The Future of Lost Continent (Poseidon Fury closing May 9)

[KRAKENvsMANTA]

In regards to merchandise, food, drinks, etc., Wonka could be a goldmine!

 

[Nick]

^since when is Wonka "so popular"? Its pretty irrelevant nowadays.

Wonka is a lot more popular than you'd think.

 

[TylerDurden]

I love how the word "irrelevant" is thrown around like "the" around here.

Wonka is still a classic book and movie most at least know about.

Its one classic book, and two movies, one of which was very so-so and the other not standing the test of time well. Is it well-known in the public realm? Absolutely. Is it a strong franchise that can pull the weight of an entire land? Im not sure, especially since all thats spawned from it so far has been a cheap candy line and a crummy ride in Alton Towers of all places. So sure maybe "irrelevant" wasnt the greatest word, but in today's world its a somewhat weak franchise.

 

[TylerDurden]

Wonka is a lot more popular than you'd think.

I know how popular it is. And its my honest opinion that that cant pull the weight of a land. Besides popularity, creatively what material would you draw from? Would the whole thing be a chocolate factory? How much space would that take, how many attractions could be implemented using that theme without being redundant? This isnt Roller Coaster Tycoon where you pick rides and put em down, you have to weigh building costs, operating costs, etc with the return on the investment. Like this ToT glass elevator ride...is Wonka's fan base the types of people who would ride ToT?

I think that maybe on paper it sounds like a cool idea but really thinking about this in the flesh, it seems unrealistic.

 

[Cheezbat]

I know how popular it is. And its my honest opinion that that cant pull the weight of a land. Besides popularity, creatively what material would you draw from? Would the whole thing be a chocolate factory? How much space would that take, how many attractions could be implemented using that theme without being redundant? This isnt Roller Coaster Tycoon where you pick rides and put em down, you have to weigh building costs, operating costs, etc with the return on the investment. Like this ToT glass elevator ride...is Wonka's fan base the types of people who would ride ToT?

I think that maybe on paper it sounds like a cool idea but really thinking about this in the flesh, it seems unrealistic.

You build the glass elevator thrill ride and a Pirates of the Carribbean style boat ride through the factory for the entire family. Win win!

 

[TylerDurden]

You build the glass elevator thrill ride and a Pirates of the Carribbean style boat ride through the factory for the entire family. Win win!

I can see the boat ride but are thrill seekers gonna be lining up for a Willy Wonka ride in the first place? Furthemore just because ToT happens to share a vehicle with Willy Wonkas glass elevator does that make the two interchangeable? What would the story be for a glass elevator ride? Why would it be dropping? Whats the plotline?

Like I said, theres a lot more to it than just finding any cool ride system and making it sort of fit a theme by the slightest line of logic.

 

[mahnamahna]

I can see the boat ride but are thrill seekers gonna be lining up for a Willy Wonka ride in the first place? Furthemore just because ToT happens to share a vehicle with Willy Wonkas glass elevator does that make the two interchangeable? What would the story be for a glass elevator ride? Why would it be dropping? Whats the plotline?

Like I said, theres a lot more to it than just finding any cool ride system and making it sort of fit a theme by the slightest line of logic.

Anyone who's ever watched the Gene Wilder version will want a chance at "crashing" through the top of the glass elevator - nostalgia and a cool-looking design would make it popular.

Not every expansion at Universal needs to be Potter-level - really anything going where Lost Continent ride-less land is would help capacity - and Disneyhead specifically mentioned a nice family POTC-style dark ride and a family flat ride are also going to be included. The glass elevator would be the sole thrill ride.

I'm not a Fantastic Four fan but I think Doom is a fun ride when the wait is less than 25 minutes so with the right theming, Wonka could work! Remember that Disney picked Twilight Zone for ToT even though it hadn't been relevant for 7-10 years before it opened. Before they decided on that, they almost put a family dark ride themed to Mel Brooks - who aside from "Spaceballs" was greatly irrelevant by the time the ride would have opened.

With the right theming, any property can make for a great attraction

 

[TylerDurden]

That's definitely true, but can any property make for a great entire land..?

Cars Land...huge merchandise sales
WWOHP...merch and high-grossing films
JP...so much you can do with a broad theme like dinosaurs


Wonka...only one real source to draw from, limited to a factory setting. The only benefit I would see from this are huge candy sales but if that's what Universal is going for I would be surprised.

- - - Updated - - -

That's definitely true, but can any property make for a great entire land..?

Cars Land...huge merchandise sales
WWOHP...merch and high-grossing films
JP...so much you can do with a broad theme like dinosaurs


Wonka...only one real source to draw from, limited to a factory setting. The only benefit I would see from this are huge candy sales but if that's what Universal is going for I would be surprised.

 

[mbrou24]

That's definitely true, but can any property make for a great entire land..?

Cars Land...huge merchandise sales
WWOHP...merch and high-grossing films
JP...so much you can do with a broad theme like dinosaurs


Wonka...only one real source to draw from, limited to a factory setting. The only benefit I would see from this are huge candy sales but if that's what Universal is going for I would be surprised.

- - - Updated - - -

That's definitely true, but can any property make for a great entire land..?

Cars Land...huge merchandise sales
WWOHP...merch and high-grossing films
JP...so much you can do with a broad theme like dinosaurs


Wonka...only one real source to draw from, limited to a factory setting. The only benefit I would see from this are huge candy sales but if that's what Universal is going for I would be surprised.

Couldn't you extend it to be more than the factory? Place the factory where Poseidon is and then extend a village to some of the lost continent area now? Have Charlie's house etc. I think there's a lot of material they could use to develop a good land around the book

 

[Thatguyoverwhere]

I don't know... The whole Wonka idea just doesn't really grab my interest. All it makes me think of is lots of candy and a weird guy in a purple suit (and possibly some small orange people). I agree the park is already capitalizing on candy sales, especially in Hogsmead, which would be right next to it. Also, the whole 'candy-land' design it would probably have would be pretty similar to the way Seuss Landing looks with all the bizarre lines and colors of everything. Maybe the Lost Continent could find a way to make itself more complete by adding in a few small attractions where the games currently reside, and turn one of the show buildings into a dark ride (such as Poseidon's Fury as a boat ride)...

 

[shiekra38]

Hold up...what if Lost Continent was divided up into bits centered around the idea of fantasy kids books like Wonka's factory in Poseidon, Spiderwick, Magic Treehouse, Where the Wild Things Are, etc

call it Fantasyla....er something fantasy island

I do feel there is so much more they could do with Greek/Roman mythology though, such a loss

 

[Thatguyoverwhere]

Well, being that this is Islands of Adventure, it seems like everything there should be somewhat "adventurous"- so the Greek theme fits better than most of the ideas that have been presented so far in my opinion...

 

[Bryce]

^I also think that Lost Continent should stay, and I have a hunch that it will. I'm not too worried.

 

[jtsalien]

Couldn't you extend it to be more than the factory? Place the factory where Poseidon is and then extend a village to some of the lost continent area now? Have Charlie's house etc. I think there's a lot of material they could use to develop a good land around the book

Ah yes. I know I've always wanted to explore an impoverished English village

 

[TylerDurden]

^^^

 

[Cruiseshipfan]

Yea this whole charlie/willy wonka and the chocolate factory just doesn't seem interesting to me in anyway. They would be better off just making a single store then a ride or greater and using the space for something much better and more interesting, as the only attraction to the ip is chocolate and that can be solved with the store.

 

[TylerDurden]

Yea this whole charlie/willy wonka and the chocolate factory just doesn't seem interesting to me in anyway. They would be better off just making a single store then a ride or greater and using the space for something much better and more interesting, as the only attraction to the ip is chocolate and that can be solved with the store.

They have a store at the Hollywood Highland Center lightly themed to Wonka and it seems to do pretty well--maybe something similar in CityWalk would work, it shares qualities with HHC. One elaborate store at CityWalk seems to make more sense than a whole land at IoA. I mean, you think of candy when you think of Wonka, not really theme park attractions...

 

[ynnoj]

What if rather than being specific to Wonka, LC became more of a Roald Dahl themed island with numerous attractions from a variety of his books? This could work in a similar to fashion to Toon Lagoon and Suess Landing, where there is no specific IP that is the main focus rather a collection of works from the same author/period.

The only trouble is, aside from Wonka I'm struggling to come up with any legit attraction based on his other novels.

 

[wreck]

I don't know... The whole Wonka idea just doesn't really grab my interest. All it makes me think of is lots of candy and a weird guy in a purple suit (and possibly some small orange people). I agree the park is already capitalizing on candy sales, especially in Hogsmead, which would be right next to it. Also, the whole 'candy-land' design it would probably have would be pretty similar to the way Seuss Landing looks with all the bizarre lines and colors of everything. Maybe the Lost Continent could find a way to make itself more complete by adding in a few small attractions where the games currently reside, and turn one of the show buildings into a dark ride (such as Poseidon's Fury as a boat ride)...

But you can get the same Wonka candy in any store across the country , everyone has had a wonka bar by now if they really wanted one .

WWOHP candy is more park specific, I know our first visit we had to buy a chocolate frog, chocolate wand, peppermint toads and 5-6 Cauldron cakes one a day for my daughter .lol

 

[TylerDurden]

What if rather than being specific to Wonka, LC became more of a Roald Dahl themed island with numerous attractions from a variety of his books? This could work in a similar to fashion to Toon Lagoon and Suess Landing, where there is no specific IP that is the main focus rather a collection of works from the same author/period.

The only trouble is, aside from Wonka I'm struggling to come up with any legit attraction based on his other novels.

That would be a better idea IMO but still soooo far away from the current theming of Lost Continent...to do that they would literally have to demolish everything and start entirely from scratch. First off, that sucks considering how great the theming of LC is. Second, why would they go through with all of that? I would think they would at least want to retheme LC to something that remotely fits into the current infrastructure. Dahl Land (and Wonka World for that matter) would be better off in Toon Lagoon where an overlay would be a lot simpler.