Future of Toon Lagoon

[Nico]

Thought I had: a majority of the park (12 attractions last count in my head) closes when it rains, Kong is an attempt to alleviate that and putting SLoP there too would be a smart decision. (Compare this to USF which has four attractions that close).

I'm blanking on the four. Kang and Kodos, Woody, Rockit, and...

 

[Parkscope Joe]

I'm blanking on the four. Kang and Kodos, Woody, Rockit, and...

That water slide in Fivel.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

That water slide in Fivel.

Has Hogwart's Express ever closed in the rain? Personally curious.

I think it should be wise that they add some more indoor attractions in the next few years, besides SLoP as it is what seems to be one of the major issues for the park.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Has Hogwart's Express ever closed in the rain? Personally curious.

I think it should be wise that they add some more indoor attractions in the next few years, besides SLoP as it is what seems to be one of the major issues for the park.

No, they added an awning at the Hogsmeade station just for this reason.

 

[Galaxy Defender]

Has Hogwart's Express ever closed in the rain? Personally curious.

I think it should be wise that they add some more indoor attractions in the next few years, besides SLoP as it is what seems to be one of the major issues for the park.

Does HE close due to lightning?

 

[OLSinFLA]

Does HE close due to lightning?

Nope, which can be quite scary when you're the conductor in the train. I swear the lightning that us one time

 

[Galaxy Defender]

Nope, which can be quite scary when you're the conductor in the train. I swear the lightning that us one time

Maybe you would then get one of those lightning scars like Harry.

 

[Galaxy Defender]

One holdup for a face-lift of the TL shopping and dining area is that the DreamWorks deal is not completed yet. I can't see Universal moving forward with any project involving DW IPs until they actually own it.

 

[GadgetGuru]

I don't see Toon Lagoon getting any love for a really long time. Really, really long time.

IoA doesn't need any attention for a while because of Kong + Hulk. Plus, TL is a major path to getting people to Kong, so there can't be any construction to cut it off. I see a Seuss ride being the next thing going into IoA personally. As for USF, they have way too much in the pipeline already. After all that's done (Fallon + F&F), the Seuss ride would be counterbalance. After Nintendo Land opens, now you shift people back to IoA with a big addition for TL area.

 

[Galaxy Defender]

I don't see Toon Lagoon getting any love for a really long time. Really, really long time.

IoA doesn't need any attention for a while because of Kong + Hulk. Plus, TL is a major path to getting people to Kong, so there can't be any construction to cut it off. I see a Seuss ride being the next thing going into IoA personally. As for USF, they have way too much in the pipeline already. After all that's done (Fallon + F&F), the Seuss ride would be counterbalance. After Nintendo Land opens, now you shift people back to IoA with a big addition for TL area.

US built Springfield without blocking anything off with a relatively modest budget and time frame. It is similar in that neither area really makes money. If they renew all of the Kings Features license they are stuck with it for a long time.

 

[graspthesun]

I don't see Toon Lagoon getting any love for a really long time. Really, really long time.

IoA doesn't need any attention for a while because of Kong + Hulk. Plus, TL is a major path to getting people to Kong, so there can't be any construction to cut it off. I see a Seuss ride being the next thing going into IoA personally. As for USF, they have way too much in the pipeline already. After all that's done (Fallon + F&F), the Seuss ride would be counterbalance. After Nintendo Land opens, now you shift people back to IoA with a big addition for TL area.

Not to mention updates to Jurassic Park and Marvel Superhero Island are probably a priority. Toon Lagoon is IoA's Fear Factor.

 

[graspthesun]

US built Springfield without blocking anything off with a relatively modest budget and time frame. It is similar in that neither area really makes money. If they renew all of the Kings Features license they are stuck with it for a long time.

They could renew for a shorter time period as a stopgap before redoing it with new IP.

 

[Galaxy Defender]

They could renew for a shorter time period as a stopgap before redoing it with new IP.

They could, but with purchase of DreamWorks and it's classics line it would be putting off a financial opportunity.

 

[SeventyOne]

If they renew all of the Kings Features license they are stuck with it for a long time.

Then again, you can probably get the theme park rights to Hagar the Horrible and Beetle Bailey for a ham sandwich right about now. (Just being real--as a kid my dream was to be a newspaper cartoonist. Sorry to see such a wonderful American artform die.)

ETA: Can you imagine trying to tell Universal Creative about the future on IoA's opening day. "Well, Spidey's cool, but Marvel is going to disown Fantastic 4 so making them the entire middle of the land a bad idea. Oh yeah, need a lot more Iron Man ... yeah Iron Man ... and also Deadpool. And in two decades newspapers will be dead, no one under 30 will recognize anyone in Toon Lagoon. By the way, there's a new young adult book out--trust me, go pick up a copy."

 

[Galaxy Defender]

Then again, you can probably get the theme park rights to Hagar the Horrible and Beetle Bailey for a ham sandwich right about now.

True, but why bother? Right now hardly anyone pays attention to the gift shops other than Betty. They sell the same things you can get anywhere on property instead of what is in the area.

As for cartooning, now you can self publish on the Web.

 

[SeventyOne]

True, but why bother? Right now hardly anyone pays attention to the gift shops other than Betty. They sell the same things you can get anywhere on property instead of what is in the area.

Just because the costs would be negligible if they want to stretch it out another few years past it's Sell By date. Like Fear Factor. There's zero benefit to keeping the King Feature characters, but there's next to zero cost.

 

[Galaxy Defender]

Just because the costs would be negligible if they want to stretch it out another few years past it's Sell By date. Like Fear Factor. There's zero benefit to keeping the King Feature characters, but there's next to zero cost.

Lost sales opportunities, but they could just leave the facades and fill it with DW/Illumination merchandise.

 

[graspthesun]

Lost sales opportunities, but they could just leave the facades and fill it with DW/Illumination merchandise.

The facades themselves aren't that fun without the the comic cutouts around them. Again, re-upping the deal for 5 more years would cost next to nothing and would give Universal breathing room to really come up with a great game plan to revamp the island. Better to keep the status quo and then get something great in return than rush and get something mediocre that needs to be retooled over and over.

 

[IzzyB]

I really think all this depends on whether Slop is coming or not. I think if Slop comes they will re-vamp toon lagoon now. If not, then they will push it out a couple years until they figure out what they are doing with that area.

I think with the box office numbers they almost have to green light Slop for Orlando because they will sell more merchandise especially going into the second movie. It just makes sense.

 

[Mike S]

Not to mention updates to Jurassic Park and Marvel Superhero Island are probably a priority. Toon Lagoon is IoA's Fear Factor.

Also that Dragon Challenge rumor.