NYT: "Universal....Takes Aim at Disney"

[misterID]

Just saying haha

I think ET is going to go soon. But that's just my personal opinion.

It hasn't been confirmed, but I don't think ET can be removed, through a deal with Speilberg, seeing he was so upset with them yanking it out of UNI Hollywood.

I don't know if they would expand JP, that ride needs a refurb. But there's enough land there to cut into to add another attaction or mini-land for something else.

Can UNI actually use the name Sci Fi City in the US?

 

[GLaDOS]

It hasn't been confirmed, but I don't think ET can be removed, through a deal with Speilberg, seeing he was so upset with them yanking it out of UNI Hollywood.

Sounds like a fan/internet rumor to me.

I don't know if they would expand JP, that ride needs a refurb. But there's enough land there to cut into to add another attaction or mini-land for something else.

There's an expansion plot behind Thunder Falls Terrace and next to Dudley Do-Right for a JP expansion.

 

[misterID]

Sounds like a fan/internet rumor to me.



There's an expansion plot behind Thunder Falls Terrace and next to Dudley Do-Right for a JP expansion.

If you knew the sway he has with Universal, you'd know that the rumor sounds very legit.

http://www.deadline.com/2009/10/exc...on-universal-theme-park-consultant-agreement/

With JP... I'm sure UNI-Creative is exploring everyway to take advantage of and create space.

 

[GLaDOS]

If you knew the sway he has with Universal, you'd know that the rumor sounds very legit.

http://www.deadline.com/2009/10/exc...on-universal-theme-park-consultant-agreement/

I know very well the sway he has.I just don't think he's going to take his ball and go home if they get rid of ET.

 

[TalkingHead]

And it is never to late to fix something. FL was cursed for nearly half a century when 20K was green-lighted.

Can anyone explain what this means?

 

[misterID]

I know very well the sway he has.I just don't think he's going to take his ball and go home if they get rid of ET.

That's not what I'm saying. This was probably an agreement they made that ET would stay. Again, totally hypothetical.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Can anyone explain what this means?

jt04 believes that Walt had grander plans for Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom but a case of cold feet and budgetary concerns resulted in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea being plopped down instead. The new search features are amazing at what they can dig up!

I know it has been mentioned here that some of the plans being implemented go back decades. I have speculated that 20K was built as a last minute addition because TWDC was in a bit of a panic that the entire WDW project might fail and they needed something exceedingly compelling to offer to draw crowds even if it did not fit the rest of FL very well.

I really do believe the FLE is very similar to what would have been built originally if they had been more certain of success and had invested more capital. The MK is nearing completion, it just took over 40 years. Although I still think Frontierland, Tomorrowland and Adventureland will need new additions for that to be completely true. Perhaps by the 50th anniversary.

You raise an interesting question. Was the HM meant to be seen from Fantasyland? (the facade of course, not the show building). I guess we may know soon. It sort of appears that way from the picture.

Definitely. And there will be a dividing line with the new castle walls to help that areas transition. I still think 20K was thrown in way back when and the current FLE plan is much closer to the original plan for the MK.

Someone was supposed to ask Imagineering at the D23 convention but I guess they chickened out.

No, I was wondering if the original preliminary designs of a "european forest" for the MK Fantasyland might not have been similar to what they are going to do now. Specifically, were 20K, Dumbo and the sky ride added after Walt's death. It appears Imagineering may have defaulted to the Disneyland model and added 20K as an after thought fearing they whole enterprise might fail for lack of attractions. Oddly, nobody seems to want to answer the question. Someone said they were going to ask an Imagineer at D23 but I don't believe they did or they didn't get a very positive reaction.

A book detailing the nitty gritty behind the scenes politics from 1966 to 1971 would be welcome while there are still some folks left with those memories. They could call it "Disney War: The Prequel" :lol:

 

[magicallactose]

It hasn't been confirmed, but I don't think ET can be removed, through a deal with Speilberg, seeing he was so upset with them yanking it out of UNI Hollywood.

I don't know if they would expand JP, that ride needs a refurb. But there's enough land there to cut into to add another attaction or mini-land for something else.

Can UNI actually use the name Sci Fi City in the US?

I agree that I would like to see Jurassic Park River Adventure get a refurb.

Specifically, I read on another trustworthy Orlando forum that this is what might be in the works: a family-friendly, mine coaster to take the place of Triceratops Trail. It would be themed to an amber mine (which would specifically tie into Jurassic Park 4, which is apparently about the origins of Jurassic Park). A director who is in discussions to helm the next movie has this to say about the planned JP trilogy:

The most important thing I can tell you is that ['Jurassic Park 4'] starts a new trilogy that will go off in a different direction — a completely different direction that is very exciting, and different from anything we’ve seen. It starts with the history of the first trilogy, but it spins it off in a completely different direction. That’s all I can tell you. ​

​

Source:http://screenrant.com/steven-spielberg-jurassic-park-4-sandy-147020/​

 

[TalkingHead]

jt04 believes that Walt had grander plans for Fantasyland at the Magic Kingdom but a case of cold feet and budgetary concerns resulted in 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea being plopped down instead. The new search features are amazing at what they can dig up!

You're joking, right? Use the search function to research JT's meanings? Not likely, brah.

 

[flavious27]

Before Potter I was told it was closer to 45,000 for each of the parks.

And if that is the case, IOA would still be around that because they did not expand IOA for wwhp.

 

[GLaDOS]

And if that is the case, IOA would still be around that because they did not expand IOA for wwhp.

Ummm...false? They added a ride that can output 2000 people per hour.

 

[bubbles1812]

I agree that I would like to see Jurassic Park River Adventure get a refurb.

Specifically, I read on another trustworthy Orlando forum that this is what might be in the works: a family-friendly, mine coaster to take the place of Triceratops Trail. It would be themed to an amber mine (which would specifically tie into Jurassic Park 4, which is apparently about the origins of Jurassic Park). A director who is in discussions to helm the next movie has this to say about the planned JP trilogy:

The most important thing I can tell you is that ['Jurassic Park 4'] starts a new trilogy that will go off in a different direction — a completely different direction that is very exciting, and different from anything we’ve seen. It starts with the history of the first trilogy, but it spins it off in a completely different direction. That’s all I can tell you. ​

​

Source:http://screenrant.com/steven-spielberg-jurassic-park-4-sandy-147020/​

That would be cool, I think, as long as you say dinosaurs at the end of it...an amber mine in and of itself isn't so exciting, at least to me. I guess that could be reminiscent of Disney's Dinosaur ride if they had dinosaurs popping out at you...hope they'd figure out a way to make it very unique. I had no idea they were even making a Jurassic Park 4. LOL. Though I guess sequel heaven/hell is what we get these days with the movies.

 

[lazyboy97o]

You're joking, right? Use the search function to research JT's meanings? Not likely, brah.

I was commenting on how much easier it now is to search. I already did the little bit of work required. Some of the posts are quoted right there.

 

[Bolna]

That would be cool, I think, as long as you say dinosaurs at the end of it...an amber mine in and of itself isn't so exciting, at least to me. I guess that could be reminiscent of Disney's Dinosaur ride if they had dinosaurs popping out at you... I had no idea they were even making a Jurassic Park 4. LOL. Though I guess sequel heaven/hell is what we get these days with the movies.

Considering that amber is fossilised tree resin, I think there could be great effects with lots of prehistoric bugs hidden in the amber - and being brought back to live.

 

[Bolna]

I was commenting on how much easier it now is to search. I already did the little bit of work required. Some of the posts are quoted right there.

The new search is indeed wonderful - but don't you think that there are "worthier" subjects to be searched for?

 

[bubbles1812]

Considering that amber is fossilised tree resin, I think there could be great effects with lots of prehistoric bugs hidden in the amber - and being brought back to live.

Ahhh. That would probably freak me out! (In a good way) I am not the biggest fan of bugs...but it's fun to be freaked out every once in a while. It sounds like a preteen boys dream come true. My brothers always loved finding the creepiest bugs to scare their big sister with. Evil brothers...

 

[lazyboy97o]

Am I the only one who thinks it'd be neat to have the Discovery Center feature the dark ride/tour from the first film?

The new search is indeed wonderful - but don't you think that there are "worthier" subjects to be searched for?

That is what is so amazing! Its so fast it was hardly an effort.

 

[magicallactose]

Considering that amber is fossilised tree resin, I think there could be great effects with lots of prehistoric bugs hidden in the amber - and being brought back to live.

That sounds about right. Also, since we still don't know the exact details of the upcoming trilogy, there might be more plot-specific details that they want to incorporate from the movie (like a collapsing mine, etc). But whatever direction this potential project goes in, I think they'll be able to do a lot of interesting theme-ing and effects in this. Also yes, Lazyboy970, I would love to see the Discovery Centre dark ride come to life. but the only problem with that I can think of is they already incorporated the most interesting parts from that scene of the movie into the Discovery Centre attraction itself, have they not? You already get to see the baby rapture hatch out of an egg there.

 

[flavious27]

Ummm...false? They added a ride that can output 2000 people per hour.

That doesn't mean they added a daily capacity of 20k.

 

[Captain Chaos]

One thing that would be nice (that I don't think Uni does much) is a Disney-style refurb to an existing attraction. I can't think of many attractions they've done this to that didn't result in a completely new overlay or retheme (except for recently with Spidey and a while back when Earthquake was redubbed Disaster!) Would be nice to see E.T. closed for an extensive refurb that included show and infrastructure enhancements.

Of course when I say Disney-style refurb I am not talking about Space or SSE...

I'm with you. Spidey was done because, well, we know they had to based on the contracts. Plus, may as well bring it up to more modern 3D technology. E.T., I admit, it has been a while since I been on it. I don't remember why I didn't ride in October, may have been down. I don't remember any wait times or Team Members working back there, or even any kind of line come to think of it. E.T. was the only attraction I didn't get on. I'll have to see if my friend remembers why we didn't ride E.T.

But, I agree. I'd love to see a major refurb come to E.T. I still think it is a pretty decent attraction. But, with that said, if they closed it and added something that was very worth while, I wouldn't cry.