Nintendo Coming to Universal Parks

[Mad Dog]

Agree. That's all stuff that's fairly cheap in the first place. Trying to retheme it & refurb the aged attractions would probably cost more than a new shiny replacement. Though they could probably temporarily move some of that Feivel stuff over by the sprung tents and set up a temporary kids land for a couple of years. A couple of cheap kid carnival flats and the capacity issue for kids is temporarily alleviated.

 

[Alicia]

Now... keeping certain plumbing in place for a new splash area could make sense. Infrastructure could be more valuable than the actual themed play things.

 

[JungleSkip]

Now... keeping certain plumbing in place for a new splash area could make sense. Infrastructure could be more valuable than the actual themed play things.

Right. I could see them reusing plumbing for George or Fievel for play areas, but I don't see them keeping any structures

 

[JPRA513]

I'd imagine they could reuse some pieces of the attractions here and there , but I feel like it would probably cost more to preserve and "retheme" a lot of that stuff considering most of it seems pretty specific to Curious George/Fivel. Plus I'm sure they would like to have full access to the whole zone for construction purposes rather than working around a giant jungle gym. It would just seem like more work than it's worth.

Seems like this would difficult to "retheme" and would it be worth it?

Somewhat unrelated, but I just love how 90s that whole area is. Not great for a business/attracting guests standpoint, but it was like a fun little time capsule for the short amount of time I checked it out when I was there.

Anyway, I guess to stay somewhat on topic... I don't see any of that remaining in any capacity as a retheme or not. Donkey Kong play area or a splash pad of some kind would definitely be welcome though.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

Agree. That's all stuff that's fairly cheap in the first place. Trying to retheme it & refurb the aged attractions would probably cost more than a new shiny replacement. Though they could probably temporarily move some of that Feivel stuff over by the sprung tents and set up a temporary kids land for a couple of years. A couple of cheap kid carnival flats and the capacity issue for kids is temporarily alleviated.

It’d ALSO cost more to “just” move them!

 

[Frank Drackman]

crazy, I read a post like Curios George will be one of the monkeys represented' so I took it mean something like the Kong trophy in Mummy.

others seemed to have read it like they are keeping the area...

oh well, who knows! I'll keep my eyes open when I ride...it will be fun to spot different things I guess.

 

[Mike S]

crazy, I read a post like Curios George will be one of the monkeys represented' so I took it mean something like the Kong trophy in Mummy.

others seemed to have read it like they are keeping the area...

oh well, who knows! I'll keep my eyes open when I ride...it will be fun to spot different things I guess.

Sorry about that.

 

[Frank Drackman]

Sorry about that.

Don’t be, it’s on me. I think I missed or forgot about a post before yours...teach me to take a break from work while trying to get my mind on other things...

 

[Ashhanbre]

Super Mario cereal coming soon from Kelloggs

(per Gameinformer.com) The box will also work as an amiibo.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Nintendo has really sparked an increase of interest within the past few years.

Perfect timing for Universal.

 

[JoeCamel]

Super Mario cereal coming soon from Kelloggs

(per Gameinformer.com) The box will also work as an amiibo.

So now we know what they are serving in the restaurants
All-Cereal Café Opens for Business - Neatorama

 

[Mad Dog]

Super Mario cereal coming soon from Kelloggs

(per Gameinformer.com) The box will also work as an amiibo.

and free in every box...a secret map of the Nintendo Lands in Universal Studios, IOA & the new park ....

 

[zg44]

Nintendo has really sparked an increase of interest within the past few years.

Perfect timing for Universal.

I think it helps that Nintendo is finally understanding how much of a threat smartphone/mobile gaming is to their business model. Nintendo thrived before smartphones with a near monopoly on handheld gaming for at least 2 decades. They had trouble with general consoles outside of the Wii, but the defensive moat of their handheld market share always protected them and allowed them to bypass a lot of the issues that tanked Sega.

Now there's a definite recognition by Nintendo's leadership that they need to focus on capturing attention for their top brands in other avenues than just gaming because there's no guarantee of relevance for anybody in the current marketplace. Any random developer with a couple of hours on their hands can create a smartphone game that can reach 100m+ people instantly.

This move towards theme parks, movies, and greater merchandising opportunities shows just how proactive they're going to be to develop and connect with people outside of just gaming markets.

It helps from Universal's perspective that it can show its impact for a brand with how well WWoHP has performed for everyone in terms of keeping Harry Potter relevant outside of the books/movies. Universal is offering that to Nintendo now for their brands in the same way and even more comprehensively with the proposed movie deal as well.

 

[Paulio]

Should this thread be moved to Universal Orlando since most of the non-Orlando SNW in Los Angeles and Japan are seemingly being asked by many people to go to a different specific thread dedicated to these locations? I really want to post the update to the SNW construction in Japan so we could strike up a discussion in relative to the topic we're talking about here, and many SNW threads in Hollywood and Japanese threads don't get as many discussions as this.

 

[AlexanderMBush]

Should this thread be moved to Universal Orlando since most of the non-Orlando SNW in Los Angeles and Japan are seemingly being asked by many people to go to a different specific thread dedicated to these locations? I really want to post the update to the SNW construction in Japan so we could strike up a discussion in relative to the topic we're talking about here, and many SNW threads in Hollywood and Japanese threads don't get as many discussions as this.

Isn't this thread already on the Misc Universal Orlando section of the forums?

 

[Mike S]

I think it helps that Nintendo is finally understanding how much of a threat smartphone/mobile gaming is to their business model. Nintendo thrived before smartphones with a near monopoly on handheld gaming for at least 2 decades. They had trouble with general consoles outside of the Wii, but the defensive moat of their handheld market share always protected them and allowed them to bypass a lot of the issues that tanked Sega.

Now there's a definite recognition by Nintendo's leadership that they need to focus on capturing attention for their top brands in other avenues than just gaming because there's no guarantee of relevance for anybody in the current marketplace. Any random developer with a couple of hours on their hands can create a smartphone game that can reach 100m+ people instantly.

This move towards theme parks, movies, and greater merchandising opportunities shows just how proactive they're going to be to develop and connect with people outside of just gaming markets.

It helps from Universal's perspective that it can show its impact for a brand with how well WWoHP has performed for everyone in terms of keeping Harry Potter relevant outside of the books/movies. Universal is offering that to Nintendo now for their brands in the same way and even more comprehensively with the proposed movie deal as well.

I mostly agree but I don’t think it’s solely about the rise of mobile. The failure of the Wii U had a part to play as well.

 

[Alicia]

Looks like there's a lot more track outside for the DK mine car coaster than I originally thought. Which explains why the building in the permit looks small. Maybe like half of the ride takes place outside, around the DK Country area, (and also above the entrance arch.)

You can actually see the outdoor track sections in the permit if you adjust the contrast:


Here it is outlined for you... Green is show building and yellow is outdoor track sections:

 

[Mad Dog]

Looks like there's a lot more track outside for the DK mine car coaster than I originally thought. Which explains why the building in the permit looks small. Maybe like half of the ride takes place outside, around the DK Country area, (and also above the entrance arch.)

You can actually see the outdoor track sections in the permit if you adjust the contrast:
View attachment 5851

Here it is outlined for you... Green is show building and yellow is outdoor track sections:
View attachment 5853

So much for that , formerly unexplained, extra space. DK themed area for sure. Nice find Alicia. :thumbsup:

 

[Imperius]

Man DK looks great.

 

[Alicia]

Hearing word that there is a lot more play areas around Nintendo than I had first thought. Think more like exploring caves at Camp Jurassic rather than climbing things outside. May even include interactive elements, like collecting coins, (or something like that.)

Also, I don't think a play area is in the cards for Donkey Kong Country - at least not to start. I believe that space will be used for staging during construction (near ET's exterior queue.) Hopefully as they finish up they can get a play area added into that space quickly. I assume that one would be a more traditional outdoor play area with net climbing, etc... Literally a big "jungle" gym.