Uni's New Plan For Potter Could Make Significant Dent To WDW

[Duckberg]

HP is a loved series by its fan base. Avatar :snore:

 

[dreamfinder]

If the rides/attractions are well done, be it thrill or not, and the theming is top notch, it doesn't matter what the IP is, people will enjoy it. Most media companies get too wrapped up in pushing stuff from well known properties, regardless of if there is something better in the wings from a nobody. HP was a success because of JKR. Not so much Uni. She created a world that was descriptive enough to be immersive, but yet left enough to the imagination for everyone to picture what it actually was on their own. And she was then smart enough to make sure that products using that world stayed true to her inspiration. If Uni had announced HP after a single blockbuster book & movie instead of several, people would have said the same thing. I have no idea if there is enough backstory in Avatar, or stuff on the drawing board to create a similar well define land. BUT, the imagineers should be more than up to the task. They could take it in the complete opposite direction than anything JKR would have insisted on. Cameron may have given them free reign to create the world and backstory, in the same way that most of the Star Wars world has been created after the fact by authors in the books. Imagineers do have enough creativity to make a fully immersive well designed and well themed world, regardless of what IP it is related to. They just need to be given the cash to do it. Look at how many of the original attractions were not themed to a specific IP and yet were beloved for years.

 

[Mouse Detective]

I just think it's saying something that when a Harry Potter section of a theme park was announced, people went crazy and were so excited by the thought of it and now there's a complete opposite attitude towards Avatar-land.

It's almost like Disney was so desperate for a Potter-buster that they settled.

 

[danlb_2000]

I just think it's saying something that when a Harry Potter section of a theme park was announced, people went crazy and were so excited by the thought of it and now there's a complete opposite attitude towards Avatar-land. People are even hoping the idea gets scrapped. Universal is doing something right while Disney isn't. Personally, I believe that while Avatar may have some potential for a cool land/cool rides, I don't believe it fits into AK and even into Disney culture in general. The consumers don't seem to want it. I say get rid of it.

" The consumers don't seem to want it."

Where have you heard this? The only place I have heard significant re-action to Avatarland, including a good bit of negative reaction, is on Disney message boards like this one. The people on these boards do not represent your typical Disney consumer.

Dan

 

[Thurp]

Not to put too much of a damper on the Universal lovefest, but have you guys seen what they're doing to the outside of the Transformers building at USH? Good heavens. Cost-cutting with embarrassing results is not exclusive to Disney.
http://screamscape.com/html/universal_studios_hollywood.htm#Transformers

USH, unlike USF or DHS, is a real working studio and their theme revolves around that. So you have soundstages with attractions inside.

If you read the site you linked to it clearly explains that there are still elements to be installed, such as robots that will go in the front of that mural, the attraction marquee, etc. It's a work in progress.

I'm not saying that what they are creating is going to be of the quality that we will see in the new FL or most of the HP land at USF, but it's really no different than, for example, Star Tours at DHS where you have some theming in the front and yet the show building is very visible.

 

[flavious27]

What would be awesome with Uni is if it built an on-site hotel that looked like the Leaky Cauldron Inn or, even better, resembled Hogwarts "houses" - customers could book a room into either Gryffindor, Slytherin, Hufflepuff or Ravenclaw, and the cast members there would be dressed as professors and students. There could even be mock classes as entertainment. People would go ape.

As an aside, I know that a lot of people here are excited over "Avatarland" or whatever it's going to be called. But IMO it will never be a serious threat to Potter. Potter has cross-generational appeal that Avatar simply lacks. The Avatar attraction that will be built will probably have great thrills and eye candy, but it won't resonate with children and most adults the way Harry and his friends do. I just don't see how it could.

I wouldn't doubt that uni would do this and charge like $500+ a night, because there would be people that would gladly pay it. It is just the same as the Cinderella suite, disney knows people would be big bucks to stay there.

DVC inside Epcot? Good god they really have no rock bottom do they?

Well where do they have the land for something like that? There are the plot around world showcase but none of them are large enough for a hotel. If they were thinking of having rooms where the existing countries are, everything would need to be rebuilt to accommodate having guests rooms; which would also require a cluster**** dealing with contracts and countries not getting that income. There isn't anyway that disney could do dvc inside of epcot, there isn't the area or space.

Wasn't it said that Avatar was sort of the inverse of the HP deal? Universal offered an "insulting" deal to Cameron and then Disney wooed him with a promise of a full land w/ creative control granted to him?

Could be, but I think that disney is more comfortable with having cameron getting much more creative control than jk. Cameron has had other amusement park attractions built from films he directed, he has experience. If the 3 knock entrance to potterland story is made up, it would be to show how naive jk is to the process and logistics.

 

[lt94]

The consumers don't seem to want it."

"Where have you heard this? The only place I have heard significant re-action to Avatarland, including a good bit of negative reaction, is on Disney message boards like this one. The people on these boards do not represent your typical Disney consumer".

How many kids did you see at Halloween dressed as anythig to do with Avatar
I saw many Harry Potter outfits none with a Avatar theme

 

[misterID]

The consumers don't seem to want it."

"Where have you heard this? The only place I have heard significant re-action to Avatarland, including a good bit of negative reaction, is on Disney message boards like this one. The people on these boards do not represent your typical Disney consumer".

How many kids did you see at Halloween dressed as anythig to do with Avatar
I saw many Harry Potter outfits none with a Avatar theme

That's not exactly a fair analogy. People will want to see it, if it's has cutting edge as advertised. Just like Star Trek conventions are HUGE, yet I haven't seen a kid running around dressed up like Spock recently, either.

 

[FigmentJedi]

" The consumers don't seem to want it."

Where have you heard this? The only place I have heard significant re-action to Avatarland, including a good bit of negative reaction, is on Disney message boards like this one. The people on these boards do not represent your typical Disney consumer.

Dan

I know whenever I bring it up in conversation, people agree that it's a bad idea.

 

[wdwmagic]

But the exclusivity deal is what Disney is looking to tap. They see the entitlement mentality of many in the fan and DVC communities and there certainly is a market for wackos who would pay premium times 10 prices to be able to say they are staying in the EPCOT DVC Japan wing ... or the DVC EPCOT Canada villas.

This is the issue right here. There certainly is this group within the visitor base. Just head to any of the D23 or AP events at either coast to see it in full force.

The whole "stay in the park" thing goes all the way back to Eisner, who got seriously close to doing this. There was the Hollywood Tower Hotel blue sky, and then of course the real deal of the signature Disneyland Paris Hotel, that basically is on Main Street USA.

 

[jakeman]

You weren't all on the Disney Cruise Line junket in Toronto getting all hot and botthered about your upcoming free cruises in March, were you?

Nope.

And I bet you can't name who was either.

 

[c-one]

USH, unlike USF or DHS, is a real working studio and their theme revolves around that. So you have soundstages with attractions inside.

If you read the site you linked to it clearly explains that there are still elements to be installed, such as robots that will go in the front of that mural, the attraction marquee, etc. It's a work in progress.

I'm not saying that what they are creating is going to be of the quality that we will see in the new FL or most of the HP land at USF, but it's really no different than, for example, Star Tours at DHS where you have some theming in the front and yet the show building is very visible.

Well, yeah, but the site did say they originally planned for a more themed building, didn't they? I get that it's a working studio but they can't hide behind that excuse all the time... And a NEST base doesn't need to be fancy, it just needs to have more of a facade than a psychedelic mural paintined on the side of a building. I don't think Wizarding World West is going to work if they skimp out on a real Hogwarts castle and paint a mural of the Black Lake on a soundstage instead.

And FWIW I hate the Studios version of Star Tours. Wish it looked more like the Tokyo version:

 

[NoChesterHester]

This is the issue right here. There certainly is this group within the visitor base. Just head to any of the D23 or AP events at either coast to see it in full force.

The whole "stay in the park" thing goes all the way back to Eisner, who got seriously close to doing this. There was the Hollywood Tower Hotel blue sky, and then of course the real deal of the signature Disneyland Paris Hotel, that basically is on Main Street USA.

Wait... why would the ability to stay "in" the park be a bad thing? People have seen images of Tokyo Disney Sea right? Amazing density possibilities.

Sounds like a logical evolution to me. Better then the Garish Art of Animation in my opinion.

 

[GLaDOS]

Wait... why would the ability to stay "in" the park be a bad thing? People have seen images of Tokyo Disney Sea right? Amazing density possibilities.

Sounds like a logical evolution to me. Better then the Garish Art of Animation in my opinion.

Using park expansion land for hotels?

Yea, that's exactly what I want.

 

[NoChesterHester]

OK, don't want to overwhelm your minds ... but how about the fact that major capital projects for two of WDW's parks were recently shot down because Iger/Rasulo/Staggs still don't see the need to actually keep their parks relevant.

Why has so one else reacted to this? Potential huge news and... devestating if true. Please be wrong Spirit.

 

[NoChesterHester]

Using park expansion land for hotels?

Yea, that's exactly what I want.

There is plenty of land in Florida.

 

[DougK]

And the units in a park deal go back to the original plans for Westcot, except back then we were looking at hotel units planned from the start above the pavilions versus adding timeshares to a park going on 30.

Spirit, welcome back (again). I often enjoy your posts and I often agree with you, though not always. While I cannot understand why you refuse to call DHS DHS, or why you improperly use CAPital letters so often (honestly, a man of your intelligence should know better) I do think you make mostly excellent points and I know you obviously care about how Disney has taken quite a turn for the worst in the past decades.

But I do not understand your point that somehow building hotels in a theme park as would have happened with Westcot is acceptable but adding a hotel to EPCOT at almost 30 years old is somehow a bad idea. Honestly I do not see why one is good and one is bad. If they want to add a hotel to EPCOT I see no problem with it whether it is DVC or just a "regular" hotel.

Just to be clear this does not mean I think Disney is infallable, as I already said I often agree with your points and you obviously have some good inside knowledge. But I do think you sometimes reach a bit to find fault with Disney, and let's be honest you really do not need to there is plenty of fault to find.

 

[GLaDOS]

Why has so one else reacted to this? Potential huge news and... devestating if true. Please be wrong Spirit.

Probably because it's so typical.

There is plenty of land in Florida.

Not a lot in WS. Especially if what's there is taken up by timeshares.

 

[GLaDOS]

If they want to add a hotel to EPCOT I see no problem with it whether it is DVC or just a "regular" hotel.

The problem I see is that there hasn't been an attraction added to WS since 1988, and yet they probably won't think twice about adding a hotel to it. Sorry, that's not acceptable.

 

[DougK]

The problem I see is that there hasn't been an attraction added to WS since 1988, and yet they probably won't think twice about adding a hotel to it. Sorry, that's not acceptable.

It is acceptable to me. Of course I would also like to see more attractions but adding a hotel, especially DVC, will give Disney a quick return on their investment so I can understand why they would do so. In fact I am surprised they did not add a hotel in WS a long time ago.