Only a year and a half away from Harry Potter Land and still nothing from Disney!

[hokielutz]

From the company that made a 40 year old attraction a multi-million dollar movie franchise so they could see an increase in attendance? Disney is known for franchise overkill in every sense of the word. Most of the complaints we hear about on this site are in regards to Pixar and Stitch... and the Potter license is probably worth more than both of those together. Disney wouldn't ignore a revenue source like that.

Read back a few years (like four). There were rumblings then that Disney was trying to get into Hoggwarts...

I have read past postings about it. Although it sounded like it would've made a great 5th gate back then.... it goes away from Disney's in-house work. Besides, they would have to pay JKR and WB a fairly handsome amount of licensing & royalty fees to run the park... not to mention the cut they would get of concessions and merchandise. Disney already charges a high rate on ticket sales, and I'm not sure park-goers could stomach a additional large hike in MYW fees for the addition of Potter.
I just don't think the revenue stream would be large enough to make this a profitable venture.

As for Pirates ride... this was Walt's baby. And since the intellectual property is Disney's alone, there is no comparison.

 

[DisneyExplorer]

Still, it wouldn't hurt Disney to give us a big, richly themed, magical guest experience, now would it?????

 

[MKCP 1985]

What's wrong with "Potterland?"

Isn't it a fact that IoA is carving a section of its park to be just that?

IoA already has Marvel Island, Seussland and Jurassic Park. . . what's the big deal with adding Potterland or Harry Potterland to that? People are NOT going to say "let's go over to the Universal Studios Islands of Adventure park and visit the Wizarding World of Harry Potter!" That's way more than a mouthful.

Do you want to fire that bullet into the front or the back?

 

[FreedomWrangler]

Still, it wouldn't hurt Disney to give us a big, richly themed, magical guest experience, now would it?????

Isn't that the MK experience now? Or EPCOT? Or DHS?

The other close, "richly themed" experience I can think of is going to Capitol Hill. A bunch of criminals, just like prison. :lookaroun

 

[fosse76]

Disney desparately wanted Harry Potter, but in the end, Rowling refused. If you look at all the press around the time of the announcement, she is quoted as having picked Universal because they would allow her to remain in control creatively. She saw the amount of control Seuss' widow had over Seuss Landing and she wanted that kind of control. Disney would not have allowed her to "meddle" in their plans. If you go to the Leaky Cauldron website you can look up all the info and find every word she has ever said in public posted there.

As for the re-themeing of rides not being a good start, they had no real choice. For reasons beyond comprehension, they didn't seem to design IOA with the possibility for any significant expansion, so they are essentially converting an existing area into this new land. Both rides would fit well in the new area even if they weren't being re-themed.

Also, to be quite honest, I don't think there is anything Disney can really do to compete with Harry Potter. It's just so huge.

 

[disnyfan89]

Its from my understanding that Disney practically hand delivered Harry Potter to Universal. They meet with J.K. several meetings and after a few they decided that J.k.'s demands where to much. The things she wanted Disney to design wouldn't be practicable. It's my understanding that Disney said no thanks to J.K. Not the other way around.

 

[Thelazer]

night kingdom perhaps?.. or something along those lines.....:drevil:

 

[Frank Stallone]

Last time I checked, if I ordered a large Coke at McDonald's, I didn't get 6 months free off of a purchase of an annual pass at Disney. I bought a Coke a few days ago, and was shocked to find out I get 6 months free to Universal just by purchasing a $2 soda.

Universal needs all the help it can get.

 

[disnyfan89]

night kingdom perhaps?.. or something along those lines.....:drevil:

I just don't see night kingdom happening. It would just be a poor choice for Disney to pursue with today's economic climate. Disney would be much better off taking the ideas for night Kingdom (if it does truly exists!) and implementing them into the four current parks. I'm not sure how Night Kingdom came so popular of a rumor. Disney even announcement it was not going to develop a fifth park for a long time!

 

[Ausdaddy]

Disney desparately wanted Harry Potter, but in the end, Rowling refused. If you look at all the press around the time of the announcement, she is quoted as having picked Universal because they would allow her to remain in control creatively. She saw the amount of control Seuss' widow had over Seuss Landing and she wanted that kind of control. Disney would not have allowed her to "meddle" in their plans. If you go to the Leaky Cauldron website you can look up all the info and find every word she has ever said in public posted there.

Not to be argumentative, but that's called PR. Whoever wins gets good things said about them. It's my understanding that Disney backed out.

Also, to be quite honest, I don't think there is anything Disney can really do to compete with Harry Potter. It's just so huge.

Really? You don't think Star Wars can rival Harry Potter's attraction? Disney is just waiting. They've got things like Star Tours 2 in the wings. They will be fine.

 

[EpcotServo]

What's funny is that even after all the nifty tech and details they shove into their PotterLand, it'll never even come close to being near as good as Midway Mania. Just from a sheer emotional/story standpoint.

No matter how well it's done, It'll just be Harry Potter:THE RIDE.
:hammer:

 

[WDWmom64055]

No one has yet seen what Universal will do with the Harry Potter idea.

It could come out good; it could be a boring flop worthy of only 30 minutes' attention.

:king:

Ya know, now that you mention this....

About 2 years ago I signed up for updates on the Harry Potter park. They had a website up saying they would be sending out inside info as attractions were approved, etc. I have never had a single e-mail from them.

 

[Legacy]

Really? You don't think Star Wars can rival Harry Potter's attraction? Disney is just waiting. They've got things like Star Tours 2 in the wings. They will be fine.

A new video for a 15 year old ride whose only current plans are a 90 minute flash cartoon and cameos in a button-mashing fighting game is going to compete with a currently active franchise that has mastered two of the most difficult mediums to succeed in (book and film) and single-handedly revived a past-time for children?

 

[hokielutz]

Ya know, now that you mention this....

About 2 years ago I signed up for updates on the Harry Potter park. They had a website up saying they would be sending out inside info as attractions were approved, etc. I have never had a single e-mail from them.

You're probably better off checking out scream-scape or muggle-net for updates. The univ site is lacking on details & news that other fan sites have.

 

[djkidkaz]

I understand Disney is not going to lose these guests forever, but it seems that they should atleast have something of interest to say "Harry Potter is nice, but look what we have thats new, stick around here!" The last thing Disney wants is for a bunch of people to try out Universal for the first time and say "Hey, this is nice too, lets spend a couple days here each trip from now on." US and IOA have some great attractions, and if they can get people to come visit for Harry Potter and sample the rest of what they have to offer, it could put a dent in some of Disneys financial pocket.

Just to add some perspective, lets say 1000 people a day decide to leave Disney property to go check out Harry Potter. Over the course of one year, that is 365,000 guests that spent their money elsewhere. Now lets just say that each of those guests would have spent $5 that day at Disney. Thats $1,825,000 spent elsewhere over the course of a year. And we all know the amount of money spent in a day is more like $25 per person, just for food if your eating all counter-service.

Its only $89 to visit US and IOA as many times as you want in a week. Thats a great deal that many wont pass up!

 

[Legacy]

What's funny is that even after all the nifty tech and details they shove into their PotterLand, it'll never even come close to being near as good as Midway Mania. Just from a sheer emotional/story standpoint.

No matter how well it's done, It'll just be Harry Potter:THE RIDE.
:hammer:

And Midway Mania is just "Shooting Gallery: The Ride."

 

[NemoRocks78]

And Midway Mania is just "Shooting Gallery: The Ride."

 

[Chezman1399]

I think the popularity of Harry Potter is severely overrated. While I like Harry Potter, I don't see it being huge. The 5th Potter film was less popular then PoTC:At World's End. Although neither were unpopular by any means. Universal to this point has always dissapointed me. I won't get my hopes up. I know personally I'd rather have a Star Wars Land, Lord of The Rings Land, Narnia, Nintendo. Also, to my knowledge when I was at IoA after they started builing the place they did not remove any attractions, even the Unicorn ride was still running which is right in front of it. I don't know I just hope it makes me want to use my Universal pass more than just twice a year. I'm not keeping my hopes up though.

 

[RiversideBunny]

What's the chance that Potterville will draw big crowds when it first opens because many people want to initially see it, but then the crowds dwindle as it becomes a 'been there, done that' item?

Mission Space followed that pattern.

 

[Lucky]

If I were a marketing manager for Disney, my advice to them would be to just lay low until Harry Potter is almost here. Making some big announcement right now would just look like, and obviously be competition. It will be hard to steal the fire from something as major as a Harry Potter exhibit in this day and age, when it is such a phenomenon with kids. But if Disney makes some big announcement just before Potter opens - and I would guess they will, strictly opinion, nothing known here - that would be the right time to shift focus away from Potter-mania. Any sooner and it will just get drowned in the build-up.

All IMHO...

Good idea. Hannah Montana Land.