The Future of Lost Continent

[JungleSkip]

A fairly reputable poster on the WDWMagic forums

Lol. Lmao.

 

[Parkscope Joe]

A fairly reputable poster on the WDWMagic forums is claiming that the latest buzz is that this will be a Hogsmede expansion, not Zelda.

Take it as you will, I still think it’s going to be Zelda.

People can, and do, lie on the internet. And you can do your part in not spreading it.

 

[DodgsonHere]

People can, and do, lie on the internet.

There’s a difference between lying and being misinformed.

 

[Clive]

I couldn't even find the trusted insider making this claim? Just a consistent poster remarking they heard something about expanding Hogsmeade.

Either way, Zelda makes more sense. It isn't nearly as popular as Potter (let's not kid ourselves), but it's got a huge audience and would definitely bring new guests to the resort.

 

[Alicia]

Potter was being considered to take over Lost Continent… BEFORE Diagon opened. They were actually considering building Diagon there as one possibility, but the rights holders wanted it to be physically separated by distance, like in the stories.

Jim Hill has also mentioned blue sky concepts for Hogsmeade possibly taking over the Sindbad area, with a Whomping Willow flat and Shrieking Shack walk through, but as far as I can tell those concepts never left blue sky… and that was A LONG time ago as far as Lost Continent rumors go.

The Lost Continent is being replaced by Zelda. I’m wondering if a lack of movement and lack of strong rumor reporting lately is creating false rumors to fill the vacuum or something. Maybe old rumors are coming back up again to fill the silence. And I have no idea where that random Jaws rumor is coming from either.

But hey, at least it got us talking I guess.

 

[UniversalRBLX]

Potter was being considered to take over Lost Continent… BEFORE Diagon opened. They were actually considering building Diagon there as one possibility, but the rights holders wanted it to be physically separated by distance, like in the stories.

Jim Hill has also mentioned blue sky concepts for Hogsmeade possibly taking over the Sindbad area, with a Whomping Willow flat and Shrieking Shack walk through, but as far as I can tell those concepts never left blue sky… and that was A LONG time ago as far as Lost Continent rumors go.

The Lost Continent is being replaced by Zelda. I’m wondering if a lack of movement and lack of strong rumor reporting lately is creating false rumors to fill the vacuum or something. Maybe old rumors are coming back up again to fill the silence. And I have no idea where that random Jaws rumor is coming from either.

But hey, at least it got us talking I guess.

Disney fans need something to talk about, they are migrating to Universal sites/fandom and catching up on rumors. Give them a few months to catch up, some of them still think Nintendo is going to replace Marvel Superhero Island.

 

[DodgsonHere]

Potter was being considered to take over Lost Continent… BEFORE Diagon opened. They were actually considering building Diagon there as one possibility, but the rights holders wanted it to be physically separated by distance, like in the stories.

Jim Hill has also mentioned blue sky concepts for Hogsmeade possibly taking over the Sindbad area, with a Whomping Willow flat and Shrieking Shack walk through, but as far as I can tell those concepts never left blue sky… and that was A LONG time ago as far as Lost Continent rumors go.

The Lost Continent is being replaced by Zelda. I’m wondering if a lack of movement and lack of strong rumor reporting lately is creating false rumors to fill the vacuum or something. Maybe old rumors are coming back up again to fill the silence. And I have no idea where that random Jaws rumor is coming from either.

But hey, at least it got us talking I guess.

Lol there’s a Jaws rumor floating around?

 

[Mike S]

Lol. Lmao.

If it was marni saying this I would’ve given it weight considering all those years ago when people here were dead set that Marvel couldn’t come to WDW in any form and he and others stuck to their guns that Guardians could very well be used and was coming to Epcot.

This though I’m calling BS.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

Anyone who has been on the WDWMagic forums recently knows that there has neither been any solid rumors or any healthy discourse on there for a long time.

 

[biggerboat16]

Anyone who has been on the WDWMagic forums recently knows that there has neither been any solid rumors or any healthy discourse on there for a long time.

I’ve got an account there and let’s just say that I vastly prefer the IU forums.

It’s usually just a bunch of hearsay debates that end up getting deleted for breaking some fine print technicality so no convos can usually get anywhere. This leads to the only active threads being debates as to what color the new Mickey popcorn bucket will be lol.

Every now and then someone will try to shake it up with an interesting rumor but those rumors are usually pretty shaky unless they’re coming from a select few who make things worthwhile, but most rumors are like what we just saw

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

I’ve got an account there and let’s just say that I vastly prefer the IU forums.

It’s usually just a bunch of hearsay debates that end up getting deleted for breaking some fine print technicality so no convos can usually get anywhere. This leads to the only active threads being debates as to what color the new Mickey popcorn bucket will be lol.

Every now and then someone will try to shake it up with an interesting rumor but those rumors are usually pretty shaky unless they’re coming from a select few who make things worthwhile, but most rumors are like what we just saw

Most of the people there went insane after COVID and Princess and the Frog imo.

Also some of the Disneyland posters keep complaining about the parks even though they haven't been there in a decade?

 

[Clive]

Okay, I think we've said our piece on the other forum. Let's keep this discussion focused on the future of the Poseidon's Fury / Lost Continent.

 

[Tyc00n96]

We are all in agreement that a LC replacement is likely set for 2027 and not before right?

 

[saint.piss]

We are all in agreement that a LC replacement is likely set for 2027 and not before right?

Yes

 

[OLSinFLA]

I agree. Potter is very popular but seems to be trapped with millennials and is losing some of its mass popularity. Zelda is on the upswing and has massive cross-generational appeal from 1986 to 2023. It seems that Zelda has gone from niche to massive mainstream, while Potter has slowly begun to do the opposite. I’m not saying that Potter is unpopular, but I think that Zelda would absolutely blow it out of the water!

Popular enough to be rebooted as a multi-year streaming show on Max (which, hopefully, will give it enough room to feature more of the books story and eliminate some confusing errors in the films)

 

[biggerboat16]

Popular enough to be rebooted as a multi-year streaming show on Max (which, hopefully, will give it enough room to feature more of the books story and eliminate some confusing errors in the films)

Yes, it’s still very popular, but I almost lump it in with Star Wars. It’s past its prime and has begun to move towards TV shows and spin-offs rather than feature films (or brand new books for Potter’s sake). Zelda is still on the up and up and there’s no telling when it will peak.

 

[GA-MBIT]

As a huge Zelda fan, I'd say the series still has a long way to go before it gets anywhere near Potter levels of popularity. Pokemon? Yeah. Mario? Probably. Zelda is not there yet. It's very much still the runt of the Big 3, ToTK or no. We'll see what the movie does for the franchise.

But in terms of health of the IP, I definitely think there is a case to be made there. There is no doubt Joelle's crusade has diminished the franchise's legacy a good bit, especially amongst younger audiences. It is still very popular and any new Harry Potter project is going to get a hefty amount of attention, full stop. But I think the Star Wars example is a good one, it's potentially a media juggernaut and has some impressive victories under its belt, but it's no longer at the point where a project is guaranteed to hit a massive home run like Pre-Endgame MCU or Pokemon are. Even throwing Dumbledore's name in the last film couldn't get people to watch. Zelda has been on a big upswing and is more popular now than it ever has been, I'm curious to see where it goes.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

It clears the minimum threshold. It's got more cultural cache (read: Internet coverage) than my beloved Avatar. It warrants a land. Alicia says it's happening this far out. I don't think this will be an issue.

 

[biggerboat16]

As a huge Zelda fan, I'd say the series still has a long way to go before it gets anywhere near Potter levels of popularity. Pokemon? Yeah. Mario? Probably. Zelda is not there yet. It's very much still the runt of the Big 3, ToTK or no. We'll see what the movie does for the franchise.

But in terms of health of the IP, I definitely think there is a case to be made there. There is no doubt Joelle's crusade has diminished the franchise's legacy a good bit, especially amongst younger audiences. It is still very popular and any new Harry Potter project is going to get a hefty amount of attention, full stop. But I think the Star Wars example is a good one, it's potentially a media juggernaut and has some impressive victories under its belt, but it's no longer at the point where a project is guaranteed to hit a massive home run like Pre-Endgame MCU or Pokemon are. Even throwing Dumbledore's name in the last film couldn't get people to watch. Zelda has been on a big upswing and is more popular now than it ever has been, I'm curious to see where it goes.

All good stuff. I think that Zelda could make a better land than the other two members of the big three narrative-wise, but Mario and Pokémon will probably draw bigger crowds based on name alone. Zelda will still draw big crowds, but it will have to rely on pure quality of attractions rather than just the land itself, which will work better for us because Uni will need to knock it put of the park quality-wise whereas a spinner with a pikachu theme could be a hit just because of the brand it’s associated with.

 

[Gartooth]

As a huge Zelda fan, I'd say the series still has a long way to go before it gets anywhere near Potter levels of popularity. Pokemon? Yeah. Mario? Probably. Zelda is not there yet. It's very much still the runt of the Big 3, ToTK or no. We'll see what the movie does for the franchise.

But in terms of health of the IP, I definitely think there is a case to be made there. There is no doubt Joelle's crusade has diminished the franchise's legacy a good bit, especially amongst younger audiences. It is still very popular and any new Harry Potter project is going to get a hefty amount of attention, full stop. But I think the Star Wars example is a good one, it's potentially a media juggernaut and has some impressive victories under its belt, but it's no longer at the point where a project is guaranteed to hit a massive home run like Pre-Endgame MCU or Pokemon are. Even throwing Dumbledore's name in the last film couldn't get people to watch. Zelda has been on a big upswing and is more popular now than it ever has been, I'm curious to see where it goes.

To be fair, Mario and Pokémon probably are among like the top 10 or so most popular IP in the world. I don't think Zelda will ever match that level cause that's such a tall ask, but it doesn't really need to to make sense as a land.

I think Zelda's strength which is true of most Nintendo franchises is that they've been able to keep it consistently popular across the generations for decades now. That's a problem with a lot of long running franchises is that people could eventually lose interest or new generations don't get into them like their parents, but Zelda is arguably at its biggest peak ever with the popularity of Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.

I do think there was a fear within Nintendo like a decade ago that Zelda was fading away and would be one of those franchises people move on from since there was declining sales for the games, but the series reboot with Breath of the Wild secured its future.