With Disney buying Marvel what park in WDW will be impacted by this?

[bryPOD]

Ok, so Disney can not use the characters at WDW just yet. No biggie.

However, what if Mickey Mouse has a meet and greet dressed as Spider-Man, or Ironman? Did I discover a fun loop hole????

 

[JWG]

After reading that, it sounds to me like Universal is going to try to phase out Marvel as fast as possible. Disney will pretty much control the island as long as Marvel remains there. There will be no new attractions, Disney can prevent Universal from using Marvel characters for advertising and I'm sure Uni will decide that they don't want to give Disney money...

I'm not Rhode's Scholar, but didn't the article say the opposite of that? Don't expect wide spread immediate change and that the agreement actually REQUIRES Uni do certain amounts of Marvel advertising and maintain specific amounts (10,000 sq. feet) of retail space? I really don't expect Uni to make any sudden and drastic changes. Sure it hurts sending cash down I-4, but it hurts worse to have a theme-free generic Island of rides, and you can't just change Spiderman over. It requires complete shutdown and redo. Until they've secured some new option (DC, Warner Bros., whatever) I can't believe they'll kill what is the best (maybe soon to be 2nd best) component of that park. And even when they do decide it's time, I have to believe they'll do it one attraction at a time. What theme park has completely shuttered an entire land/world all at once for significant periods of time?

At present NO WDW park will be impacted by this. None. Nada.

... the biggies like Spidey and Hulk and Fantastic Four and Captain America can't be used at WDW. Period.

I know this site is based on theme parks ... WDW theme parks ... but Disney purchasing Marvel wasn't based on attractions for WDW.

It was based on getting control of the 7,000 characters (most Americans likely haven't a clue who 6,995 are) that Marvel owns. And using them across many platforms ... think movies (even royalties right now), think Disney XD, think Marvel Marts packed with comics and other merchandise next to Disney Stores and a huge retail location at DD Anaheim (prototype), think regional entertainment centers that won't cannibalize from WDW/DL but add a new revenue stream ... and yeah, think theme parks ... just not at WDW right now.

I can't believe it, but I agree. I don't see immediate infusion into WDW. For what purpose and long-term gain? I get they CAN have Wolverine walking around - but how/why does that benefit Disney? Will more people come to DHS because they can shake Wolverine's paw? This was not (and maybe I'm ignorant) about WDW.

Oh gawd!!! Fifth gates and BK again?!???
Any of our resident rednecks got a gun?

I thought the 5th gate construction started this morning with Iron Man at the ground breaking... At best, maybe (MAYBE - and probably not) I could see this leading to the long-rumored DL 3rd gate. But I doubt it. And not until 2020 or so.

I've been saying this since the deal. Uni will drop Marvel like a hot potato after potter opens.

To what benefit and with what replacement? Unthemed attraction Island? Thrill ride Island? Generic Gateway Island? If they do so, they lose all draw to that area and all marketing capabilities for that genre. Until they have a replacement (and maybe they'll quickly get one) I just don't see it as I said above.

I almost wish these threads would get moved to the General Disney news areas because it's really not (only or even mostly) about the theme parks.

 

[WDW1974]

From what I gather Disney can use Iron Man and the majority of the X-Men, though.

That's my understanding too. But just because you can do something doesn't mean that you do it.

Disney doesn't want to drive people to the competition by muddying the waters, so to speak.

I could be wrong, but I'd be very surprised if they jumped to use them. Most analysts and consultants seem to agree with me. It will be a very slow process of integrating in some areas (like live action and USA parks) ... much faster with merchandise/retail, cable TV, animation and global theme parks.

 

[WDW Vacationer]

Marvel has between five and six thousand characters and Universal is no currently using all.

I think they have access to X Men and Iron Man.

I'd imagine they would expose others and small ways and work up to movies and attractions.

 

[_Scar]

Marvel has between five and six thousand characters and Universal is no currently using all.

I think they have access to X Men and Iron Man.

I'd imagine they would expose others and small ways and work up to movies and attractions.

There are a lot of X Men varities, and probably the ones the most well known are taken by Uni. I've never seen Iron Man in IoA, so I hope Disney can get him.

 

[Captain Chaos]

There are a lot of X Men varities, and probably the ones the most well known are taken by Uni. I've never seen Iron Man in IoA, so I hope Disney can get him.

Storm is represented and Wolverine too, isn't he?? I thought a walk around character was Wolverine was in IOA as well as some sort of drawing attached to a bulding?? I could be wrong...

 

[sWANNISAX]

Marvel Island would not take that much to retheme at IOA. The transformers idea would probably be a quick fix with the only thing needing major work being the Spider-man ride. Repaint the Hulk and change the pre ride video and its no longer Marvel. Remove the Storm cutouts and change the audio spiel and Storm Force could be easily rethemed to anything. Same goes for Doctor Doom. Hell, the faces on the doors could even be retouched to look like Transformer faces. If i understand correctly the Japan/China? Transformers ride uses the the Spider-Man model. Sure it would take money, but it might be worth it.


Id like to see the Marvel stuff in DHS and done right by the Imagineers. While Universal did a great job on Spider-man and the Hulk is a good ride, I think Marvel has so much more potential than just 2 good rides and a couple cookie cutter attractions with some theming. Plus maybe Disney can get some decent costumes made for the poor people who work as face characters because the ones at IOA are abysmal. Some of the worst looking designs I've ever seen. They look too fake trying to be like the comics.

 

[_Scar]

Storm is represented and Wolverine too, isn't he?? I thought a walk around character was Wolverine was in IOA as well as some sort of drawing attached to a bulding?? I could be wrong...

Captain America, Thor, Electro (my personal favorite), Magneto, Thor, and Iron Man.

 

[GymLeaderPhil]

Ever been to Star Wars Weekends? They bring out EVERY charecter under the sun for meet and greets and parades. Its not always just the famous charecters. Heck they even had Aurra Sing and abunch of charecters I don't even know the names of (and im an enormous SW fan).

I'd imagine a Marvel Weekend type event would go great out in the west coast. But they're not going to do one here without the staple Marvel characters.

 

[sWANNISAX]

Storm is represented and Wolverine too, isn't he?? I thought a walk around character was Wolverine was in IOA as well as some sort of drawing attached to a bulding?? I could be wrong...

My question is what does "represented" mean? Does it mean has an attraction and walks around or does it mean their visual likeness appears in the park? Because if its the second disney can't do much because the cutouts in the restuarants and on the buildings cover a wider variety of characters. Also those yellow comet bursts must have over 100 or so of the best known character faced painted upon them. INside the arcade is a slew of villian images.

The face characters ive seen are Spider-Man, Cyclops, Captain America, Rogue, Storm, and Wolverine.

Iceman is around the corner of the comic shop near the bathroom and i believe one of the fantastic four is outside the restuarant. inside the Captain America cafe is a Vision and few more.

 

[WDW1974]

I'm going to have to disagree with '74. Disney just paid 4 BILLION dollars for these charecters, ive seen them exploit stuff that for far less. They are going to synergize the ____** out of thse charecters and yes that means in the parks. The same thing they did with Pixar and it only makes sense.

They may well have overpaid. But one thing is clear and that is Disney can't jump in and take over things simply because they are buying Marvel. There are many contracts whether it's for film rights with Paramount, Sony and Fox or theme park rights in Florida and Japan to a lesser degree.

No one said Disney isn't going to try and exploit the characters to the fullest.

That said, you (and many fanbois) mistakenly believe that Disney can just walk in and these other huge media companies will roll over and spread 'em. That's very simplistic and not how these things work. And this is much more complicated because Marvel leveraged its stable amongst many companies.

Disney might want to make money off of say Spidey (since he is the most well known character), but Sony owns him for years ...

Now Iger is kind of a wuss so I dunno if hes going to let IOA keep them for awhile or find a way to get the marvel charecters onto Disney property asap but you have to consider that Universal may not want the charecters now that they are attached to Disney.

Iger is anything but a wuss. He is a cold, cunning, calculating CEO. But if you think the use of the characters in FLA was a major issue for Iger, you're mistaken.

And while he may not be happy about Marvel's deal with Uni, he really has few options ... unless he pays some king's ransom figure to get out of the deal (a figure large enough likely to build a pretty cool theme park).

Also, again, the fanboi community mistakenly thinks that Marvel's characters are somehow 'tainted' by pixie dust because Disney will own the rights. That's just not reality. Again, all it means is that when Uni writes its checks to Marvel, they're really writing them to Disney.

The entertainment industry is very incestuous by nature and companies often work with and for their competition. A small example but it just flashed through my mind is the Shrek Christmas special that was made by Dreamworks Animation (not Dreamworks live action that Disney now has a distribution deal with) for ABC Family. Another might be Disney picking up TV and cable rights to the Harry Potter films. Another might be Disney promoting Indiana Jones, which in turn gives money to Paramount (again a direct competitor), which then gives $$$ to Lucas. ... there are endless examples.

And im going to assume you aren't that familar with comic books because there are plenty of charecters besides spider man and hulk that don't have exposure at Universal including Gambit, ArchAngel, THOR, Silver Surfer, Iron Man, Sub Mariner, The Avengers (Vision, Ant-Man, Wasp,), Hawkeye, Moon Knight, Dr.Strange, Thanos, Loki, Ghost Rider, Shadowcat, The Sentry, Marvelman,The Young Avengers, The Runaways, PowerPack, New Warriors etc.

I am semi-familiar with comics and haven't heard of half of the above list.

And again, those characters Disney is free to do what they want with in Florida. But why would they?

Other than Ironman, because of the recent film, most guests won't have a clue who they are.

Disney has a stable of great characters of its own, many that aren't being used remotely to their fullest potential (Muppets anyone? How about Roger Rabbit? Hell, how about characters from any film, other than Stitch, from the past 25 years?)

Ever been to Star Wars Weekends? They bring out EVERY charecter under the sun for meet and greets and parades. Its not always just the famous charecters. Heck they even had Aurra Sing and abunch of charecters I don't even know the names of (and im an enormous SW fan).

Yes, I have. And it's well and good that they bring out all those characters.

But imagine if Disney had the event but couldn't use Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Obi Wan, Darth Vader and Chewbacca in any way ...

Because if you turn things around and had a Marvel Weekend that's exactly the scenario you'd be looking at.

 

[SirGoofy]

That's my understanding too. But just because you can do something doesn't mean that you do it.

Disney doesn't want to drive people to the competition by muddying the waters, so to speak.

I could be wrong, but I'd be very surprised if they jumped to use them. Most analysts and consultants seem to agree with me. It will be a very slow process of integrating in some areas (like live action and USA parks) ... much faster with merchandise/retail, cable TV, animation and global theme parks.

I agree. I think it will be slow.

That being said, WDW needs a draw in the male community. I realize that it's not necessarily their main target, but they are really lacking in that department.

I wouldn't be surprised 5-7 years down the road if Iron Man wasn't an attraction in DHS.:shrug:

 

[headhoncho34]

I agree. I think it will be slow.

That being said, WDW needs a draw in the male community. I realize that it's not necessarily their main target, but they are really lacking in that department.

I wouldn't be surprised 5-7 years down the road if Iron Man wasn't an attraction in DHS.:shrug:

They bought Marvel Entertainment for $4 billion don't you think will be seeing them used sooner than later.

 

[lebeau]

They may well have overpaid. But one thing is clear and that is Disney can't jump in and take over things simply because they are buying Marvel. There are many contracts whether it's for film rights with Paramount, Sony and Fox or theme park rights in Florida and Japan to a lesser degree.

No one said Disney isn't going to try and exploit the characters to the fullest.

That said, you (and many fanbois) mistakenly believe that Disney can just walk in and these other huge media companies will roll over and spread 'em. That's very simplistic and not how these things work. And this is much more complicated because Marvel leveraged its stable amongst many companies.

Disney might want to make money off of say Spidey (since he is the most well known character), but Sony owns him for years ...



Iger is anything but a wuss. He is a cold, cunning, calculating CEO. But if you think the use of the characters in FLA was a major issue for Iger, you're mistaken.

And while he may not be happy about Marvel's deal with Uni, he really has few options ... unless he pays some king's ransom figure to get out of the deal (a figure large enough likely to build a pretty cool theme park).

Also, again, the fanboi community mistakenly thinks that Marvel's characters are somehow 'tainted' by pixie dust because Disney will own the rights. That's just not reality. Again, all it means is that when Uni writes its checks to Marvel, they're really writing them to Disney.

The entertainment industry is very incestuous by nature and companies often work with and for their competition. A small example but it just flashed through my mind is the Shrek Christmas special that was made by Dreamworks Animation (not Dreamworks live action that Disney now has a distribution deal with) for ABC Family. Another might be Disney picking up TV and cable rights to the Harry Potter films. Another might be Disney promoting Indiana Jones, which in turn gives money to Paramount (again a direct competitor), which then gives $$$ to Lucas. ... there are endless examples.




I am semi-familiar with comics and haven't heard of half of the above list.

And again, those characters Disney is free to do what they want with in Florida. But why would they?

Other than Ironman, because of the recent film, most guests won't have a clue who they are.

Disney has a stable of great characters of its own, many that aren't being used remotely to their fullest potential (Muppets anyone? How about Roger Rabbit? Hell, how about characters from any film, other than Stitch, from the past 25 years?)



Yes, I have. And it's well and good that they bring out all those characters.

But imagine if Disney had the event but couldn't use Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Obi Wan, Darth Vader and Chewbacca in any way ...

Because if you turn things around and had a Marvel Weekend that's exactly the scenario you'd be looking at.

Thank you, 74. Someone gets it!

 

[Goofy69]

It is to my understanding Sony has relinquished on its deal with Marvel over all television rights, etc. they may have had in exchange for certain feature movie rights. This means that the series which airs on Disney XD (The Spectacular Spider-Man) is now in limbo.

This was announced just days before the deal was made public with Disney. What exactly that means is anyone's guess. I am a huge Spider-Man fan and think Disney's acquisition of Marvel is a great move. Disney was very smart cashing in on this since its normal brand caters more towards young females as in Hannah Montana and the Jonas Brothers.

Now they can exploit in Disney fashion all the Marvel comic heroes and villains. I think Disney will make sure wherever they add these new characters will be in moderation and in conjunction with their surroundings. I agree with many of the OP that Marvel best fits in DHS. I can easily see Spider-Man being chased by the Green Goblin down the faux exterior of New York City.

I do not believe that a major change will be sudden to either Universal or Disney parks. There are certain agreements that Disney will still have to honor, but I am sure we will see a gradual incorporation of characters in the appropriate places in the very near future. I am very excited if this is done right.

 

[Captain Chaos]

My question is what does "represented" mean? Does it mean has an attraction and walks around or does it mean their visual likeness appears in the park? Because if its the second disney can't do much because the cutouts in the restuarants and on the buildings cover a wider variety of characters. Also those yellow comet bursts must have over 100 or so of the best known character faced painted upon them. INside the arcade is a slew of villian images.

The face characters ive seen are Spider-Man, Cyclops, Captain America, Rogue, Storm, and Wolverine.

Iceman is around the corner of the comic shop near the bathroom and i believe one of the fantastic four is outside the restuarant. inside the Captain America cafe is a Vision and few more.

That is a good question... DO theymean rides only?? Walk arounds??? Images??? Cause, by that picture above, Ironman, Captain America, Thor, Wolverine, Rogue, Storm, Cyclops.. Are all out...

 

[BillsFanGabe]

Hopefully, none. :lookaroun

I couldnt agree more

 

[majortom1981]

hmm

I thought it was well known that disney just started within the last year being able to use the muppets to the fullest.

So why do people blame disney for the muppets not being able to be used?

Actually the muppets are the best comparison with Marvel . Not much will be done until contracts start ending.

The mupepts just now are having movies ,tv shows and commercials being done.

I dont see marvel fitting in any park right now. ( my far fetched dream is that disney buys great adventure and uses marvel to retheme all the rides there and calls it disneys great adventure , lol disney could prob buy the park for cheap lol).

 

[DisneyCanadian]

If Disney does anything with Marvel, I would it is done gradually, where after a while you hardly even notice it was done. If they were to bring in Marvel as soon as legally possible, it would be too dramatic and cause too much negativity.

With having Marvel in their portfolio it is inevitable that they will be introduced to the parks, and if that is the case, let's home its done over a period of time.

 

[ttalovebug]

They may well have overpaid. But one thing is clear and that is Disney can't jump in and take over things simply because they are buying Marvel. There are many contracts whether it's for film rights with Paramount, Sony and Fox or theme park rights in Florida and Japan to a lesser degree.

No one said Disney isn't going to try and exploit the characters to the fullest.

That said, you (and many fanbois) mistakenly believe that Disney can just walk in and these other huge media companies will roll over and spread 'em. That's very simplistic and not how these things work. And this is much more complicated because Marvel leveraged its stable amongst many companies.

Disney might want to make money off of say Spidey (since he is the most well known character), but Sony owns him for years ...



Iger is anything but a wuss. He is a cold, cunning, calculating CEO. But if you think the use of the characters in FLA was a major issue for Iger, you're mistaken.

And while he may not be happy about Marvel's deal with Uni, he really has few options ... unless he pays some king's ransom figure to get out of the deal (a figure large enough likely to build a pretty cool theme park).

Also, again, the fanboi community mistakenly thinks that Marvel's characters are somehow 'tainted' by pixie dust because Disney will own the rights. That's just not reality. Again, all it means is that when Uni writes its checks to Marvel, they're really writing them to Disney.

The entertainment industry is very incestuous by nature and companies often work with and for their competition. A small example but it just flashed through my mind is the Shrek Christmas special that was made by Dreamworks Animation (not Dreamworks live action that Disney now has a distribution deal with) for ABC Family. Another might be Disney picking up TV and cable rights to the Harry Potter films. Another might be Disney promoting Indiana Jones, which in turn gives money to Paramount (again a direct competitor), which then gives $$$ to Lucas. ... there are endless examples.




I am semi-familiar with comics and haven't heard of half of the above list.

And again, those characters Disney is free to do what they want with in Florida. But why would they?

Other than Ironman, because of the recent film, most guests won't have a clue who they are.

Disney has a stable of great characters of its own, many that aren't being used remotely to their fullest potential (Muppets anyone? How about Roger Rabbit? Hell, how about characters from any film, other than Stitch, from the past 25 years?)



Yes, I have. And it's well and good that they bring out all those characters.

But imagine if Disney had the event but couldn't use Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Obi Wan, Darth Vader and Chewbacca in any way ...

Because if you turn things around and had a Marvel Weekend that's exactly the scenario you'd be looking at.

Thanks for being the voice of reason on this topic. :wave: