Lord of the Rings and more coming to DHS?

[marni1971]

thanks marni... good info.

I'm hoping we'll hear more about what will replace the carlands area attractions that was once on the table. Star Wars will be HUGE (if done correctly), but I think DHS needs more then that. Have you heard any additional rumors of things in addition to SW

Pixar expansion should come out sooner rather than later if plans continue forward. I can't elaborate more yet.

SW.... Possibly phased. As of now it'll be a major project but not huge in size.

 

[WDWDad13]

Pixar expansion should come out sooner rather than later if plans continue forward. I can't elaborate more yet.

SW.... Possibly phased. As of now it'll be a major project but not huge in size.

Great thanks

Now let's hope it comes fast along with something at AK

 

[Disneyhead'71]

Great thanks

Now let's hope it comes fast along with something at AK

They have fast-tracked it for a 2018 open.

 

[CDavid]

They have fast-tracked it for a 2018 open.

Five years is a fast-tracked project? Only at Disney...

 

[Ralphlaw]

[quote="I think WDW drew the wrong lessons from Potter and Cars Land. Incidentally, no tears shed here about the death of Cars Land.[/quote]

Have you seen Carsland in California? It's beautiful. Although an entire land dedicated to one movie (plus a sequel) sounds a bit much on paper, the result is great.

I fully agree that the identity of Hollywood is imperative to studios to give the right theming and ambience, but remodeling is always fraught with compromises between nostalgia and the new. Carsland in California is, as I recall, entered via rather isolated areas in the California Adventure park. Radiator Springs is supposed to be isolated, so I don't think it wise to have its entrance by the hub of the park. It helps, in my opinion, to "discover" Radiator Springs in a spot where you wouldn't expect it.

So I guess we agree, but you may not know what you're missing. Some form of Carsland would be great in Florida, somewhere.

 

[Did Knee]

They already aren't. They've been very vocal about how they wish the films had never been made, and have repeatedly denied Universal concepts for theme park attractions.

Could you let me know your source on this? I'd love to read more about this situation in depth.

 

[SirLink]

Pixar expansion should come out sooner rather than later if plans continue forward. I can't elaborate more yet.

SW.... Possibly phased. As of now it'll be a major project but not huge in size.

So around 12-15 acres in size then?

 

[Captain Neo]

They already aren't. They've been very vocal about how they wish the films had never been made, and have repeatedly denied Universal concepts for theme park attractions.

They need to stop blowing the horn of gondor and get with the times already. LOTR isn't even that good when stacked up to Star Wars and Harry P

 

[FigmentJedi]

They need to stop blowing the horn of gondor and get with the times already. LOTR isn't even that good when stacked up to Star Wars and Harry P

As far as movies go, the Harry Potter series isn't nearly as marathon friendly/rewatchable compared to Lord of the Rings in my opinion. And I really think if done right, a Middle Earth area could be spectacular. Of course, I think the most "theme park friendly" thing would be Dale and the Lonely Mountain where you could have a thrill ride careening through the old dwarf kingdom of Erebor avoiding Smaug. You know, like a grittier and cooler version of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train with a fire breathing dragon animatronic.

 

[Captain Neo]

As far as movies go, the Harry Potter series isn't nearly as marathon friendly/rewatchable compared to Lord of the Rings in my opinion. And I really think if done right, a Middle Earth area could be spectacular. Of course, I think the most "theme park friendly" thing would be Dale and the Lonely Mountain where you could have a thrill ride careening through the old dwarf kingdom of Erebor avoiding Smaug. You know, like a grittier and cooler version of the Seven Dwarfs Mine Train with a fire breathing dragon animatronic.

Your ideas sound like quite the kingdom a rather beastly one at that.

I especially like your idea for the Lonely Mountain coaster. It would almost be as if you were daring the dragon!

 

[The Visionary Soul]

Okay, some real interesting stuff here. Some questions I have as a follow up....

1. If the walking space of the park is park is expanding, focused on the "east and southeast", does that mean that a Star Wars expansion -- which is obvious for that area of the park -- would be expanding into formerly backstage space or parking? We've seen talk before about possible expansion into the current buildings which house the parade floats as well as talk of expanding into the cast member parking lot and/or onto the access road/toll booth with a new access road being build.

So, is it correct to think that current plans involve a Star Wars expansion involving not just Echo Lake but new space?

2. Would SW use the current Muppetvision space? Or is the Muppets movie and the surrounding area safe?

3. If some Pixar attractions are being considered (yeah!) but not a full Cars Land, any idea what IPs and where they would go? Would Soundstage 1 would be used, as it was formerly planned for the Monsters Inc door coaster. Would a potential Cars attraction be something new or a clone like bringing over Mater's Junkyard Jamboree?

Hopefully, we will get an official announcement soon......

Just a few pointers:

What marni is saying is pretty damn accurate.

Remember that expansion of the current parking lot footprint requires a decent amount of work on the Reedy Creek side of things.

TLTSB (The land that should've been) Muppet Studios is safe.

Echo Lake is a required part of the drainage plan for Hollywood Studios. To remove it would be impossible without replacing it with more water nearby. I don't see this happening, nor have I seen anything like that on any plans. Echo lake is staying where it is. The garden areas around it though... well, we shall see.

I'm not commenting on anything that is related to what PIXAR related properties are coming, since there is a decent amount of change that happen everyday with those plans.

 

[GLaDOS]

Could you let me know your source on this? I'd love to read more about this situation in depth.

I'll have to find the interview with his son and get it to you

They need to stop blowing the horn of gondor and get with the times already. LOTR isn't even that good when stacked up to Star Wars and Harry P

You're right, it's not on the same level as Star Wars. It's above it. Not popularity wise, of course, but story wise and craftsmanship wise it's lightyears above it.

 

[Lord_Vader]

He didn't hear about the monorail expansion?

No, he was a bus driver so they will be expanding the bus fleet to eliminate the monorail.

 

[Bairstow]

Perhaps I'm in the minority here but I really dont mind the loss of the original mgm studios architecture and identity. Without a working studio on site the adherence to the Hollywood motif serves little purpose, especially when the hat and stage have already ruined the heart of the park. Considering the way Disney builds and designs things these days the park would better serve as a dumping ground for interesting mini-lands from other parks.

 

[FigmentJedi]

Perhaps I'm in the minority here but I really dont mind the loss of the original mgm studios architecture and identity. Without a working studio on site the adherence to the Hollywood motif serves little purpose, especially when the hat and stage have already ruined the heart of the park. Considering the way Disney builds and designs things these days the park would better serve as a dumping ground for interesting mini-lands from other parks.

I don't mind losing the old backlot and soundstages aesthetic, but I do think the old Hollywood stuff is good framing material for a park built around exploring different movies.

 

[Ralphlaw]

They need to stop blowing the horn of gondor and get with the times already. LOTR isn't even that good when stacked up to Star Wars and Harry P

Um . . . as I recall, The Return of the King won an Oscar, and none of the Star Wars and HP movies did. Not to defend the academy (they awarded it to The Piano and Shakespeare in Love while shunning Henry V and Saving Private Ryan), but the Oscar victory by Return of the King wasn't even controversial. Most voices seemed to agree that it was a worthy choice.

The hard part may be in making Lord of the Rings into an attraction, but my feeling is that several attractions with flying eagles, nazguls, catapults, walled cities, horses, ents, kings, queens, dragons, towers, mountains, volcanoes, giant tusky olipaunts, etc . . . could be built. Something hobbitlike and elvish for the little kids, scarier stuff for an e-ticket. Imagineers would drool at the prospect, and I would be standing in line.

 

[Ralphlaw]

Perhaps I'm in the minority here but I really dont mind the loss of the original mgm studios architecture and identity. Without a working studio on site the adherence to the Hollywood motif serves little purpose, especially when the hat and stage have already ruined the heart of the park. Considering the way Disney builds and designs things these days the park would better serve as a dumping ground for interesting mini-lands from other parks.

I don't disagree. I just spent 4 days in Hollywood, and I couldn't get out fast enough. A nostalgic idea of Hollywood is fun, but the real thing is rather . . . not overly fun. I much preferred our days in San Francisco and Disneyland. A bunch of mini-lands with a loose movie theme sounds good to me.

 

[MerlinTheGoat]

I don't mind losing the old backlot and soundstages aesthetic, but I do think the old Hollywood stuff is good framing material for a park built around exploring different movies.

Agreed. Actually I had the idea for making "lands" at DHS similar to other parks, only themed after different genres of film. For example one land would be dedicated to Sci-fi movies which could encompass elements from Star Wars. I'm not a fan of the Avatar movies but this is one place that it could at least be made to work thematically if done properly. Not to mention a good place for something Alien-related for fans of that franchise.

Other lands could be based on film noir (perhaps dig up the old Dick Tracy Crimestoppers concept), adventure (Indiana Jones and Lone Ranger perhaps), fantasy (Oz could do well there, and perhaps this could give them the perfect opportunity to create rides based on Mary Poppins and Bedknobs and Broomsticks) etc.

Even a land based on the genre of animation, you could merge the current Pixar Place with that idea and encompass Disney's own animated history into it. I think a ride through scenes of classic Mickey, Donald and Goofy shorts would be a neat idea for example.

Clearly the idea of a working studio is long dead and the rotting remnants of what is left of that idea certainly don't cut it, that's the only idea I can think of to "fix" DHS' identity problems.

 

[Hot Lava]

The doubling of size includes a Game of Thrones land... not Lord of the Rings. The Red Wedding is the feature restaurant.

A Red Wedding Banquet Hall would be great! And the nightly entertainment would be killer!

The gardener at the White House is not kept in the loop of policy options.

Depends. There are gardeners, and then there are "gardeners" at the WH.

 

[gnorth]

What I could see is Disney giving Uni a Jungle boat cruise load of money for the rights to Marvel back, Uni now has the space (granted not a lot) and money to do a LOTR land and not use any of there own money. We win with a really good LOTR land at IOA and most likely Marvel area at DHS to go with Star Wars.