Wizarding World - Diagon Alley Discussion (Opens 2014)

[Brian G.]

Wish granted.

 

[TSSD]

Wish granted.

:happy:

 

[damond.themeparks]

It's kind of dull to assume that a theme park is first and fore most money hungry. If that was the case, then pretty much all of the Orlando Theme Parks would be awful.

all theme parks are busnisses, correct? the goal of a business is to make a profit. in order to d that, they need something to attact the people. in order to do that, they need thngs the people like. therefore, (in the theme park business) great details, attractions, resteraunts, etc. are made. at the root of all this though, is to make a profit. if they werent trying to make a profit, then tickets would be cheap enough to the point that they could only pay for the theme park and its employees.

 

[mantaguy]

Oh? So if a new Jurassic Park movie was coming out, and UO needed room for a new JP ride, but they had limited time and space, they would take over part of Potter? :rofl:

Ha ha. Ha. The land behind Thunder Falls. 'Nuff said.

--- Update ---

all theme parks are busnisses, correct? the goal of a business is to make a profit. in order to d that, they need something to attact the people. in order to do that, they need thngs the people like. therefore, (in the theme park business) great details, attractions, resteraunts, etc. are made. at the root of all this though, is to make a profit. if they werent trying to make a profit, then tickets would be cheap enough to the point that they could only pay for the theme park and its employees.

Exactly. The key to success is great details, attractions, restaurants, etc. All of which can be provided by nearly any property, theme, or franchise.

 

[Mitchiez]

all theme parks are busnisses, correct? the goal of a business is to make a profit. in order to d that, they need something to attact the people. in order to do that, they need thngs the people like. therefore, (in the theme park business) great details, attractions, resteraunts, etc. are made. at the root of all this though, is to make a profit. if they werent trying to make a profit, then tickets would be cheap enough to the point that they could only pay for the theme park and its employees.

Yes, you are true. But that doesn't mean that the theme parks don't think about what they have and what makes their park so popular. Perhaps, it's because of the Potter buzz, and it's the hottest thing in Orlando right now. But that doesn't mean they will give their other lands little attention of what they've provided their theme park with since they've had it, just to make more money. They are smart businesses, and if they weren't then they would not be successful and popular. They aren't always thinking about what their guests will be purchasing during their trip, but what makes the experience more enjoyable for them to become a returning guest.

 

[damond.themeparks]

Yes, you are true. But that doesn't mean that the theme parks don't think about what they have and what makes their park so popular. Perhaps, it's because of the Potter buzz, and it's the hottest thing in Orlando right now. But that doesn't mean they will give their other lands little attention of what they've provided their theme park with since they've had it, just to make more money. They are smart businesses, and if they weren't then they would not be successful and popular. They aren't always thinking about what their guests will be purchasing during their trip, but what makes the experience more enjoyable for them to become a returning guest.

yes but in truth,it would be much easier to build off a already existing and very successful idea than come up with there own and could potentually be a risk whether it will create an equal or creater amount of buzz as harry did. i mean harry expansion is a safe bet the wont go wrong. JK wouldnt even allow them to do wrong to her book.

 

[Roxy91]

But the food would have to change. Just look at the menu and tell me, do you really think that's traditional British cuisine?

Even if the food changed it could be just as good as long as they kept the same chef(s). That was my point. One of the main reasons Mythos is popular is that it has good food for a low price. That could stay the same no matter what type of cuisine they make.

Check the above video link for proof that UC (Universal Creative) has no plans as of yet for expansion, and they, like myself, believe that the current layout, attractions, and diversity is perfect. Like BriMan said, just fix up LC, don't get rid of it.

I watched the video clip, IMO it's not very convincing. All that was said was "we don't have any plans currently". Well of course they didn't, it just opened a couple days earlier. Plus, that was before they saw how it performed, before reports came out of Universal's profit doubling, merchandise rising 104%, record attendance etc. If they weren't thinking about it then, they are now. And, it's not like he would have said, "oh yeah we are planning such and such an expansion" before it was announced. Didn't Universal deny they were even building the WWoHP in the first place?
And one last thing, the survey was released after this video clip, so that is the more recent piece of evidence. (Not conclusive proof, but neither is the clip.)

It's kind of dull to assume that a theme park is first and fore most money hungry. If that was the case, then pretty much all of the Orlando Theme Parks would be awful.

Companies that put something else before making money, go out of business.
That's not to say they don't care about guest satisfaction or the quality of their parks, of course they do. But money comes first. That is what a company is, it exists to make money.
And don't tell me Orlando area theme parks have never put making money over guest satisfaction or theme.

That's different. Potter is a million times more popular and profitable than JP will ever be.

Umm, that was exactly my point. And that's why, when it was necessary, Potter was given a large chunk of another land, but no other land would ever be given 10 square feet of Potter.

 

[Vyrus]

It's kind of dull to assume that a theme park is first and fore most money hungry. If that was the case, then pretty much all of the Orlando Theme Parks would be awful.

Dang dude, please don't take this the wrong way......but did someone hit you over the head with a hammer? :bonk:

Saying that the theme parks are NOT money hungry is like saying that the US govermant doesn't want to tax us.

Theme Parks sole purpose is to attract the crowds with spending as little money as possible. WW cost as much to build as Disney spent on EE...why?? because Uni cut as MANY corners as possible but still made a great product. And that is the point, spend as little as possible, make as much as possible. And like I said yesterday, if Uni looks at the economics and lets say they come up with these numbers:

Option #1
Keeping LC and WW currently status quo: $35 million in profits (mainly from Potter)

Option #2
Demolition of LC - $2 million
Cost of expansion of WW into LC - $100 million
WW AFTER expansion - $70 million in profits

Down the line:

2 years #1 - $70 million in profits
2 years #2 - $32 million

4 years #1 - $140 million
4 years #2 - $172 million

And I'm sure the real numbers are higher than this. THIS is what theme parks care about.

 

[youhow2]

:rep: For vyrus.

Seriously. LC is my one of my favorite continents... I love it... But Seriously It probably is going to go sooner rather than later... I'm not talking about next month, but in a few years the sad reality is that it's the one island that makes sense to get rid of. JPRA is too iconic to the Orlando area to ever consider expanding into,(maybe 30 years from now or something like that)... Sinbad and Poseidon on the other hand? The only things I will be truly sorry to see go is the mystic fountain and mythos... Hopefully they can find some way to incorporated the mystic fountain into the possible(and probable) expansion. A magic talking fountain that insults you and squirts you seems very JK Rowling/Harry Potter-ish...

 

[Hatetofly]

Thank You Vyrus that sums it up perfectly.

 

[damond.themeparks]

Dang dude, please don't take this the wrong way......but did someone hit you over the head with a hammer? :bonk:

Saying that the theme parks are NOT money hungry is like saying that the US govermant doesn't want to tax us.

Theme Parks sole purpose is to attract the crowds with spending as little money as possible. WW cost as much to build as Disney spent on EE...why?? because Uni cut as MANY corners as possible but still made a great product. And that is the point, spend as little as possible, make as much as possible. And like I said yesterday, if Uni looks at the economics and lets say they come up with these numbers:

Option #1
Keeping LC and WW currently status quo: $35 million in profits (mainly from Potter)

Option #2
Demolition of LC - $2 million
Cost of expansion of WW into LC - $100 million
WW AFTER expansion - $70 million in profits

Down the line:

2 years #1 - $70 million in profits
2 years #2 - $32 million

4 years #1 - $140 million
4 years #2 - $172 million

And I'm sure the real numbers are higher than this. THIS is what theme parks care about.

hahaha XD vyrus this is a perfect example.

 

[Vyrus]

Thank you, Thank you *takes a bow*

 

[Splatter]

Theme Parks sole purpose is to attract the crowds with spending as little as possible .

You made some great points but this was the best one of all. And it actually supports the argument of NOT expanding Potter.

If revenue stays healthy, it would not be in their best interest to add more attractions when it is not needed. As long as the guests keep coming and spending money, they can make better investments by doing special events and holidays.

Food and merch are the money makers. Once they get people in for special events those make the most dough by spending the least amount of money. Adding a Gringotts coaster(for example) will draw people in to an extent, but it won't increase people's purchases. They will eat at Three Broomsticks or buy butterbeer or make purchases from the library of merchandise regardless.

 

[damond.themeparks]

You made some great points but this was the best one of all. And it actually supports the argument of NOT expanding Potter.

If revenue stays healthy, it would not be in their best interest to add more attractions when it is not needed. As long as the guests keep coming and spending money, they can make better investments by doing special events and holidays.

Food and merch are the money makers. Once they get people in for special events those make the most dough by spending the least amount of money. Adding a Gringotts coaster(for example) will draw people in to an extent, but it won't increase people's purchases. They will eat at Three Broomsticks or buy butterbeer or make purchases from the library of merchandise regardless.

i see what your saying, but the argument is that expanding harry potter will bring in more people. the new expantion wouldnt be just be a grand new ride, but more shops and resteraunts as well. expanding harry would just further the space for selling merchandise but they cant just tear down lc and turn it into a shopping district so they would need a new grand ride there as well.

 

[Splatter]

Potter already has technically 3 standing gift shops for soley its merch. That is more than any other property ever put into a theme park. Building anymore would just be saturating what they already sell.

I don't care how popular it is that is not good to do from a business standpoint. EVERY property gets less popular over time.

Again its about spendatures vs earnings. Let's look at it this way when it comes to what is likely(only because I don't want to say anything is impossible)

After Star Tours was a hit and years down the road when Disney knew that there was still tons of money to be made in Star Wars, did we get more Star wars giftshops and rides/attractions? Or did we get Star Wars Weekends?

 

[damond.themeparks]

arent the gift shops in harry potter completely crowded and the items are being sold out weekly? last time i went, i had bought the last gryphandor scarf they had. slythoren was comletley out as well. adding more shops would be a smart business investment so they could sell more merchandise and give people more places to shop since the stores already have wait lines lnger than some of the attractions.

 

[Roxy91]

You made some great points but this was the best one of all. And it actually supports the argument of NOT expanding Potter.

If revenue stays healthy, it would not be in their best interest to add more attractions when it is not needed. As long as the guests keep coming and spending money, they can make better investments by doing special events and holidays.

Food and merch are the money makers. Once they get people in for special events those make the most dough by spending the least amount of money. Adding a Gringotts coaster(for example) will draw people in to an extent, but it won't increase people's purchases. They will eat at Three Broomsticks or buy butterbeer or make purchases from the library of merchandise regardless.

I don't get it. How can anyone try to argue that a Potter expansion wouldn't make more money than it does now?
It would:
- Encourage people to stay longer in the land (therefore spending more money)
- Give people more to buy (spending more money)
- Make people happier if they don't feel like sardines (happy guests spend money)
- Bring repeat visitors (more money)
- Get the WWoHP in the worldwide news and on fansites all over the world again, keeping it in people's awareness (increasing the likelihood that they will come and spend money)
- Increase the quality of the park (the land in my opinion isn't the perfect size as some keep saying. It is too small)

You are assuming that once Universal makes a ton of money, they are going to be happy with that and not try to expand their income when they know they can.

Yes companies want to spend the least amount of money, and get the most amount back, but you are arguing that leaving it as it is now would make more net profit than expanding it, which I don't buy. In this case Universal could spend less money, and get a lot, or they could spend more money, and get a lot more. So it just comes down to which will make more money - that is expansion.

And of course no one's saying do it tomorrow. We are talking years down the road. So of course they are going to just do little things right now like special events and let people come here for the first time. They will wait until it dies down a little and then announce an expansion so they can try to keep it going longer.

 

[Splatter]

They will want to make more money, that is business. But again. The way they work is making the most with as least as possible. I don't doubt expansion of some kind will happen, but many are thinking too big.

Holidays and special events are the investments they will look into. As years from now after the hype has died down the events will still bring in both general public and the core fanbases. The fanbase fans are who spend the most money on things like chocolate frogs, wands and all the more obscure stuff of the Potter universe. Merch is where they make most of their profits. And if those special events with guests can bring in that much money, they won't see it fit to add a ride. Theme parks want you in rides the least amount of time as possible. They want you to have as much time in the gift shops as possible.

Potter is only half a year old and the biggest theme park project in history, people are not going to feel like sardines forever.

 

[Vyrus]

True they want you in the rides at least as possible, but then I can also twist your words around and say that if that was the case they wouldn't push the boundry.

The rides are what bring people in, the upsells as far as food, drinks, merch, etc... is what keeps them in business, not the entrance fee.

Its like a nightclub, most nightclubs let people in the door for free because they know they will spend money at the bar. Or they will charge a small entrance fee. The gate is the icing on the cake of everything else. And they know building a Gringotts coaster will bring in a lot more people than PF and Mythos. Plain and simple.

 

[Roxy91]

They will want to make more money, that is business. But again. The way they work is making the most with as least as possible. I don't doubt expansion of some kind will happen, but many are thinking too big.

So aren't you basically arguing that Universal would make more profit by leaving the land alone than by expanding it?
And personally I do doubt that the land would be doubled in size or take over all of LC but I do think it will get more than special events.

Potter already has technically 3 standing gift shops for soley its merch. That is more than any other property ever put into a theme park. Building anymore would just be saturating what they already sell.

I've got to disagree here. The day I went to the WWoHP was one of the most deserted I have ever seen the parks in over 10 years of visiting (many of those years with an annual pass). I literally walked right onto FJ both times I rode (I didn't stop once during the whole line, except to watch the characters). It was really one of the slowest days I've ever seen. And yet the shops were still packed, and people were still bumping into each other. The demand for the Potter merchandise is just so huge that even if the land became less popular, i.e. even if the land was incredibly slow and all the rides were walk on, it would still be 100% justifiable to add more shops.