Universal Orlando Resort Expansion (Part 1)

[SpatulaShack]

*cough*

In historic move, Christopher Tolkien resigns as director of Tolkien Estate | Hobbit Movie News and Rumors | TheOneRing.net™

 

[Frank Drackman]

It's because Warner's deal with JK Rowling is fairly comprehensive and makes them effectively her salesman for all things Potter. Warner effectively controls the theme park rights, movie rights, game rights, etc. but she gets to keep a significant say in how things are sold and what things look like, and of course she gets a huge percentage of any profits.

Thanks. I was not even thinking things like merchandise. I imagine it makes sense for an IP holder (book author in this case) to make a deal with their screenplay, distribution, type company...and for a franchise concept, bring in Merchandise...which they license to T-shirt/toy makers...wow, so many folks fed off of one author...

And what Teebin said...not really, just grateful you are sharing your knowledge, i’m Not too concerned how you have such experience/knowledge.

 

[JoeCamel]

*cough*

In historic move, Christopher Tolkien resigns as director of Tolkien Estate | Hobbit Movie News and Rumors | TheOneRing.net™

Does he know????

 

[fryoj]

I think my biggest wish for this is the idea that someone had where they build an eye of Sauron that can have it's gaze follow guests around.

But the possibilities for this thing are pretty wide open. The visuals will be off the chart. Theres plenty of food and merch opportunities. Hell, they have to be at least blue skying a Rivendell Hotel that would attach to park 3. The question will be how much should or will they build. I'm guessing a couple lands at first to gauge the the ROI, then who knows.

 

[Mad Dog]

I think my biggest wish for this is the idea that someone had where they build an eye of Sauron that can have it's gaze follow guests around.

But the possibilities for this thing are pretty wide open. The visuals will be off the chart. Theres plenty of food and merch opportunities. Hell, they have to be at least blue skying a Rivendell Hotel that would attach to park 3. The question will be how much should or will they build. I'm guessing a couple lands at first to gauge the the ROI, then who knows.

If this comes to fruition, the third park will certainly have the potential to be beautiful, Disney Sea like.

 

[Tim526]

As long as the Tolkien family are alive, won't they resist anything to license it for a theme park?

 

[JungleSkip]

Does he know????

Well, he's 93 years old. I think him leaving certainly led to Universal getting the rights, if they did indeed do just that.

If this comes to fruition, the third park will certainly have the potential to be beautiful, Disney Sea like.

IMO, you build The Shire, Rivendell or Lothlorien, and Gondor at the very least.

As long as the Tolkien family are alive, won't they resist anything to license it for a theme park?

Did you read the article?

 

[captainmoch]

My hope is that the initial Middle-Earth land is on the scale of Hosgmeade, London, and Diagon Alley combined. Something in the 20-acre range, featuring multiple iconic locations, in close proximity, with around 2-3 e-tickets right off the bat. I know that's a stretch, but IMO it's the only way you can truly capture the scope and magic of Middle-Earth, and it'd be an awesome way to one-up both WWoHP and Galaxy's Edge.

My wishlist for the land is:
- The Shire is the first area guests enter, and it's around the same size as Hogsmeade, minus the Forbidden Journey half of the land. Here, you can get Hobbit-themed merch options, dine at a Hobbit-themed all you can eat buffet, and ride a c-ticket dark ride. The "dark ride" is basically like the rumored Yoshi attraction at SNW; except instead of boarding a Yoshi, you board a horseless carriage that was enchanted by Gandalf. This travels a bit outside, adding kinetic energy to the area, and a bit inside, showing a few show scenes of a Hobbit festival.
- Once guests walk past the smaller, secluded Shire, the land opens up in size and scope, showing a massive landscape inspired by the films. The locations of Rivendell and Mordor can be seen in the distance, and can be walked over to and explored. Along this path, guests can also dine at the Inn of the Prancing Pony, a quick service dining spot.
- Rivendell is similar in size and seclusion to Diagon Alley, and features more unique shopping and dining, iconic and beautiful architecture, and the queue for one of the two main e-tickets of the land. I'm not sure what the attraction would be story-wise, but I'd picture it being LOTR's equivalent to Forbidden Journey.
- Mordor is actually the least elaborate of these three locations, because IMO, it wouldn't make a whole lot of sense for us "normal humans" to be able to explore, shop, and dine in a land full of evil orcs. Instead, Mordor mainly features the iconic Dark Tower, which houses a next-gen drop ride which gives the Tower of Terror a run for its money. The queue for the attraction begins along the Black Gate, with guests entering the "secret passage" into Mordor. That is, until we reach a pre-show where guests are "captured" by orcs and sentenced to death inside the fires of Mordor... hence the drop tower aspect.

 

[fryoj]

IMO, you build The Shire, Rivendell or Lothlorien, and Gondor at the very least.

I think we definitely see the two towers and Mt Doom represented. I'm still not sure how or if they do Mordor as as guest area though as it's pretty desolate. @captainmoch's idea might be it except for I don't think they'll do drop towers. Just making Mordor and the gate the facade for the building and having it make up the queue might be the best way to do it.

Shire and Rivendell are about guaranteed. Lothlorien could be interesting. Especially if they do it covered and make a whole area thats protected by the sun and rain. But that and Gondor would be phase 2 IMO. I think an Erebor ride is likely as well as Smaug would be a pretty big deal.. I'd love to see them do a Laketown area as it would be neat thematically, but I'm not sure how well it would work.

 

[quinnmac000]

I don't think the scale will be as big as people are thinking. Remember this deal doesn't just encompass UOR and USH but most likely two other parks where LOTR doesn't have as strong of a fanbase.

 

[JungleSkip]

I don't think the scale will be as big as people are thinking. Remember this deal doesn't just encompass UOR and USH but most likely two other parks where LOTR doesn't have as strong of a fanbase.

I'm not sure your point. If Universal builds Middle Earth attractions, I would expect it to be at least as big as Potter and Nintendo.

 

[captainmoch]

Made a quick MS Paint mock-up of my concept, if anyone wants visual aid:

Does everyone get the gist of what I'm going for? Unlike the separated areas of Potter, a Middle-Earth land has the possibility to take iconic cities/towns/villages/etc and connect them with a cohesive, epic-looking landscape. If they pull it off, it could be one of the best and most beautiful themed lands in the world, IMO.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Lord of the Rings, is iconic in way's. And that to be honest, I think they'd actually be dumb not to make either The Shire or Rivendell as hotel's in a way. I don't think either make good potential land's for a LoTR project for UC, and that they'd be better off doing places like Mordor, Gondor, Lake Town, or even Rohan.

 

[Teebin]

So if they have the rights then what should the designs be based on? Should it be all original or should they use the Jackson films designs?

Wait, that question is moot as Warner Bros. owns New Line Cinema which produced LOTR.

Thanks for letting me work through that…

 

[tielo]

A series of books and addendums that started in 1937 and is still a high seller.
A successful series of movies and a slew of fansites, cosplayers, merchandise and more.
Amazon is going to bring the middle earth universe to life in a tv series.
If (or rather when) Universal secures this ip they have the godfather of high fantasy and a huge demographic of girls, women, boys and men who will buy tickets to enter Middle Earth and eat, drink and shop this world as much as they can.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

If (or rather when) Universal secures this ip...

@Disneyhead seemed to indicate that the deal was inked out back in August, which would presumably be around the time that Christopher Tolkien left the estate.

 

[JungleSkip]

So if they have the rights then what should the designs be based on? Should it be all original or should they use the Jackson films designs?

Wait, that question is moot as Warner Bros. owns New Line Cinema which produced LOTR.

Thanks for letting me work through that…

IMO it’ll be the Jackson movies. Doing anything else would be a mistake. They’re burned on too many people’s minds

 

[tielo]

@Disneyhead seemed to indicate that the deal was inked out back in August, which would presumably be around the time that Christopher Tolkien left the estate.

My lawyer urged me to be vague until it's official.
But I'm beyond excited about the possibilities.

 

[quinnmac000]

I'm not sure your point. If Universal builds Middle Earth attractions, I would expect it to be at least as big as Potter and Nintendo.

R&D and ROI won't be spread out as much which may limit scale due to the costs of rights as well as the build. I see them focusing solely on one location from the series than multiple.

 

[tielo]

So if they have the rights then what should the designs be based on? Should it be all original or should they use the Jackson films designs?

Wait, that question is moot as Warner Bros. owns New Line Cinema which produced LOTR.

Thanks for letting me work through that…

I think they'll do another Potter: Movie aesthetics, additions from the books and some new bit expanding on everything (if that is even possible).