The Hobbit at Disney?

[George]

You win.

Btw, Universal has been asking guests in recent survey's how they would like a Lord of the Rings attraction. So it's not looking great for WDW.

Interesting. It would be disappointing if it was just a lone attraction. The Rohan carousel or something. :lol:

 

[celluloid]

Disney has tons of hit properties and ownership on things they could put in their theme parks now and don't. What makes anyone think that they would go out and pay loads of money just to get the rights to put such a thing into one or more of their parks when we barely get new E tickets now?

 

[lebeau]

You win.

Btw, Universal has been asking guests in recent survey's how they would like a Lord of the Rings attraction. So it's not looking great for WDW.

I've answered a lot of Universal surveys that had attractions/properties that never came to pass. Some, I doubt were very seriously considered. I remember answering a survey a couple of years ago about a Revenge of the Nerds show. I doubt that ever got very far down the pipeline.

Not saying LotR isn't or hasn't been seriously considered. Just saying the survey isn't an indication of much.

 

[George]

I've answered a lot of Universal surveys that had attractions/properties that never came to pass. Some, I doubt were very seriously considered. I remember answering a survey a couple of years ago about a Revenge of the Nerds show. I doubt that ever got very far down the pipeline.

Not saying LotR isn't or hasn't been seriously considered. Just saying the survey isn't an indication of much.

Actually, a smart marketing tactic would be to use a survey to gauge the potential popularity of a competitor's attraction. Of course you couldn't be too obvious. I mean if you walked into USF and answered a bunch of questions about how excited you would be about a Monsters Inc coaster or a Nightmare before Christmas dark ride, you'd kind of wonder.

 

[ParkMan73]

Universal isn't finished with it's investments into Potter.

I'm not a Universal fan, but this to me is exactly the reason why Universal shouldn't do LoTR. They should fight the temptation to divert funds to another big name thinking it will draw another 10% increase in ticket sales. Instead focus on building up HP into a great land. In essence, they should learn the lesson that Disney hasn't with DHS.

As for WDW, I'd say much the same thing. The only real place that they could add it is in DHS. However, it's already too much of a mix of other properties. At best, we'll get an Indiana Jones or Star Wars type of treatment - i.e., a single ride or show. I think to do it any real justice, you'd need a major expansion of DHS or even a 5th gate (which I don't want) - Disney is not prepared for that.

As much as I'd love to see it somewhere, I just think it's best left alone.

 

[plien69]

interesting. It would be disappointing if it was just a lone attraction. The rohan carousel or something. :lol:

:roflol:

 

[JustInTime]

Interesting. It would be disappointing if it was just a lone attraction. The Rohan carousel or something. :lol:

Like Star Tours.

 

[lebeau]

Actually, a smart marketing tactic would be to use a survey to gauge the potential popularity of a competitor's attraction. Of course you couldn't be too obvious. I mean if you walked into USF and answered a bunch of questions about how excited you would be about a Monsters Inc coaster or a Nightmare before Christmas dark ride, you'd kind of wonder.

I've actually answered questions about Disney attractions in Uni surveys via e-mail.

 

[jhastings74]

I'm not a Universal fan, but this to me is exactly the reason why Universal shouldn't do LoTR. They should fight the temptation to divert funds to another big name thinking it will draw another 10% increase in ticket sales. Instead focus on building up HP into a great land. In essence, they should learn the lesson that Disney hasn't with DHS.

As for WDW, I'd say much the same thing. The only real place that they could add it is in DHS. However, it's already too much of a mix of other properties. At best, we'll get an Indiana Jones or Star Wars type of treatment - i.e., a single ride or show. I think to do it any real justice, you'd need a major expansion of DHS or even a 5th gate (which I don't want) - Disney is not prepared for that.

As much as I'd love to see it somewhere, I just think it's best left alone.

Couldn't agree more.

I will say, though, as others have mentioned, if a Beastly Kingdom(me) area were (finally) to be added, it would fit reasonably well there. If a 5th gate were to be added (which I agree with you, ParkMan, that they are not prepared for that right now), it would be a great 'land' of its own and could really be the highlight of that park.

 

[Master Gracey 5]

I will say, though, as others have mentioned, if a Beastly Kingdom(me) area were (finally) to be added, it would fit reasonably well there. If a 5th gate were to be added (which I agree with you, ParkMan, that they are not prepared for that right now), it would be a great 'land' of its own and could really be the highlight of that park.

I hadn't considered this originally, but a Beastly Kingdome location for LOTR might be made to work. You could do something with Smaug, Orcs, Eagles and Ents and it would fit with the whole fantasy theme the area was originally intended to have. With a little creative planning, the main shops/eatery area could be Hobbiton, you could have a couple of smaller rides/shows and an E-ticket to draw everyone in. A large enough expansion could add capacity to AK, help with offerings to add EMH in the evening if they wanted and would be a huge draw for that section of the property.

I doubt it will ever materialize, but I'm convincing myself that it would work if they wanted to build it.

 

[George]

I've actually answered questions about Disney attractions in Uni surveys via e-mail.

Very interesting. I usually skip all Uni, Disney, DVC surveys, etc. out of sheer laziness. Now you've piqued my interest.

Like Star Tours.

Except ST is much sweeter than what I was describing. However, I'd be all for a SW expansion of some kind.

 

[cookiee_munster]

a whole theme park experience based around Tolkien's novels make me feel rather bleurgh! :hurl:

keep it to the books and movies. the whole Tolkien universe is just too vast to create one little land, or even one large themepark.

just goto New Zealand...

 

[George]

I hadn't considered this originally, but a Beastly Kingdome location for LOTR might be made to work. You could do something with Smaug, Orcs, Eagles and Ents and it would fit with the whole fantasy theme the area was originally intended to have. With a little creative planning, the main shops/eatery area could be Hobbiton, you could have a couple of smaller rides/shows and an E-ticket to draw everyone in. A large enough expansion could add capacity to AK, help with offerings to add EMH in the evening if they wanted and would be a huge draw for that section of the property.

I doubt it will ever materialize, but I'm convincing myself that it would work if they wanted to build it.

If they went your route, I ditch BK and just make it a LOTR land that revolved around the fantasy creatures of that particular universe. It might be a bit of a thematic stretch, but with some creativity you can make almost anything work. I think LOTR is such an expansive world that it deserves a whole land at the very least.

 

[cookiee_munster]

i could only imagine what Joe Rhode would think about a lord of the rings themed land in Animal Kingdom. lol.

 

[George]

i could only imagine what Joe Rhode would think about a lord of the rings themed land in Animal Kingdom. lol.

Yeah, it's really not a good fit, but I like it better than trying to make it part of BK.

 

[DisneyCanadian]

Disney missed a big opportunity when the LOTR series was first being shopped around to put on film. When Eisner was in charge, he turned down the opportunity for Disney to be the studio behind LOTR.

So if Disney goes asking about including The Hobbit in any of its parks, I think they will be turned down.

 

[RSoxNo1]

a whole theme park experience based around Tolkien's novels make me feel rather bleurgh! :hurl:

keep it to the books and movies. the whole Tolkien universe is just too vast to create one little land, or even one large themepark.

just goto New Zealand...

I imagine there would be a lot of walking to nowhere.

 

[zulemara]

Disney War states Eisner had the opportunity to do the LOTR movies, but after the blockbuster flops of the past, he didnt' want to do a big expensive series. Clearly, a mistake from a $$ standpoint

 

[AndyMagic]

I believe Disney DID want to make Lord of the Rings but wanted to condense the series into one movie. Obviously that wouldn't have worked and the films went to New Line / Warner Bros. It's a similar (think small) mentality that lost them the HP theme park rights. They wouldn't give any control to Rowling and they wanted to build a ride, not a land.

 

[zulemara]

I believe Disney DID want to make Lord of the Rings but wanted to condense the series into one movie. Obviously that wouldn't have worked and the films went to New Line / Warner Bros. It's a similar (think small) mentality that lost them the HP theme park rights. They wouldn't give any control to Rowling and they wanted to build a ride, not a land.

yes, 2 major blunders