Universal's Epic Universe Wish List & Speculation

[Mad Dog]

With all of the IP's they have rights to now, especially with the Dreamworks acquisition, it doesn't make much business sense to pay for Spongebob IP rights. I doubt it will happen.

 

[PerceptiveCoot]

With all of the IP's they have rights to now, especially with the Dreamworks acquisition, it doesn't make much business sense to pay for Spongebob IP rights. I doubt it will happen.

Don't they already pay for Spongebob IP rights? He's in both of the U.S parks

 

[Mad Dog]

Don't they already pay for Spongebob IP rights? He's in both of the U.S parks

Merchandise and characters, but not attractions......If you're going to pay many millions to put an attraction land in, unless it's a superstar IP like Potter or Nintendo that will drive considerable
attendance, you're better off using your own IP's from Dreamworks or illuminations that you'll get 100% profit from the merch, food, drink etc. Spongebob is at best equal in draw to Minions, HTTYD, Panda, Shrek,
and maybe even less.

 

[Cup_Of_Coffee]

Don't they already pay for Spongebob IP rights? He's in both of the U.S parks

I think its solely a merch/retail license, as someone mentioned that on here before, but I may be misspoken. I don't think anyone knows for sure where the rights are at with Sponge but I mean if he was designed for this new park debuting next year, I cannot imagine the rights are going to be difficult to obtain or they just already have them.

 

[joelbryant11]

Spongebob is at best equal in draw to Minions, HTTYD, Panda, Shrek,

Spongebob is bigger than all of these except maybe Shrek. It’s arguably the biggest kids show of all time. I probably wouldn’t put it in the Harry Potter/Nintendo tier, so I see what you’re saying. The resort as a whole could use a little more television stuff beyond just Simpsons imo.

 

[Mad Dog]

Spongebob is bigger than all of these except maybe Shrek. It’s arguably the biggest kids show of all time. I probably wouldn’t put it in the Harry Potter/Nintendo tier, so I see what you’re saying. The resort as a whole could use a little more television stuff beyond just Simpsons imo.

Maybe in the past it was....I love the Sponge Bob store at Universal. It's definitely one of the best themed stores in the parks. We stop in there every trip since the girls like Spongebob a little bit. But the really large store
is almost bare of merchandise. There's little to choose from to purchase. You could probably put all of the merch in that store in a small corner of one of the other Universal stores. Time has passed this IP by. Now if Universal didn't have all of the new available kid's IP's available, perhaps it would be another story. But this is not the Universal that needed to procure those IP's in the past. They 'own' newer and fresher IP that would do just as well without having to pay IP rights and split
merchandise profits. Sooo, bottom line. In 2015 this might have been a good move. In 2020, the sands of time, and multitude of available internal IP's, have shifted against it.

 

[rageofthegods]

Yah Dreamworks needed some work on the branding front and I'm not entirely convinced that work has been finished over the past 4 years under NBCU, but they still have a pretty powerful portfolio that hasn't really been properly represented in parks yet. They're a good company that needed building up but the new management feels pretty solid.

If they ever get Madagascar back off the ground / if they ever make a Megamind sequel, then those are possibilities I'd possibly like to see.

 

[Scott W.]

As much as I’d love to see Spongebob come to the parks, I’d love to see Universal go all in a theme water park with that as an IP used.

 

[shiekra38]

As much as I’d love to see Spongebob come to the parks, I’d love to see Universal go all in a theme water park with that as an IP used.

Spongebob, Minions, Amity Island, Madagascar...They could kill it with an IP water park honestly

I sometimes wonder why VB wasn't built with IPs but eh

 

[JoeCamel]

Spongebob, Minions, Amity Island, Madagascar...They could kill it with an IP water park honestly

I sometimes wonder why VB wasn't built with IPs but eh

Amity Island water park? :yikes::yikes::yikes:

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

Amity Island water park? :yikes::yikes::yikes:

AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH quit making me wish for things that won't happen! lol

(As great as VB is, a tropical island is a slightly unoriginal theme for a waterpark--albeit having a theme in the first place is rare--which is the primary reason I put BB just above it.)

 

[shiekra38]

Amity Island water park? :yikes::yikes::yikes:

Amity Island section with a JAWS river rapids ride....A guy can dream

And also a JAWS river rapids ride would make absolutely no sense haha

 

[OhHaiInternet95]

Amity Island section with a JAWS river rapids ride....A guy can dream

And also a JAWS river rapids ride would make absolutely no sense haha

If a raft passed for a barge, it could pass for a tugboat.

That said, I'd like for Popeye to remain the only of its kind at the resort.

Now if you mean something like Teawa, now we're talking! Have a shark fin protruding out of the water.

 

[shiekra38]

If a raft passed for a barge, it could pass for a tugboat.

That said, I'd like for Popeye to remain the only of its kind at the resort.

Now if you mean something like Teawa, now we're talking!

Yes, and also those kinds of rides don't really work at water parks

I'm not really helping my case here haha

But anyway we could get Bruce into a water park would be fine with me

 

[fryoj]

A jaws wave pool could be pretty epic. Just have to figure out how to keep guests from messing with the animatronic sharks and come up with something to make blood slicks in the water that wouldn't die the whole pool.

 

[Disneyhead]

Great job @Alicia this would be a no-brainer addition to Epic Universe (or KidZone replacement). I really hope they come back to this idea even if not in Orlando. It’s an IP with rare staying power.

I believe this early UBR layout has the Spongebob land included instead of KFP. Maybe @Alicia can confirm.

From ThemeparX

 

[Alicia]

I believe this early UBR layout has the Spongebob land included instead of KFP. Maybe @Alicia can confirm.

From ThemeparX

I think so, because it looks like I can see the Flying Dutchman ship on the bottom right of the land, but it’s hard to tell the rest.

 

[Grabnar]

A jaws wave pool could be pretty epic. Just have to figure out how to keep guests from messing with the animatronic sharks and come up with something to make blood slicks in the water that wouldn't die the whole pool.

Just have it in a second pool separated by glass so that you can swim up and see it, kinda like they do at Discovery Cove with the real sharks

 

[JungleSkip]

Maybe in the past it was....I love the Sponge Bob store at Universal. It's definitely one of the best themed stores in the parks. We stop in there every trip since the girls like Spongebob a little bit. But the really large store
is almost bare of merchandise. There's little to choose from to purchase. You could probably put all of the merch in that store in a small corner of one of the other Universal stores. Time has passed this IP by. Now if Universal didn't have all of the new available kid's IP's available, perhaps it would be another story. But this is not the Universal that needed to procure those IP's in the past. They 'own' newer and fresher IP that would do just as well without having to pay IP rights and split
merchandise profits. Sooo, bottom line. In 2015 this might have been a good move. In 2020, the sands of time, and multitude of available internal IP's, have shifted against it.

Sorry, don't agree at all. SpongeBob is still way bigger than basically ever DreamWorks property.

 

[Disneyhead]

I just think with 2 parks, albeit indoor parks, prominently featuring Spongebob already in North America, Universal just isn't all that interested in it for more than merch and character representation (parade and M&G). And the fact that those 2 parks are...um...rather lackluster makes the IP even less appealing.