Universal is perhaps always sitting in the enviable (or disadvantaged) position of holding their cards way closer to their chest. We are in a pretty unique time that the short term (Potter and Jurassic World) plans are well circulated and the longish term (Fantastic Worlds) plans are completely unavoidable.
But we now have a weirdly blank frame of time: 2021, 2022 and perhaps even 2023 with a virtually unknown slate and ongoing promise for things every year.
No "But Disney's" from me. However, we cannot ignore a competitor down the road has two E-tickets slated for 2021 + a 50th anniversary that has pretty sizeable marketing budgets and entertainment incoming. Don't balk at the impact of major anniversaries, just ask Tokyo or Disneyland.
We also cannot ignore a 40th anniversary (probable extension of the 50th in a sense) and the top out of some strongly rumoured and more known quantities to follow in Epcot 3.0's formal unveiling.
Fantastic Worlds is huge, but it's also possibly gravitating more firmly towards the middle of next decade. A huge play, but in the area of short attention spans, Universal needs to make a few moves before then.
So what the heck are they? Will we have some pleasant last minute approvals?
Is Toon Lagoon going? Will KidZone promise that it will close every January of next decade as well? Will Orlando truly be content taking up the rear with Nintendo (seemingly not in hugely expansive way when it does come)? Will Universal actually realize Marvel is more popular than just about anything they own? Will they properly utilize their animation portfolio in their original two parks?
Am I putting too much pressure on a company that should just be allowed to focus on a new park?
Some solidification on 2021-'22 should be incoming, or it will be a pretty one sided start to the decade and a different sort of one sided play in the middle.
But we now have a weirdly blank frame of time: 2021, 2022 and perhaps even 2023 with a virtually unknown slate and ongoing promise for things every year.
No "But Disney's" from me. However, we cannot ignore a competitor down the road has two E-tickets slated for 2021 + a 50th anniversary that has pretty sizeable marketing budgets and entertainment incoming. Don't balk at the impact of major anniversaries, just ask Tokyo or Disneyland.
We also cannot ignore a 40th anniversary (probable extension of the 50th in a sense) and the top out of some strongly rumoured and more known quantities to follow in Epcot 3.0's formal unveiling.
Fantastic Worlds is huge, but it's also possibly gravitating more firmly towards the middle of next decade. A huge play, but in the area of short attention spans, Universal needs to make a few moves before then.
So what the heck are they? Will we have some pleasant last minute approvals?
Is Toon Lagoon going? Will KidZone promise that it will close every January of next decade as well? Will Orlando truly be content taking up the rear with Nintendo (seemingly not in hugely expansive way when it does come)? Will Universal actually realize Marvel is more popular than just about anything they own? Will they properly utilize their animation portfolio in their original two parks?
Am I putting too much pressure on a company that should just be allowed to focus on a new park?
Some solidification on 2021-'22 should be incoming, or it will be a pretty one sided start to the decade and a different sort of one sided play in the middle.
