walk away with any dwarfs' gold.
 
W

wdwfan4ver

Well-Known Member
Glasgow said:
I know the Universal model has been brought up but you know they are dying to build a 3rd gate - they just don't have the space so they HAVE to expand the current parks to bring in new or repeat guests. I just went to UNI with my family last month for the first time, but we likely won't be back any time soon. Reason? Not enough for us to do as a family, need another gate to cover our week long vacation. That's my situation and I know it doesn't coincide with everyone.
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I have been aware of Universal wanting a 3rd gate since this spring, but there is one thing you are not looking at. Universal actually is actually maxing out their 2 parks and are keep improving them. You have hard time to say that about DHS with Disney because DHS does need a good amount work like Universal's 2 theme parks before did Potter.

Universal after Potter has more plans for their 2 parks. They have plans of a Jurassic Park expansion, King Kong attraction, and The Lorax ride. Those 3 things sounds a company that wants to improve their current 2 parks at a time that they looking to buy more land.
 
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GoofGoof

GoofGoof

Premium Member
wdwfan4ver said:
I have been aware of Universal wanting a 3rd gate since this spring, but there is one thing you are not looking at. Universal actually is actually maxing out their 2 parks and are keep improving them. You have hard time to say that about DHS with Disney because DHS does need a good amount work like Universal's 2 theme parks before Potter.

Universal after Potter has more plans for their 2 parks. They have plans of a Jurassic Park expansion, King Kong attraction, and The Lorax ride. Those 3 things sounds a company that wants to improve their current 2 parks at a time that they looking to buy more land.
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This. Plus they are building more hotel rooms. It wasn't until WDW built all of the resorts that they added gates 3 and 4. If you want to fill tons of new rooms you need to extend people's trips to more than 2 or 3 days. Adding a third gate and a waterpark would do it. Soon the theme park attendance becomes second priority behind room occupancy. Should be interesting to see how it all unfolds.
 

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