Nintendo Coming to Universal Parks

[JungleSkip]

I agree with your assessment. Basically Super Mario World in Florida won't be the "ground breaking" land if it's already been available in some form in Japan and Hollywood. Furthermore it would be further weakened by other Nintendo Properties (Zelda/Pokémon) opening before hand in Orlando.

At this point "Mario World" becomes the "Jurassic Park" of Islands of Adventure instead of Marvel Island in the new park. It's not longer the "major centerpiece" of the promotional materials. As it's no longer "new".

All that being said, there really isn't anything UOR can do to prevent this, if they make the formal decision to wait for park 3. Hopefully park 3, will have plenty of "new" IPs and attractions that will still bring massive crowds. Lord of the Rings is a BIGGIE.

I think you're seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeriously underselling what Mario headlining the third park would do. Brazillian Tour Groups and the UK visitors (two of Orlando's biggest markets) aren't gonna go to USH for Mario.

 

[rhino4evr]

I think you're seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeriously underselling what Mario headlining the third park would do. Brazillian Tour Groups and the UK visitors (two of Orlando's biggest markets) aren't gonna go to USH for Mario.

I'm not saying it wont' bring crowds. Hell, I'll be there as soon as it's not crazy, but from a marketing stand point, you usually want to showcase what's completely "new" more than what's already been showcased elsewhere.

"IF" LOTR gets picked up, I would imagine THAT is on the front cover of the travel brochure, and Mario is still very present, but maybe a bit more in the background.

Of course, Mario appeals more to families, so we would still see a ton of Mario advertising to pull in the family customer.

I'm not "worried" about it or anything, I just see what his point is.

 

[rhino4evr]

Switching subjects.... Do you think UOR would open a Pokémon store with all the original characters in Plush form? Or would that not make sense financially? Maybe do "smaller" size for some of the less popular characters and multiple size options for the more popular ones?

I picture them coming in a "pokeball" gift box, and being stored on a giant wall with numbers on it.

 

[JungleSkip]

Switching subjects.... Do you think UOR would open a Pokémon store with all the original characters in Plush form? Or would that not make sense financially? Maybe do "smaller" size for some of the less popular characters and multiple size options for the more popular ones?

I picture them coming in a "pokeball" gift box, and being stored on a giant wall with numbers on it.

I've been saying this since Pandora opened:

Steal the Banshee puppet concept, mix it with Ollivanders, and you've got a store that will run out of stock in minutes. Make it a Pokémon Professor's lab where people get to choose their starter Pokémon. Make it a little show. Have Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle available as choices. Instant profit.

You can sell plushes of other pokemon as well, but have those four available for purchase in the shoulder-mounted puppet form

 

[fryoj]

I'm not saying it wont' bring crowds. Hell, I'll be there as soon as it's not crazy, but from a marketing stand point, you usually want to showcase what's completely "new" more than what's already been showcased elsewhere.

"IF" LOTR gets picked up, I would imagine THAT is on the front cover of the travel brochure, and Mario is still very present, but maybe a bit more in the background.

Of course, Mario appeals more to families, so we would still see a ton of Mario advertising to pull in the family customer.

I'm not "worried" about it or anything, I just see what his point is.

When you go to USH's website, the first thing you see is HP and FJ. When they opened it, they did not market it with "Hey we finally got this, and its the same as what everyone else has!" They treated it like it was a big deal and the hot new thing.

If they put Mario as the centerpiece of the third park, it will be the centerpiece of their marketing. They don't have to advertise it as the only mario land. Just the mario land at the all new UOR South.

 

[rhino4evr]

I've been saying this since Pandora opened:

Steal the Banshee puppet concept, mix it with Ollivanders, and you've got a store that will run out of stock in minutes. Make it a Pokémon Professor's lab where people get to choose their starter Pokémon. Make it a little show. Have Pikachu, Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle available as choices. Instant profit.

You can sell plushes of other pokemon as well, but have those four available for purchase in the shoulder-mounted puppet form

They could even do a "Pokeball" machine where you get a random Pokémon. These type of toys are super popular with kids. Look at Shopkins and LOL Surprise Balls.

 

[jrn14]

I don't want a starter! I want a Doduo plushie. Would be cool and easy to have the egg hatching "game" from Jurassic Park where you can hatch mystery pokemon.

 

[Mike S]

I think you're seeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeriously underselling what Mario headlining the third park would do. Brazillian Tour Groups and the UK visitors (two of Orlando's biggest markets) aren't gonna go to USH for Mario.

If the wait is significant enough, yes, most people will go to see it in Hollywood. If it starts this year it could be open by 2021 and I don’t see Orlando’s third park opening by then. It could be a multi year wait.

 

[JungleSkip]

If the wait is significant enough, yes, most people go to see it in Hollywood.

No, they really won't. There is almost no overlap between the people that go to USH and UOR.

There was a SIX YEAR gap between Hogsmeade in IOA and USH and it's still doing gangbusters at USH. The gap between Nintendo lands won't be nearly as large.

 

[Mike S]

When you go to USH's website, the first thing you see is HP and FJ. When they opened it, they did not market it with "Hey we finally got this, and its the same as what everyone else has!" They treated it like it was a big deal and the hot new thing.

If they put Mario as the centerpiece of the third park, it will be the centerpiece of their marketing. They don't have to advertise it as the only mario land. Just the mario land at the all new UOR South.

They didn’t need to as people already knew. A vast majority of the people that showed up for Orlando saw that it was going to Hollywood 6 years later and just shrugged their shoulders.

 

[Mike S]

No, they really won't. There is almost no overlap between the people that go to USH and UOR.

There was a SIX YEAR gap between Hogsmeade in IOA and USH and it's still doing gangbusters at USH. The gap between Nintendo lands won't be nearly as large.

Really? You don’t think all the biggest fans that aren’t able to go to Japan will wait years after Hollywood just for it to open in Orlando? I’ll remind you that fans are a big part of the reason Hogsmeade had such insane pull. Fans from all over the world came to see it and fans are an impatient bunch.

 

[JungleSkip]

Really? You don’t think all the biggest fans that aren’t able to go to Japan will wait years after Hollywood just for it to open in Orlando? I’ll remind you that fans are a big part of the reason Hogsmeade had such insane pull. Fans from all over the world came to see it.

The biggest fans might. The people that will make the land a success past year one won't. Hogsmeade has an insane pull because it's based off one of the most beloved properties of all time that continues to pull in generations. Same thing will happen with Mario no matter where it is.

You're seriously letting your biases get in the way of the reality of the situation.

 

[Brian G.]

The biggest fans might. The people that will make the land a success past year one won't. Hogsmeade has an insane pull because it's based off one of the most beloved properties of all time that continues to pull in generations. Same thing will happen with Mario no matter where it is.

You're seriously letting your biases get in the way of the reality of the situation.

Not to mention, UK tourists make Orlando a big priority for their holidays - and obviously, Potter is a big deal over there so.... Yeah, it was easy to make those plans for Opening Day.

When it comes to Nintendo, it has the same family appeal that Potter, but I'd argue the biggest fans outside of America would be in Japan, which is getting the land first, so........

 

[Mike S]

The biggest fans might. The people that will make the land a success past year one won't. Hogsmeade has an insane pull because it's based off one of the most beloved properties of all time that continues to pull in generations. Same thing will happen with Mario no matter where it is.

You're seriously letting your biases get in the way of the reality of the situation.

This is the pull I was referring to.

 

[JungleSkip]

This is the pull I was referring to.

That's literally one day dude. It makes for good pictures but is largely irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

 

[zg44]

I really don't understand the concerns about timing or attendance here. This is meant to be a gentle criticism but:

Nobody at Universal cares (or should care) about what the comparable opening numbers are like. They focus 100% on the sustainability and growth of the annual numbers.

It doesn't matter what order UOR opens its attractions in; 99% of UOR's guests have probably never been to USJ (and vice-versa). Maybe a few percent of USH's guests have been to UOR or USJ, but it's a completely insignificant amount. The same will be true of Beijing when it opens.

Basically, don't worry when things get to the parks and how that will affect attendance. Theme park fans on this board are only representative of a tiny fraction of the overall market when it comes to knowledge of the worldwide situation; most theme park visitors are "local" in the sense that they only ever go to the closest one.

Universal's parks have distinct markets with very little overlap: UOR covers Eastern USA/Europe/South America, USJ covers Japan (and China/Korea at the moment), USH covers Western US/Mexico, USS covers Southeast Asia to an extent.

Even something like Super Nintendo World with worldwide pull won't change those dynamics. 99% of Nintendo fans in other territories will be waiting until their "local" park gets their SNW, then they'll go there. That's how this works.

 

[belloq87]

I don't think we can really question the purely business decisions that go into Universal's decision re: when and where the various Nintendo lands open up around the world. They're all going to pull in guests in a big way, regardless of whether Japan, Hollywood, Orlando, or wherever get it first.

Now, if we want to have a conversation about how it sucks to wait while other parks get the flashy new thing first, and get all the fanfare and initial excitement, then I'm fully on board for that conversation, because it does suck. Heck, I'm annoyed by Disneyland getting Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge first, and that's only going to be a few months before WDW, not the years-long difference it might be in Nintendo's case.

But there will almost certainly be no negative bottom line impact with any of the possible orders in which these lands might open.

 

[Magic-Man]

I don't think we can really question the purely business decisions that go into Universal's decision re: when and where the various Nintendo lands open up around the world. They're all going to pull in guests in a big way, regardless of whether Japan, Hollywood, Orlando, or wherever get it first.

Now, if we want to have a conversation about how it sucks to wait while other parks get the flashy new thing first, and get all the fanfare and initial excitement, then I'm fully on board for that conversation, because it does suck. Heck, I'm annoyed by Disneyland getting Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge first, and that's only going to be a few months before WDW, not the years-long difference it might be in Nintendo's case.

But there will almost certainly be no negative bottom line impact with any of the possible orders in which these lands might open.

We're probably going to end up with the best SNW, so hopefully that'll negate any attendance (and excitement) impacts.

 

[Magic-Man]

*sigh*

There's no way that Pokemon opens up in 2020.

 

[Alicia]

*sigh*

There's no way that Pokemon opens up in 2020.

We'll see. We'll see. All in due time.