Universal's New Park/Site B Blue Sky Thread

[shiekra38]

I honestly wouldn't mind an original Wizarding World land that explores some of the other schools around the world...Perhaps it's too exclusive, but who knows, could be cool

 

[Legacy]

Do Paris with Beauxbatons. You touch on the original series, Fantastic Beasts, and get an “original” experience.

 

[fryoj]

I really can't see them building an area that wasn't featured in the movies. Maybe an artistic license expansion of a movie area like carkitt/diagon, but theres not so much Potter demand that they can just build anything peripherally related.

 

[JungleSkip]

but theres not so much Potter demand that they can just build anything peripherally related.

I do not agree here at all. The Potter fandom is weird. I think they'd be *more* excited for something built outside the movies.

 

[fryoj]

I do not agree here at all. The Potter fandom is weird. I think they'd be *more* excited for something built outside the movies.

Diminishing returns. There'd be more demand for shrieking shack, MOM, Burrow, etc. areas. There has to be mass appeal other than just hardcore Potterheads to build a $100+ million dollar area/ride.

 

[JungleSkip]

Diminishing returns. There'd be more demand for shrieking shack, MOM, Burrow, etc. areas. There has to be mass appeal other than just hardcore Potterheads to build a $100+ million dollar area/ride.

I mean, Disney is currently building the exact opposite of that for their biggest franchise.

 

[fryoj]

I mean, Disney is currently building the exact opposite of that for their biggest franchise.

And a Tatooine land would have been a bigger draw and left them with a lot more natural options to expand.

 

[JungleSkip]

And a Tatooine land would have been a bigger draw and left them with a lot more natural options to expand.

But my point is we already have lands that feature the cream of the crop for Potter. Potter will be in Park 3, and I don’t think it would be a bad idea at all to experiment a little with the third location

 

[Legacy]

Diminishing returns. There'd be more demand for shrieking shack, MOM, Burrow, etc. areas. There has to be mass appeal other than just hardcore Potterheads to build a $100+ million dollar area/ride.

Pottermore exists to extend canon. And while diminishing returns exist, expanding something that is known to exist in the world (ie - skrewts, Celeste, Beauxbatons) will have a very different appeal than something that’s just wholly original.

 

[Imperius]

And a Tatooine land would have been a bigger draw and left them with a lot more natural options to expand.

There would have been 0 difference in attendance. No one is skipping it because it isn’t Tatooine.

 

[Scott W.]

Diminishing returns. There'd be more demand for shrieking shack, MOM, Burrow, etc. areas. There has to be mass appeal other than just hardcore Potterheads to build a $100+ million dollar area/ride.

A good land and ride goes well beyond the popularity of the IP. Tron and Splash Mountain are good examples.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Diminishing returns. There'd be more demand for shrieking shack, MOM, Burrow, etc. areas. There has to be mass appeal other than just hardcore Potterheads to build a $100+ million dollar area/ride.

And yet, Disney have (and are planning to use it again) used Tron, and have used Song of The South on three occasions in a large way.

Just because Fantastic Beast's box office is lowering with each film, the Potter IP is far from dying. And if they go to the extent that Lucasfilm is doing with WDI on Star Wars, then that could mean they may want to appeal to the fans of the lore as opposed to catering directly towards box office numbers.

Of-course, that is good to have; but the Wizarding World is a large place, with more places and stories to tell that don't have to relate to either Potter or Newt's escapades. Hell, they're already doing that to some extent, with HMCMA.

 

[fryoj]

Known is more popular than unknown. More people know the ministry of magic and Tatooine than know Beauxbatons and Batuu. The hardcore fans would make a special trip if you made a land based on a character mentioned one time in all of cannon. They don't make $100+ million dollar lands for just hardcore fans. They need large GP support to pay for these things.


But hey, if you think a Livermorny school land would be as popular as a Ministry of Magic land, theres really nothing else to discuss as we aren't going to agree.

There would have been 0 difference in attendance. No one is skipping it because it isn’t Tatooine.

Actually there's hardcore Star Wars fans upset about what they've done and probably will skip it.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Actually there's hardcore Star Wars fans upset about what they've done and probably will skip it.

I would ask to be..specific.

At the end of the day, it's still Star Wars. And even Orlando hotels are expecting surges, regardless of if it's in Tatooine, or Naboo, or wherever that has been established.

Orlando hotels expect booking surge now that Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at Disney has opening date - Orlando Sentinel

Market it right, and people will come. It doesn't matter what location it is, what characters are involved, it matters on how they present it; and give reasons to why people should experience it.

Even with my..concerns, Disney has been hyping GE up like ham, using the Star Wars branding to it's largest form of cross-connective material. Especially with books, social media, and the potential thought of film-collaboration. Disney understands, that they can use what the universe has had, and market it to attract even those unfamiliar with the SW material.

 

[Dhdhddh]

Do Paris with Beauxbatons. You touch on the original series, Fantastic Beasts, and get an “original” experience.

Honestly, I think this is probably the best idea. Beauxbatons is established as a location in the fourth book, and the London locations are essentially established at Studios. New York could work too, but it’s also already at USF (even though there are no Wizarding World attractions within NY). Paris and Beauxbatons allows them to do something original while still adhering to canon.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

There is..a complication to that thought, albeit a minor one: The Beauxbatons already represented though in the parks, with the Triwizard Spirit Rally.

As are the Durmstrangs.

 

[shiekra38]

Diminishing returns. There'd be more demand for shrieking shack, MOM, Burrow, etc. areas. There has to be mass appeal other than just hardcore Potterheads to build a $100+ million dollar area/ride.

I feel diminishing returns would be more applicable if Universal hadn't built Diagon and just updated Hogsmede here and there

The new expansions are fully realized and fleshed out separate areas....At the very least, impressive new additions to a park

 

[Dhdhddh]

What does everyone think the park’s central icon for the ‘hub’ should be?

Personally, I’m thinking some sort of Colossus of Rhodes-esque statue would be nice. There’s not a park in Orlando, or even the rest of the country with a statue as its main icon. For the theme, to go along with the “Worlds” aspect of the park, I think a giant Atlas statue would really convey the park’s sense of scale and discovery. But at the same time, I could see how it would contrast too much with the actual attractions of the park.

 

[Legacy]

There is..a complication to that thought, albeit a minor one: The Beauxbatons already represented though in the parks, with the Triwizard Spirit Rally.

As are the Durmstrangs.

The students of Beauxbatons are represented. The school itself has never been seen.

Throw in the fact they arrive in a ready-made ride vehicle (the pegasus-pulled flying carriage), you can do a low-impact “world tour” ride where ALL of the wizarding schools are visited.

That would give the World of Magic, 1920s Paris with Ministry of Magic and Newt’s Suitcase, and the Beauxbatons School of Witchcraft with a Wizarding School World Tour.

That’s a hell of a compelling lineup that world perk up the ears of any Potter fan.

 

[shiekra38]

What does everyone think the park’s central icon for the ‘hub’ should be?

Personally, I’m thinking some sort of Colossus of Rhodes-esque statue would be nice. There’s not a park in Orlando, or even the rest of the country with a statue as its main icon. For the theme, to go along with the “Worlds” aspect of the park, I think a giant Atlas statue would really convey the park’s sense of scale and discovery. But at the same time, I could see how it would contrast too much with the actual attractions of the park.

Before I thought it would be some kind of mountain the resembled Olympus with different statues and carvings of creatures/people throughout the park.....Every since VB, I don't feel they will go that route...

I wonder if it will actually have one, or if it will just be totems surrounding a hub