The Future of Lost Continent

[Mike S]

I don't think Pokemon will have the theme park effect that Potter has had. Potter is like a once in a lifetime event, theme
park wise. But Pokemon will undoubtedly pack them in. So that backside of IOA will be crowded continuously.

@MikeS; First rumors were Pokemon in USF, so the switch to IOA is interesting. Perhaps it's partly a timing move if Universal
needs (by contract or a business decision) to get it up quickly. LC is empty already so it's in a different spot than Springfield
which has at least two years of contract left, and maybe a couple extra years if it gets extended. With the F&F coaster and a soon
to be redone Supercharged building, the timing for a Pokemon build just might not have fit. USF still gets along fine as the Epcot
like Event park, so its situation isn't really as dire as posters here paint it.

I was saying that not only Springfield but Supercharged/San Fran could’ve easily been demolished for Pokémon as well now that we have that confirmation.

As someone who doesn’t care for events USF is easily at the bottom of UOR by a far margin.

 

[Mad Dog]

I was saying that not only Springfield but Supercharged/San Fran could’ve easily been demolished for Pokémon as well now that we have that confirmation.

As someone who doesn’t care for events USF is easily at the bottom of UOR by a far margin.

Yes ,if you only count rides, but the GP eats up the events. HHN, Holidays, Mardi Gras bring a lot of tourists and locals to the resort plus the hotels.

 

[Tobias]

While I do agree USF needs new stuff, I feel the discussion that Pokémon should go in San Fran feels incredibly moot at this point. There's been plenty of rumblings from insiders that they've got the replacement in mind for Supercharged. Not to mention, San Fran feels like the smallest location out of the two, and I'd rather an IP such as Pokémon go into the bigger one.

 

[Mike S]

While I do agree USF needs new stuff, I feel the discussion that Pokémon should go in San Fran feels incredibly moot at this point. There's been plenty of rumblings from insiders that they've got the replacement in mind for Supercharged. Not to mention, San Fran feels like the smallest location out of the two, and I'd rather an IP such as Pokémon go into the bigger one.

Where ever “New York” ends up to London seems pretty huge to me. How big is it in actual numbers? Is Transformers part of New York?

 

[Evan]

I know Pokémon is huge, and a $$$ juggernaut. But I still question if the franchise translates well to a theme park setting.

Is it going to rely on crazy interactivity that many guests may not want? Will there be passive experiences that don’t require much buy in?

Only time will tell.

 

[rhino4evr]

I have a 16 year old that collects Pokémon cards and isn’t even into gaming. It’s not a gamer only IP

 

[Frogki]

I want to clarify my post to say that I truly believe Pokemon can and hopefully will make a fantastic themed land if given the proper treatment. I believe that both as a fairly casual fan of the franchise and as a passionate fan of the parks themselves.
But I'm realistic about the limitations of the franchise and what this might look like from the average guest perspective.

There's so many really golden opportunities within that world to make something worthwhile. I believe Parklore had a really great exploration of what a Pokemon land could be. I think the idea that interactivity is gimmicky is disproven by Nintendo and Potter's respective existing interactive stations which tend to form decent lines. There's expectations for merchandise these days, and I've said it before but I'll say it again, a particularly ingenious form of this for Pokemon would be interactive shoulder pets in the vein of the Hedwig animatronic shoulder plush or the Nifflers.

As far as attractions and environments go, there is a lot of potential for Creative to be given some wild leeway if they get the freedom to build their own region from scratch. Considering each of the videogames always focuses on a new region, it would give both Nintendo and Universal a really fun way of marketing a land. Not sure if this is a direction either party would ever actually want to go in but given the vastness of the series, it may be one of the only ways to appease certain fans with regards to which exact Pokemon are featured in the land.