Report of Harry Potter park being a done deal for USF

Buried20KLeague

Buried20KLeague

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I didn't see a thread on the topic yet, so here you go...

http://www.deadlinehollywooddaily.com/exclusive-plans-for-worlds-first-harry-potter-theme-park/

The article basically says a deal has been made to build an entire Harry
Potter based park at USF. Who knows for sure if you can believe this one, but it's the first article I'VE seen that is trying to confirm something other than Jim Hill, and we all know about him.

I guess it's a pretty fair bet the potential for a Disney tie is shot. Not that I have a problem with that.

If this is true though, and it happens... It could be about the only thing that might scare the heck out of Disney as far as competition.
 
Lee

Lee

Adventurer
There's another thread on this in the other forum.
My only question: Where's it going. The article says it's going into a previously unused part of the park. Not much vacant room at IoA other than a couple small parcels on either side of Jurassic Park. The Studio park has a big spot between MiB and BttF...maybe it's going over there. If they are being held to the same requirements as Disney was working under with JKR, they need a pretty large pad.
 
imagineer boy

imagineer boy

Well-Known Member
If you ask me, USF is getting really messed up right now. They've replaced one of their classic attractions just to promote a new movie. That'd be like tearing down the Haunted Mansion just to build a Meet the Robinsons ride. And I don't know how they're going to work in a whole Harry Potter land, so its kinda crazy.
 
IcicleM

IcicleM

New Member
Yeah, the Back to the Future ride is always popular, but it's popular like Space Mountain is for us. It's really really crowded and always has long lines, but it's old technology and people ride it because it's a classic. Space Mountain will, in time, get its face lift too, but for Universal it has to be a different story. If they get rid of BttF and put something brand new and better in there, then the new ride could be a classic one day, too.

With the Harry Potter stuff... They would definitely need to put it in Islands of Adventure, because everything in the Universal Studios part is all related to the actual studios and their movies, or Nick. Islands of Adventure has a whole lot more freedom to do what it wants. It has the Comic Book area, the Toon Land, the Lost Continent, Seuss Landing, etc.

My guess is they are going to do an overhaul of the Lost Continent area, and extend what they have on it to tie in Harry Potter with all the existing attractions. With Dueling Dragons... eh... I'm really not sure how they're going to do that without doing a complete overhaul of the ride, but meh, we'll see...
 
CTXRover

CTXRover

Well-Known Member
Although this is just another unconfirmed article about this topic, whose very sources may have been message boards like these, there are a number of things pointing to Harry Potter going to Universal theme parks that I am beginning to take it as a pretty sure thing at this point (although anything could change I suppose).

From a Disney fan perspective, I'm glad that Harry Potter isn't coming to the Disney theme parks. While I think it is a great franchise with an obvious tie-in to the magic and wonder of the Disney name, I never felt that it belonged at Disney and there are countless other Disney properties that could be used instead. However, from a business/competition stand point, this is huge for Universal and a potential big blow to Disney. There is no question that there are a lot of Harry Potter fans and if done right and advertised right, there will be many people flocking to UO to see the new Harry Potter ride/land. That said, the best case scenario is that it scares Disney a little bit to spend some extra cash to build another few big rides at their Disney World parks over the next few years to soften that competitive blow.

I believe the Harry Potter phenomenon will hit its peak this summer with the release of the series' last book. With no sign of any dirt being moved over at Universal yet, I don't see any major new attraction opening for at least 1 1/2 to 2 years from now. Obviously Harry Potter is incredibly popular among children, pre-teens, teens and adults, so its longetivity over the next 10+ years isn't a question to me, but I think a Harry Potter attraction would have served them better if it opened before and/or during the time it hit its peaks, not a few years later. It seems like a no-brainer for Universal to pay over the large royalties for the rights to use these characters in its parks right now, but 3-4 years from now when the hype is over I do wonder if that deal still seems as good. Still, it will likely be huge for Universal, and huge for its attendance, which will likely create a level of competition Universal has not had with Disney since it opened IOA, and competition has always been a good motivator for Disney.
 
IcicleM

IcicleM

New Member
I agree there. I know that I will definitely be making a trip to Universal Studios once this happens. I adore Harry Potter and would have to see every single one of the things that Universal has to offer. However, it is only one themed area, not en entire park, so people could go all the way to Universal and spend maybe 3 or 4 hours exploring this newly themed area, and then they would have nothing to do other than to go home or go over to the Disney parks. So, though the blow may hit Disney in the beginning, I don't think it'll be too bad. And if Disney actually figures out that they have a HUMONGOUS amount of space behind Fantasyland and all the other spots in their park, they could really build some amazing attractions.
 
Astronaut Jones

Astronaut Jones

New Member
"Universal has cashed in on other movie-related attractions by spinning Jurassic Park, The Mummy, Van Helsing, King Kong, Spider-Man, Hulk, Back To The Future, Jaws etc."

Man, there are some misses there... Who thought Van Helsing was a good idea to cash in on??? Just for the record, nothing bad is being said about Back to the Future, that would be blasphemous.
 
radiohost

radiohost

Well-Known Member
I hope this wakes up WDI and kicks them into gear to do some major work on MGM. Once they do that, then, we got em!

Radiohost:cool:
 
wbt06

wbt06

Member
people keep saying that harry potter will peak this summer but it is not true. many people read the books but even more see the movies. the 5th movie is comeing out this summer but we have to remember there are 2 more to come. the movies wont stop comeing out for another 2 or 2 1/2 years. this puts universal in a good spot becouse people will want more of harry and by that time they could have the harry potter stuff open. and trust me i know more people who enjoy the movies and dont read the books. lets just hope they are smart about this and have harry potter land open by then
 
C

CaptainMichael

Well-Known Member
I am gonna HATE having to go to Universal just to do this.

This is a huge deal for Universal. Whatever they paid for it, is worth it. I can't imagine the media attention this will get when it opens. I know some think the hype will die down, but guess what, the seventh movie will be coming out around that time, and Harry Potter fans will be looking for something else to do. Disney hasn't experienced anything this big since probably the opening of Disneyland.

I really, really, really hope Disney has something big in the works!
 
imagineer boy

imagineer boy

Well-Known Member
I just thought of something, if Universal goes through with this... then that means... NO MORE HARRY POTTER RUMOR THREADS!:eek: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: As much as I hated them, I'm really going to miss them.:( :cry: :cry: :cry: *blows nose*



BTW, Str8fan, I agree with what you said. That's very true...
 
bob0012

bob0012

Member
imagineer boy said:
If you ask me, USF is getting really messed up right now. They've replaced one of their classic attractions just to promote a new movie. That'd be like tearing down the Haunted Mansion just to build a Meet the Robinsons ride. And I don't know how they're going to work in a whole Harry Potter land, so its kinda crazy.
Click to expand...

BTTF was "classic" but it was also getty very old, and the teen/tween market that Universal can easly take away from Disney doesn't know BTTF. They didn't do it to promote a movie, since they don't own that movie.

Lee said:
There's another thread on this in the other forum.
My only question: Where's it going. The article says it's going into a previously unused part of the park. Not much vacant room at IoA other than a couple small parcels on either side of Jurassic Park. The Studio park has a big spot between MiB and BttF...maybe it's going over there. If they are being held to the same requirements as Disney was working under with JKR, they need a pretty large pad.
Click to expand...

The article does state it's going to be in an unused part of the park, but I'd take that with a grain of salt since the headline says it's going to be it's own park. In the studios theres a huge chunk of land behind MIB and BTTF, however right in between are the "tents" for hhn. And that parking lot behind MIB/BTTF is used to launch fireworks when they do them, plus it's really close to a road.
 

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