That art, along with a video, is available on the link in this thread already, on Universal's site.
Here: http://media.universalorlando.com/harrypotter/
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NO Harry Potter for Disney!
- Thread starter PKD
- Start date
That art, along with a video, is available on the link in this thread already, on Universal's site.
Here: http://media.universalorlando.com/harrypotter/
Ah, you say that. And what entire land does Star Wars have? None. 'A Bug's Land' at DCA is the closest you'll get to one property having multiple attractions in the same land at a Disney park. I guess you can call 'Pirate Island' one as well.
Star Wars is also much more popular that Potter. This may not be true when a Potter film or DVD or book is on its way out, but over the past 30 years, Star Wars is much more popular. Potter fans are going to argue, but let me know when Potter sells over $10b in merchandise. Not to mention that the sell through on the Star Wars Expanded Universe books is higher than the sell through on Potter books. Yes, there are MANY more Star Wars books released, but the books DO sell more.
For that matter, Lord of the Rings was a more profitable movie series, as is Pirates. The highest grossing Potter movie, Sorcerer's Stone, only did $317m. (367m inflation adjusted) which is only slightly better than the worst grossing Star Wars movie, Episode II.
A ride for Potter would have been more than fine. Repurposing and building an entire land ... not so much.
k.hunter30
New Member
Thanks for the direct links.
SJN1279
Well-Known Member
Lance from Screamscape.com broke this story before Jim Hill. Mr. Hill thought the original concept was going to be The Wizard of Oz.
(1/31/07) It’s not much, but we’ve heard from a Screamscape source that what we believe to be the Harry Potter project at IOA has been worked on under the “Project: StrongArm” codename. While they can’t confirm the “Potter” bit, we were told that StrongArm does involves the rethemeing of an existing attraction and the addition of an all new attraction in the Lost Continent. We’ve also heard from another source that there is a chance that the timeline could be ramped up to allow for a possible mid to late 2008 opening window. More as we find out.
Computer Magic
Well-Known Member
that is a very good point...They decide to take longer to spread out the spending over time.
I saw a WDW special on the History Channel over the weekend. The narrator asked an Imagineer"what would Walt think" with the way things are looking today. Walt would say "what took you so long" :ROFLOL: Tells me they think progress is moving but at a snails pace.
hrcollectibles
Active Member
I am more excited to see The simpsons go to universal than I am Harry Potter...
csmat99
Well-Known Member
No they are building out to the right of the roller coasters and taking over the parking lot. As you can see it goes back a long way.
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
the coasters are very clearly Dueling Dragons and Flying Unicorn. You can easily still see the Dueling Dragons castle remaining at the right of the "owl's eye view" next to a new red and white tent (you'll recall in the first task of the Triwizard Tournament, there was a tent that the four contenders waited in, so I'm pretty confident that they are indeed going with that theme). All this looks like is a bunch of (admittedly nice) new facades, maybe some cool shops (ok, not maybe--definitely) in Hogsmeade right out of the books, and their big dark ride at Hogwarts Castle (it looks to me like the bridge over toward the Forbidden Forest might lead to its queue). I'm sure it will be very cool and very well-themed, but all this could really convince Disney to do is add an E-ticket or two (which would be nice, but Universal must do more to really get Disney on its toes).
jperry1974
New Member
You Snooze you loose!!! :snore:
I don't think Disney lost anything at all. I think it will be a better fit with Universal over all.
As for this making Disney create another E-ticket. I think WDW has done well over the last few years between rehabs and new attractions. (E tickets or lower) There is always more that can be done, but at least we havn't totally fallen to the status DL was at before the 50th. It could always be worse!
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
I'm sure Disney already had more E-Tickets in the works without Universal announcing any plans. All we have in the public knowledge at WDW right now is TSM (and, of course, all of the refurbishments), which will be completed within a year, so I'm sure they are already hard at work planning the next big attractions. I'm sure Animal Kingdom is on deck for another E-Ticket with Epcot receiving all this investment, MK having three expensive refurbishments, and MGM...well...still pretty much getting screwed.
JimboJones123
Well-Known Member
Which also begs the question -- how state of the art is Toy Story Mania if they have been using this technology here already
flynnibus
Premium Member
The point isn't how Disney choses to build their attractions but that there is plenty of opportunity for material out there beyond the current books and more to support more then just one ride.
By only looking at the Movie take you ignore the total picture of all the franchises mentioned.
TomDisney
Active Member
I still gotta wonder about the cost. If memory serves me correctly, Expedition Everest cost about $100M to build. Universal is going to create this entire 20 acre site for an estimated cost of $100-150M. It seems to me that the concept art looks great, but the finished product might not be anywhere close....
Agreed!
ToTBellHop
Well-Known Member
exactly--two years and that sum of cash. I'm expecting nothing more than one E-Ticket and a modest retheme. They give no hint to the scale of the castle, for example, since it is on a hill and is a facade, it could be very small and cheap through use of forced perspective. This seems rather modest to me. It will surely be cool to be transported into the world from the movies, but this just seems like a way to pass an extra hour at Universal. Lost Continent will seem very sparse, though.
elabron
New Member
Agreed. Let's face it......Disney's pro-gay stance hasn't endeared it to many evangelical Christians, with the Southern Baptists boycotting several years back....some are still.
If Disney had gotten the license to Potter, yes.....they would have made a ton of cash. But, at what price? Face another boycott from the church?
Disney parks are all about family........whimsical adventures that the family can experience together. But, after watching the Potter series progress, it gets darker and darker with each new movie and book.....not the kind of stuff I would want my 4 year old watching at this age.
This will, however, make Imagineering work harder to develop bigger and better things for us to enjoy at the House of Mouse.
erasure fan1
Well-Known Member
Yea I think the same thing. Disney doesnt need Harry Potter, they have lots of IPs they can work from if they want. I am also not sure if Potter will stay super popular over time, as I am not a real big fan of it I could be way off. I do think that if Disney wants to do something to combat Potter they have plenty to work from.